My Book Corner | Samantha Tonge

Joining me and sharing their book corner secrets today is the gorgeous Samantha Tonge - author of Game of Scones and How To Get Hitched in Ten Days.

Her new book, Breakfast Under A Cornish Sun is out now.

1) Tell us about your Book Corner/Writing Space? 

I work in a small office (okay, hands up, really it’s the spare room) at a tiny, tiny desk which was designed by my husband to fold away into a wardrobe. So, effectively, I work in a wardrobe. I know, the glamorous world of an author, eh? But I am used to it. There is a large room in the house I could move to, called The Red Room (no seriously, but I named it before Fifty Shades of Grey came out because of the colour of its decor!) but I am a creature of habit. The spare room is cosy, has a view onto the back garden and doesn’t isolate me from the kids when they get home from school. It is also further away from the fridge which is always a good thing!

2) Do you have a favourite shelf/collection of books? Or favourite part of your Book Corner? 

I have a little book nook in the lounge where my books are although these days most of my reading is done on my Kindle. It is my preferred format as I can hold it in one hand and a cake in the other J I do like a collection of red shiny books I built up, when I went through a phase of reading teen horror, on the back of being a Twilight fan. And I also like a section of the bookshelf full of books out of the loft, from my past, that I read as a teen or young woman – for example animal stories like Duncton Wood and a Marilyn Monroe biography.

3) Do you have any reading/writing habits? 

Not really. I used to have to write in complete silence and would even wear ear-plugs, but now I can write with all manner of noise going on – apart from a television, I do find that distracting. I usually read in front of the TV at night as that is my only spare time.

4) How do you keep apart, track and control your TBR to read books?

 I just download books as I fancy them and then usually read in the order of buying. Sometimes I read two books on the go if they are different genres. For example at the moment I am reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time alongside some chicklit. I really need to read more though. I write full-time so by the time evening comes along I am usually too eye-tired to look at more words.

5) Can you provide links to your social media handles please?

https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaTongeAuthor/

https://twitter.com/SamTongeWriter

http://samanthatonge.co.uk

Samantha's new book, Breakfast Under A Cornish Sun is available now, click here!

Review | Letters From Lighthouse Cottage ~ Ali McNamara

Title: Letters From Lighthouse Cottage

Author: Ali McNamara

Published: July 2016

Publisher: Sphere

The sun is shining in the quiet little seaside town of Sandybridge

Sandybridge is the perfect English seaside town: home to gift shops, tea rooms and a fabulous fish and chip shop. And it's home to Grace - although right now, she's not too happy about it.

Grace grew up in Sandybridge, helping her parents sort junk from vintage treasures, but she always longed to escape to a bigger world. And she made it, travelling the world for her job, falling in love and starting a family. So why is she back in the tiny seaside town she'd long left behind, hanging out with Charlie, the boy who became her best friend when they were teenagers?

It turns out that travelling the world may not have been exactly what Grace needed to do. Perhaps everything she wanted has always been at home - after all, they do say that's where the heart is...

Letters From Lighthouse Cottage is my first ever book from Ali McNamara and having just finished it, I have to say I'm feeling slight mixed emotions.

I've seen lots of positive praise for Ali's work and when I saw this cover and read the synopsis I knew it was one that I just had to read. 

Letters From Lighthouse Cottage starts off in the summer of 2016 with the main character, Grace, at Sandybridge Hall. Instantly we are thrown into the world which surrounds Grace and I love the sunny sea side location in which the book was set within. The story is then separated into four parts - part one is based in June 1986, part two is December 1992, part three throughout 2001 and then part four in August 2012. 

Summer 2016 is featured again at the end and also in between each of the parts - for me this worked really well as I'm not a huge lover of books throwing you back and forth with every chapter.

Throughout each of the sections, we are told via Grace her life story, starting right back in her teenage years where she meets Charlie and Danny, her two best friends. Danny becomes her first love but as time goes on they drift part. Grace wants more to life that living in Sandybridge working at her parents antique shop and as the story unfolds we find her going off to university and then abroad to work. But, something keeps pulling her back to Sandybridge where Charlie and Danny have remained.

