Alba in bookland

This week I am rather busy because I have just started a course that is taking way too many hours of my time. So every day, after dinner, I just want to disconnect and read something fun to take my mind off. With this idea I started How to Get a (Love) Life by Rosie Blake and the truth is that it worked! I had a lot of fun reading it and every day I couldn't wait to get home to see what was going to happen next! Here is the cover (I really like the colours):

The story is about Nicola Brown, a girl who likes things in a certain way, has a very organised life and enjoys her work. Even with her OCD-ish ways, she is very lovable and I warmed to her immediately. She is not interested in men because of a past heartbreak. Thanks to some flashbacks we know exactly what happened to her and then we understand her better. But when her coworker, who has become a good friend, Caroline, a busy mother of two, points out that maybe her life is a bit boring and dares her, well actually, double dares her with no returns to get a St Valentine's date, Nicola decides that maybe it is time to get a (love) life.

From this moment, Nicola starts looking for suitable men in the more bizarre places like a carpentry class, a golf course or a grassy dinner. But also through more traditional ways like facebook or blind dates. All this results in a series of hilarious dates (I was really laughing out loud with some of them!) that leave her wondering if she is ever going to find her soul mate.

What I really enjoyed from this book, apart from the dates, are the supporting characters, specilly his brother who keeps turning up uninvited in her house and tries to set her up with a couple of his friends. He is a good guy who has his own obsession (bats, ugh right?) but who is always there for her. Also, Caroline, who is the key who started everything, and James, his boss. I had a feeling about him that there could be more there and I couldn't wait to know if my intuition was right or not...

How to Get a (Love) Life is funny and uplifting and Rosie's writing is very enjoyable. At the end (I would have loved to know a bit more about what happens after the airport!) you are left with a smile plastered on your face and a warm feeling so if you are feeling a bit down or you are crazy busy and need to have some laughs and relax, this book will do it!

Rating:

Buy it on Amazon.co.uk for only £0.79!!

Some months ago, I read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I had never read a book by this author and I cannot begin to describe how much I loved it, it was so emotional and heart-breaking. So if you haven't read it yet, do it! You won't regret it. Anyway since I read it I had been wanting to read more books by Jojo Moyes and when a couple of weeks ago I saw her lastest book I fell in love with the cover and the blurb and I bought it. The cover is so simple but at the same time so beautiful. Have a look yourself:

So when last weekend the weather turned bad (spring? where did you go?) I realised it was the perfect oportunity for me to sit on my couch with a nice cup of tea and enjoy this gorgeous novel, because I had the feeling that it was going to be one of those books that captures you and you cannot put down. And YES it was one of those book. I simply loved it.

The book tells the story of four people and a dog who embark in an epic journey through the UK and discover that life isn't always fair or easy but you always have to keep fighting and maybe, at the end, a suprise awaits. In this story we meet a family of three: Jess, a young single mother who works like crazy in her two jobs to mantain her two children, Nicky, her teen stepson who doesn't fit because of his style and gets bullied, and Tanzie, a maths genius who just wants to solve her maths exercises and go to a better school to keep learning.

So when Tanzie gets the oportunity to take part in a Maths competition in Scotland and win a 5000 pounds prize, Jess is decided to get her family to Scotland no matter what in the hope that the prize will solve their most immediate problems. Here is where Ed appears, a man whose life is falling apart because of a crime he didn't know he was comminting, is forced to leave his house, company, family and friends and moves to his beach house, that Jess cleans, to await his trial. So when he sees Jess and her family in the middle of the night getting a fine for driving a car with no insurance, he finds himself offering them a ride to Scotland.

The book is written from several narratives, so during their trip, we get to know all the characters and we start to love them with all their flaws. They are all so real and honest. Jess is the most optimistic person I have ever met, even when life only puts obstacle after obstacle in front of her. And the fact that she took Nicky as her own at her young age, only shows how brave and good she is. Nicky is the most honest one, during his parts you discover a lot about everyone, and you can see that he loves Jess and Tanzie like crazy. Tanzie is so lovable, at her young age she doesn't understand why her family is so unlucky. And finally, Ed, is just lost. At the begining, I didn't like him but then you see his good heart and everything he does for this family of strangers and it is impossible not to love him too. Ah! I almost forgot Norman, the dog, who is a star!

During the book I got so angry. Why did they have to suffer so much? I also cried with all the sad bits. But I laughed too and enjoyed every page of the book. It has it all: drama, heartbreak, comedy, laughs and love. Moreover, Jojo's writing is perfect and clever. I loved the structure of the book, it made it unique and special. I actually cannot describe how much I loved it, Jojo is a genius and creates characters so real and warm. Just read the book because it is AMAZING and be prepared to be left with a huge book hangover.

