The Sun In Her Eyes by Paige Toon

Blinding sunshine. ... A bend in the road. ..
What became of the little girl with the sun in her eyes?

Amber was three when a car crash stole her mother's life. She doesn't remember the accident, but a stranger at the scene has been unable to forget.  Now almost thirty years later, she's trying to track Amber down.

Amber, meanwhile,  is married to Ned and living on the other side of the world in London. When her father has a stroke she flies straight home to Australia to be with him.
Away from her husband, Amber finds comfort in her oldest friends, but her feelings for Ethan, the gorgeous, green eyed man she once fell for, have never been platonic.

As Ethan and Amber grow closer, married life in London feels very far away. Then Amber receives a letter that changes everything.

"Before your Mother died, she asked me to tell you something...."

"The perfect summer read" ~ Heat

I'm going to start with saying that despite this book reducing me to tears, I absolutely loved it!

I'm aware that Paige Toon has a few  novels out there, I first became aware of her when I read Thirteen Weddings last year.

I love Paige Toons writing style, The Sun In Her Eyes is set between rainy London and sunny Oz... having done some research on the author I discovered that most, if not all, of her books are based in these two countries and that stems from her personal up bringing.

I've also discovered that within Paige Toons books some of her characters cross reference. .. for example, in this book, Neds colleague, Zara, also features in Thirteen Weddings -based on this alone I've vowed to revisit all of her books to see how other characters make cameos! Very clever and something I've not known other authors to achieve.

The first half of The Sun In Her Eyes was an easy read...

Amber is married to Ned, she left her job as a teacher for something with  higher pay but is soon made redundant. Their marriage is rocky, Amber is convinced that Zara is after her hubby and if you've read the previous book with this character you can understand why!
No sooner as she loses her job, her father has a stroke... perfect timing but thats the beauty of the book world eh?!
Amber flies to Australia to help care for her dad and help with his recovery, despite the lack of bond she has with his partner.

To escape Liz's ways, Amber relies on her fiends and drunken nights out... its almost as if she is reliving her youth now she's home. Then Ethan arrives.
Amber last saw him at her wedding and even though she committed to Ned, Ethan always has a piece of her heart and when she accidentally let's slip she loves him they become close... too close!

Neither Amber's relationship with her husband or her lover are easy ones and each have their problems but then Amber gets another distraction when a letter comes from the lady who was there when her mother died in a car accident. Doris claims to have a message from Amber's mum and they arrange to meet up... that's not all that Amber has on her mind though.

The second half of the book for me was much harder to read.
This has nothing to do with the way it's written but more with the fact that Amber reveals her and Ned had a miscarriage the year before and Amber partly blames herself for this as she had a fall shortly before her loss - Paige Toon wrote this storyline tastefully however, personally I related to Amber on another level as I've been in this situation.

For a couple of chapters I picked the book up and put it's down again numerous times and eventually got past that section and continued with the story... which I have to say had a fab ending.

Amber received her mother's dying message via Doris and got her marriage back on track. .. she even started to make amends with Liz who was about to become a permanent fixture in her fathers life.

Many reviews on The Sun In Her Eyes I've seen state how Amber came across as someone proud of her affair and relished in her childish ways with her step mum, in my view I just saw a woman that had something missing in her life. She never really knew what it was, never really knew what path to take. But that letter changed everything and although a simple message, one that you'd expect from a dying parent, was given, I felt it made Amber the character she was.

Despite my personal difficulties with this story, I wouldn't hesitate to pass the boon on to my friends as I'd thoroughly recommend it.

I'm off to find my next Paige Toon book ;)

The Perfect Match by Katie Fford

Three years ago, Bella Castle left her hometown nursing a broken heart over Dominic Thane.

Now she has a new job she loves, selling houses in the Cotswolds countryside. And her boyfriend, Nevil, has just proposed.

They're just right for each other, Bella tells herself. So why doesn't she feel happier?

The Dominic turns up unexpectedly.

And Bella begins to ask herself whether Nevil really is her perfect match after all...

"A perfect match for an afternoon curled up on the sofa!" ~ The Sun

It's been a while since I've read something from Katie Fford and I'd forgotten just how adorable her books where.

The Perfect Match follows the story of Bella Castle, a kind and caring estate agent who goes above and beyond her work duties.

She's dating her boss, Nevil, who as a character I took an instant dislike too. Hes cocky and arrogant  and completely uncaring which had be questioning why Bella was with him from the start - he's doesn't even propose to Bella but more tells her that they are getting engaged!

Bella moved in with her godmother, Alice, after fleeing her hometown when the man she was madly I love with, Dominic , was expecting a baby with his wife. It's clear that Bella and Alice dote on each other  and have a really lovely relationship. And whilst Alice's life is moving full steam ahead after discovering love at the age of 60, Bella life is falling apart, mainly because Dominic re enters her life.