What was really lovely about this book is the friendship and bond Grace has with both Charlie and Danny.  Right from the night they all met they have been actively involved in each others lives and regularly caught up when all back in the seaside village. Charlie remained to stay and take on his parents' business whilst Danny was forced to remain due to events which are mentioned in the book. Ultimately Letters from Lighthouse Cottage for me felt like a really good love story - right up until the end, I knew who I wanted out of Charlie and Danny to make Grace happy, but I wasn't convinced due to Ali's great writing.

Along side all of this was Remy who came into Grace's life fairly early into the book and had been leaving letters as guidance to Grace. The imagination of this books reminded me a little of the early work by Cecelia Ahern however I felt that there was something missing from the execution. I felt that there could have been more 'Letters from Lighthouse Cottage' as the title suggests, and I feel I was missing a little more mystery surrounding the situation. 

Rating 4/5

Huge thanks to the team at Little Brown for supplying a NetGalley copy of

Letters From Lighthouse Cottage

in return for an honest opinion.

My Book Corner | Sue Fortin

I'm over the moon to be joined today by another local-ish author, Sue Fortin, who shares with us a bit about her and her reading/writing spaces...

Thank you so much for inviting me onto your blo, Laura.

I'm married with four children and live in West Sussex. It's a busy household as three of my children are in their late teens and above and my youngest is at primary school, so there's always lots going on at both ends of the scale. 

Despite everything, I still manage to find time to read and write. I've always been a bookworm, so it seemed a natural progression to go onto to be a writer. I'm a bit of an armchair thrill seeker, in that I love to read books or watch films that fall into the thriller/action category. I write romantic suspense where I can indulge myself in mixing the two up. 

My writing space is a desk in the corner of the living room or the dining table, although recently I've taken to dabbling in coffee shop writing where I'm free from the distraction of the internet.

I find it really difficult to settle down to writing if there are things around me that need doing. I have to tidy up first so my mind isn't cluttered. This can mean I don't always get down to writing as soon as I should, hence my new coffee shop regime above. That way I'm not tempted to start clearing tables and getting the dishwasher loaded.

Sue Fortin is Published by Harper Collins imprint Harper Impulse and writes

romance, mystery and suspense.

Her originally self-published debut novel was awarded the INDIE Brag

Medallion and later when published by HarperImpulse was short-listed

for the Joan Hessayon Award (2014). Sue was also short-listed for the

Festival of Romance, New Talent Award (2013). Her second novel,

Closing In, reached number one in the Romantic Suspense Kobo chart

at the end of 2014. Sue blogs regularly with the on-line writing group The

Romaniacs (www.theromaniacs.co.uk).

Lover of cake, Dragonflies and France. Hater of calories, maths and

snakes. Sue was born in Hertfordshire but had a nomadic childhood,

moving often with her family, before eventually settling in West Sussex.

Sue is married with four children, all of whom patiently give her time to

write but, when not behind the keyboard, she likes to spend her time

with them, enjoying both the coast and the South Downs, between which

they are nestled.

You can catch up with Sue at

Facebook Sue Fortin Author

Twitter @suefortin1

Website & Blog www.suefortin.com

HarperImpulse Author Page

Amazon Author Page

Review | Sunset In Central Park (From Manhattan With Love, Book 2) ~ Sarah Morgan

Title: Sunset in Central Park

Author: Sarah Morgan

Published: July 2016

Publisher: Mira / Harlequin

Kindle | Paperback

True love can be hard to find. Even when it’s been right under your nose all along…

After witnessing the fallout of her parent’s divorce, love has never been a priority for garden designer Frankie Cole. The only man in her life is her friend Matt–but that’s strictly platonic. If only she found it easier to ignore the way he makes her heart race…

Matt Walker has loved Frankie for years but, has always played it cool. Until he uncovers new depths to the girl he’s known forever, and doesn’t want to wait a moment longer.

Matt knows Frankie has secrets and has buried them deep, but can he persuade her to kiss him under the Manhattan sunset?

