Book Synopsis:

Expectation meets Julie and Julia, The Yellow Kitchen is a brilliant exploration of food, belonging and friendship.

London E17, 2019. A yellow kitchen stands as a metaphor for the lifelong friendship between three women: Claude, the baker, goal-orientated Sophie and political Giulia. They have the best kind of friendship, chasing life and careers; dating, dreaming and consuming but always returning to be reunited in the yellow kitchen.

That is, until a trip to Lisbon unravels unexplored desires between Claude and Sophie. Having sex is one thing, waking up the day after is the beginning of something new.

Exploring the complexities of female friendship, The Yellow Kitchen is a hymn to the last year of London as we knew it and a celebration of the culture, the food and the rhythms we live by.

My Review:

The Yellow Kitchen is an interesting, thought provoking read about love, food and friendship.

Firstly I loved the three main characters in this book and enjoyed following their friendship. It’s the kind of friendship I think most people dream about and I liked the way the author writes the book so that the reader feels part of their group. It was interesting to follow the three of them as they try and navigate life whilst maintaining their friendship throughout whatever life throws at them. The reader sees them grow as the story progresses and I felt at times like I was reading a coming of age story as the characters learn more about themselves.

The plot was interesting and very character driven which I thought interesting. It seemed very real especially some of the conversations the three have when together as I’m sure I’ve had similar conversations myself. There are some thought provoking subjects that made me think and would make the book a great book club read as I feel there would be lots to discuss. There’s also some fantastic descriptions of food which has me reaching for the cookery books and planning my own meet up with friends.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Simon and Schuster for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Margaux Vialleron is a French-born, London-based writer, self-taught cook and co-host of the The Salmon Pink Kitchen book club, culinary community and podcast. The Yellow Kitchen is her first novel. Find out more at her website http://margauxvialleron.com/ or connect with her on Twitter and Instagram @margauxvlln

Book Synopsis:

Paris, 1878. Ballet dancer Marie van Goethem is chosen by the unknown artist Edgar Degas to model for his new sculpture: Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen Years.But Marie is much more than she seems. By day she’s a ‘little rat’ of the opera, contorting her starving body to entertain the bourgeoisie. By night, she’s plotting to overthrow the government and reinstate the Paris Commune, to keep a promise she made to her father, a leading communard who died in the street massacres of 1871.As Marie watches the troubling sculpture of herself come to life in Degas’ hands, she falls further into the intoxicating world of bohemian, Impressionist Paris, a world at odds with the socialist principles she has vowed to uphold.With the fifth Impressionist Exhibition looming, a devastating family secret is uncovered which changes everything for both Marie and Degas. As Degas struggles to finish his sculpture and the police close in on Marie, she must decide where her loyalties lie and act to save herself, her family and the Little Dancer.

My Review:

Little Dancer is an absorbing, atmospheric read which perfectly blends real historical events with fiction.

Firstly I absolutely loved the main character Marie and enjoyed following her throughout the book. She is a very determined, strong little girl who is frustrated with how things are for the poorer citizens of Paris and wants to make a difference. I really felt for her when she’s cowed by her position in life and forced to do things she knows is wrong to get by. The characters are all based on real historical figures and I loved learning more about them by researching on Google.

The author has clearly done her research and I could really envision Paris in my mind. This was a new era of history for me so I enjoyed learning more about the Paris Commune and the Communard’s battle to get better rights for the poor. The huge divide between rich and poor was quite striking and it was tough to see what they needed to do to raise money to live. It was the beginning of the revolutionary movement that sparked the fight for other causes including woman’s suffrage.

Overall, as you can probably tell, I loved this book and will definitely be recommending it to other historical fiction fans. The dramatic opening helped draw me into the book and set the scene for what Paris was like at the time. There was always something happening to keep my interest and I soon found myself wanting to learn more. The ending was brilliant and I didn’t see the twist coming at the end either.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater and Unbound for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Melanie Leschallas holds MAs in Creative Writing from Sussex and in Drama and Movement Therapy from Central School in London as well as a BA(Hons) in French and Italian from Bristol University. She was trained as a dancer and worked at the Moulin Rouge in Paris during her twenties. Mel is also a jazz singer and loves to sing Jacques Brel songs at the Savoy Hotel in London. She runs http://www.lunarlemonproductions.com with her husband, Craig, teaches yoga in Brighton and leads wellness and writing retreats at her home in the Malaga mountains.

Good afternoon everyone this week on JoJo Recommends I’m featuring Gemini which is the new album from Dead Shoto.

Dead Shoto (aka Henry) is from the Bronx in New York. He is a twitch streamer but streams mainly games at the moment although I believe he is looking at getting the equipment to stream music too. It’s worth following him as his streams are always hilarious and he often does listening parties for any new music he’s putting out.

If you would like to follow Dead Shoto on twitch or on social media you can do by following the links below.

How To Listen:

Henry’s music is mainly rap or hip hop and he has a lot of originals available on all the streaming platforms. His lyrics can be quite adult at times and contain swearing so if you’re easily offended he might not be the artist for you. I’ve included the video for Cigarette Breath below as it’s my favourite in his album and has a bit of an old school hip hop vibe which I love.