Dominic is the nephew of Jane, a client come friend of Bella's, and a well respected solicitor. When old feelings return Bella questions her relationship with Nevil, even more so when she finally gets her most awkward clients to agree to buying a house only to out that there are some wrong doings going on and Nevil is at the forefront of them, and eventually turns to Dominic for help and the pair working together discover that their feelings are mutual.

Katie Fford has a great way of writing in depth, at times I was transported from my home to one in the Cotswolds country side eating cake and sipping tea or champagne.

The Perfect Match is a cute, light read with a romantic feel. The characters (apart from Nevil!) are loveable and easy to get to know and I shall certainly be adding some more of Katie's books to my reading list! 

Always The Bridesmaid by Lindsey Kelk

It feels like it's taken me ages to read Always the Bridesmaid, when in truth it's only been a week and that was purely down to the fact that it was my birthday and I was a busy bee!

Last Saturday, May 9th, I was privileged to meet the lovely Lindsey Kelk at Southampton's West Quay branch of Waterstones.

I'd never been to a book signing before for one reason or another and having seen Always the Bridesmaid down my twitter feed for weeks it just seemed right that I attended... probably helped that my other half said he would buy the book for me as a gift. ..yay!

Lindsey was absolutely lovely and happy to chat, but I won't lie... I couldn't get out of there quick enough... I did have a new book to read ;)

I started reading Always the Bridesmaid as soon as I got home - went down nicely with the free bottle that came with it haha!

EVERYONE LOVES A BRIDESMAID
Except Maddie, who's perpetually asked to be one.
EVERYONE LOVES A WEDDING
Except Maddie's best friend, who's getting a divorce.
AND EVERYONE LOVES THE WAY MADDIE'S HAPPY BEHIND THE SCENES
Except Maddie herself.

One best friend is in wedding countdown while the other is heading for a marriage meltdown. And as Maddie juggles her best chance at promotion in years with bridezilla texts and late night counselling sessions, she starts to wonder - is it time to stop being the Bridesmaid?

"Outrageous, witty, exciting and romantic" ~ Closer

Page one of Always the Bridesmaid starts with the title 'My Bridesmaid Journal'.
There is then a list which had been filled out by Maddie Fraser, the books main character, containing basic information on the wedding - the brides name,  how they met and how long they've known each other for example.
The last question asks how Maddie feels being a bridesmaid and her honest answer, which states she would rather pull her womb out with a rusty coathanger,  has then been crossed out and replaced with the simple word 'blessed' - this had me  giggling from the get go. .. I knew instantly that Maddie was one of those characters I was going to love with a story I'd be addicted to and I wasn't disapointed! What I also liked from the book was that each chapter was a date from the bridesmaid journal, each one with the two lines;
Today I feel:
Today I am thankful for:
Some of Maddie's replies to this were brilliant and you really got a sense of Kelk's writing wit and ofcourse an insight to Maddie's character!

Maddie is an assistant for an events company with a bitch of a boss, she's unlucky in love -her ex boyfriend Seb cheated on her and has just become a dad, and her family think she's letting her life waste away.
There's only two main stable things in her life, her best friends Lauren and Sarah.

When Lauren announces she's getting married and would Maddie's help with the planning, little did Maddie know that Lauren would become the ultimate bridezilla! Maddie is confronted with a three month time scale and requests you'd need to be super human to fulfill, yet being the friend she is she puts up with the demands and plan changes... even at 4am!!

Whilst Lauren's life is full steam ahead, Sarah's is falling apart when her husband announces he wants a divorce. Maddie is stuck in the middle tying to keep one friend happy and the other from an emotional breakdown.... and whilst she's doing this, she's also up for promotion at work.
A job that Sarah has also applied for, a job with even more demands than Lauren's wedding...

There's also Tom who has specifically requested Maddie plan his mum's birthday party... purely due to the massive crush he's got on Maddie, the trouble is... Maddie is sleeping with his friend Will!

Over the course of the three months leading to Lauren's wedding, Maddie's life gets complicated to say the least and it all comes to a head when the job she needed to impress with for promotion goes hideously wrong and she discovers she's actually Will's bit on the side... A full blown melt down occurs resulting with the three girls not talking and Maddie out of work.

As with all good chick - lit books, Always the Bridesmaid does give you a happy ending.
Eventually the girls reunite for the wedding and Maddie and Tom, or Madom as ive named them in my head, get together (yay!).
Sarah also declares that she was offered Maddie's job but turns it down... now that's friendship loyalty, and they decide to set up their own party planning venture... which is fab as it leaves the story open should Lindsey Kelk decide to return to Maddie's life... I for one have my fingers crossed!!

Always the Bridesmaid was my first Lindsey Kelk read and I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the book - I've now added her "I Heart" series to my TBR list ;)