Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

"I'm an introvert. I recharge my batteries by being alone. This week is going to be a lot of people-ing for me."  What an excellent quote! I know so many of you reading this will be nodding and agreeing! 🙌💕 Will There Be Time  is the third book in the series but can totally be read as a standalone. 📚 This has to be my favourite, although I've loved them all. ❤️ Whitney has a knack for picking you up off your sofa and gently placing you back down in the Parisian streets, with the aroma of coffee drifting from cafés ☕, fresh bread being baked somewhere behind closed doors 🥖 and posh Parisian ladies swanning along the pavements. 🇫🇷✨ I always enjoy it when we see glimpses of characters from previous books as they're woven into the current story. Austen (from the first book) and Matt are central to this one, as their wedding is the main theme of the story. 💒💍 Vivienne and Oliver are the love interests, though, and what a complicated story theirs is turning out ...

“Because of all the raindrops I have watched fall over the years — of all the clouds I could read from a mile away and protect myself from if necessary — that was one storm I never saw coming.” I loved  The Cassandra Complex  by Holly Smale, so I immediately knew I was going to love  I Know How This Ends  as well. And Holly knocked this one out of the park! ⚾📚 With its humour, awesome characters and a small smattering of magical realism thrown in, what's not to love? ✨ Margot and Henry — two people who are destined to be together, according to Margot's visions. But just how will they get together? Will all Margot's visions become a reality, or is she only seeing a small snippet of the future? 🔮💕 Alix Dumore did a great job narrating this, and her portrayal of Margot, especially, made me want to listen to her voice forever. Maybe we can have an Alix Dumore Siri or Alexa voice! 😂🎧 Holly Smale has made her way onto my list of 'must-read' authors, and I'm excit...

“So you thought a sneak attack with mistletoe would help me get in the Christmas spirit?” 🎄💋 The audiobook contains Teddy Hamilton (sigh)! Review done! 😂 Only kidding! The other narrators are great, and I do love a multi-cast narration. 🎧  Mistletoe All the Way  has scooped me up from autumn and gently placed me down, slap bang in the middle of Christmas. 🎄❄️✨ I loved it. I've only just realised that I enjoy a story that features a miserable main character — in this case Noah as the Grinch — who slowly and surely, as if by the magic of Christmas, finally begins to see what all the fuss and happiness is about. 🎅🏻❤️ I love the addition of the older characters, and Eloise's feisty grandmother and her 'boyfriend' Henry are brilliant. They are supportive, independent and certainly aren't taking any nonsense from anyone. 👵💕 I also enjoyed the added suspense and mystery as Eloise investigates Stephen to find out just what he's up to. And the fact that she...

“Food without wine is like a car without wheels.” 🍷🚗 The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules was my August read for #NeglectedFaithfulsReadingChallenge and a book that's been sitting on my shelf for a while. I think it originally came from a charity shop a few years ago. 📚 Anyway, I enjoyed it, even though it's kind of a cosy mystery, which really isn't my thing at all. 🔍 I laughed at the antics of the four elderly characters as they attempted to find a better way of life than the care home in which they currently reside. 👵👴😂 I'm not sure they went about it in quite the right way, though — I mean, robbery, blackmail, extortion and deception never really got anyone anywhere! 😂🙈 If you treat this book as the humorous, comedic and fun mystery that I think it's meant to be, then you'll enjoy it. It's a lighthearted and entertaining read, so don't go expecting high-stakes thrills and suspense. 😄📖 Instead, sit back, have a giggle and enjoy the a...

“Hollowpark Hall protected its own, and she would never leave.” The Belladonna Maze is another book that's been sitting on my NetGalley shelf for far too long, and, as usual, as I was reading it, I found myself wondering why I'd left it for so long! This one gave me all the feels! It's packed with mystery and suspense, and twists that might have appeared somewhere at the back of my mind, but ones I didn't actually believe — until I had to! 😱 I love a dual-timeline story, and The Belladonna Maze didn't disappoint. We flit back and forth between the 1840s and 2007 to discover the secrets of Hollowpark Hall and its maze, the secret passages and the residents who never leave. 👻🏚️ Thank you to @megbatsbooks for suggesting we read this one together. I'm finding it a lot more fun to buddy read than I thought I would! 📚💕 A very belated thank you to Head of Zeus for the free copy of The Belladonna Maze by Sinead Crowley. All thoughts are entirely my own. 📚💕 About ...

“I feel no need to break the silence. This silence is perfect – this silence is sparkly.” I love Scrabble, and seeing the cover of this book just made me want to listen. The story is about Wordle, but you catch my drift! 😉🔤 I play an online app version of Scrabble every single day with my Mum and, although we might not talk all the time, we both know each other is OK if we've played our turn. 💕 I think that's why the whole idea of communicating through a word game really appealed to me. Emily and John are so cute, and both a little nerdy. Emily just needs to realise that she's happier in a small town rather than a big city! I loved the small-town vibe, the friends Emily makes and the house she lives in. 🏡💕 It's a cosy listen and Katie was a lovely narrator. I will definitely pick up more books that Amy has written. 🎧📚 A very belated thank you to Libro.fm & Avon Books for the free audio copy of A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James. All thoughts are entirel...

“She would work hard, save money and buy every single book that she liked.” A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith was the August choice for #classiclitbookclub. I hadn't heard of this book, let alone read it, but I was absolutely blown away. 📚❤️ I can't even explain why. I loved the writing, the characters and the insight into 1900s Brooklyn. There isn't much of a story, not a lot happens, and yet so much does. Am I making sense? 🤔 All Francine wants to do is learn, to read as many books as she possibly can and to try and get herself, her brother and her mother a better life. 📚✨ The children's life is tough. They have little money, an alcoholic father and a mother who works as many jobs as she can to make ends meet — but still, it's not enough. And yet, for the most part, they are happy. I found the story an honest depiction of what life would have been like for those living in poverty in Brooklyn in the early part of the twentieth century. Yes, it's bleak....