If you are a follower of my blog, then you will know that I have only recently discovered the talent that is Sarah Morgan when I reviewed the first book in her new From Manhattan With Love series, Sleepless in Manhattan.

I adored that first book and learning about Paige, Frankie and Eva, three very close living in the same building, and although the book was primarily Paige's story, we got to know Frankie and Eva fairly well as they started up their new events and concierge business, Urban Genie.

Sunset in Central Park, still features all three girls but concentrates more on Frankie. As we know from the first book, Frankie is defensive, private and wary of happy ever afters due to her hard upbringing on Puffin Island. Her only real love is her gardening and flowers which is why she works so brilliantly at Urban Genie along side Paige's organisation and a drive to succeed and Eva's wonderful baking skills.

Urban Genie has grown and is still going from strength to strength in this book, however Paige's brother Matt has a dilemma and it is down to Frankie to help save the day by working with him on a roof garden project. Matt has feelings for Frankie, we know that from little snippets and clues in book 1, however as this book is read it becomes clear just how strong those feelings are - and not just for Matt.

Frankie likes him but with her worries about love not lasting for ever, we are left wondering if he can break down her defences enough for her to let him in and trust her.

Sarah Morgan writes with such ease that the words on the page just flow. I've been in a complete reading slump for the last couple of weeks, yet as soon as I picked this up, I couldn't put it down - you definatetly know your on to a good, romantic, feel good book when you wake up and the first thing you think is 'what's happening with Frankie and Matt!'

I've loved reading Frankie's story and seeing a change in her, this is one love story you won't be dissapointed with, but equally it was nice reading about Paige and Eva too (can't wait for Eva's story next!) and seeing more from Matt and his work. Roxy and James who work for Matt are also featured a fair bit - there is definately some chemistry there that I think Sarah can write about.

If your familiar with Sarah's work then you are also in for a treat with a few names popping up from the Puffin Island series but all in all, Sunset in Central Park is just a glorious read that every romantic will love.

Rating 5/5

My Huge Thanks to Cara and Mira UK for an ARC of

Sunset in Central Park

via NetGalley.

This is my honest opinion.

Review | My Husbands Wife ~ Amanda Prowse

Title: My Husband's Wife

Author: Amanda Prowse

Publisher: Head of Zeus

Published: July 2016

Kindle | Hardback

Once a week, Rosie Tipcott counts her blessings.

She goes to her favourite bench on the north Devon cliffs, gazes out at the sky, and thanks her lucky stars for the life that she has.

For Rosie is lucky.

After a troubled childhood, she grew up and won the jackpot: a wonderful husband, two mischievous daughters, and a neat house by the sea. She dedicates every waking hour to the happiness of her family.

But when her husband unexpectedly leaves her for another woman and takes the children, she must as the question: what is left in her life?

Can Rosie find the strength to rebuild herself? More importantly, does she even want to?

I've mentioned before I'm fairly new to the books by the brilliantly talented Amanda Prowse, in fact her last novel, Another Love, was my first. I did go on a mad buying spree and stock on on most of her back catalogue, but you know what my TBR is like - older books take a while to get through.

So when I had the chance to read and review My Husband's Wife, I didn't have to think twice!

When the book arrived, I was ever so tempted to stop my current read and dive straight in - but I resisted and when the time came I settled down with a cuppa and opened the first page.

Needless to say that the cuppa went stone cold!

As soon as I started reading I was immersed in the world of Rosie Tipcott.

Amanda Prowse has a brilliant way of story telling and I felt like I was a resident of Wollacombe and that I knew the Tipcott's personally!

I loved Rosie, she was just normal and completely focused on making her husband Phil and their children happy.

I have to mention the children here - Naomi and Leona.

My gosh I have never laughed so much at parts children have in books as I did with these two, they were a right pair of chatterboxes, asking questions and telling it straight. They were full of love and laughter yet as the story progessed we could see the worry and vulnerability children so often have when questions pop in to their heads.

