BOOKSIMO

  Description A whimsical and inventive debut, perfect for fans of  The Guest Cat  and  If Cats Disappeared from the World . A young couple’s daily life is disrupted by their newly adopted cat, who soon initiates them into the wondrous world of felines. Every cat contains multitudes… When a young couple accidentally comes into possession of a playful kitten, their daily routine (and cramped apartment) is turned upside down. Soon they find their existence forever altered. Charting the couple’s ever-evolving relationship with cats – some they live with, others who exist only in their imagination –  Invisible Kitties  is a meditation on the quiet moments of everyday life and a celebration of cats in all their many forms. Review Well, it's certainly different! I found this book too surrealist for my taste. Of course as it is translated from the Japanese I was expecting it to be different to western writing.  At times it is more whimsical and that I was okay with. I can relate to some o

  Description The funny, wise and brilliant new novel from the star of  QI  and the author of  Between the Stops 'Warm, witty and wise... the perfect balm for these turbulent times'  GRAHAM NORTON After much searching, the happily married young couple, Amber and Stevie think they have found the perfect spot in Grimaldi Square. Despite the rundown pub across the way, the overgrown garden and a decidedly nosy neighbour, number 4 is the house of their dreams. Stevie, a woman who has never left anything to chance, has planned everything so nothing can spoil their happiness. But ... upstairs in their new home, seated on an old red sofa is the woman they bought the place from - eighty-year-old foul-mouthed, straight-talking, wise-cracking Dorothy - who has decided that she's not going anywhere. It turns out that Dorothy will be only the first in a line of life-changing surprises. Friends of Dorothy  is a touching, funny novel about a family that is not biological, but logical; a

  Description Turn a tumbledown Paris hotel into a perfect boutique, bookish retreat, and have it open for Christmas? What could possibly go wrong? When  Anais  receives a near-derelict Paris hotel in her divorce settlement, her first thought is to tidy it up and sell it immediately. All she wants is to move on and forget her disaster of a marriage ever happened. But selling it proves impossible, so she has only one option: to make it gorgeous and open by Christmas… when her funds will almost certainly run out. She’s not counting on the grumpy American bar-owner next door,  Noah , coming and interfering at every moment though. Nor is she expecting to find a mysterious room – which holds the key to a one-hundred-year-old secret – about a woman who chose love against the odds. One thing’s for sure… as the fairy lights twinkle all over the city of lights and the first snowflakes start to fall… this will be a Christmas in Paris to remember. Review It took a while for me to get invested in

  DESCRIPTION Fleeing her heartache and horrendous job, Bella stumbles upon a December wedding in the beautiful village of Haileybrook and the spirit of the season moves her to act as a fake date to handsome stranger Jack. Jack and Bella hit it off, but Bella has to leave in a hurry and their magical evening soon becomes nothing more than a blissful memory. A year later, Bella is returning to Haileybrook, seeking a fresh start and a quieter life. With a new job close to her cosy cottage home, a peaceful Christmas is surely only days away. But it’s not long before family surprises, small-town feuds and romantic drama disrupt Bella’s plans, and she has to wonder if being alone is what she really wants for Christmas … This cosy, uplifting festive romance is perfect for fans of Hallmark Christmas movies and authors such as Sarah Morgan, Phillipa Ashley and Sue Moorcroft. REVIEW What a great read with a wonderful storyline. We first meet Bella in a church, shortly before she becomes entang

  Description A hopeful, healing novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Booker-shortlisted author   – available for pre-order now It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer, Lucy Barton, who lives nearby in a house next to the sea. Together, Lucy and Bob talk about their lives, their hopes and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, befriends one of Crosby’s longest inhabitants, Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. They spend afternoons together in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known – “unrecorded lives,” Olive calls them – reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with mean

  Description It's time to rediscover her magic . . . With found family, a dash of romance and an uplifting message about self-love,  Rewitched  is a cosy autumnal fantasy that will leave readers spellbound. Belladonna Blackthorn hasn’t lost her magical spark, but she hasn’t seen it in a while either. Balancing work at her beloved London bookshop, Lunar Books, with handling her toxic boss and concealing her witchcraft from those around her – Belle is burnt out. Perfecting the potential of her magic is the last thing on her mind. But, when her thirtieth birthday brings a summons from her coven and a trial that tests her worthiness as a witch, Belle risks losing her magic for ever. With the month of October to fix things and signs that dark forces may be working against her, Belle will need all the help she can get – from the women in her life, from an unlikely mentor figure and even from an (infuriating) coven watchman who’s sworn to protect her . . . 'I was completely charmed b