#BookReview #BlogTour : As Luck Would Have It by Zoe May #Chicklit @rararesources @zoe_writes

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Hello Readers! Today I’m sharing review of As Luck Would Have It by Zoe May as part of blog tour, organized by Rachel’s Random Resources. Many thanks to Rachel for tour invite and author for providing review copy.

As Luck Would Have It by Zoe May
Publication Date :  4th July 2019
Publisher : HQ Digital, HarperCollins
Genre : Romantic Comedy
Pages : 241

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Natalie Jackson might keep up appearances on Instagram, but in reality her fiancé has just jilted her after the birth of their baby and she’s moved back in with her mum. Life isn’t exactly going to plan!

So when she enters the village raffle for the holiday of a lifetime, she thinks she has no chance of winning. But her name is pulled out – and, as luck would have it, so is a ticket bought by her childhood nemesis: Will Brimble.

Surely a romantic holiday for two is the worst idea ever…right?

Other books I read by the same author:

Perfect Match

When Polly Met Olly

Flying Solo

As Luck Would Have It was amusing romcom that revolved around Natalie’s holiday romance. It was about letting go of past, second chance at love, enjoying life and taking risk at chance of love and happiness.

Writing was good, like previous books it was entertaining and lovely. It was written in first person narrative from Natalie’s perspective set in mainly Marrakech, Morocco and Chiddingfold village in England. The plot was interesting and I love the second chance at love and high school sweetheart getting back together arc.

It started with Natalie narrating her life story, telling about how she came to live with her mother at age 32 with an adorable daughter, how she became entrepreneur and how her ex betrayed her. When her mother took her to village raffle, she won the first price of 5 days holiday in Marrakech but not alone, her high school sweetheart, her first love who broke her heart 16 years ago also won the raffle. Not just that but on arriving Marrakech, because of huge misunderstanding, they have to fake being married. What a twist of fate! I was curious to find out how they were going to clear things between them and if they would accept their feelings and get back together.

I enjoyed first half of the book. It was fun, fast paced and entertaining. Natalie had refreshing voice. She was clever, smart, independent single mom. Her story was gripping and emotive. I was shocked to read how she couldn’t see the sign she and her fiancé weren’t compatible until it was too late to save her heart. Her move to her mother’s house was wise decision and I liked how she juggled motherhood and her business with help of her mom. I rooted for her and understood why she was hesitant to let Will or any man in her life.

Romance was slow built. I thought what happened 16 years ago between Will and Natalie would come in second half but it was revealed right after they won raffle and I agreed with Natalie, it didn’t look good but as I read more about Will, I liked him more.

Will was carrying his own baggage of emotions. His father’s death and recent divorce took toll on him and yet I could see he was not letting loss weigh him down. His career and marriage story and why he and his ex-wife decided to get separated was interesting. I thought there might something dramatic but there wasn’t. I loved his spirit and how he learned from what he went through and became wiser and more sensible.

Second half was all about Marrakech, their 5 days together and fake relationship along with knowing each other more worked like charm. This part was a bit slow but I loved beautiful description of Marrakech- souk, monkey men, snake charmers, exotic hotel, Bahia Palace, Jenna-al-Fna, people, Arabic cuisine, desert tour – made me want to book trip right now and fly to this place. Author added humour and entertainment along with these places wonderfully.

Climax was interesting. Series of blunders did make me smile and I loved Marrakech even more at this point. But there wasn’t anything dramatic like I imagined. It was adventurous and quiet simple which make it different unlike all dramatic cliché we read in romcoms. End was lovely and cute.

Why 4 stars-

As much as I loved characters’ adventure and their exotic holiday and beautiful description, somehow this part felt too slow. Not my most favourite book by Zoe May but I enjoyed it.

Overall,

As Luck Would Have It was feel good, entertaining, and enjoyable chick-lit with amazing setting. I recommend this to fans of romcom.

Purchase Links:

Amazon | Kobo | Apple books | Google books

Author Bio:

Zoe May is an author of romantic comedies. Zoe has dreamt of being a novelist since she was a teenager. She worked in journalism and copywriting in London before writing her debut novel, Perfect Match. Having experienced the London dating scene first hand, Zoe could not resist writing a novel about dating, since it seems to supply endless amounts of weird and wonderful material!

