Emma's Review: How to Get a (Love) Life by Rosie Blake

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Nicola Brown doesn't like to lose control. Her flat is always meticulously tidy and her weekly meals carefully planned; Nicola keeps her life in order. When her carefree colleague Caroline challenges Nicola to find a date for Valentine's Day, it's a surprise to them both when Nicola agrees. 

As Nicola's search for a man begins, she is thrown in at the deep end - sometimes quite literally - of the dating scene. From men more likely to sell their mother than open their wallet, to those who are determined to find a girlfriend who shares their passion for extreme sports, Nicola has to run the full gamut of dodgy dates. But as the deadline looms closer, Nicola realises it isn't so bad to lose control. It turns out that trying to get a love life can be rather a lot of fun...

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: How to Find your (First) Husband by Rosie Blake

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Isobel Graves moved to LA determined to be the Next Big Thing. Instead, she is dressed as a giant prawn handing out fliers promoting a fish market. Rather than attending glamorous parties and dating exciting men, her evenings consist of watching box sets with her sort-of boyfriend, whose idea of romance is a late-night drunken text. 

Where did it all go wrong? 

When Isobel catches sight of Andrew Parker, her childhood sweetheart, in the background of a TV news story she feels it's a sign. If she'd stuck with Andrew everything would have turned out better. Now she just needs to find him...

Join Isobel as she travels from LA to Devon and to a remote Malaysian island in search of true love.

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Books Read: Rosie Blake - How to Get a (Love) Life

Some people book last-minute holidays, walk barefoot in the grass or party on a week night. Not Nicola Brown. Nicola is the kind of girl who double-locks the front door, leaves the plastic covering on new furniture, sticks to a super-strict diet and definitely, absolutely Does Not Date. 

Her colleague Caroline – loopy, warm and exasperated by her, knows that Nicola’s reluctance to lose control means she’s living only half a life. And so she lays down the gauntlet: Nicola must cast aside her hang ups and go on as many dates as it takes to find true love in time for Valentine’s Day. 

The pick of local men is, quite frankly, a bit rubbish. And there are only three months until February 14th. Surely it’s an impossible task? But, as Nicola is about to find out on her dodgy dates, letting go isn’t quite as scary as she imagined. In fact, it’s rather a lot of fun…

Amazon link: Kindle

Debut Spotlight: Rosie Blake

Today I'm joined by Rosie Blake as part of her blog tour for her debut book How to Get a (Love) Life which has recently been published by Novelicious Books.   

Rosie spent her university years writing pantomimes based on old classics. The 2003 production of The Wizard of Odd: Search for the Ruby Strippers enjoyed critical acclaim. This was followed a year later with a successful showing of Harry Potter: The Musical (complete with moving opening number, In my Cupboard I will Stay).

Rosie went on to write a winning short story in the La Senza/Little Black Dress Short Story Competition and was shortlisted in a few others including competitions run by Women and Home and The Daily Mail. Her first full-length novel, How to Get a (Love) Life, will be published in January 2014 by Novelicious Books.

Some exciting new talent coming in 2014

This week I've been very fortunate to have received advance copies of a couple of 2014 books by debut authors which has sparked the idea for this blog post to look ahead at some of the exciting new authors to look out for in the Spring...

How to Get a (Love) Life by Rosie Blake, which is due to be published by Novelicious Books in January, is the tale of Nicola Brown, an uptight and introverted young woman who has never had a date on Valentine’s Day. Following a bet with a work colleague, Nicola has to put aside her hang ups to go on as many dates as she possibly can in order to find the perfect man in time for February 14th.  

Long Way Home by Eva Dolan (2nd Jan)

A man is burnt alive in a suburban garden shed.

DI Zigic and DS Ferreira are called in from the Peterborough Hate Crimes Unit to investigate the murder. Their victim is quickly identified as a migrant worker and a man several people might have had good reason to see dead. A convicted arsonist and member of a far-right movement has just been released from prison, while witnesses claim to have seen the dead man fighting with one of the town's most prominent slum landlords.

Zigic and Ferreira know all too well the problems that come with dealing with a community that has more reason than most not to trust the police, but when another migrant worker is attacked, tensions rapidly begin to rise as they search for their killer.