Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres, so I jumped at the chance to read Helen Parusel’s latest book. Jana owns a bookshop and is also secretly involved with the resistance whilst working as a part-time cleaner at one of the German headquarters in Prague. Helen’s writing provides intrigue, whilst showing empathy for the characters she writes about. Many books set during WWII are based on true events, and this is no exception. I love learning about events that took place during the war, how people dealt with horrific situations and how resilient they had to become. Resistance, bookshop, wartime, secret codes - I just knew this was going to be a book I’d love! Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for the opportunity to read and review The Last Bookshop in Prague by Helen Parusel. About the Book Was she incredibly brave or incredibly stupid? Neither. Just a bookshop girl doing what she could against her country’s oppressors. The banned books clu...

Some of you will know that Las Vegas is my happy place, so when I saw that James Patterson had collaborated with Mark Seal to tell stories from a wide variety of people, I knew I just had to read it myself. Although in this case I actually grabbed myself a copy from Libby, settled down with my husband for a 6-hour drive and we both drifted off to the lights and fascination that is Las Vegas.  Many of the stories we already knew, but many we didn’t. From the Elvis impersonator who officiates at weddings, to the millions of dollars spent on Cirque du Soleil shows, each story took us emotionally back to the neon city in the middle of the desert while physically we were driving along the dreary winter lanes of the UK. A ton of research from both James and Mark has gone into this delightful insight into the sights and sounds of Las Vegas. I was particularly fascinated by the young man who unknowingly hit a jackpot as the machine failed and the Nevada Gaming Commission had just a few wee...

Bella and Jack were a cuteness of 5ft nothing and 6ft something, who, after a chance meeting at a wedding Bella should never have been at, didn’t find each other again for more than a year. The story was full of charm, Christmas and contentment, feisty old folk, and wayward sisters. I adore a small English village setting and Haileyfield delivered in spades. My only gripe is that it ended way too soon. I need more of Jack and Bella’s story. What happened next? Did they settle down to enjoy the quintessential English country life together, marriage, kids, dog? I need to know more, please Claire! Thank you to Claire and Rachel’s Random Resources for the opportunity to read and review Bella’s Countryside Christmas by Claire Huston. About the Book Fleeing her heartache and horrendous job, Bella stumbles upon a December wedding in the beautiful village of Haileybrook and the spirit of the season moves her to act as a fake date to handsome stranger Jack. Jack and Bella hit it off, but Bella ...

What a delightful start to a new series from Della Galton. I loved her Puddleduck Farm series, so I just knew this would become a favourite too. For those of you who read a lot of my reviews, you’ll know that I adore a warm and cosy countryside or seaside setting. Ideally with animals, the more the merrier and a cute couple or two. A New Arrival at Duck Pond Cottage had all of this and more and honestly, just look at that cover. Who couldn’t instantly fall in love with it? All the characters in Della’s new book are adorable. I even fell in love with Fang. I was just hoping he would eventually find his forever home! Ben is a cutie pie. He inspired me that maybe I should try to draw something - after all - don’t they say everyone can draw?! If you’re a fan of a typical English country village, with a pub, no street lights and miles and miles of surrounding countryside, then check out Della’s new book. I loved it and I think you’ll love it too. I can’t wait for the next one! Thank you to ...

I’m really enjoying all these Christmas books! Yes, I know it’s a bit early, but it’s getting me into the festive spirit prematurely! Any book with the word ‘bookshop’ in the title is a must and ‘Tanglewood’ sounded such a cute name for a village that I immediately knew I’d like this. Kazz has had enough of London, she’s lost her job, and her home and her Mum is moving away so she ups sticks and heads off to South Wales to join her friend for a few weeks, temporarily taking over the lease of a bookshop to sell off her Grandad’s beloved books. Tanglewood is very much a different pace of life than what she’s used to, but will she decide it’s the place she wants to call home? The Tanglewood Bookshop is a cute and cosy read. I loved the setting in the small village, complete with a tea shop, a pub and, of course, the bookshop. Kazz and Saul, although very different, hit it off from the start and, with a bit of interference from Betty, the absolutely loveable village busybody, became very c...

