Breathless by Jennifer Niven

Blurb


"Your first love, your first time, your first heartbreak. The new novel from Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places.

You were my first. Not just sex, although that was part of it, but the first to look past everything else into me. Some of the names and places have been changed, but the story is true.

Claudine Henry was not supposed to spend her summer on this remote island off the coast of Georgia.

She was supposed to be on a road trip with her best friend, spending every last minute together before they go to college.

But after her father makes a shock announcement, she is exiled with her shaken mother, with no phone service and no one she knows. She is completely cut off.


Until she meets Jeremiah. Free spirited, mysterious and beautiful, their chemistry is immediate and irresistible.

They both know that whatever they have can only last the summer, but maybe one summer is enough..."

Due to be published 29th September 2020.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Review

Claudine has had a happy childhood and is just finishing high school when her dad announces he wants to split up from her mum. Claude is left spinning in the shock of it all and with strict instructions not to talk about it with any of her friends, she has no outlet for the tidalwave of emotions threatening to engulf her.

Claude and her mum travel to a remote island with a lot of family history to get away from it all. Here she meets Jeremiah and is instantly drawn to him even as she is trying to deal with the shock from her dad's news. Miah has a difficult family life and a lot of responsibilities at home so his time on the island is special to him.

There are some beautiful descriptions of the island and a focus on nature. I also really enjoyed the way the author wrote about the history of the island as well as the present.

This is a story of first love, first sex, growing up and learning to deal with change. I couldn't put it down! I give this 5 out of 5.

The Author

The author of many successful books, including All The Bright Places which has been made into a movie which is available on Netflix now.

http://www.jenniferniven.com/
https://www.instagram.com/jenniferniven/

Blog Tour Review: A Perfect Paris Christmas

Blurb

"United in grief. Pushed apart by tragedy.

Keeley Andrews knows more than anyone that you only live once. So when she receives an invitation to spend two weeks in Paris, all expenses paid, she jumps at the chance.

Ethan Bouchard has had the worst eighteen months of his life. He's ready to give up on everything, including his hotel chain. So when he meets Keeley, it simply isn't the right time.

As Keeley and Ethan continue to bump into each other on the romantic Parisian streets, they can't help but wonder whether this is fate telling them to let go of the past and leap into the future...

Head to Paris this Christmas and fall in love under the lights of the Eiffel Tower with best-selling author, Mandy Baggot."


Published 3rd September 2020
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Review

Keeley is recovering from the loss of her sister Bea in a terrible accident which also left Keeley seriously injured and needing a kidney transplant. Living with her parents in a highly protective environment Keeley is worried about taking care of the precious gift she has been given but also that she is not living her life to the full. Mandy Baggot handles the topic of organ donation and transplants with care and sensitivity.

When the mother of her organ donor makes contact and invites Keeley to Paris to meet her, Keeley decides it's a chance she needs to take, accompanied by her exuberant friend Rach. I enjoyed reading about Keeley's friendship with both Rach and Erica, who Keeley has met in very difficult circumstances.

I also enjoyed reading the sections of the novel from Ethan's point of view. He has had a traumatic past but is trying to make the most of life and is nervous of his feelings for Keeley. I also loved how he was with Jeanne and how that part of the story developed.

Set in the beautiful city of Paris in the lead up to Christmas, the writer evokes a sense of wonder in the simple things in life in this novel. It also makes me want to visit Paris more than ever before!

A wonderfully romantic story, I gave this 4 out of 5.

The Author

Mandy Baggot is an international bestselling and award-winning romance writer.

The winner of the Innovation in Romantic Fiction award at the UK’s Festival of Romance, her romantic comedy novel, One Wish in Manhattan, was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year award in 2016.

Mandy loves the Greek island of Corfu, white wine, country music and handbags. Also a singer, she has taken part in ITV1's Who Dares Sings and The X-Factor.

Mandy is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association and the Society of Authors and lives near Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK with her husband and two daughters.