Everything in Rosie's life is turned upside down by her husbands revelation, he leaves and through a series of events ends up taking the girls with him. Not only this but Rosie also questions the loyalties of her good friend and Phil's family.

The one person who is really on Rosie's side is her best friend from school, Kev, who also happens to be her brother in law. Yet he is off on some amazing adventure travelling the world and with Rosie's relationship with her Dad being strained she really is on her own - even more so after chat with Kev on one of his visits home.

I'll be completely honest here, I never read the synopsis before I started reading the book so the story line of Phil leaving was completely new to me and I enjoyed the element of shock and surprise as they seemed to have it all. 

That said, I did find a sub story line involving Rosie and Kev a little predictable - not that this mattered mind!

Amanda Prowse has a wonderful way of writing characters and stories that you just feel apart of. 

I love how a real life scenario is taken yet placed into a work of fictional wonder!

Despite guessing what some of the outcome was, My Husband's Wife was heartbreaking, heartwarming and uplifting all at once.

Amanda had me emotionally gripped - I laughed and I cried throughout as I turned the pages, one of the books you wish you hadn't read so fast, yet couldn't slowly for a need to know what happens.

Quite simply, My Husband's Wife was utterly captivating and brilliant!

Rating 5/5

Huge Thanks to Amanda, Simeon and all at Head of Zeus for supplying a hardback copy of

My Husbands Wife

in return for my honest review.

Review + Giveaway | Lovers and Liars ~ Nigel May

Title: Lovers and Liars

Author: Nigel May

Published: June 2016

Publisher: Bookouture

Welcome to the Velvet Hotel Barbados where money and sex go hand in hand with murder .... 

When Millionaire playboy Sheridan Rivers is found dead at his luxurious hotel on the paradise island of Barbados, there are several suspects in the frame… 

Sutton: Sheridan’s long-suffering wife was permanently pushed aside for his younger lovers. Was it time for her to make a stand? 

Kassidy: Sheridan’s assistant longs to be wealthy in her own right. Employed for her sexual and organisational skills, could she have had her eyes on a bigger prize? 

Nikki: Sheridan’s oldest daughter has done something really bad that her dad has discovered. What price will she pay to keep his silence? 

Heather: The apple of her father, Sheridan’s eye. But her father was responsible for a terrible tragedy that turned her world upside down. Is the time ripe for revenge? 

Four women, each with a cross to bear – all waiting for the perfect moment to get even... 

This summer, pour yourself a glass of bubbly and escape with the elite to the golden beaches of Barbados for a sexy, scandalous romp that you won’t be able to put down. 

It's no secret that I am a massive Nigel May fan since discovering him last year with his novel Scandalous Lies. which you can read my review of here. I immediately went and brought his two previously published novels, Trinity and Addicted, but as often with book bloggers and reviewers, there are always new books being published and so these are sat waiting patiently on my TBR - Sorry Nigel!

After Scandalous Lies came Deadly Obsession, in which you can read my review of here, again I loved this book and Nigel May was fast become one of the authors I'm most looking forward to new novels from. I also felt that Deadly Obsession was a step up from Scandalous Lies - it was deeper and darker, and I was left wondering how Nigel May was going to top it.

Well let me tell you right away - the man is a glam fiction genius! 

Before I get too engrossed in this review, be sure to check out the giveaway at the end. I had great pleasure in meeting Nigel a few weeks back when he came to Southampton to do a talk about Lovers and Liars for a charity that he is involved with. Nigel is genuinely a warm, caring, grounded man. It was lovely to chat to him about all things books and blogging and not only did he take the time to speak to everyone there at length, he also very kindly provided me with some signed bits to run a giveaway with - thank you Nigel!

Myself, Nigel and my friend, Steph.

Lovers and Liars then - jeez what a story.

What I loved about this story is that right from the outset we know that there is a murder with billionaire Sheridan Rivers being the culprit. His murder is detailed in the prologue of the book where we are introduced to Sheridan and all of the suspects as they gear up for the boxing fight of the year at one of his glamorous Velvet Hotels.

What we obviously don't know is who killed him  - or why.