Finally my rating: 5 cute clouds plus a small heart, meaning it has been one of my favourites this year so far!

We end this week dedicated to the Johny Be Good series with the review of The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson, the fourth book of the series. It is, however, quite different from the previous ones. This is the lastest book of Paige Toon and it is her first young adult novel, after her great success in the chick lit genre. The first thing that catches your atention is, as you can see, that the cover has nothing to do with her pink/violet previous ones. In this case, there is a selfie of a pretty young girl. This is the first hint that this book is something different from the other ones.

In Johny's Girl we learned that Johnny had a long lost daughter who, after her mother's death, wanted to meet him. Now, in The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson, we meet Jessie Pickerill, a fifteen-year-old girl who has just lost her mother and is currently living with her stepfather, a maths teacher at her school. She is struggling to get over her loss and tries to ignore her old friends to avoid sympathetic looks and prefers to hang out with cooler kids who didn't know her before.

Her mother never told her who her father was and now Jessie feels alone in this world. Her stepfather has a lot of problems to control her (she likes drinking, smoking and going to parties too much) and decides that is time for her to know the truth: her father is the world famous rock star Johnny Jeffersson. Jessie is shocked to learn that her mother was a groupie who would follow Johnny around and never told him when she got pregnant.

After some phone calls and meetings with his lawyers, and a lot of nerves and excitement, Johnny and Jessie agree to meet in LA for a week. Jessie can't believe that she is finally going to meet her dad, who happens to be a millionaire rock star. So when she arrives at his house, she kind of wants to impress him and wears a shiny silver minidress with high heels boots. That and the fact that she forgets to take off her sunglasses gives Meg, Johnny's wife, the impression that she is a wannabe rock star, so basically, that she is trouble.

At the beginning she feels like she is stepping in this perfect family and that she has no place with them. But little by little she starts to get to know better her dad, who is even more nervous than her to meet her, and her half-brothers and the week goes by way too fast. So when Johnny offers her to stay longer, she doesn’t hesitate. But is she ready to learn more about her family and more importantly, is she ready for the world to know about her? Is her life going to change forever? And can she go back to her old life after living with the luxuries of LA?

My opinion

I was a bit worried before reading this book because I was so used to read about Johnny and Meg from Meg's point of view that I didn't know if I was going to like Jessie, specially after reading the ending of Johny's Girl, where she seemed a bit problematic. But the truth is that little by little I got to love Jessie too. She is not the wannabe who we thought, she is just a girl struggling with her new reality who just wants to fit. Although I missed knowing how Meg was feeling, Jessie was a complex character and it was fun, exciting and addictive reading about her.

Paige Toon's writing, as usual, is fast-paced and descriptive and she creates, once more, a total page-turner! I am sure that all the younger girls (and all the not that young girls) are going to love Jessie, specially all her love dilemas and her adventures in LA. When I got to the end I was like, no! Don't end! Obviously, I want to keep reading about her and I can't wait for the second book about Jessie in 2015. Luckly for us, Paige Toon is publishing her new book quite soon.

Rating:

Today it is the turn of Johny's Girl, the third book of the Johnny Be Good series by Paige Toon. Actually it is a short story that serves as link from the two previous chick lit book to the new young adult book that Paige Toon published a couple of months ago. Here is the cover:

The book continues with the story of Meg and Johnny, who after all the drama they went through in the first two books are finally together. Their first son, Barney, is four and their second son, Phoenix is eight months old. They live in England and Johnny no longer drinks nor smokes. So we could say that Meg is the one who finally changed him.

She seems quite content with their life, although she doesn't like that he has to travel so much. But Johnny misses the US, specially his old house in LA. And when it becomes available again he convinces Meg to go back there and live in LA permanently. Is Meg ready to forget all the bad memories and create new happy one in that place? But they don't expect what life has in store for them, a piece of news that is going to change their life forever.

My opinion

As I said yesterday on my review, Baby Be Mine had the perfect ending for the story: their happy ever after. So I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep reading more because there were gonna be problems for sure. But the truth is that this short story is the perfect introduction for the YA novel The Accidental Life of Jessy Jefferson, Paige Toon's lastest book. We learn more about the life of Meg and Johnny as a couple and it is quite impresive to see the new Johnny (if we loved him as the bad boy, now that he has become the perfect father, we are crazy about him!). Moreover, it is fun to keep reading about the minor roles, like Kitty.

