Book Synopsis:

As a world-renowned chef, single dad Archer never planned on moving to a small town, let alone running a pancake restaurant. But Dream Harbor needs a new chef, and Archer needs a community to help raise his daughter, Olive.

Iris has never managed to hold down a job for more than a few months. So when it’s suggested that Archer is looking for a live-in nanny, she almost runs in the opposite direction.

Now, Iris finds herself in a whole new world. One where her gorgeous new boss lives right across the hall and likes to cook topless… Keeping everything strictly professional should be easy, right?

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House is a cozy romantic mystery with a single dad and found family dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

My Review:

I’ve been a huge fan of this series from the start and always look forward to a new edition of it, pre-ordering the books as soon as I hear about them.  It was great fun to be back in Dream Harbour and to catch up with all the members of the fabulous community.  The author has created a lovely little town with Dream Harbour and I wish it was real so that I could go and visit it- particularly for their seasonal festivals which always sound really fun.  

In this book we are not with one of the main characters from the previous series which I was a little disappointed with at first though it did give me a chance to meet some other lovely new members of the community.  Archer and his very cute daughter Olive were great fun to get to know throughout the book.  It was especially nice to see them grow together as a family unit and to see how much happier they were with the charismatic Iris in their lives.  The pancake mystery made me chuckle as well as their many efforts to hide their budding relationship from Olive. There was a bit of spice which might not be to everyone’s taste but I didn’t feel it was as much as last time as the story seemed to be more focused on the family growing closer together.

I thought the book had a great pace to it and there always seemed to be something happening to keep my interest.  Even in the quieter moment  was just happy to hang out with Iris, Archer and Olive, reading about them going about their everyday lives.  The ending was really lovely and I now can’t wait to read the next instalment of this fabulous series!

About The Author:

Laurie Gilmore is a No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller and a USA Today bestseller who writes steamy small-town romance. Her Dream Harbor series is filled with quirky townsfolk, cozy settings, and swoon-worthy romance. The first book in the series, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, was featured on Good Morning America and was named the TikTok Shop Book of the Year 2024.

She loves finding books with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice and strives for that in her own writing. If you ever wished you lived in Stars Hollow (or that Luke and Lorelai would just get together already!) then her books are definitely for you.

Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday. I’m a big fan of Reese’s Book Club and always look forward to seeing what she’ll choose as they are often books I’ve not heard of. Pictures are two books she’s featured recently that I still need to read!

💚Isola by Allegra Goodman
❤️City Of Night Birds by Juhea Kim

I’ve got a bit of a fascination with books involving ballet dancers so I’m excited to read City Of Night Birds and I love historical fiction especially if it’s set in a time period I’m not familiar with so I’m really looking forward to Isola.

Do you like Reese’s book club? What’s been your favourite read from it?

Isola by Allegra Goodman

In sixteenth-century France, as the heiress to an aristocratic fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of privilege. Then she is orphaned, and her enigmatic and volatile guardian squanders her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to the new French colonies of North America. Isolated and afraid, Marguerite befriends her guardian’s servant and the two develop an intense attraction. But when their relationship is discovered, they are brutally punished, abandoned on a small island with no hope for rescue.

From a childhood dressed in gowns and laced pearls in her hair, Marguerite finds herself at the mercy of nature. As the weather turns, blanketing the island in ice, she discovers a faith she had never before needed…

Inspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, Isola tells the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival.

The City Of Night Birds by Juhea Kim

Slowly recovering from a terrible accident, Natalia is faced with a devastating choice – to return to the cutthroat world of Russian ballet that nearly broke her, or to walk away forever – in this sweeping novel of love and redemption

Prima ballerina Natalia Leonova was once celebrated across the world, her signature bravura in demand on stages from St. Petersburg to Paris to New York. But at the top of her career, an accident forces her into sudden retirement. Injured and alone, she turns to pills and alcohol to numb the pain of her past, still haunted by her relationships with two gifted dancers, Dmitri and Alexander. These men were responsible for her soaring highs, her darkest hours and, ultimately, both played their part in her downfall.

