Giveaway: A set of all of Ciara Geraghty's books

Would you would like to win a bundle of books? Well if so, thanks to the lovely Hodder & Stoughton I have a set of all three of Ciara Geraghty's novels to giveaway to one lucky winner. The bundle includes:

• Saving Grace
• Becoming Scarlett
• Finding Mr Flood

You can read my review of Finding Mr Flood here

To enter please complete the form below. The giveaway is open internationally. Winners will be contacted once the competition ends and will have 48 hours to respond, else a new winner will be chosen.

Giveaway ends 24th January 2012

Good Luck!

Blog Tour - Stay Tuned by Lauren Clark

Stay Tuned by Lauren Clark

When Was It Released?: 21st November 2011
Where Did I Get It From?: As part of the blog tour for Chick Lit Plus
Who Published It?: Monterey Press
Number Of Pages: 272 pages

When I came across the blog tour for Stay Tuned by Lauren Clark on Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours I just knew this was a book I would love reading. With a mix of the intriguing TV producing world as well as the gorgeous but simple cover, I had to sign up for the tour immediatly, so that I could get my hands on Stay Tuned.

Melissa Moore, a TV producer for the WSGA news, constantly has to deal with issues during her work day, but no-one expected a fist fight to happen during the ten o'clock news. When the glamourous Alyssa Andrews punches her co-anchor, Melissa is first on set to do anything to save the reputation of the show. After both anchors are fired Melissa agrees to temporaily take on the role, alone with a brand new makeover to tranform her from producer to presenter. While Melissa wows the viewers, her personal life is falling apart with a mother who is out of control, a stalker and a husband who is away from home more and more.

Stay Tuned was an enjoyable look into the crazy world of a newsroom producer. Lauren Clark has previously worked in TV and her knowledge and insider information added an extra layer to the story. While Stay Tuned is purely fiction, I found it interesting to see what really goes on behind the scenes of a news programme. And trust me, it is a lot crazier than you would ever believe. The pace of the book does start out a little slow over the first few pages, however once I got into the story my interest was piqued and kept throughout the remainder of the novel. Stay Tuned is extremely well written, with Lauren Clark setting the scene so well that I felt as though I could have reading about a real person rather than a fictional character.

While at times I did find Melissa a little difficult to relate to, perhaps because of how different she is from how I am, I did find her extremely likeable. She came across as a very realistic character, with insecurites and flaws, which I found refreshing to read about. My favourite character, however, has to be Candace, Melissa's best friend, who always seems so positive and full of life. Her constant quoting of Dr Phil, had me laughing the whole way through.

Overall, I found Stay Tuned to be a unique and quick read, that could easily be devoured in the space of a weekend. Stay Tuned is a real feel good book that will have you smiling long after you have turned the last page. I would reccomend Stay Tuned and I am looking forward to reading more from Lauren Clark in the future.

January TBR Pile

To start off the New Year of blogging, I decided to revert back to one of the posts I used to feature on Chick Litaholic, which is my To Be Read Pile each month. In the past I have tended to deviate greatly from my intended reading pile, however with the New Year and new resolutions I plan to make a list each month of books to be read and stick to it. Of course there will be times when I won't be able to do this completly. I doubt I will read everything in my pile, I'm always overly ambitious in that respect, but on the whole I will try my best to read the books in my list each month.
Books Mentioned:

The Hating Game by Talli Roland

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Any Dream Will Do by Maria Duffy

Manhattan by Ronni Cooper

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Stay Tuned by Lauren Clark

Switched by Amanda Hocking

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Recession Proof by Kimberly Lin

The Stag And Hen Weekend by Mike Gayle

What are you reading this month?

Christmas At Tiffany's by Karen Swan: A Review

Chistmas At Tiffany's by Karen Swan

When Was It Released?:  18th November 2011
Where Did I Get It From?: From the publishers in exchange for a review. Thankyou!
Who Published It?: Pan Macmillian
Number Of Pages: 400 pages

Once I became aware of Karen Swan's latest novel, Christmas At Tiffany's it automatically became a must-read book. The cover is beautiful and the title really enticed me into wanting to read the book straight away. As soon as Christmas At Tiffany's arrived I curled up on the sofa with a steaming mug of hot chocolate ready to delve into Cassie's journey.

