The Wartime Book Club
by
Kate Thompson
BLOG TOUR
The Wartime Book Club
by
Kate Thompson
BLOG TOUR
** COVER REVEAL **
Love, Julie
by
Jamie Anderson
Today, I'm delighted to share the cover reveal for Love, Julie by Jamie Anderson. What a fabulous cover! and as we share the same name, I felt it my duty to reveal this cover! Publication date is 30th April, so not long to wait.
A Poignant and Humorous Journey of Self-discovery, Resilience, and Redemption
Once, Julie dreamed of a life filled with love and laughter. Now, in her mid-forties, she faces a starkly different reality. She's single, lonely, and reeling from breaking her hard-earned sobriety in front of her family and friends.
Opting for self-recovery over romance, Julie dives into planning her best friend Kate’s wedding. However, sharing this task with the irritatingly cheerful best man, single dad Luke, proves to be an unexpected challenge.
As Luke’s persistent kindness chips away at her icy exterior, a friendship forms, stirring a longing she’d sworn to suppress. But with self-forgiveness as her biggest hurdle, and her past ready to sabotage her future, can Julie confront the shame and trauma that have darkened so much of her life and find the courage to love again? Or will her demons shatter both her and Luke’s hearts in the process?
About the Author
Jamie Anderson is based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. A proud Canadian and Saskatchewanian, she wanted to set her first two novels in the place she was born and raised.
She’s been writing for as long as she can remember, and has been reading for longer than that. She lives happily with her mountain of books, her TV and her two plants.
You can read Jamie’s first novel Someone to Kiss here: https://mybook.to/someonetokiss
The Bright Spot
by
Jill Shalvis
Review
by
Julie Williams
Review
I do like a Jill Shalvis novel, as I know I am in for a romantic, easy read.
Based in Apple Ridge Farm, Luna Wright is surprised when she is informed that the late owner Silas has left her fifty percent of the farm. The Farm and its employees are like her family to her as Luna was adopted at birth with no knowledge of her birth family. This makes her particularly protective of the Farm and its adorable rescued animals.
When the co-owner, Jameson, arrives to announce the news Luna is confused and worried, as she does not know what his intentions will be, especially as he reveals that the Farm is in fact struggling financially with a high chance of it having to close. Jameson feels a spark between them but Luna is a hard nut to crack as her issues with trust go way back. They decide to pull together to try to find a solution to save Apple Ridge and make it a viable business.
I loved all the characters in this book and the relationships between them all. This book is number six in the Sunrise Cove series but can be read as a standalone, the next one being available in the Summer 2024, so we won’t have to wait long to see what Jill has in store for the delightful characters.
My thanks to Net Galley and the publishers Headline for the advanced digital copy and to Julie to post my review on Boons Bookcase blog as part of the blog tour.
** Cover Reveal **
The Bookshop Ladies
by
Faith Hogan
As Joy gets drawn into the dramas of everyday life in the town, she finds it more and more difficult to confess why she really came, let alone find the truth about the painting she brought with her. When she does finally summon up the courage, it sets the cat amongst the pigeons in the close-knit, friendly community she has come to love.J
Podcast
with
Kate Thompson
Something new on the blog today and it's a review of a podcast I listened to by Kate Thompson. I love Kate's books and I am really interested in reading wartime books and so I listened to Kate's podcast From the Library with Love and I have reviewed a podcast titled Vanishing Voices of Wartime London.
Review
In this podcast we listen to 3 people about their wartime experiences. Marie recalls her mother's words of wisdom like "if you get lost, never ask a copper, always ask a tramp and they will get you home".
She also talks about her evacuation. She says she was treated badly and the lady who she went to stay with cut her hair off as she thought she had lice because she came from London. Marie says she wasn't fed very well, even though her mother sent money regularly for her upkeep. When her mother found out about this, she went to pick Marie up and had such a row with the lady and punched her that a Policeman had to intervene! She took Marie home back to London after that. My Mum told me a similar story about my uncle (her brother) being treated badly when he was evacuated. Some people had a great time living in the country during the war, but for others, it was a nightmare. So sad.