So when Dmitri resurfaces with a tantalising offer for Natalia, she must decide what she is willing to sacrifice in order to dance again – and for the chance to return to the great love of her life. Painting a vivid portrait of a world in which ruthless ambition, desire and sublime artistry collide, City of Night Birds unveils the making of a dancer with profound intimacy and breathtaking scope.

From the author of Beasts of a Little Land, winner of the Yasnaya Polyana Award

Good afternoon everyone and happy Saturday. I seem to have collected a few orange books recently so I thought I’d put them together as a warm weather stack in appreciation for the lovely sunny weather we’ve been having!

🧡In The Weeds by B.K Borison
🧡One Day by David Nicholls
🧡The Sun Blessed Prince by Lindsey Byrd
🧡Sunstruck by Will Hunter
🧡The Sky On Fire by Jenn’s Lyons
🧡Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
🧡Wild Cities by Chris Fitch
🧡 When The Cranes Fly South by Liza Ridzén
🧡 Finding Belle by Reeta Chakrabarti
🧡The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce

All of these are tbr apart from When The Cranes Fly South which I absolutely loved!

I’m off today and I’m hoping for a quiet morning reading and hopefully some family time this afternoon for an early Mother’s Day celebration as I’m working tomorrow. I’m then going out for an early birthday meal with my lovely bookclub friends which I’m looking forward to.

I’ve tagged a few people who might want to join in but, as always, no pressure.

What are your Saturday plans?

Book Synopsis:

Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: lovesick, jobless, in need of a distraction.

Imprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads.

They’re fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost: they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food.

And so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry.

It’s audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life – love, friendship, art itself – it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of.

What could possibly go wrong?

My Review:

Glorious Exploits is an intriguing historical novel that manages to be funny but heart breaking at the same time.

The story is told from the point of view of Lampo who’s a happy, go lucky character who I didn’t particularly warm to as some of his antics kept making me cringe.  He always seemed to try his best but somehow always managed to say the wrong thing or put his foot in it somehow which was endearing at times but deeply frustrating in others.  His friendship with the likeable Gelon was interesting to follow and I enjoyed seeing how the friendship worked when the two were so different from each other.  

I didn’t know anything about this period of history, so I enjoyed learning more about it throughout the book.  It was fascinating to see what life was like in Ancient Sicily and how the different classes of people lived.  I especially loved hearing about the theatre shop and seeing how the different props were made in this time.  It was poignant to learn more about the treatment of slaves in this period, especially as we learn the background of a few of the slaves and get a glimpse into what their lives were like before.  The treatment of the Athenians was also sad to witness, especially as we see how much they had worsened over the time of the story.  I really felt for them and wished I could somehow rescue them all.  

Overall, I have mixed feelings about this book.  On one hand I enjoyed the time period and found it interesting to follow Lampo as he tries to put on his play in the quarry.  However, on the other hand I found the story quite sad and perhaps a little disjointed at times.  The ending was interesting, and I found it quite sad to discover how everything had worked out for the characters.  It was a bit confusing at times and I had to reread a few pages until I understood what was going on.  I didn’t understand the last few pages until we discussed it with the book group but as everyone else had got it apart from me, I think it was just me being a bit daft.  

If you are a fan of unique, gripping and realistic historical fiction then I think you will enjoy this book. 

About The Author:

Ferdia Lennon was born and raised in Dublin. He holds a BA in History and Classics from University College Dublin and an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. Glorious Exploits is his first novel. A Sunday Times bestseller, it was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and was the winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024 and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. After spending many years in Paris, he now lives in Norwich with his wife and son.

Good morning everyone! Today on Two For Tuesday I’m featuring two books from Laura Wood.

💚 Under Your Spell
❤️ Let’s Make A Scene

As I might have mentioned a few times (ok a lot) I was a huge fan of the fantastic Under Your Spell. It was such a brilliant book that after listening to it on audiobook I had to buy a physical copy just so I can share it.