So after having read this short story, we are able to understand where Meg and Johnny stand before the new addition to their family. And after the end of this book, you just want to find out more about what is going to happen! If you are planning to read The Accidental Life of Jessy Jefferson (which I am going to review tomorrow) and you haven't read the Johnny Be Good series, it's a good idea to read at least this short story because Paige Toon perfectly explains everything that has happened from Meg's point of view.

Rating:

First of all, I'd like to share some great news with you! This week is Maryline's 22nd birthday! You can find her at M's Bookshelf And this lovely girl has decided to share her joy with all of us organising an amazing giveaway! Yay! So if you want to win some fab books like Ash To Steele, Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn, Heart of Montana and much more, don't hesitate to enter her giveaway in this page:

http://mssbookshelf.blogspot.be/2014/03/ms-bday-giveaway.html

Baby Be Mine

And now, as I said yesterday, last weekend I read my first book by Paige Toon, Johnny Be Good, and I totally fell in lover with her and her style and I was so hooked with the story of Johnny, Meg and Christian that as soon as I finished Johnny Be Good, I started reading Baby Be Mine, the second book of the series. I have to admit that I don't know how people who read the first one when it was first published were able to wait three whole years before the second came out! Crazy!

At the end of Johnny Be Good, we learned that Meg was pregnant. She was in a normal quiet relationship with Christian and was happy living with him in London, but then Johnny came back for her and asked her to choose him and go back to LA with him. Although she wasn't sure that she could trust him again, they spent the night together...

Baby Be Mine starts with the baby, Barney, turning one. The first thing we know is that he looks just like his dad, Johnny, but that Meg, not being sure who the real dad (until it became obvious with the baby having blond hair and green eyes), decided to stay with Christian for the well-being of the baby. They live in the south of France and live quite happily except for the fact that Meg is living a lie, she is haunted by the day that Christian realises that Barney looks just like his dad, Johnny.

She hasn't seen Johnny since that night in London, two years ago. So when Christian's mum dies suddenly and Johnny appears at the funeral, she is really shocked. First, he doesn't want anything to do with her because he is still angry. But then they start to talk and somehow, the chemistry is still there. But then, boom! He sees a photo of Barney and he knows. Finally, the day Meg feared the most has arrived. She has to tell Christian the truth and although he tries to get over it and continue with them, it is too much for him and he leaves.

Johnny wants to get to know his son so they start seeing each other again. They obviously still have feelings for each other but he is still an addict and moreover he is in a serious realtionship with an addict singer. Everything seems to be against Meg and Johnny but is their love enough to overcome everything? Can they find their happy ending after all they have gone through?

My opinion

If Johnny Be Good was a total page-turner and had me completely hooked, I really don't know how to describe Baby Be Mine. I just wanted to keep reading to learn more and more about the characters and the story. I totally loved the book, it was perfectly written and every page I felt like I was becoming part of their family too.

This is a total must-read. It is so funny, emotional and romantic! And the ending is just perfect! What we all wanted. But it was not the real end, there is more! The next book of the series is Johnny's Girl, which I obviously started reading as soon as I finished Baby Be Mine. Although I wasn't sure what to expect after this perfect ending... I'll tell you tomorrow what I thought about it!

Rating:

I actually cannot believe that I had never read a book by Paige Toon before this weekend. I mean, she is like really big in Chick Lit but somehow I never got around to read one of her books. But since I started blogging and tweeting I realised that it had to change. It was time to read one of her books (or four, like I ended up doing the last three days). Since she published her last book on January and it was the fourth book of a series I decided to start with the first one of the series: Johnny Be Good.

And I totally loved it! Johnny Jefferson is a rock star who follows the motto Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll quite literally. Saying that he is afraid of commitment is an understatement. So when the naive Meg Styles lands a job as her new PA and develops a crush on him she is in for Trouble, with the big T. Soon Meg finds herself trapped in this world of luxury and wild parties and she cannot talk about it with her old friend and her family. This is why when Christian, an old friend of Johnny's, goes to LA to visit him, he instantly becomes a friend for her too. They click from the beginning and you get the feeling that he is into her.

As Meg gets to know Johnny better, she starts to see hope in their future. Under all the addictions, parties and women, there is a man to fight for. Maybe she is the one who can change him for good. But is he ready to change for her? Then the unexpected happens and then it's her who is not that sure about them anymore...