Dot Smee was another lady who spoke to Kate on the podcast. I loved hearing her singing wartime songs and Sally Flood reciting her Jewish poetry and reminiscing about her time during the war as a jewish child and the awful way she was treated.
Listening to people talk about their lives during the war always reminds me of my dear Mum. She was 9 when war broke out and she used to tell me stories of when she was evacuated to Dorset and even though she never stayed there for very long, it always held a place in her heart and we even scattered some of her ashes down there. She even had relatives who never came back to London!
I shall continue to listen to Kate's podcasts as she talks to such interesting people. I do love a cockey voice as it reminds me of my childhood, even if I wasn't born within the sound of Bow bells, I am still proud of my South East London roots!
ABOUT KATE THOMPSON
Kate Thompson an award-winning journalist, ghostwriter and novelist who has spent the past two decades in the UK mass market and book publishing industry.
Over the past eight years Kate has written eleven fiction and non-fiction titles, three of which have made the Sunday Times top ten bestseller list.
www.facebook.com/KateThompsonAuthor
TWITTER / X @katethompson3680
INSTAGRAM @katethompsonauthor
The Orphans on the Train
by
Gill Thompson
BLOG TOUR
1939.
A girl with auburn hair looks anxiously out of the train window, watching the mountains of Europe pass by. War is on the horizon at home, and Kirsty finds herself heading to neutral Hungary to help in a school for Jewish children. Little does she know that in leaving everything behind, she is about to find the most precious gift of all - a true friend in school pupil Anna.
1943.
When the Nazis invade Budapest, Kirsty and Anna are on their own, and Kirsty worries desperately for her Jewish friend. What lengths must they go to in order to survive, and, when they are separated, can the guiding light of friendship bring them back to each other?
REVIEW
Kirsty lives in Scotland with her father, who is a miner. Her mother died when she was young and there were just the two of them getting on with their lives.
Kirsty enjoyed working at the swimming pool and also loved being able to use the pool when everyone else had gone home. It was her escape from the danger of her father working underground and also impending war.
Kirsty's worst fears come true when her father dies in a mining accident and she is then left orphaned. After being looked after for a while by a family friend, Kirsty feels she has outstayed her welcome and begins to look towards the future. She is given the opportunity to travel to Hungary to help in a Jewish school as an assistant cook and is assured she will be safer there than in the UK as war erupts.
Once arriving in Hungary she settles down and works alongside the cook Maria who is not so friendly, but Kirsty meets a Jewish girl called Anna who she instantly strikes up a friendship with and they soon become inseparable. Anna also has a brother called Endre who Kirsty finds she has an attraction to.
Things aren't as safe in Hungary as Kirsty thought they would be and when Endre is sent to war and violence erupts near the school, Kirsty has to have her wits about her every minute of the day.
This was a super read with great characters. I do love a wartime story and this one certainly pulls at your heartstrings with a fabulous ending.
The Christmas Book Club
by
Sarah Morgan
Review by
Julie Williams
Review
Another successful story written by Sarah Morgan who has the well-earned title of Queen of Romance. This latest Christmas story has, I am pleased to say romance in abundance.
Three firm friends have delayed their annual book club vacation, which usually occurs in summer to just before the Christmas holidays. Erica who is a single independent woman books them into the luxurious Maple Sugar Inn hotel set in an idyllic location.
Anna the perfect mother and wife has reservations about the trip, as she is desperate to spend time with her twins who are off to university and she is already dreading the empty nest.
Claudia who is recently divorced and redundant from her job as a chef is at a turning point in her life as she tries to decide just what she wants to do next. These three characters are all very different and although they are best friends, they each hold their own insecurities and apprehensions.
The hotel owner Hattie has her own worries as she muddles through the daily tasks and stresses it takes to be a top class hotelier, a legacy she is determined to uphold as set by her late husband, as well as Mum to the delightful Delphi her 5-year-old daughter.
I loved the connections between all these female characters and their background stories. Set in a gorgeous location, which oozed Christmas, bode for a perfect Christmas story.