You can therefore imagine my excitement when I received a copy of her next book Let’s Make A Scene which also sounds really good. I’m really looking forward to reading and reviewing it as part of the blog tour.

Huge thanks to the lovely @bookminxsjv for sending me a copy of this book.

Let’s Make A Scene is out on the 3rd of July 2025 and Under Your Spell is out now.

Find out more about the books below ⬇️

Let’s Make A Scene

Their story might be scripted, but the chemistry is real.

When Cynthie Taylor gets her first real acting job, starring in a small British movie, she is over the moon. There’s only one problem . . . Cynthie’s arrogant and annoyingly handsome co-star Jack hates her, and the feeling is definitely mutual. While they may be at war behind the scenes, their on-screen chemistry is palpable, and the studio sees an opportunity – have the two young stars fake a romance that will charm fans and draw crowds.

Thirteen years later, Cynthie and Jack have successfully kept their promise to stay far away from one another, until a surprising offer comes to make a sequel to the cult classic that launched their careers. But there’s a catch: they must also rekindle their pretend relationship . . . and this time there’s a documentary crew following their every move.

Cynthie and Jack both desperately need this film to work, but can two ex-rivals ever really trust each other? And what happens when the roles they’re playing start to feel all too real?

Under Your Spell

She only wants three things. He isn’t one of them… 

Dumped by her cheating ex, fired from her dream job, about to lose her flat: Clementine Monroe is not having a good day. So when her sisters get her drunk and suggest reviving a childhood ritual called the breakup spell, she doesn’t see the harm in it.
 
But now Clemmie has accidentally ruined a funeral, had her first one-night stand, and she’s stuck with a new job she definitely doesn’t want – spending six weeks alone with the gorgeous and very-off-limits rock star, Theo Eliott. 
 
He’s the most famous man on the planet. Her life’s a disaster. When it comes to love, Clemmie is learning you should be careful what you wish for…

Good evening everyone I hope you’ve had a good day. I was so excited to receive some fabulous book post this week. A copy of one of my most anticipated romance reads Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine and some lovely goodies.

This sounds absolutely amazing and I’m really looking forward to reading it. I’ve hidden the biscuit from the kids so I can enjoy it whilst I read.

Huge thanks to @zaffrebooks for sending me a copy of this book it’s really appreciated.

What romance tropes do you like?

Book Synopsis:

Popular romance author Margot Bradley has a secret: she doesn’t believe in Happily Ever Afters. Not for herself, not for her readers, not even for her characters. When a super-fan leaks this to the world, Margot is dropped faster than you can say ‘enemies-to-lovers.’

Her sister thinks she needs a change of scene and sends Margot off to a remote Alaskan cabin on a writing retreat that could be the perfect chance to say goodbye to romcoms and write something new – maybe swap meet-cutes for murder mysteries? But then she meets the handsome owner, Forrest:

She’s a city girl; he’s a lumberjack – of course he is.
He’s grumpy – wait, is she sunshine? Oh no.
At least there’s no forced proximity.
But that snowstorm is heading straight for their cabin…

As one trope after another draws them together over long snowy nights, one thing is clear: Margot and Forrest have landed in a romance novel of their very own. But will they each be able to overcome their fears, or risk becoming another of Margot’s Happily Never Afters themselves…

About The Author:

Victoria Lavine’s love of romance novels started in high school with a crate of old bodice rippers and a wink from her local librarian. Now, she writes her own Happily Ever Afters when she’s not enjoying the great state of Maine with her husband and daughter, taking orders from her two cats, or coming up with excellent reasons to make her next latte.

Book Synopsis:

A wedding should be fun . . . right?

The Princess Bride meets Travis Baldree in Tea You at the Altar, the third cosy fantasy in Rebecca Thorne’s bestselling Tomes & Tea series. Our sapphic adventurers must navigate the ultimate maelstrom – their own wedding!

