Good morning everyone I hope you had a great weekend. I was lucky enough to be invited to the Simon & Shuster showcase last week, which I watched over zoom.
I always love these type of book events as it’s very special to hear an author talk about their book. It was interesting to learn more the books and their motivation for writing them. I sadly missed a little bit of it as I was putting kids to bed but I loved the bit I did catch. I’m very excited to read all of these as they are some of my favourite authors.
Huge thanks to Sara-Jade from Simon & Shuster for inviting me to the event and for organising it!
Find out more about the books below.
Maya’s Laws Of Love by Alina Khawaja
Maya Mirza is so convinced she’s unlucky in love and life that she’s come up with a list of laws to explain it. Most importantly…
* Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
But that’s about to change. Maya’s headed to Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome, successful doctor who ticks all the right boxes. First comes marriage, then comes love – she’s sure of it. Except…
*Trips are never smooth sailing.
From the start, Maya’s journey is riddled with disaster, and the cynical lawyer seated next to her on the plane isn’t helping. Until a storm leaves them stranded in Switzerland, and she and Sarfaraz become unlikely travel companions. And maybe something more…
*When you think you’re lucky, think again.
Before long, Maya’s wondering whether she’s just experienced the ultimate in misfortune – finally meeting the right man a few days before she has to marry someone else.
Happy Ever After by Patricia Scanlan
When the honeymoon is over, real life begins… Newly married Debbie is at her wits’ end about her and Bryan’s mounting debts, but there’s no way he’s going to stop living the high life and become a stay-at-home husband. Meanwhile, her dad has just found out his workaholic second wife, Aimee, is pregnant. He couldn’t be happier, but she’s horrified. Is their marriage going to last? Debbie’s mum, Connie, has met a gorgeous new man and is all set to make a life of her own. But her family need her more than ever to sort out all their problems. Will she put her family first as always, or can she walk away and finally make a fresh start? Will anyone be happy ever after?
Number 1 bestselling author Patricia Scanlan is set to capture the hearts and enchant the minds of a whole new generation of readers who will fall in love with her sublime storytelling. A trailblazing women’s fiction author, all of her novels have been #1 international bestsellers, most recently With All My Love, A Time for Friends, Orange Blossom Days and A Family Reunion. She writes multi-generational family dramas with compassion and authenticity, and a hint of comforting escapism.
Probably Nothing by Lauren Bravo
Bryony doesn’t actually mind being single. So she doesn’t understand why she keeps seeing (ok, sleeping with) Ed, who is perfectly fine, but also only okay. After developing the ick on their fifth date, she resolves to end things – only to receive a call the next day telling her Ed has died.
Worse yet, he seems to have represented her to his family and friends as his great love. Obviously, it would be cruel to correct them. Then she’s invited to the funeral. It would be equally rude to refuse… right?
Before she knows it, Bryony has been drawn in by the charisma and chaos of Ed’s eccentric family and tangled in a web of her own lies. She’s been guilted into signing up to his sister’s pyramid scheme, she’s in far too deep with several of his nearest and dearest – and to make matters worse she’s experiencing a lot of physical symptoms that are becoming harder and harder to ignore…
Probably Nothing is the answer to just how far sheer awkwardness can take someone. Peppered with Lauren Bravo’s irresistible wit, it explores the relatable modern cults of wellness and people-pleasing, and digs into the eternal dilemma: life is short – so should you settle for perfectly fine?
The Holiday Escape by Heidi Swain
Her dream holiday is his everyday life. His dream holiday is her normal life. What happens when they collide?
Ally and her dad, Geoff, run the family business, a creative retreat, from their home Hollyhock Cottage in picturesque Kittiwake Cove. They give their guests their dream break, but Ally hankers after glamourous city living, fancy restaurants and art galleries.
Ally’s survival strategy is to escape out of season, take a break abroad and pretend to be the person she always imagined she would be. She meets Logan while she’s away and he turns out to be exactly the kind of distraction she’s looking for.
With her spirits restored, Ally returns home, picks up the reins again and sets her sights on another successful season, but when Logan unexpectedly arrives on the scene, she soon realises she’s in for a summer that’s going to be far from straightforward…
A story about bringing a holiday home – and what happens when what goes on on holiday comes back to bite you…
The Lost Orchard by Sharon Gosling
Set in a small community on the Scottish coast, the new feel-good story about family, belonging and finding peace with the past from the author of The Lighthouse Bookshop and The Forgotten Garden.
Can a return to the past be the start of something new?
Bette and Nina Crowdie have never been close – they’re too different, the ten-year age difference doesn’t help, and Bette’s rarely been back home since she left for university at eighteen. When their father passes away and unexpectedly splits the family farm between them, Nina is furious and afraid. She’s been working at the farm for the past five years. It’s the only stable home her young son Barnaby has ever had, and she’s convinced that Bette, who never wanted anything to do with the family business, will sell at the first chance she gets.
When they discover the huge debt their father has been hiding from them both, Bette reluctantly agrees to help her sister. But that means they have to find a way to work together, and Bette must face up to the real reason she left all those years ago.
Could the discovery of an ancient orchard on their land be the key to saving the farm – and the sisters’ relationship?
New Beginnings At The Cosy Cat Cafe by Julie Haworth
New Beginnings at The Cosy Cat Café tells the story of Tori who, after being dumped and left stranded by her long-term boyfriend Ryan on a trip of a lifetime to Asia, returns home to the sleepy Sussex village of Blossom Heath with her tail between her legs and her dreams shattered. Donning her frilly apron to help her Mum, Joyce, behind the counter at The Cosy Cup Café, Tori starts to believe – with the help of a hunky fireman and a clowder of rescue cats – that perhaps the secret to her future happiness might lie closer to home than she ever thought possible.
If you love your romance with a side order of cake, cats and cosy community dynamics, this is the purrfect uplifting, feel-good read from the winner of the RNA Katie Fforde Debut Novel of the Year 2023.
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