JoJo Recommends On Twitch:

Jojo Recommends is back on Island Vibing Presents twitch stream after a brief hiatus due to illness. I’m absolutely loving filming my features am really grateful for all the great friends I’ve made.

If you would like to watch the most recent feature or follow Island Vibing Presents you can do so by clicking the link below.

JoJo Recommends Playlist:

You can now listen to Dead Shoto and all previously featured artists on a special playlist I’ve created on Spotify.

Thanks for reading and happy listening!

Book Synopsis:

Can you ever really find the one after ‘the one’?

Some people spend their whole lives trying to find the one. But Natalie had found him – and married him. And then Russ died.

Two years ago, her whole world was shattered. Still now, she feels like she’s trying to piece her broken heart back together, one day at a time.

But then she finds a sheet of music – one that only Russ would know – in the piano stool in St. Pancras station where she’s secretly been playing for the last few months.

For the first time, Natalie realizes that maybe life does still hold a little magic. And with every note she plays, she feels as if she’s unlocking another fragment of her heart…

But will she ever truly find love again after she’d already found forever?

My Review:

I thought this was a charming, heartwarming and emotional read which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Firstly there the author has created some fantastic characters that I enjoyed getting to know throughout the book. I absolutely loved Natalie and instantly warmed to her, wanting her to work through everything and find happiness. The supporting characters were also brilliant and I liked how they fit into the story, each having their own role to play.

The gentle mystery about who’s leaving the piano music for Natalie was really cute and I liked following Natalie as she tried to find the answer. I found this part of the book quite emotional and it was wonderful watching Natalie work through her grief.

Overall I loved this book and can’t wait to read more from the author. There’s a perfect blend of emotions in this book and I found myself crying one moment and then laughing the next. The ending was particularly beautiful and I closed the book feeling satisfied but sad at having to leave behind Natalie and her friends.

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

About The Author:

Lia Louis lives in the United Kingdom with her partner and three young children. Before raising a family, she worked as a freelance copywriter and proofreader. She was the 2015 winner of Elle magazine’s annual writing competition and has been a contributor for Bloomsbury’s Writers and Artist’s blog for aspiring writers. She is the author of Somewhere Close to Happy and Dear Emmie Blue.

Book Synopsis:

She thinks of blue mountain, her favourite place. ‘We’re going somewhere where we can be safe. We never have to come back here.’

As the rest of the world lies sleeping, Eleanor straps her infant daughter, Amy, into the back of her car. This is the moment she knew must come, when they will walk out on her husband Leon and a marriage in ruins since his return from Vietnam. Together, she and Amy will journey to blue mountain, a place of enchantment and refuge that lit up Eleanor’s childhood.

As the car eats up the miles, so Eleanor’s mind dives back into her fractured relationship with her mother, Kitty. Kitty who asked for so much from life, from love, from family. Kitty who had battled so hard to prise her husband George out of the grip of war. Kitty, whose disapproving voice rings so loud in Eleanor’s head.

Tense, visceral, glittering, it is a masterful return to fiction from the author of the acclaimed See What I Have Done.

My Review:

Blue Hour is an emotional, harrowing read which is very thought provoking. I was a big fan of this author’s first book and I liked that this book was so different but just as beautiful.

This story follows mother and daughter, Kitty and Eleanor, who are struggling with the choices they have made. I liked Eleanor and found her to be a sympathetic character who I felt I understood. I desperately wanted her to escape and find the safe place she wanted. I did struggle a bit with Kitty and found it hard to feel much empathy for her. The author does take time to explain her back story and why she acts like she does but her treatment of her daughter, despite all her own experiences, made her quite unlikeable. It was heartbreaking to see how she put her daughter down and seemed to blame her for everything that has gone wrong in her life.

Some difficult subjects are covered in this book which made the book quite harrowing to read at times. There are some very uncomfortably moments which were hard to read at times and I often found myself having to put the book down and go back to it. The tension in the book slowly increased as we follow Eleanor on her journey and I had to keep reading to find out what happens.

Overall I thought this was a fantastic book that was beautifully written. Despite breaking my heart frequently whilst reading I feel it’s a book that it’s important for everyone to read. It’s a book that has stayed with me and I’ve continued to think about long after reading.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Headline for my copy of this book. It would make a great book club read as I feel there would be lots to discuss.

About The Author:

Sarah Schmidt isd the acclaimed author of SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and won the AIBA Literary Fiction of the Year 2018. She lives in Melbourne where she works as a librarian. You can follow her at https://sarahschmidt.org/ and on Twitter @ikillnovel.

Book Synopsis:

Lies can be buried… Secrets always come to the surface

Amarante is paradise…
An uninhabited, unspoilt island somewhere in the Indian Ocean.
Only those who know it exists can find it.
 
But paradise comes with a price…
Virginie and Jake sail to Amarante for their honeymoon, but they are not alone.
They have to adjust to life on the island with five strangers.
 