Perfect Match was one of Apple’s top-selling books of 2018. It was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Joan Hessayon Award, with judges describing it as ‘a laugh out loud look at love and self-discovery – fresh and very funny’.

As well as writing, Zoe enjoys walking her dog, painting and, of course, reading! She adores animals and if she’s not taking a photo of a vegan meal, she’s probably tweeting about the dairy industry. She is half Greek and half Irish and can make a mean baklava. Zoe has a thing for horror films, India, swimming, hip hop and Radiohead. She has an encyclopaedic knowledge of handbags having spent several years working in fashion copywriting and could probably win Mastermind if this was her specialist subject!

Zoe loves to hear from readers, you can contact her on Twitter and Instagram at: @zoe_writes. Zoe’s Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/zoemayauthor/

She posts updates and blogs on her website, http://www.zoemayauthor.co.uk

Social Media Links : Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

 hope you enjoyed this review. Let me know what do you think about the book, if you have read this already or any books by the same author. Which is your favourite book set in Morocco?

Happy Reading!

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#BookReview : Cynthia Smart’s Midwife Crisis by Liz Davies #Chicklit @rararesources @lizdaviesauthor

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Hello Readers! I’m excited to share my review of Cynthia Smart’s Midwife Crisis by Liz Daviesas part of blog tour, organized by Rachel’s Random Resources. Many thanks to Rachel for tour invite and author for providing review copy.

Cynthia Smart’s Midwife Crisis by Liz Davies
Publication Date : 28th July 2020
Genre :  Chicklit
Pages : 330

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Midlife crisis? What midlife crisis?

At forty-four, Cynthia Smart is exactly where she wants to be. Almost.

In a couple of years, she’ll be the CEO of the company she’s spent her most of her adult life working in. For now, though, she’s still busy shimmying up the greasy pole of corporate business. She’s single, carefree, and independent, and nothing can stop her getting what she wants and deserves.

Until she discovers she’s pregnant.

Determined to have her cake and eat it, she’s convinced that having a baby will make little difference to her life, and that she will be one of those women who can hold down an incredibly demanding job and also be a perfect mother.

But as her pregnancy progresses and her life slowly falls apart, she has the sneaking suspicion that Max Oakland, the new guy on the block, is out to steal her dream job. That she’s terribly attracted to him doesn’t help, nor does the fact that he’s devilishly handsome, appears to be a really nice fella, and is good in a crisis.

When she gradually comes to realise that something has got to give, what she doesn’t want it to be is her heart.


Perfect for fans of Mandy Baggott, Heidi Swain, and Holly Martin.

Other books I read by the same author:

A Typical Family Christmas

Cynthia Smart’s Midwife Crisis was refreshing and entertaining chick-lit that revolved around Cynthia Smart’s unexpected pregnancy. It was about life of career woman, ambitions, life changes after pregnancy, family, loneliness, and love.

After reading A Typical Family at Christmas I knew I would love to read more books by Liz Davies. When I saw this book on blog tour I couldn’t not read this. Writing was easy to follow, flawless and fun. Setting of London and countryside added its charm to story.

Plot was pretty simple and yet interesting. Cynthia Smart worked hard to be a board of director in company she worked for 20 years and to be next CEO but when she unexpectedly got pregnant her life turned upside down. Pregnant at 44 years, boss who doesn’t like sick employee or family women at higher position, who also brought handsome rival, Max, on the board who might take the position she wanted and to make it more complicated she found herself falling for Max. I was curious to know how Cynthia was going to cope with everything and why her boss hired Max and why he was not telling what their boss offered him.

Cynthia was ambitious career woman. She literally was married to her work, never had real friends or had vacation and even spent less time with family. But all that changed when pregnancy test came positive and what made it more interesting, she had no idea how her life was going to change with this pregnancy. I was shaking my head in disbelief hearing her thoughts on how she will manage and plan everything. She thought she could work long hours with pregnancy and even after pregnancy, she would only need few weeks maternity leave and she would hire nanny! This part was bit too much. I mean even women who aren’t mother know anything related to pregnancy and baby never turn out as per plan. I liked how her thoughts and feelings changed as pregnancy progressed. I’m glad she went with her gut feelings and did all that was best for her baby- taking medicine, eating proper food and rest from work.