This book is hilarious! I was chuckling my way through it from the very first page, and my husband kept looking at me like I’d grown another head! Shelley, Pearl and Lena are three middle-aged women, going through what many middle-aged women do at Christmas and beyond. They’re buying presents, wrapping presents, food shopping, cooking, baking, decorating Christmas trees and still doing the normal run-of-the-mill things such as the washing, the ironing and feeding their family! Phew, I’m exhausted just thinking about it all! Then they get the opportunity to leave all that behind for a few days before Christmas and hole up at a B&B in Scotland. Well I’m sure you can all guess what happens, yep, they get snowed in and have to spend Christmas there. Fiona Gibson is a brilliant author. Her books make me laugh all the way through and as soon as I saw the title of this one, I knew it would be the same; The characters are brilliant and we get to see how important friends are to each other ...

The Lake District, farms, alpacas and Beatrix Potter. What is there not to love?! I’ve only recently found Jessica Redland’s books, and I was in love with them from the beginning of the first one I read. Well listened to, actually, it was an audiobook about hedgehogs! The Best is Yet to Come was just gorgeous. I lounged around in the sun reading it and couldn’t get enough of just about everything! Apart from Grayson, who was quite frankly a knob jockey, the rest of the characters were cute, loveable and, in some cases (mainly the alpacas) extremely huggable! Emma was awesome. She picked herself back up really quickly after her relationship fell apart; she knew what she wanted to do and with a little help from her Dad, she was soon standing upright again and ready to face her future, with new challenges and new friends. I now have all of Jessica’s past books on my TBR and many of them will be on my Christmas list! Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for...

I have been waiting in great anticipation to read this, the sequel to For the Love of Lily. Lily Unwritten is the continuing story of Lily Forshaw, who has been/still is, in love with two men. Has she chosen the right one, only time will tell whether Team Zack or Team Luke wins! I adore Lily, yes she makes questionable decisions, but she has two hot men fighting over her. What is a girl supposed to do?! I loved Lily’s relationship with her best friend Cassie, who is there for her no matter what. Sometimes with a harsh word here and there, she always has Lily’s back and best interests at heart.  Olivia’s writing is fresh and lively and she is fast becoming a must-read author for me. I can’t wait to read her next book. You definitely need to read For the Love of Lily before you pick up this one but why not put them both on your Christmas list! Thank you to Olivia Lockhart and Rachel’s Random Resources for the opportunity to read Lily Unwritten. About the Book Lily Forshaw stands on ...

The Ever After Street series is one of the best series I have ever read. Hugs in books, absolutely all of them and Christmas Ever After is no exception. There is nothing not to love (well, maybe apart from Jorge)!  Raff and Franca have shops that are in the ‘always Christmas’ part of Ever After Street. Raff makes and sells, allegedly magical, snow globes and Franca makes and sells nutcracker dolls of every size. Every time I read about the adult-sized nutcrackers, I just imagined whichever Christmas film it is, where Tim Allen is Santa and they take over the North Pole! Throughout this gorgeous book, Jaimie has characters from the previous Ever After Street books popping in and out, and so we do get to find out snippets of what they have all been up to as well.  I cannot recommend Jaime’s books enough and right now this is what I tell everyone who asks me who my go-to author is. You don’t need to read the books in order. Each one is a standalone story, but go and add them all...

Continuing with my Carmel Harrington binge, I grabbed myself an audiobook copy of The Things I Should Have Told You from Libby, popped my AirPods in and set about tidying the garden. Another story of Carmel’s which blew me away, with lovely characters, gorgeous settings and lots and lots of sentimental moments. The storyline was delightful, if a little sad at times, and I was blown away with the whole ‘road trip in a camper van’ idea, even if camping isn’t my idea of a fun holiday! Pops, even after death, manages to travel along with the Guinness family as they wend their way through Europe, on the trip of a lifetime, not knowing which country they’ll be visiting next, let alone what surprises Pops had arranged for them once they arrived. As with the previous Carmel Harrington books I’ve listened to, this also has underlying themes. This time we see a destructive case of school bullying, marriage difficulties and family illness. Carmel writes about all the issues sensitively and with e...