When Cassie married her teenage sweetheart she was far too young. Now ten years later her marriage is left in taters after being betrayed by her husband. With her life up in the air and no idea of who she is anymore Cassie is determined to find happiness again. Cassie begins a year long adventure with her three best friends, taking her from rural Scotland to New York, Paris and London. Cassie tries out each city in her search to track down the life she is supposed to lead and maybe even the man she is supposed to love.

While the idea for the story was nothing unique or original, I have to admit that the idea of Cassie being cheated on then spending the next year exploring exotic locations and finding herself at the same time, really appealed to me. After all, I'm sure many of us would love to be able to start anew with our lives and be able to figure out exactly what we want to do. I really enjoyed reading about Cassie's adventures in New York, Paris and London, which had me instantly wanting to be able to do the same journey myself. My favourite city to read about had to be New York, which is focuses on most throughout the book, Karen Swan's witty humour had me laughing and then the next moment the intensity of Cassie's emotion had me on the verge of tears.

All of the characters are such fun women that I found myself instantly wishing I knew. Kelly and Anouk are such stylish, sophisticated women, who seem to have everything that they could ever want. My favourite of the friends has to be Suzy, whose life is the most realistic of the three women, being happily married with a child on the way. While Cassie was a little naive at times, with her being new to each city, I did find myself feeling compassion for her throughout. I really felt for the way in which her husband has cheated on her and the emotions that she is put through as a result. Even though I loved all three women, my favourite character in the book was Henry, Suzy's brother. He was witty, adventurous and most importantly down to earth in comparison with many of the other characters.

Christmas At Tiffany's has been marketed as a Christmas themed book, while there are a couple of Christmas elements within the story, I found the Christmas aspect to be a little lacking. I do enjoy spending the month of Decemeber reading every Christmas themed chick lit book I can get my hands on, so I have to admit I was a little disappointed. While this was a downside, it does mean that this book can be read at any time of the year. The prose was a little misleading and jumpy, at times I would turn the page expecting the chapter to continue, only to find that it had ended abruptly, without any warning. This left me feeling as though the novel did not flow quite as well as I would have liked.

While the Christmas title is a little misleading, I would still highly reccomend Christmas At Tiffany's. Karen Swan's writing is beautiful and the way in which she delves into female friendships and the depth of these bonds is unparalled in chick lit. While her the descriptive way she brought the destinations of New York, Paris and London to life were so well done I found myself transported to each location instantly. I will be looking out for more from Karen Swan in the future.

It's A Vets Life by Cathy Woodman: A Review

It's A Vets Life by Cathy Woodman

When Was It Released?:  10th November 2011

Where Did I Get It From?: From the publishers in exchange for a review. Thankyou!
Who Published It?: Arrow
Number Of Pages: 400 pages

When I was younger, growing up in the countryside, I always wanted to be a vet. I love animals and constantly begged my mum and dad for a pet. Sadly one never came and my dream of being a vet quickly diminished when I realised I can't handle the sight of blood. My love of animals, however has continued, and upon finding a set of books about, you guessed it, a vet living in the countryside, I just could not pass up on reading them.

Maz Harwood loves her job as a vet, even if it does mean long hours and dirty conditions. She is planning to marry fellow vet, Alex, at Christmas and already had a gorgeous baby boy George. Lately though, things for Maz have been stressful with having to juggle her plans for the weddng and her family. Maz decides to try and improve the situation and take matters into her own hands, which doesn't go quite as well as she had hoped. Maz begins to think she will need to miracle in order to rekindle the love her and Alex once shared.

While It's A Vets Life is part of a series of books by Cathy Woodman, you do not need to have read any of the previous books to enjoy the latest installment. While it is always best to read all the previous books, I found it reassuring that no important parts of the story would be missed. Anything mentioned from previous novels is described in detail so you don't become lost at any point. Cathy Woodman's insight into the world of being a vet, as she herself was once a practicing vet, adds an extra layer to really bringing the clinics in the book to life. I really enjoyed that she was able to add this realism to the world that she has created in It's A Vets Life. Creating this quaint countryside village and community had me wanting to move to there immediatly. The way in which she is able to deal with writing about a rocky relationship, as well as other emotional incidents that occur while creating empathy yet not making the story too sombre with the witty humour she adds, had me hooked.

Many of the characters from the previous novels were brought back in It's A Vets Life, which added the familiarity of reading about characters you already know. Maz is a character you will begin to really care for as you get to know more about her and her life, being a really compassionate and generous character. I did find that my feelings towards the character of Alex changed during the course of It's A Vets Life. In the previous novels I found that I really liked Alex and the relationship that he has with Maz. However, through the course of this novels my feelings towards him changed, as his selfish actions towards Maz became more promient. As for Old Fox Gifford, I still found myself disliking him with a passion. He is selfish, sexist and set in his ways, unable to listen to anyone elses views or opinions.