Cynthia’s mother was charming. Like all mothers she was thrilled hearing news of her pregnancy and her pampering reminded me of my mother. I loved her cottage and her cheerful nature. Cynthia’s PA was great throughout the book.

Max was awesome. He was my most favourite character in book. He couldn’t join board at better time. Cynthia was anxious and cautious around him she feared he would take away her dream job but from very first chapter he gave positive vibe. He was so caring, helped Cynthia and took her to hospital when she got infection, made sure she was taking break from work even though they knew each other just for few weeks. Oh and I loved him for accepting Cynthia with her baby. At first I thought there should be something, he can’t be this perfect but I’m glad I was wrong.

Best part of the book was Cynthia’s voice, their weekend away at Max’s eco-hotel in countryside and romance between Max and Cynthia. It was slow build and it was lovely to read their growing friendship and feelings for each other. When reason behind Max’s joining was revealed I felt Cynthia overreacted and at the same time I felt he should have told her. I also believe what Max said. It was sad to see Cynthia breaking. I couldn’t guess how they will solve their issues and accept their feelings.

Climax was interesting. It was stupid of Cynthia for staying at office so late. I’m glad Max arrived at right time. At this point, finally, title made sense. And I was right about baby’s gender. End was perfect.

Overall,

Cynthia Smart’s Midwife Crisis was fun, amusing and feel good chick-lit that made laugh and giggle throughout the book. I definitely recommend this book to fans of this genre.

Purchase Link – http://mybook.to/CynthiaSmart

About Author:

Liz Davies writes feel-good, light-hearted stories with a hefty dose of romance, a smattering of humour, and a great deal of love.

She’s married to her best friend, has one grown-up daughter, and when she isn’t scribbling away in the notepad she carries with her everywhere (just in case inspiration strikes), you’ll find her searching for that perfect pair of shoes. She loves to cook but isn’t very good at it, and loves to eat – she’s much better at that! Liz also enjoys walking (preferably on the flat), cycling (also on the flat), and lots of sitting around in the garden on warm, sunny days.

She currently lives with her family in Wales, but would ideally love to buy a camper van and travel the world in it.

Website: https://lizdaviesauthor.wixsite.com/home

Social Media Links:

Twitter https://twitter.com/lizdaviesauthor

Facebook: fb.me/LizDaviesAuthor1

I hope you enjoyed this review. Let me know what do you think about the book, if you have read this already or any books by the same author. Have you read a book that has ambitious career woman protagonist and which is your favourite?

Happy Reading!

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#Spotlight : The Greenbecker Gambit by Ben Graff @rararesources @GreenBGambit #tragicomedy

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Hello readers! Today is my stop during the blog tour for The Greenbecker Gambit by Ben Graff, organised by  Rachel’s Random Resources. Check out more about this tragicomedy in this post.

The Greenbecker Gambit by Ben Graff
Publication Date: 1st May 2020
Genre: Tragicomedy

Synopsis:

‘I only feel truly alive when the chess clock is ticking and the patterns on the squares in front of me are dancing in my head. Very little else gives me the same feeling. Nothing else, that does not involve a flame.’

Tennessee Greenbecker is bravely optimistic as he sets out to claim what he sees as rightfully his – the title of world chess champion. But who is he really? Is he destined to be remembered as chess champion or fire-starter? Either way, might this finally be his moment?

Purchase Links:

Amazon

Chess and Bridgehttps://shop.chess.co.uk/The-Greenbecker-Gambit-Ben-Graff-p/cb07811.htm

About Author:

Ben Graff is a writer, journalist and Corporate Affairs professional. He is a regular contributor to Chess and Authors Publish. He is not a grandmaster but did draw with one once.

Social Media Links :

Twitter- GreenBGambit

LinkedIn – Ben Graff

I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know in comments what do you think about this book, if you have read this already or if you are going to add it to TBR.

Happy Reading!

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#Blogtour #Promo : The Dead Tell Lies by J F Kirwan @kirwanjf @rararesources

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Hello Readers! It’s my stop during the blog tour for  The Dead Tell Lies by J F Kirwan , organised by  Rachel’s Random Resources. Check out the details of this intriguing crime thriller in this post.