Post prologue, Nigel May takes us on a journey starting a few months prior to the murder, giving us backgrounds on the group of characters he has created and as time passes on and events unfold we are left wondering who the killer is, as Nigel has expertly written the story so that each suspect has valid motive.

I'm not going to spoil anything by saying who the killer is, but I will say I did have my suspicions about said person!

Lovers and Liars has a great character cast and I adore the wonderful names Nigel comes up with - keep your eyes peeled for one you may recognise in a future book ;-)

Nigel May has a great way of taking a small handful of characters, each with their own sub story lines detailed greatly in the beginning of the book. I was wondering how the bigger picture linked them together but as you read on, all becomes clear and it works. 

It just bloomin' works with lies and affairs, secrets and deceit and of course the sex and glamour we come to love in a Nigel May novel.

I loved the female characters of the story - Sutton, Nikki and Heather in particular. Sutton is Sheridan's long suffering wife with Nikki and Heather their daughters and despite the fabulous live Sheridan's money can buy them, at times of the book they showed real vulnerability and really depended on each other.

I didn't particularly like Sheridan, he was a bit money arrogant but I felt he was created to be like this so I didn't feel bad for long. Equally I didn't feel bad for his PA Kassidy either - there was something sly about her in the first half of the book which is proved in the second half.

I also enjoyed reading about Hatton and Fidge - Boxer and Manager, and their secret love for each other. I definitely feel we need more appearances from DJ Blair though!

Overall, Lover and Liars is what you want in a book - yes there are sexual scenes but this is balanced out with murder. There's lies balanced out with love. There's penthouse suits and private jets on exotic locations. A life millions of miles away from the ones most of us live.

Lovers and Liars is pure escapism, a complete page turner and full of unexpected twists and turns.

Rating 5/5

Giveaway!

As mentioned earlier, I have a wonderful Nigel May giveaway for 3 lucky winners.

I have three Nigel May prizes to win - Please note these are UK only.

1: Signed Trinity book

2: Signed Scandalous Lies book

3: Signed extract from Lovers and Liars

Giveaway ends midnight on Thursday 14th  July and winners will be notified by email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review | The Little Village Bakery (Honeybourne, Book 1) ~ Tilly Tennant

The Little Village Bakery

Honeybourne, Book 1.

Author: Tilly Tennant

Publisher: Bookouture

Published: June 2016

Kindle | Paperback

Help yourself to a generous slice of Victoria sponge, a perfect cup of tea and a big dollop of romance. Welcome to the Little Village Bakery. 

Meet Millie. Heartbreak has forced her to make a new start and when she arrives at the old bakery in the little village of Honeybourne she is determined that this will be her home sweet home. Her imagination has been captured by the tumbledown bakery but with no running water and dust everywhere, her cosy idea of making cakes in a rural idyll quickly crumbles. 

Luckily the locals are a friendly bunch and step in to help Millie. One in particular,Dylan, a laid-back lothario, soon captures her attention. 

But just as Millie is beginning to settle in, an unexpected visitor from her past suddenly turns up determined to ruin everything for her. It’s time for Millie to face the skeletons in her closet if she’s going to live the dream of running her little village bakery, and her blossoming romance with Dylan. 

A charming heartwarming novel about love, life and new beginnings perfect for fans of Milly Johnson and Debbie Johnson.

As many of you will know from my recent social media posts, I've been unwell and signed off work, which should be a great excuse to catch up with reading. However you may also recently know that my reading mojo disappeared. Putting all this together made Lozza's Book Corner a rather sad place.

I then picked up this rather gorgeous looking book by the talented Tilly Tennant. It gripped me immediately but the blasted pain meant that I was unable to read for long periods of time so it took me slightly longer than I believe it would have done on full health.

I love Tilly's writing style. It's easy going, light-hearted and has a great feel good factor, however I felt that The Little Village Bakery was slightly more gripping than the other books I have read from this author.

Right from the beginning, when the main character Millie moves to the Hampshire village of Honeybourne, we know that she is plagued with something awful from her past. The book kept the suspense going for a good 2/3's of the story whilst along the way Millie's past comes to haunt her.