My opinion

The book is a total page-turner and I couldn't put it down. Paige Toon's writing is so fast-paced and her descriptions are perfect, you can see yourself there perfectly and that is something I love. Also her characters are great, so vivid. The minor characters have their part in the story and make the book even better and some of them are so lovable!

I totally fell in love with Paige and her style and I couldn't believe that it took me so long to discover her! Luckly for me, she has published quite a lot of books so I'm in for a treat with any of them. But after the end of Johnny Be Good, I was so hooked with the story (it is one of that ends that leaves you like: and what happens now??? please, please tell me!!!) that I had to keep reading about Meg, Johnny and Christian. As I said, I read the four books of the series so I'll be back tomorrow with the review of the second one: Baby Be Mine.

Rating:

I received this copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Natalie Flemming is looking for the man of her dreams but it is taking her a bit longer than she expected. Tired of unsuccessful dates with guys who don't really see her, she decides to takes matters into her own hands and she publishes an ad to find The One. She starts getting answers for the ad and let's say that she finds herself in some hilarious situations.

Meanwhile, in her work place, the shoe company Makka, things are not going that well. Apparently the shoes are not selling good enough and the company has to do some restructuring. They hire Oliver to get everything back on track but when he arrives some people start to get fired. Natalie, even if she kind of hates her job, has no intention of losing it so she confronts him. She is quite suprised that not only is he gorgeous but he has some exciting plans for the company and specially for her! The question is... only professionally or is there something more going on between them?

Here is the lovely cover of White Lies:

My opinion

First of all I have to say that this is the debut novel of Emily Harper and that it is a fantastic chick lit book! Her writting is very light and fresh and the story is lovely. It is one of those book you read in a couple of hours and leaves you with a huge smile on your face and a warm feeling.

I have read some reviews that say that Natalie reminds them of Becky from the Shopaholic series and I totally agree! She is so lovable and real and even if she is not that obsessed in shopping she is special without realising it, just like Becky. So if you are a big fan of Sophie Kinsella (I mean, who isn't?) and you are looking for a fun read, some laughs and specially some romace, you'll love this book. Moreover, there is a letter to her "prince charming" at the beginning of every chapter that I found quite hilarious!

By the way, a couple of months ago Emily Harper published her second novel Checking Inn. I have read some really good comments about and I can't wait to read it!

First of all, today is World Book Day, so I hope you all are having a really nice day and reading a lot!

So in this special day I would like to talk about one of my favourite authors: Ali McNamara. I discovered her some months ago and since I read her debut novel "From Notting Hill with Love... Actually" I fell in love with her writting and her books. Here is my review of her first book:

http://addictivechicklit.blogspot.com.es/2014/02/from-notting-hill-with-love-actually.html

And given that this fantastic book has a sequel and I promised that I would talk about it soon. What a better day than today! Here is the cover:

So do you remember Scarlett? The movie obsessed girl who managed to live her own romantic movie thanks to gorgeous Sean? Yes? Ok, so she was sure life with him wouldn't be boring... but as reality hits her, she realises that real life couldn't be more different from the movies: Sean is constantly away and she feels quite alone. So when the opportunity arises to go to New York with Oscar, her new best friend, she doesn't hesisate for a minute and grabs it, ready for the holiday of a life time.

In New York, Scarlett and Oscar start living some fascinating and hilarious adventures and they meet some really interesting people. Scarlett, with her charisma, manages to meet some celebrities (yes, really hot guys) and a cute reporter called Jamie who kind of gets her better than anyone else... How can she feel this way with him when she is in love with Sean?

But during their trip, Scarlett not only goes to parties, meets cool people and enjoys the city, she also starts to feel the need to help others. She has a brilliant idea that is going to change her future and probably her whole life (love life included) but is she ready to make it real? It does have a lot of potencial! Are you eager to learn more? Go and read this book (and if you haven't read the first one, then read both!) because it is an amazing book!

My opinion

This book has everything you could want from a story. Ali's writting is fresh and addictive and in this book she talks about some serious topics delicately and reach you with her message. Moreover, she hasn't forgotten about the big romantic comedies. In this book you can find scenes very connected to Breakfast at Tiffany, You've got Mail, When Harry met Sally... and more! And if the end of the first book was perfect, the end of the second one is so special! It certainly leaves you with a warm feeling and a big smile in your face. Moreover there is a cameo from a certain gorgeous actor (who just made the most famous selfie ever).

In conclusion, Ali writes a delightful and humourous story about a girl who is trying to find her spot in the world in one of the most magic cities... New York, so to finish this post some more pictures of this amazing city: