Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

This was so not what I was expecting. From the title and the cover, I was expecting a cutesy, warm, happy, Christmassy book. What I actually got was fun and laughs and a whole lot of raunchy sex! Not a bad thing, just not warm and cosy! I listened to A Merry Little Meet Cute as an audiobook, read by Joy Nash & Sebastian York. The story was fun, Bee, a porn star who was trying to diversify into family-friendly movies alongside her co-star, Nolan, who used to be a pop star but is now trying to tame down his image. Of course, they are each other’s fans and of course, they fall in love along the way. If you want something hilarious to read or listen to, then by all means, grab yourself a copy of A Merry Little Meet Cute, but is it something to buy your Great Aunt Ethel for her birthday? Probably not, unless you know she’s going to like a whole lot of sex, sex and…more sex! Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Audio  for the opportunity to listen to and review a copy of A ...

Another Jill Mansell belter which had me laughing out loud from the first few pages. I think that as I listened to it as an audiobook with such a great narrator, Katherine Press, made it even more hilarious and if Edgar doesn’t make you laugh from the very beginning, then there is something wrong with you. It’ll definitely cheer you up if you’re having a bad day. Lou loses her job and her home in Birmingham and begins a new life in the village of Foxwell in the Cotswolds as a carer for grumpy old Edgar. Her mission is to make him enjoy life more…but will she succeed and what shenanigans will they both get up to along the way? Pick up this latest book by Jill Mansell and have some fun with Edgar, Lou, Remy, Sammy and Jess along the way. It’ll make you laugh and there may be some tears, but overall, you’ll have a great time in Foxwell! Thank you to NetGalley and Headline Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review a copy of Promise Me by Jill Mansell. Amazon UK  |  Amazon ...

This book is number 38 in the Alex Delaware series and it’s only the first one I’ve read, despite me having a copy of a previous book sitting on my shelf! I’ve read it as a standalone and it was absolutely fine. However, I guess if you want more of the backstory to the characters, then you’d need to start at the beginning. Alex is a psychologist and assists his police detective friend, Milo Sturgis, in solving cases, looking at them from a psychological point of view in order to help solve the crime. I found Unnatural History somewhat slow to begin with, but I guess that’s the case with many police procedurals, as the crime is discovered and the background built up. However, once I was through all of that, the pace picked up and I was fully invested in the characters Kellerman has in his story. I enjoyed reading about the homeless communities of Los Angeles and how their mental health can affect their daily lives. We also discover how someone who was once pretty well off can spiral ...

There are four books (so far) in the Cornish Girls series by Betty Walker and I’ve only read two! It absolutely doesn’t matter. You can read it as a standalone or as part of the series. I will definitely go back and read the other two, even if the characters will all be upside down and back to front! A Mother’s Hope for the Cornish Girls is set during WWII and the story is told primarily by Sonya, Lily and Mary, each living and working in St Ives. Sonya is helping at the orphanage, Lily is now training to be a midwife and Mary is working as a nurse in the convalescent home for wounded soldiers.  I devoured this book in two days, I just couldn’t put it down and I’ve just discovered there is a new book coming out in August so I can’t wait for that! It is beautifully written, with compassion and empathy. I read the last page and closed the book, feeling that I had just been enveloped in a great big hug! Thank you to Avon Books for sending me a review copy of A Mother’s Hope for the ...

I listened to Truly, Madly, Amy as an audiobook and it blew me away. The story is told from the point of view of Joe, our protagonist, who is now thirty-six, but tells the reader/listener all about his summer as a sixteen-year-old. Very much a coming-of-age book, Joe talks of new experiences in his life, a summer job, a girlfriend, and reading his first ever book for fun!  Joe has to deal with many things during the six weeks of the summer of 1999, his father’s death, his mother’s depression, his sister moving ahead with her own life, and what he is going to do with his own, once he receives his exam results. He also has to learn how to manage his heightened teenage feelings, both of love and anger, and the consequence of what happens if he can’t control them. Truly, Madly, Amy sent me straight back to my teenage years, as I reflected on the similarities and differences between my life, and Joe and Amy’s. You learn so much as you grow from childhood into adulthood and I think that...

I really enjoyed this one. Mainly set in Paris during the first two years of WWII, the city has German occupation, but life isn’t yet as difficult as it will become in the later years. The swastika is flying above the Eiffel Tower and German soldiers are drinking in cafes and bars and moving themselves into apartments as though it’s their right. Cora is an American girl who has recently travelled to Paris to try to find her birth mother and inevitably gets caught up in the midsts of the beginnings of the war. She willingly becomes involved with the resistance movement and we see more of their work as she tries to travel home to America. I have read nothing before, which is solely set at the beginning of WWII, and it was enlightening to read something different. I loved discovering what small, but such important parts people had as a part of the resistance, as they tried to help others throughout war-torn years. If you enjoy historical fiction and something set during the conflict, the...

Nicola May is an automatic read for me. I simply adore all of her books. Escape to Futtingbrook Farm (previously published as The Hub) is no exception. It was so funny and made me laugh so much; I didn’t want it to end! August, Max, Beryl, Ellie and all the other characters were fantastic. Each with their own unique personalities, some loveable, and some obviously a complete pain in the backside. Throughout the book, however, we learn the reasons they all are, what they are. I want to grab myself a spot at The Hub and join in with Pizza Friday. It has a bit of everything — romance, heartache, mystery, and lots and lots of laugh-out-loud moments. However, there are parts of the story are heart-wrenching, with the subject of suicide being a pretty big part of the book. The author deals with it well and there are positive outcomes to even the most heartbreaking of stories. There is a Maya Angelou quote with Nicola May includes in the book ‘every storm runs out of rain’ which, when I stop...

Another lovely read from Miranda Dickinson. ‘All My Love’ is how you sometimes end a letter to a loved one, don’t you think? That’s what Archie and Esther are trying to do. Just write the perfect love letter. Both are family-orientated, however irritating they might sometimes be. They both know that their families will always be there for them, no matter what.  I couldn’t put this book down. I just wanted to keep turning the pages to find out what was in store for our main characters. They are so lovely, each with their own quirks and each equally intent on trying to do the right thing. I particularly wanted to listen to the Old Guys play their ‘rescued’ musical instruments, no matter how bad it sounded! Very much a ‘will they/won’t they’ romance. It’ll warm the very cockles of your heart as you experience the ups and downs of love and heartache with both Archie and Esther.  Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of All My Love by Miranda ...

I’ve just completed my first ever buddy-read with Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier. The fact that it was Rebecca made me join in, and I think I’m pleased I did. Some of the questions we had definitely made me look at the story differently.  These are two covers for Rebecca, the blue one is the first copy I had as a teenager and the white one is the one I am hoping for as a 50th birthday gift. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...” Ancient, beautiful Manderley, between the rose garden and the sea, is the county’s showpiece. Rebecca made it so - even a year after her death, Rebecca’s influence still rules there. How can Maxim de Winter’s shy new bride ever fill her place or escape her vital shadow? A shadow that grows longer and darker as the brief summer fades, until, in a moment of climatic revelations, it threatens to eclipse Manderley and its inhabitants completely... This is the synopsis of Rebecca, but it is so much more than this. A classic, a romance, a thriller, and...