Alongside Millie, there is a whole bunch of delightful characters, who each have equally good sub plots and I'm delighted that at the end of the book Tilly announced that she will be re-visiting them as I'd love to know how their lives have moved on from the drama!

What I loved about this book though is a real sense of community spirit. When Millie decided to up sticks from Millrise (Tilly fans will recognise this landmark from her previous work) and move to Honeybourne, she brought the run down bakery. Upon arriving she discovered that it needed much more work than she anticipated but the locals all rallyed round to help in anyway they could.

The Little Village Bakery is a gorgeous novel for summer, full with plenty of drama, laughs and happy endings.

Rating 5/5

My Book Corner | Laura James

I'm delighted to have a fellow Laura on the blog today! Laura James is a (fairly) local author to where I live and we have met at a few events now. From our chat's I know Laura is working on a new novel, however in the meantime her latest What Doesn't Kill You, is out now.

     Laura, Thank you for coming on Lozza’s BookCorner. Please can you tell us a little about you and your Book Corner/Writing Space?

Thank you so much for inviting me into your book corner, Laura. It’s very cosy. 

I have a reading corner and a writing corner. My favourite room in our house is the conservatory. It’s south facing, so in the winter, when the sun shines, it’s is light, bright and warm in there. It happens to be our cats favourite room, too. My writing corner is in our kitchen. It’s the perfect spot for me, as it’s away from the distractions of the television, but it’s close to the kettle and fridge.

     Do you have a favourite shelf/collection of books? Or favourite part of your Book Corner?

I have a bookcase on the landing. 

It was my mum’s and I store some of her favourite books there. The bottom shelf is for the large, hardback children’s classics, such as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Wind in the Willows. I bought them many years ago, when I was expecting our first child. The top shelf is for Choc Lit books. Seeing one with my name on it never gets boring.

    Do you have any reading/writing habits?

I can’t think of any reading habits, other than I usually have at least two books on the go – one downstairs and one upstairs. I like to shut myself away when I’m writing, which isn’t always possible in the kitchen as family members tend to want to eat and the cats want to go in and out of the room. I’m convinced they just want the door OPEN. Why isn’t the door OPEN? We’re going to sit and mew at the door until it is OPEN. And then we shall sit the other side and mew until it is OPEN. Leave the door OPEN. And so on …

    How do you keep apart, track and control your TBR books?

I have a large TBR, with books stored on my e-reader, the others in my wardrobe, in the bookcase, on the coffee table and on my bedside table. If the book is on either the coffee or bedside table, it is the current read. Since becoming a writer and a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, I have discovered many more wonderful writers.

    Thank you again for coming on today Laura, before you leave, can you provide links to your social media handles please? 

If readers would like to find out more, please visit me at www.lauraejames.co.uk, pop in and say hello at www.facebook.com/LauraE.JamesWriter or come and tweet with me on Twitter – I’m @Laura_E_James.

Possessing little in the way of domestic skills, and with an insatiable hunger to write, Laura E. James found a much better use than cooking, for the family kitchen. Tucked neatly in one corner is her very small, but very tidy desk from where she produces issue-driven romantic novels, short stories, and flash fiction. Living in and enjoying the inspirational county of Dorset, Laura is a graduate of the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme, a member of her local writing group, Off The Cuff, a founder of Littoralis, and one eighth of The Romaniacs, the RNA Industry Awards 2015 Media Stars Winner. Published by Choc Lit, Laura’s debut novel, Truth or Dare? was nominated for the Festival of Romance Best Romantic eBook. Her second novel, Follow Me Follow You was a lovereading.co.uk editorial selection. What Doesn’t Kill You, the third in the Chesil Beach Book Series, is the first title in Choc Lit’s new Dark imprint ‒ compelling, emotional, hard-hitting novels. Not your typical romance story. For further information, go to: www.lauraejames.co.uk http://www.choc-lit.com/productcat/laura-e-james/ www.theromaniacs.co.uk www.facebook.com/LittoralisWriters