The Dead Tell Lies by J F Kirwan
Publication Date: 15th July 2020
Genre: Thriller/Crime

Synopsis:

Greg Adams, a criminal psychologist at Scotland Yard, specialises in bringing serial killers to justice. He tracks down a spree serial killer nicknamed the Divine, who has already killed six teenage girls and is about to kill a seventh. Greg works out the location where he is hiding and joins a raid. The police capture the Divine and save the girl, but on the very same night, Greg’s wife is brutally murdered by another serial killer, known as the Dreamer.

A year later, unable to bring the killer to justice, Greg has quit his job and is ready to end it all, when he receives a phone call from a man who tells him the Dreamer is dead, and that he didn’t kill Greg’s wife, Kate.

Greg returns to Scotland Yard to work for Superintendent Chief Detective Donaldson in the hope he can re-examine the case with the help of two new detectives, Finch and Matthews.

As Greg delves into the case further, he becomes more convinced that the Dreamer wasn’t the man responsible for his wife’s murder.

But if it wasn’t the Dreamer, who was it?

In order to solve the mystery around his wife’s murder, Greg is going to have to delve even deeper into the mind of a terrifying psychopath. And this time he might not make it back in one piece…

Purchase Links:

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Tell-Lies-absolutely-gripping-ebook/dp/B08CMXWF1X

US – https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Tell-Lies-absolutely-gripping-ebook/dp/B08CMXWF1X

Author bio:

J. F. Kirwan is an insomniac who writes thrillers in the dead of night. He is also a psychologist, and has drawn upon this expertise, including being taught by a professor who examined serial killers for Scotland Yard, to pen the crime/mystery/thriller The Dead Tell Lies for Bloodhound Books. He wanted to shed light not only on the darkness of serial killers, but of those who track them down, who must inevitably step inside the serial killer’s worldview, and may not come out clean afterwards. He is also the author of the Nadia Laksheva thriller series for HarperCollins (66 Metres, 37 Hours and 88 North). His favourite authors include Lee Child, David Baldacci and Jo Nesbo. He is married, and has a daughter and a new grandson, and lives between Paris and London.

Social Media Links – Website | Twitter  @kirwanjf | Facebook

I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know in comments what do you think about this book, if you have read this already or any book by the same author.

Happy Reading!

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#BookReview : Flying Solo by Zoe May #FlyingSolo #romcom @rararesources @zoe_writes

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Hello Readers! I’m excited to share my review of Flying Solo by Zoe May as part of blog tour, organized by Rachel’s Random Resources. Many thanks to Rachel for tour invite and author for providing review copy.

Flying Solo by Zoe May
Publication Date :  6th July 2020
Genre : Romantic Comedy
Pages : 250

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Rachel Watson has it all worked out. By 30, she’s ticked off most of the goals on her Life List. She’s a homeowner, a partner at her law firm, she has a gorgeous boyfriend, lots of hobbies and loads of good friends. The only thing that’s missing is a ring on her finger.

According to her Life List, Rachel should be getting hitched around now, so when her boyfriend, Paul, plans a romantic date, Rachel’s pretty confident he’s going to propose. Except Paul has other ideas. He’s jetting off to India to find himself.

Distraught, Rachel doesn’t know what to do. Not one to easily admit defeat, she embarks on a mission to win him back.

Flying solo to India is definitely not on Rachel’s Life List, but could her trip teach her some unexpected lessons about love, life and herself? Could she realise that perhaps her Life List wasn’t exactly what she wanted, after all?

Other books I read by the same author:

Perfect Match

When Polly Met Olly

Flying Solo was delightful romantic comedy that revolved around Rachel’s unplanned trip to Indian ashram. It was about realizing life is better unplanned, finding yourself and true happiness, and finding love at unexpected places at unexpected time.

Writing, like previous books, was entertaining and fun with beautiful setting of Indian ashram in Bangalore. It was first person narrative from Rachel’s POV that made book refreshing and light-hearted.

It started with Rachel expecting to be proposed after 6 years of relationship with her boyfriend, Paul. She planned her whole life, checked all boxes of life list within time period she had set, but getting engaged and hitched. What she didn’t plan/expect was flying to other side of the world. Paul broke up with her on the night she expected him to propose her, packed his bag and gone to some random ashram in India. She couldn’t let go of this long time relationship, she thought this is Paul’s midlife crisis, she could change his mind and win him back. And so started her unplanned adventure in India. I was excited to find out what she would experience in India, how she would adjust to different life style of Ashram, could she win Paul back, what would she learn from this experience and how it would change her.