Kianthe and Reyna are finally ready to walk down the aisle. This feels so right, but their plans are going all wrong. Pirates crowd the town, Kianthe’s estranged parents invited themselves, the baby dragons are causing mayhem – and they might run out of tea. Yet the truth overshadows everything . . . for their wedding has nothing to do with marriage, and everything to do with overthrowing the vicious Queen Tilaine.

But the Queendom’s secret heir would rather manage a hive of bees or study city planning than take the throne. As the big day nears and the coup unravels, Kianthe and Reyna must rely on each other and their friends to survive the experience. Six days until they say ‘I do’. Six days until the Realm changes for ever . . .

My Review:

Tea You At The Altar is another cute, funny and very absorbing cosy fantasy read from the fabulous Tomes and Tea series .

Firstly it was great fun being back in Tawney and getting to spend time with Kianthe, Reyna and their friends. I’ve grown really fond of them over the series and it’s lovely to see that they’ve built such a close knit group of friends who support them. Kianthe and Reyna seem like such genuine, relatable characters that I wish I knew in real life. It’s been fun watching the relationship develop and I had to keep reading to see if they’d get the happy ending I felt they deserved. This book also features some very cute baby dragons, Griffiths and a whole host of other magic creatures that made me smile as I read. Some of the characters are able to ride dragons which I absolutely loved as it’s something I wish I was able to do.

I thought this book had a good pace to it and there always seemed to be something happening to ensure that I kept reading. Between trying to plan a wedding, dealing with Kianthe’s disapproving parents and plotting to overthrow the evil Queen Tilaine our heroins have a lot going on. It was fun to follow the characters throughout all the drama and see how everyone unfolds for them.

The ending was brilliant and very surprising as I didn’t see it coming. It helps to set up the story neatly for book 4 which I’m now even more excited to read.

Huge thanks to Book Break, Pan Macmillan and Tor for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you’re a fan of cosy fantasy I highly recommend this book.

About The Author:

Rebecca Thorne is a USA Today, Indie, and Sunday Times Bestselling author, specializing in fantasy and sci-fi with romantic elements.

She is a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, hails from sunny Arizona, and uses her ADHD as a superpower to write multiple books a year. When she’s not writing (or avoiding writing), Rebecca can be found traveling the country as a flight attendant, hiking with her dogs and lovely fiancée, or basking in the sun like a lizard.

Good evening everyone I hope you’ve had a good Thursday. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of The Rush by Beth Lewis recently.

I’m a huge fan of historical fiction, especially if it’s set on a period of history I know nothing about. This takes place during the Canadian Golf Rush which I’ve not read about before so I’m looking forward to finding out more about it. This book also features strong women which I always love reading about and has been described as perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah who I’m a huge fan of.

Huge thanks to Miranda and Viper Books for sending me a copy of this book it’s hugely appreciated.

Out 12th June 2025 and you can find out more about the book below ⬇️

Is this book on your radar?

Book Synopsis:

Gold fever has taken him. I believe he means to kill me…

Canada, 1898. The gold rush is on in the frozen wilderness of the Yukon. Fortunes are made as quickly as they’re lost, and Dawson City has become a lawless settlement.

In its midst, three women are trying to survive on the edge of civilisation. Journalist Kate has travelled hundreds of miles after receiving a letter from her sister, who fears that her husband will kill her. Martha’s hotel is under threat from the local strongman who is buying up the town. And down by the river, Ellen feels her future slip away as her husband fails to find the gold they risked so much to seek.

When a woman is murdered, Kate, Martha and Ellen find their lives, fates and fortunes intertwined. But to unmask her killer, they must navigate a desperate land run by dangerous men who will do anything for a glimpse of gold…

Rich in its setting and characters, The Rush is a gripping historical crime novel perfect for readers of Stef Penney by way of Kristin Hannah and C Pam Zhang.

About The Author:

Beth Lewis was raised in the wilds of Cornwall and split her childhood between books and the beach. She has traveled extensively throughout the world and has had close encounters with black bears, killer whales, and great white sharks. She has been a bank cashier, a fire performer, and a juggler. She now lives in Oxford with her wife and daughter.