I found the actions that Old Fox Gifford, takes about half way through the novel, to be quite disturbing. It was definatly not something that I saw coming, nor did I expect it to happen. While I knew that it was an integrial part of the storyline and a turning point for some of the characters, the incident was not something I particularly enjoyed reading about. Nor did I really fully understand why it happened as it did. The actions taken, however, did not take away from my overall enjoyment of It's A Vets Life.

It's A Vets Life has both characters you will find yourself caring about, and a storyline that will have you laughing and crying throughout. The Otter House books are a great series and I cannot wait to see if Cathy Woodman will continue on with these books. I really hope so. If you haven't picked any of these books up yet then I would highly reccomend that you do.

Waiting On Wednesday : Nine Uses For An Ex Boyfriend

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that and looks upcoming releases that we cant wait to get our hands on.

This week's pre-publication I really can't wait to read is:

Nine Uses For An Ex-Boyfriend by Sarra Manning (2nd February 2012)

Hope Delafield hasn’t always had an easy life. She has red hair and a temper to match, as her mother is constantly reminding her. She can’t wear heels, is terrified of heights and being a primary school teacher isn’t exactly the job she dreamed of doing, especially when her class are stuck on the two times table.

At least Hope has Jack, and Jack is the God of boyfriends. He’s sweet, kind, funny, has a killer smile, a cool job on a fashion magazine and he’s pretty (but in a manly way). Hope knew that Jack was The One ever since their first kiss after the Youth Club Disco and thirteen years later, they’re still totally in love. Totally. They’re even officially pre-engaged. And then Hope catches Jack kissing her best friend Susie…

After reading and loving You Don't Have To Say You Love Me by Sarra Manning, last year, and loving her edgy fresh take on chick lit, I am excited to read her latest novel Nine Uses For An Ex-Boyfriend. I love the synopsis and cannot wait to see Sara Mannings take on the cheating boyfriend. The cover is also gorgeous and really pops.

What books are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Top Ten Books I'm Excited To Read in 2012

I'm participating in Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday The Broke and the Bookish post their top ten lists on various topics: Top Ten Tuesday page

This weeks topic looks at the Top Ten Books I'm Excited to Read in 2012. While there are so many books I cannot wait to read released this year, narrowing this list down was an extremely difficult task:

1.I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella - Sophie Kinsella is one of my favourite authors, therefore any novel she writes will always be highly anticipated by me. That aside, I think the storyline for I've Got Your Number is a really interesting one. Poppy loses her engagement ring and her phone all in one day, yet she finds a phone belonging to someone else. Poppy decides to keep the phone but the owner, Sam doesn't appreciate her reading his messages and wading into his personal life. I think this sounds like such a fun read and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.

2. I Heart London by Lindsey Kelk - After reading and loving the rest of Lindsey Kelk's I Heart series, I'm excited for the latest installment. I Heart London, will take readers to one of my favourite cities London and I'm looking forward to seeing what situations Angela finds herself in, in this novel.

3. The Patchwork Marriage (UK) / Another Piece of My Heart (US) by Jane Green - Ever since reading Life Swap when it was first released a few years ago, Jane Green has been my all time favourite author. I have since then read everything she has published and loved them all, meaning that now I am desperatly awaiting her latest release, The Patchwork Marriage. The only thing I don't like about Jane Green's novels is that they always have different titles across the pond. It gets me confused!

4. Construct A Couple by Talli Roland - After reading Build A Man a couple of months ago and finding it to be my favourite read of the entire year, I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am for the prequel; Construct A Couple. Serenity was such a fantastic character and I cannot wait to see how her relationship continues in this next novel. Talli Roland has also become one of my favourite authors, with her unique storylines, quirky characters and quick wit, every book she writes just gets better and better.

5. These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen - Sarah Pekkanen's has such a way of capturing the characters emotions that whenever I read one of her books I am taken on an emotional journey so raw it feels as though I am someway involved in the journey too. Her stories always delve into the reality of marriage and These Girls is no exception, with the story centering around a husband wanting to rewrite the rules of his realtionship with his wife.