What I didn’t predict was Paul behavior when he saw Rachel at ashram, his new competitive girlfriend, and how attracted Rachel felt towards a handsome Canadian neighbor in ashram who vowed celibacy. But it all turned out really entertaining and dramatic.

All characters were fun to read. Rachel was lovely throughout the book. She was workaholic, home furnishing obsessed who had her Life List with timeline but she had reason for all that. Her childhood story was realistic and I could see why she was the way she was. At first I didn’t like how she was behaving, taking everything as joke and I couldn’t  believe how she didn’t talk about ashram with her Indian friend before on her way to airport, she had no idea what she was going to find there. But I liked how she tried everything in ashram even though she was skeptic, didn’t believe in meditation or spirituality and how she had her own opinion, kept open mind, and enjoyed her stay.

Her development was great. She got over her break up, made friends, found some shocking things about ashram, and found love. At heart she was nice and lovely and knew her elements, learned that life was better unplanned, keep hobby enjoyable rather than obsess over it, there is nothing wrong in being workaholic but it’s also important to enjoy life, go with the flow, step out of comfort zone, and experience knew thing.

Paul was total jerk. It was unbelievable how he suddenly decided to leave without discussing his decision with her like 6 years of relationship was nothing to him and then disrespecting it by latching on new girl and making Rachel feel bad about how she lived and what she did. Seb was cute. He was friendly and lovely guy and I liked his story. I loved Meera and Priya for how friendly they were and how they helped Rachel.

This is not just romance book, in fact there is very little romance and more about Rachel’s new experience and development. Both Rachel and Seb felt spark, supported each other, and spent time knowing other as best as they could, and we don’t know if there was happily ever after till the end, which I felt was good thing.

What I loved most was seeing India from non-Indian’s eyes. Some titbits about India were real and funny.  Rachel’s thoughts and experience after setting foot in India was hilarious. I laughed at her appalled look on seeing Indian toilet and her room in ashram, and most epic was what she packed in her suit case. Who brings dildo to ashram! Most hilarious scene was Spirit Animal Workshop.

I’m not a fan of Ashram but I liked how author added another layer to story by showing reality behind ashrmas and gurus. What Rachel found about it was not shocking for me as I know these things really happen in some ashrams. I agreed with what she thoughts, how crazily people follow scamming Gurus, throw their logics out of window and make it easy for such scammers to take advantage.

Climax was great with Rachel finding reality of Ashram, her new case, what happened to Paul, and lovely date. End was fun. I liked that end conversations and Rachel’s decision.

Why 4 stars-

I wanted a bit more at the end. An epilogue telling what happened to case or if romance lasted or how long it took for them to get together would have been great.

Overall,

Flying Solo was entertaining, dramatic and lovely romcom with amazing setting and some hilarious scenes. If you are looking for light-hearted, entertaining read that make you laugh, I highly recommend this.

Purchase Links:

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B082K48FX8/

US  – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082K48FX8/

Author Bio:

Zoe May is an author of romantic comedies. Zoe has dreamt of being a novelist since she was a teenager. She worked in journalism and copywriting in London before writing her debut novel, Perfect Match. Having experienced the London dating scene first hand, Zoe could not resist writing a novel about dating, since it seems to supply endless amounts of weird and wonderful material!

Perfect Match was one of Apple’s top-selling books of 2018. It was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Joan Hessayon Award, with judges describing it as ‘a laugh out loud look at love and self-discovery – fresh and very funny’.

As well as writing, Zoe enjoys walking her dog, painting and, of course, reading! She adores animals and if she’s not taking a photo of a vegan meal, she’s probably tweeting about the dairy industry. She is half Greek and half Irish and can make a mean baklava. Zoe has a thing for horror films, India, swimming, hip hop and Radiohead. She has an encyclopaedic knowledge of handbags having spent several years working in fashion copywriting and could probably win Mastermind if this was her specialist subject!

Zoe loves to hear from readers, you can contact her on Twitter and Instagram at: @zoe_writes. Zoe’s Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/zoemayauthor/

She posts updates and blogs on her website, http://www.zoemayauthor.co.uk

Social Media Links : Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

I hope you enjoyed this review. Let me know what do you think about the book, if you have read this already or any books by the same author. Which is your favorite book set in India.

Happy Reading!

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