Good morning everyone and happy Thursday. I’ll be honest but I couldn’t think of what to post today so I thought I’d show some of the thrillers I’m looking forward to reading soon.

❤️The Einstein Vendetta by Thomas Harding
🧡The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen
💛The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha
💚The Strange Case Of Jane O by Karen Thompson Walker
💙10 Marchfield Square by Nicola Whyte
💜The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose

I have a few days off for my birthday in a few weeks so I’m saving the new maid book and The Summer Guests for then as I know I’m going to love them. I’m really excited to read the rest as well as I keep hearing great things about them. After taking this picture I realised I’d missed out Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard which is another thriller I’m definitely reading soon as I love her books!

I’m off this morning and I’m meeting one of my book club friends for coffee this morning. We always have a good laugh so I’m looking forward to seeing her. I’m then hoping to come back and fit in a bit of reading before I’m working this afternoon. We’ve then got a typically hectic Thursday with kids clubs tonight.

What’s your order if you go to a coffee shop? Do you have to have cake too like me?

Good morning everyone I’m on the blog tour for The Dylan Prize longlist today and I have my review of The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya to share with you.

The Hypocrite is one of 12 books to make the longlist before the shortlist is announced tomorrow which is very exciting.

You can find out more about the book and read my full review below ⬇️

Out Now!

Book Synopsis:

Sicily, 2010. Sophia, on the cusp of adulthood, spends a long hot summer with her father, a successful author. Over the course of that holiday, their relationship will fracture.

London, 2020. Sophia’s father, now 61, sits in a large theatre, surrounded by strangers, watching his daughter’s first play. A play that takes that Sicilian holiday as its subject and will force him to watch his purported crimes re-enacted. Set over the course of one climactic day, this is the story of a father and a daughter, of all that divides and binds them.

My Review:

A surprisingly absorbing, thought provoking read which has been deservedly short listed for the Dylan Thomas and Nero Book Awards.

Firstly I thought that the book was very aptly named as everyone you meet in this book, including some of the minor characters , are a hypocrite.  They all say it’s important for people to act one way but then act a completely different way themselves.  The story flits between the father who is watching his daughter’s play, the mother and daughter who are having lunch while the play is on and flashback to the day ten years ago when their relationship changed.  None of the characters are particularly likeable but I thought the author did a great job with the character of Sophia in this book, perfectly describing a girl on the cusp of adulthood who wants to be seen differently but isn’t quite sure how to achieve this.  

I soon found myself absorbed into the story and into the messy lives of the characters.  The difficult situation that the character’s find themselves in was very intriguing and I loved finding out everything that had happened to cause their relationship to get to this stage.  The mystery of what exactly happened in Sicily that night was gradually revealed and, while I don’t think what happened deserved to have a revenge play written  about it, I felt that it was well handled by the author.  It was interesting to see how differently the father and daughter remembered the month they spent together too.  While the father felt it was a bonding holiday where he helped her gain valuable life experience the daughter remembers it as a boring holiday where she was basically ignored by her father when they weren’t working.  

Overall I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be recommending it to other people.  The pace is a bit slow in places but I found myself too invested in what was happening with the characters to mind.  The ending was interesting and without trying to give anything away I liked seeing how things might be for the family going forward. I think it would make a great book club read as I think there would be lots to discuss.  

Huge thanks to Midas for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

JO HAMYA was born in London in 1997. After living in Miami for a few years, she completed an English degree at King’s College London and a MSt in contemporary literature and culture at Oxford University. There, she divided her research between updating twentieth-century cultural theory into twenty-first-century digital contexts, and the impact of social media on form and questions of identity in contemporary women’s writing. Since leaving Oxford, she has worked as a copyeditor for Tatler and edited manuscripts subsequently published by Edinburgh University Press and Doubleday UK. She has also written for the Financial Times.Three Rooms is her first novel. She lives in London.