Guest Review: Winter Magic on Railway Lane by Alison Sherlock

Globetrotting Libby Jacobs has lost her job but is looking forward to spending more time in her home village of Cranfield.

She dreams of turning her chocolate making hobby into something more permanent. There’s only one problem - Ethan Connolly.

Despite being soul mates growing up, Libby hasn’t been close to Ethan since their disastrous date at the school prom. But now he’s back and he has just what Libby needs… a large kitchen! But can they even bear to be in the same room together?

Ethan never stays in Cranfield too long as it reminds him of his parents’ terrible marriage. But when disaster strikes, he’s forced to stay and help realise his grandad’s dream of a Christmas train. Can the whole village help Ethan create a seasonal spectacular in time?

Can Libby confront her secrets and realise her dreams?

And can Ethan ever stop running from his past and trust his heart?

Perhaps the magic of winter on Railway Lane might just give Libby and Ethan a second chance after all...

Review: This is the fourth, and final, book in the Railway Lane Series from Alison Sherlock. The books in this series are set in the small village of Cranfield and concern events in the lives of some of its inhabitants. The village was adversely affected by the closure of its station many years ago, but thanks mainly to the characters in these stories, new life is gradually being breathed into it. I have enjoyed watching its development in previous books and am looking forward to seeing what is to come in this new addition to the series.

This story focuses on Libby Jacobs and Ethan Connolly, both born and bred in Cranfield. In their youth they were inseparable, until a disastrous date on prom night, after which both followed careers which took them away from the village for most of the time. When Libby loses her job, she decides to try to make a living out of her chocolate making hobby. Scaling up the process means she needs a larger kitchen, and the only one available unfortunately belongs to Ethan, who is between contracts and unusually living in the village for a few months. Sharing the kitchen is not as difficult as the pair feared, but when Ethan’s grandad falls ill, it looks as though Ethan may have to stay longer than planned. In fact, the whole village is brought together in spectacular fashion when Ethan decides to make his grandad’s dream come true and resurrect the Christmas train which used to run from the station. In the midst of the preparations, can Libby and Ethan forget the past and admit their feelings for one another.

This was a wonderful final chapter in this series. Libby and Ethan have featured in all of the other parts, but in minor roles, and there has always been the mystery about why they disliked each other. I was pleased to find out what had happened in their past and was willing them to get together throughout this book. Once again, through Ethan’s determination to get the Christmas train up and running for his grandad, the reader sees the power of community, which is always evident in stories about Cranfield, and which has turned the village around as the series progressed. It has been heart warming to witness developments as new characters have been introduced to the area and the village has gradually woken up. I shall certainly miss all of the villagers who have become like friends as I read each successive book. I can heartily recommend this book and the whole series to anyone wishing to escape to this little village for a few hours.

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Guest Review: Irresponsible Adult by Lucy Dillon

Sisters Cleo and Robyn may be close in age but their attitudes to life could not be further apart. While Cleo's a fully-fledged adult with a family, a business and a signature scent, Robyn is still waiting for the instruction manual to Adult Life and success is keeping her houseplant alive. Skating by at her job as an estate agent, she's adept at avoiding housework, ignoring admin, and evading her mother's anxious questions about her love life. But then Robyn's fired in the most publicly humiliating way imaginable - and her chaos catches up with her.

Although Cleo steps in to give Robyn a temporary job in her cleaning firm, it comes with very firm instructions: Robyn must BEHAVE RESPONSIBLY. And that includes meeting the high standards of Jim, her enigmatic supervisor. But when Robyn learns to navigate the catastrophic kitchens and judgemental dogs of total strangers she learns some unexpected truths about her own messy world. No one's life is spotless...

Review: I always know that I can look forward to a great read when I pick up a book by Lucy Dillon. This one certainly has an intriguing title and I was looking forward to seeing where it was going to take me. I was amused by the cover, but its message soon became clear once I met the lady depicted there. As I began to read, I was quickly absorbed into the lives of the main characters and was left wondering what their futures held long after I had finished the book.

The story introduces sisters Robyn and Cleo. Although from the same family, they couldn’t be more different from each other. Cleo is married with two children and a successful cleaning business. Estate agent Robyn, on the other hand, is messy and disorganised in her private and professional life and is constantly dodging her mother’s questions about her love life. When she is sacked in the most public and humiliating way, Robyn reluctantly accepts Cleo’s offer of a temporary cleaning job while she searches for something more suitable. Cleo wisely teams Robyn up with her best employee, Jim, who sets exacting standards for his new partner. As Robyn gradually learns the secrets for cleaning and tidying other people’s property, she thinks about how they apply to her life. She also unearths some unexpected things among the clutter in her home and some family secrets begin to be revealed.

I absolutely loved this book, with its strong characters, very amusing situations and messages for us all. Robyn was having a wonderful time to start with, floating along until suddenly life caught up with her and she had to grow up. It was funny watching her as she realised the meaning of organisation and responsibility as she had to do her job to a timetable and meet expectations. She learned some valuable lessons about herself and I found myself feeling happy that this knowledge was going to help her be OK in the future. Even though the sisters were so very different, there was a strong family vibe in the book and there was a lot going on within the family outwith Robyn’s development, adding other interesting threads to the story. A feature of the book that I really enjoyed was that each chapter begins with a cleaning tip, many of which I hadn’t heard before; I may just be referring back to some of these. This is definitely a book that I can recommend.

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Guest Review: Funny Story by Emily Henry

Daphne always loved the way Peter told their story.

That is until it became the prologue to his actual love story with his childhood bestie, Petra.

Which is how Daphne ends up rooming with her total opposite and the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra's ex, Miles.

As expected, it’s not a match made in heaven – that is until one night, while tossing back tequilas, they form a plan.

And if it involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex . . . right?

Review: This is actually my first novel from Emily Henry and, having just finished listening to the audiobook and enjoyed the story, I’m not sure why. I think I may just be going back through some of her earlier books soon.

This story tells of how Daphne came to be flat sharing with Miles and how these people with nothing at all in common developed a relationship. When Daphne was informed by fiancé Peter that he was in love with someone else and gave her a week to leave his house, she was left heartbroken and with nowhere to live. She turned to Miles, whose fiancé, Petra, had been snaffled by Peter, and who, more importantly, had a spare bedroom going begging. Librarian Daphne and bartender Miles couldn’t be more different, but somehow they managed to get along and gradually become friends, plotting revenge against their exes. Soon they began enjoying time together, each showing the other new experiences. Could their unlikely friendship be turning into something more?

I absolutely loved this sometimes humorous, sometimes serious romance, filled with interesting, well-developed characters and surprising situations. The way in which the author brought together two very different people who then slowly began to understand each other was brilliant. I liked the way in which the story was told in relation to Daphne’s plan for leaving the town which she now hated behind. The change in Daphne as she began to realise how much her life had been shaped by her ex was truly heartwarming, as was the way in which Miles gradually opened up to reveal the real person underneath the persona. I recommend this book and hope that others will also enjoy it as an introduction to Emily Henry’s novels.

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Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books From Series That I Loved

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. 

This was a real thinker for me, I think we definitely need to include trilogies in this but how do I even think about which my favourite is from some of my favourite series???

August 2024 TBR: New Releases and Other Audiobooks I Want To Read

August is usually a really good reading month for me because I have time at home that I don't usually have during term time but in actually fact I don't have an awful lot of time at home this August becasue I seem to have found myself here, there and everywhere this year! I do have a couple of longer flights this month where I may read some things and I also have some longer road trips where I may listen to some audiobooks so here's what I want to read this month!

August Releases (Both 1st August)

Leftovers from July!