Review: Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

Eleanor & Park has caused a bit of a sensation recently and as usual I am late to the party. To be honest, it’s been sitting in my ‘to be read’ [TBR] pile for quite a while and it was only with the nudging of one of my Goodreads pals (don’t forget to check out my book group on Goodreads here) that I finally dug it out and read it.

Review: You Had Me at Hello - Mhairi McFarlane

What happens when the one that got away comes back? 

Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. 

It’s been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away. 

From the moment they met they’d been a gang of two; partners in crime and the best of friends. But life has moved on. Ben is married. Rachel is definitely not. In fact, the men in her life make her want to take holy orders… 

Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she’s never been able to mend.

 It took me forever to get a hold of You Had Me At Hello, I was on the waiting list at the library (patronise your libraries people!) for over five weeks. Any book commanding this amount of attention six months after its release surely had to be read.

RARM: My Favourite Romances #2

I did say I was indecisive. After reading over my last post I noticed that I hadn’t included any historical romance, what an oversight! So, since it’s still Read-a-Romance Month, and will continue to be so until the end of August, I thought I’d sneak another wee favourites post in.

RARM: My Favourite Romance Reads

 

So here it is, my favourite romance reads. I hope you all appreciate the agonising effort that went into picking my favourites. 

Read - A - Romance Month

August is national Read - A - Romance Month (RARM) so to celebrate that I thought that I would do something a little different on the blog this week and talk in the defence of romance and why I read and love romance novels.

Review: Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams - Jenny Colgan

Were you a sherbet lemon or chocolate lime fan? Soft chewy ones or hard boiled sweeties (you do get more for your money that way)? The jangle of your pocket money . . . the rustle of the pink and green striped paper bag . . . 

Rosie Hopkins thinks leaving her busy London life, and her boyfriend Gerard, to sort out her elderly Aunt Lilian s sweetshop in a small country village is going to be dull. Boy, is she wrong. 

Lilian Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton s sweetshop, through wartime and family feuds. As she struggles with the idea that it might finally be time to settle up, she also wrestles with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully coloured sweets.

Welcome to Rosie Hopkins Sweetshop of Dreams, a novel, with recipes.

Warning: Do not read this novel if you are on any sort of diet or health kick. Seriously.

Back in May Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams (let's just call it Sweet Shop for short) won the Romance Novelists' Association's Romantic Novel of the Year, 2013, and with an accolade like that you can't not pick up this calorie packed indulgence.

Review: What the Bride Wore (Bridal Favours #3) - Jade Lee*

Jade Lee's hot Bridal Favors series is set in a daring, high-energy Regency world where deep longings, secret scandals, and the competition for social stature are all set against the glittering weddings of the season.

Grant Benton, Earl of Crowle, finally has the funds he always pretended to have, and what he wants now is a woman. That woman is Lady Irene Knopp, who spends her days helping debutantes plan their weddings. A recent widow, Irene longs for love again, but she's afraid to risk her heart, especially to the notorious Grant Benton

What the Bride Wore was a book that managed to get me through a very long, very uncomfortable train journey.