Visit Mandy’s website at http://www.mandybaggot.com/

Join the Blog Tour

Blog Tour: The Search Party by Simon Lelic

Blurb

"16-year-old Sadie Saunders is missing.

Five friends set out into the woods to find her.

But they're not just friends...

THEY'RE SUSPECTS.

You see, this was never a search party.

It's a witch hunt.

And not everyone will make it home alive."

Published August 20th 2020 by Penguin

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


My Review

With a gripping premise like this I defy anyone not to pick up The Search Party by Simon Lelic.

The story is split between the point of view of the investigating Detective Fleet, who has a mysterious past, and the teenagers as they give their accounts at the police station of what happened in the woods.

Personally, I preferred the sections from Fleet's point of view as I found them more gripping. The teenagers accounts felt a bit like a continuous stream of thought describing everything that happened, but the author did capture a sense of youth in his writing as they described the events. I'd have liked it to be written as a conversation between the detective and each of the friends.

It took a while for me to really become engrossed in this story but once I was about halfway through I couldn't put the book down as I wanted to know what happened. An interesting story with a great twist. I give this 3 out of 5.


The Author

Simon Lelic was born in 1976 and has worked as a journalist in the UK and currently runs his own business in Brighton, England, where he lives with his wife and two sons.

The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird

Blurb

"Glasgow, 2025. Dr Amanda Maclean is called to treat a patient with flu-like symptoms. Within three hours he is dead. This is how it begins.

The unknown virus sweeps through the hospital with deadly speed.

The victims are all men.

Dr Maclean raises the alarm. But by the time the authorities listen to her, the virus has spread to every corner of the world. Threatening families. Governments. Countries.

Can they find a cure before it’s too late?

Can they stop #TheEndOfMen?"


Due to be published by HarperCollins UK 29 April 2021

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Review

It's hard to believe that when the author wrote this book, none of has had ever heard of Covid 19. The premise of this book is terrifying, a virus which wipes out 90% of men but can be carried asymptomatically by women as well.

Told through different newspaper articles and the perspectives of women affected by the plague in many different ways, the writing is insightful, sensitive and packs an emotional punch. Some of the events the author describes have been eerily accurate from the pandemic experience we have been going through recently, but with the extreme severity of the plague in this book it is really heart-wrenching as fathers, husbands, brothers and sons are lost to the disease indiscriminately. The exploration of how the world would change in such a devastating situation was fascinating.

This is a powerful, heartbreaking, gripping read and I give it 5 out of 5.

The Author

Olive by Emma Gannon

Blurb

"OLIVE is many things.

Independent.
Adrift.
Anxious.
Loyal.
Kind.
Knows her own mind.

It’s ok that she’s still figuring it all out, navigating her world without a compass. But life comes with expectations, there are choices to be made, boxes to tick and – sometimes – stereotypes to fulfil. And when her best friends’ lives start to branch away towards marriage and motherhood, leaving the path they’ve always followed together, Olive starts to question her choices – because life according to Olive looks a little bit different.

Moving, memorable and a mirror for every woman at a crossroads, OLIVE has a little bit of all of us. Told with great warmth and nostalgia, this is a modern tale about the obstacle course of adulthood, milestone decisions and the ‘taboo’ about choosing not to have children."

Published 23 July 2020
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Review

Olive is a refreshing, original story examining the expectations placed on women to have children.

Olive, a woman in her early thirties, is trying to decide what she wants from life despite the pressures placed on her by her partner, family, friends and society. It's shocking how often relative strangers and acquaintances feel they can ask a woman when she's having children. This is such a personal question. She may desperately want to have children but is struggling to conceive or she may not want children at all and then is sometimes faced with judgement for this decision.

This book exposes many dimensions to this issue through Olive and her friends who are all in different places in their lives, which unfortunately causes some conflict between them. I really liked the ultimate strength of their friendship and how they stood by each other through life's twists and turns.

This is a powerful, timely, feminist novel. I give this 4 out of 5.

The Author

This is the debut novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author, Emma Gannon.

https://www.goodreads.com/emmagannon