BOOKSIMO

How can a memory so vivid be wrong? I tried to remember the first time I’d been here and to see the tree through Izzie’s eyes. The oak stood on a rise just above the path; not too tall or wide but graceful and straight, its trunk covered in what I can only describe as offerings – pieces of ribbon, daisy chains, a shell necklace, a tiny doll or two and even an old cuckoo clock. "Why do people do this?" Izzie asked. I winked at her. "To say thank you to the fairies." In the summer of 1986 Robin and Izzie hold hands under  The Faerie Tree  and wish for a future together. Within hours tragedy rips their dreams apart. In the winter of 2006, each carrying their own burden of grief, they stumble back into each other’s lives and try to create a second chance. But why are their memories of 1986 so different? And which one of them is right? ---------- I have fairly eclectic tastes when it comes to reading but probably what underlies my reading choices

What if you could ask God anything? What would you ask? And how would He answer? Chelsea Chambers is on her own. After a public split from her NFL superstar husband, Chelsea takes a bold step out of the limelight and behind the counter of the Higher Grounds Café, an old-fashioned coffee shop in dire need of reinvention. But when her courage, expert planning, and out-of-this-world cupcakes fail to pay the bills, this newly single mom finds herself desperate for help. Better yet, a miracle. Then a curious stranger lands at Chelsea’s door, and with him, an even more curious string of events. Soon, customers are flocking to the Higher Grounds Café, and not just for the cupcakes and cappuccino. They’ve come for the internet connection to the divine. Now the café has become the go-to place for people in search of answers to life’s biggest questions. When a catastrophe strikes and her ex comes calling, Chelsea begins to wonder if the whole universe is conspiring against her que

What can rock your world faster than winning or losing a king’s ransom overnight?  Just as a huge financial scandal throws New Yorker, Olivia Wheeler, from wealth and success to bankruptcy and shame, struggling impoverished single-mother Rosie Dixon wins an unexpected million pounds. Good luck? Bad luck? Who can tell? Both women have more in common than they realize. While Olivia struggles to survive her humiliations, fleeing broke and homeless to London, shy unassuming Rosie discovers sudden riches arrive with their own mega-load of problems.  Can workaholic career-obsessed Olivia find a passion for something earthier and warmer than power and prestige? And can Rosie sift through envy and greed to discover true friends, true family and even true love?  Two strangers who’ve never met. Yet neither realizes how each is affecting the other’s destiny or the places their paths touch and fates entwine.  How will they surmount the pitfalls and perils of their outrageous change of fortune

The lovely Kerry Frith let me have a copy of this ebook to review - thanks Kerry. Hattie Carter was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She witnessed something she shouldn’t have and it changed her life overnight.  Now it’s time for Hattie to move on except it's not that easy when she's receiving death threats. On the advice of the DCI in charge, she finds herself in the exquisite village of Castleford in Wiltshire where the cottages are cosy, the locals friendly and never mind the charming Lord Ethan Parks and local sexy but grumpy DI Joe Walsh. Hattie starts to think maybe it's not so bad after all.  There's no sirens, smog or traffic and even the birds seem chirpier but when there’s a murder in the village, Hattie finds herself curious as to who poisoned Hillary Bishop. She has her suspicions but can she prove who did it all the while DI Walsh is keeping a very close eye on her? I devoured this book in one day - I had other things I needed to do, so

Fay Merryweather runs her cake shop from her beautiful garden. She whips up airy sponges and scrumptious scones, while her customers enjoy the lovely blossoms and gorgeous blooms. Looking after the cake shop, the garden and her cantankerous mother means Fay is always busy but she accepts her responsibilities because if she doesn't do all this, who will? Then Danny Wilde walks into her life and makes Fay question every decision she's ever made. When a sudden tragedy strikes, Fay's entire world is thrown off balance even further and she doesn't know which way to turn. Can Fay find the strength to make a life-changing decision - even if it means giving up the thing she loves the most? Life, love and family are about to collide in The Cake Shop in the Garden. Well – what can I say – you had me at Cake and Carole Matthews! Where to begin, because I just loved so much about this book. I actually began to ration my reading towards the close of the book, because I

Something a little bit different on my blog today. Transun are running a competition to win a trip to see the northern lights. To enter the competition you have to write a blog post about your top three travel bucket list destinations. Well it just so happens that my three top destinations are also featured in three of my favourite book titles. Budapest - The Grant Budapest Hotel I have wanted to go to Budapest for a long time. I'm intrigued by a city that was once Buda and Pest and became one. I have seen so many times the beautiful pictures of the wonderful architecture from the river Danube, particularly that of the Hungarian Parliament, that I can't wait to see it in person. Venice - A Night on the Orient Express I really want to travel on the Orient Express - experience that old world luxury and service that is so rare today. Relive what it would have been like to travel on the Orient Express in the 1880s when it first began. To arrive in Venice and explore all

A laugh-out-loud romance from the bestselling author of the Shopaholic series. Meet Audrey: an ordinary teenage girl with not so ordinary problems. Aside from her completely crazy and chaotic family, she suffers from an anxiety disorder which makes talking to her brother's hot new best friend a bit of a challenge. But Audrey has a plan to help her face her fears and take on the world again. First stop: Starbucks. This book is by one of my favourite authors which is why I requested a copy to review, although it's aimed at a teenage audience. I am far, far from a teenager! But I loved this book. Some of what Audrey is going through happens to adults too and through her eyes she explains excellently what her life has become, but she's planning on changing it and Starbucks features in that plan (who knew!). Hearing what her parents are saying through Audrey is very comical, you can imagine yourself saying these things as an adult everyday - but when analysed it real