Seven Perfect Things by Catherine Ryan Hyde – Review

A heart-stirring novel about the joy that comes from finding love in unexpected places by the New York Times and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author.

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT

Thirteen-year-old Abby Hubble lives in an unhappy home in the Sierra Nevada foothills where her father makes life miserable for her and her mother, Mary. One day Abby witnesses a man dump a litter of puppies into the nearby river. Diving in to rescue all seven, she knows she won’t be able to bring them home. Afraid for their fate at the pound, she takes them to an abandoned cabin, where all she can offer is a promise that she’ll be back the next day.

To grieving widower Elliot Colvin, life has lost meaning. Looking for solace, he retreats to the hunting cabin he last visited years ago, before his wife’s illness. What he discovers is not at all what he expected: seven puppies and one determined girl with an indomitable heart.

As Abby and Elliot’s friendship deepens, Abby imagines how much better her life—and the puppies’ lives—would be if her mother were married to Elliot instead of her father. But when Abby’s father moves the family hundreds of miles away, Abby and her mother must decide how long they’re willing to defer happiness.

Seven Perfect Things is a story about joy, where to find it, how to know it when you see it, and the courage it takes to hang on to it once you have it.

Summary copied from Goodreads.

Seven Perfect Things by Catherine Ryan Hyde – Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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The Chocolate Box by Isabella May – Review | Blog Tour

Quirky and endearing.

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT

Ellie Sanchez wants revenge. Spurned during her school days at prestigious Monty’s academy when she was plain Eleanor Finch, and played second fiddle to her idol, Barnaby Westwood, and his show-off sister, Clementine, Ellie will stop at nothing to turn the tables now she’s all grown up. The siblings and their snubbing have been the catalyst for everything that’s gone wrong in her life, from parental neglect to her divorce.

When the Westwood travel merchandise company advertises for a new HR manager, Ellie decides her unique combo of karma and Law of Attraction has finally come good. And she’ll be bagging herself a cherry-on-the-cake, second, and richer, husband in the process – once Barnaby sees how much she’s changed, anyway. 

Fast forward two years and he STILL doesn’t recognise her! 

Fast forward two years and the company is in a financial mess.

Last Chance Saloon-style, Ellie coerces the siblings and their older sister, Brooke (the perpetual spanner in her works) to a rustic gîte in Normandy for a spot of team-building… over a very ‘special’ box of artisan chocolates.

Cue ALL the fireworks in the cocoa bean version of Jumanji…

The Chocolate Box by Isabella May – Review | Blog Tour

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

October 2020 Reading Wrap-Up

Hiya friends! Presenting to you a wrap-up for the books I read in October 2020. I read 7 books this month which mostly comprise of thrillers/mystery and romance. Without further ado, let’s dive into the recap.

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: October 2020

An Unusual Boy by Fiona Higgins – Review | Blog Tour

A riveting read.

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT

Meet Jackson – a very unusual boy in a world that prefers ‘normal’…

Julia Curtis is a busy mother of three, with a husband often away for work, an ever-present mother-in-law, a career, and a house that needs doing up. Her fourteen-year-old daughter, Milla, has fallen in love for the first time, and her youngest, Ruby, is a nine-year-old fashionista who can out-negotiate anyone.

But Julia’s eleven-year-old son, Jackson, is different. Different to his sisters. Different to his classmates. In fact, Jackson is different from everyone. And bringing up a child who is different isn’t always easy.

Then, one Monday morning, Jackson follows his new friend Digby into the school toilets. What happens inside changes everything; not only for Jackson, but for every member of his family. Julia faces the fight of her life to save her unusual boy from a world set up for ‘normal’.

An extraordinary boy. The mother who loves him. The fight of their lives.

An Unusual Boy by Fiona Higgins – Review | Blog Tour

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Food For Thought by Sara Madderson – Excerpt | Blog Tour

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Food For Thought by Sara Madderson. I have an excerpt for you from this book.

But first, let’s see …

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT

“The Daily Post has got hold of some pap shots of me. They’re fairly… damning.”

What do you do when the person you love threatens everything you’ve worked for?

Evelyn Macleod has spent a decade helping her husband, charismatic TV chef Seb Macleod, to become a household name. Now they’re riding high and enjoying the spoils of their success. When a tabloid forces Seb to come out as gay, Evelyn and her young son flee to a friend’s luxury resort in rural Kent. Sorrel Farm is the perfect place to hide out, decompress from her disciplined London lifestyle, and comfort-eat. The enforced break also throws into question everything that Evelyn has worked so hard for. Should she continue to chase the glittering heights of wealth and power in London? Or should she choose balance—and the chance to find love—in the beautiful English countryside?

Food For Thought by Sara Madderson – Excerpt | Blog Tour

Jacob’s Advice by Jude Cook – Blog Tour

Two cousins search for their Jewish identity in the Paris of 2015.

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT

Larry Frost, a British pharmacologist living in Paris, is exuberant, charismatic,
wildly opinionated. He’s also convinced he’s Jewish – or at least he’s long had his hopes. But his search for what he believes is his true identity produces more
questions than answers.

In early 2015, following the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo , Larry is joined by his sceptical older cousin, Nick Newman. Divorced, separated from his son and desperately trying to understand his own place in the world, Nick is drawn inextricably into Larry’s slipstream as they walk the fractured, uneasy, magical streets of Paris.

Then, in November, terrorism strikes the city again. With Paris and the cousins still reeling from the trauma, Larry receives the information he’s urgently been seeking: a long-held family secret that will change both their lives forever.

Set against a backdrop of extremism, nationalism and the resurgence of antisemitism, Jacob’s Advice is a timely exploration of identity, race, family and the inescapable nature of the past.

Jacob’s Advice by Jude Cook – Blog Tour