6. Isla And The Happy Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - After reading Anna And The French Kiss do I really need to explain my reasons for wanting to read more from Stephanie Perkins?! The story and characters Stephanie Perkins created in Anna And The French Kiss were so beautiful and romantic that I would happily read anything Stephanie Perkins writes, without even reading the synopsis.

7. A Million Suns by Beth Revis - Usually I am not a big fan of sci-fi fiction, however Across The Universe by Beth Revis, managed to change my mind a little. I was swept away on the Godspeed in Amy's life and cannot wait to find out what happens in the next book in the series, A Million Suns.

8. Promised by Caragh M O'Brien - The first Dystopian novel I ever read was Birthmarked by Caragh M O'Brien, which was the first book in the Birthmarked series. It really opened my eyes to the Dystopian genre and made me excited to read more. Prized was the second book in the series and, in rare fashion, was just as good as the first book. Now I cannot wait to see how Gaia's journey will continue and whether the third book will be able to live up to my expectations.

9. The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa - I think perhaps every person who has ever read any of the books in The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa is absolutly on the edge of their seats waiting for the first book in her Blood Of Eden series, The Immortal Rules. While the new series will be focused on Vampires,  a slight change from the world of Fey, it is still paranormal, and therefore I am expecting big things from this book.

10. Where We Belong by Emily Giffin - I adored Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed and Something Blue and so I am excited for her next novel, Where We Belong. I love how the cover continues the trend of her previous novels and I'm sure I will be devouring this one in no time at all.

After compiling this list I know cannot wait to get my hands on all these novels. I don't want to have to wait!! Which books are you excited to read in 2012?

The Secret of Happy Ever After by Lucy Dillon: A Review

The Secret of Happy Ever After by Lucy Dillon

When Was It Released?:  10th November 2011
Where Did I Get It From?: From the publishers in exchange for a review. Thankyou!
Who Published It?: Hodder and Stoughton
Number Of Pages: 480 pages

After hearing so many great things about Lucy Dillon's novel Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts, as soon as I was presented with the opportunity to review her latest novel The Secret Of Happily Ever After, I jumped at the chance. I have no idea why I have not previously read any of Lucy Dillon's books, however this is all set to chance after devouring and falling in love with The Secret of Happily Ever After.

Anna's dream since she was a little girl was to run a bookshop, and her dream has just come true. She loves being surrounded by the childhood classics she has always loved and it helps that it gets her away from her rowdy stepchildren. The neglected bookshop is brought to life and Anna and even her best friend Michelle, who does't believe in true love is swept along. But when secrets from Michelle's childhood threathen to come back to haunt her and disaster threatens Anna's home. They both begin to wonders if maybe their fairytale endings aren't exactly what they had dreamed of.

From the first page I was captivated by the setting of the picturesque, quaint, village of Longhampton. Lucy Dillon does such a fantastic job, describing the setting that I found myself instantly wanting to pack up and move to a cottage in Longhampton with at least one or two dogs in tow. I loved the community spirit that all the inhabitants of Longhampton seemed to have, pulling together and helping each other out in difficult situations, something which would only ever happen in a village in the countryside. I especially enjoyed that Anna and Michelle work in a bookstore, and Anna's love for books was ever present throughout the novel. Very rarely in books are the main characters even seen to be reading, let alone to have the passion for them that Anna has.

Having the story told from two different viewpoints, both Anna and Michelle's, really added extra depth to the novel and meant I became extremely invested in both of their lives. Many times in novels I find myself routing for the lead characters, however it is rare for me to become as invested in a characters wellbeing as I did with Michelle and especially Anna. At times I even wanted to step into the pages and give Anna a great big hug. She is such a kind, caring character, who is always putting others, in particular her husband and step children above herself. Her only real joy came in the form of the bookstore and her dog, Pongo. The addition of dogs within the story, really added to the country lifestyle and by the end of the book I found myself wanting to have a dog of my own. Michelle, also had her hard moments, and while she may appear tough on the outset, once her layers were removed and really started to care for her too.  The only character I did not like was Phil, Anna's husband. I found that he was selfish and did not care at all about Anna's feelings or needs.

The Secret Of Happy Ever After, was one of my favourite reads of 2011. The story was beautifully told, the characters ones I found difficult to forget long after I finished reading, and my emotions swept away with the pages. Many times I found myself almost on the verge of tears, which is very rare when reading a book, and then the next second laughing out loud. This is the perfect book to read on a cold winter night. I have already recommeneded this book to all my friends and family and would definatly recommend it to you too.