The Hygge Holiday by Rosie Blake
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The perfect recipe for hygge: make a hot chocolate, draw the curtains, snuggle under a blanket and read your way to happiness!
It's autumn in Yulethorpe and everyone is gloomy. It's cold, drizzly and the skies are permagrey. The last shop on the high street - an adorable little toy shop - has just shut its doors. Everything is going wrong for Yulethorpe this autumn. Until Clara Kristensen arrives.
Clara is on holiday but she can see the potential in the pretty town, so she rolls up her sleeves and sets to work. Things are looking up until Joe comes to Yulethorpe to find out exactly what is going on with his mother's shop. Joe is Very Busy and Important in the City and very sure that Clara is up to no good. Surely no one would work this hard just for the fun of it?
Can a man who answers emails at 3 a. m. learn to appreciate the slower, happier, hygge things in life - naps, candles, good friends and maybe even falling in love?
I've read a couple of Rosie Blake novels before and I'm never disappointed in her work.
The Hygge Holiday is a real 'feel good' factor book, perfect for reading at Christmas time with the warm glow of a welcoming fire, a glass of wine and lots of lovely candles to whisk you away on this romantic journey to Yulethorpe and the little toy shop.
Clara the main character was such a warm genuine character it was easy to like her; in fact all the characters were lovely and believable. It seemed that Clara wove her magic in the little village and by the end of the book everyone had benefited in some way from her being there.
Of course there was the obligatory love story and although it was so very predictable it really didn't matter as the hygge just made you want to have everything turn out right in the end, which of course it did.
Nice to read a really likeable warm comforting book that does exactly what you expect and leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside - perfect winter reading and just a delight. Well deserved 5 stars.
I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.
How to Get a (Love) Life by Rosie Blake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Nicola Brown doesn't like to lose control. Her flat is always meticulously tidy and her weekly meals carefully planned; Nicola keeps her life in order. When her carefree colleague Caroline challenges Nicola to find a date for Valentine's Day, it's a surprise to them both when Nicola agrees.
As Nicola's search for a man begins, she is thrown in at the deep end - sometimes quite literally - of the dating scene. From men more likely to sell their mother than open their wallet, to those who are determined to find a girlfriend who shares their passion for extreme sports, Nicola has to run the full gamut of dodgy dates. But as the deadline looms closer, Nicola realises it isn't so bad to lose control. It turns out that trying to get a love life can be rather a lot of fun...
Not one of the best chic lits I have read but also not one of the worst. It did have its humorous moments but I felt that it lacked order.
The story was about Nicola Brown a girl who is orderly, organised and enjoys her work but because of a previous failed relationship she has decided she is not interested in men. Her colleague at work Caroline has become a good friend and she is worried that Nicola is only living half a life which is boring so she dares her to get a date for Valentines day and eventually after much pressure Nicola agrees.
In order to do this they both start looking for suitable men and Nicola even joins a carpentry class in the hope that since it will be predominately male she might find a suitable partner. There follows some disastrous dates and some funny parts to this book but there didn't seem to be any time frame and I was constantly wondering how long she had to go before the deadline date. It was also a bit predictable in places especially who she does end up with so that there was just no surprises for me. No real chemistry between Nicola and the man she gets but I did like her brother Mark and her friend Caroline whose characters were much more realistic. I didn't really connect with Nicola, she lacked warmth and her character was not developed enough to make me care about whether she managed to get a man or not.
Can only give this book a 3 star rating I'm afraid, not up there with the greats but an OK holiday read to pass the time on a plane.
I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.
How to Find Your (First) Husband by Rosie Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Isobel quits her dead-end job and travels the world seeking the man she believes she is meant to be with. A hilarious and irresistible romantic comedy about a globetrotting quest to find love. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Lindsay Kelk and Mhairi McFarlane.
Isobel Graves moved to LA determined to be the Next Big Thing. Instead, she is dressed as a giant prawn handing out fliers promoting a fish market. Rather than attending glamorous parties and dating exciting men, her evenings consist of watching box sets with her sort-of boyfriend, whose idea of romance is a late-night drunken text.
Where did it all go wrong?
When Isobel catches sight of Andrew Parker, her childhood sweetheart, in the background of a TV news story she feels it's a sign. If she'd stuck with Andrew everything would have turned out better. Now she just needs to find him...
Join Isobel as she travels from LA to Devon and to a remote Malaysian island in search of true love.
Easy to read chick lit with all the usual boy meets girl etc.
Isobel Graves is now living in LA and doing an assortment of crappy jobs while she dreams of getting her big break in TV which seems ever far away. Dreaming of a better life and romanticising about her childhood sweetheart Andrew Parker she manages to get through some pretty awful assignments. Having 'married' Andrew Parker in school when she was 8 she writes in her diary how she can't ever believe her life without him. 20 years later Isobel still has a special place in her heart for Andrew so when she see's him in a TV new item she feels that it is her destiny to find him and see if she can find the happiness she found all those years ago in the school playground.
Isobel then embarks on a journey to find Andrew that takes her from LA to England then on to Malaysia. This is a very entertaining read, good humour although it was so predictable that didn't spoil the enjoyment of the book. I found all the characters I could connect with, I loved her mother and father.
Would be a great book to take on holiday, good descriptive passages of Malaysia, idyllic beaches, turquoise waters, turtles etc, and easy to get lost in the locations. As I said it was predictable but for all that worth reading for the humour. Nothing really to 'give away' as no surprises but still enjoyable. This gets a 4 from me, one of the better well written chick lits.
I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.