And not everyone will live to tell the tale…
Dark secrets surface and their dream abruptly turns into a nightmare.
Removed from society, they find out what they’re truly capable of.

Deep Water is published in ebook and paperback on the 7th July 2022. You can pre-order your copy using the links below.

My Review:

Deep Water is a very intriguing and engrossing read. The story starts off very dramatically as a naval ship finds a boat giving off distress signals in the middle of the ocean which has an injured man and woman on board. From this we hear more about the couple’s interesting experiences on an deserted island which go from idyllic to scary quickly.

The island setting helped create a lock door scenario due to the isolated location and that, along with the reader knowing that something bad happens but not why or how, makes it very intriguing. I found I had to keep reading as I wanted to find out why everything went so wrong. The level of tension and anticipation slowly increase as the book continues until I found it hard to put down.

From the dramatic opening the story slows down and we get flashbacks into the characters past explaining how they came to be on the island. Everything seems a bit too perfect between them and this put me on alert to any hidden secrets the two might be hiding. I enjoyed getting to know the couple and learning more about their past. The author is a skilled sailor and I liked how she puts some of her sailing knowledge into the story as it makes the story seem more realistic.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and am excited to read more from this author. The pacing was good, the characters were very compelling and there were enough twists to keep me glued to the page. The ending was brilliant, very action packed and I felt all parts of the story were nicely tied up.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Simon and Schuster for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Emma Bamford, a freelance journalist, is working on an MA in prose fiction at University of East Anglia, UK. She is the author of Deep Water and the memoirs Casting Off and Untie the Lines. Find out more at EmmaBamford.com.

Good morning everyone today on JoJo Recommends I’m featuring Show You My Love by Natalie Hamilton.

Firstly apologies for not posting any music recommendations recently as some of you might already know I’ve been in hospital and I’ve not been able to look at a screen for a while.

Natalie is a singer songwriter from New Haven, CT in the US. I first found Natalie on twitch and immediately loved the vibes on her stream and how friendly everyone was. She plays guitar and piano on her stream as well as singing.

If you would like to follow Natalie on Twitch or social media you can do so by clicking the links below.

How To Listen:

Natalie has some beautiful songs which are great to unwind with. Show You My Love is a very soulful song with a jazzy feel to it. It’s her first single and I’ve linked the video for it below along with a recent cover of hers.

JoJo Recommends on Island Vibing Presents:

After a short break JoJo Recommends is back on Island Vibing Presents! As it’s the summer streams aren’t going to be every week but I’ll still be doing features on my blogs.

If you’d like to watch Island Vibing on twitch please click the link below.

JoJo Recommends Playlist:

You can now listen to Natalie and all previously featured artists on a special playlist I’ve created on Spotify.

Thanks for reading and happy listening!

Book Synopsis:

The Witches of Woodville Part 3

August 1940
 
In a quiet village in rural Kent, the enemy is at the gates . . .

The Battle of Britain rages and Faye Bright encounters the ghost of a pilot who won’t give up the fight. Before she can help him, Faye is whisked away to join a motley crew of witches to perform a top secret ritual on the White Cliffs of Dover that could repel the invaders.

But there’s a catch. The ritual must be executed in the nuddy. Mrs Teach threatens mutiny. Miss Charlotte is intrigued. And Faye wants to call the whole thing off when she suspects there’s a spy in their midst.

It’s up to Faye Bright to uncover the traitor, all while dealing with the ghost haunting Ivy Barn who may hold the key to the truth. But first, Faye has to learn to fly . . .

For fans of Lev Grossman and Terry Pratchett comes the third novel in this delightful series of war, mystery and a little bit of magic . . .

My Review:

The Ghost Of Ivy Barn is another fun, captivating and magical read from the fabulous Witches Of Woodville series.

Firstly it was great to be back in Woodville with the wonderful Faye and Bertie. The author has created a wonderful world that I loved spending time in. It’s the perfect blend of historical and magical setting.

Faye and Bertie are are fantasy characters who I’ve enjoyed following throughout the book. Their budding romance helps provide some of the more humorous moments in the book. Faye has done a lot of growing up in the series and this one sees her continuing to develop and learn to control her magic better. She’s a very determined, fiesty lady who know what she likes and what she wants. She has gained a lot of respect with people in the village which was nice to see.

The plot was very interesting and I think it’s very clever how the author includes real historical events into the story. The author has managed to find new ways to breathe life into this series with the inclusion of the new witches and the new war mission which was very intriguing. I really enjoyed watching everything unfold and come together.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Simon and Schuster for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Mark Stay got a part-time Christmas job at Waterstone’s in the nineties (back when it still had an apostrophe) and, despite being working class and quite lippy, somehow ended up working in publishing for over 25 years. He would write in his spare time and sometimes those writings would get turned into books and films, including the Witches of Woodville series from Simon & Schuster, and the forthcoming Warner Bros. horror movie Unwelcome.

Mark is also co-presenter of the Bestseller Experiment podcast, which has inspired writers all over the world to finish and publish their books. Born in London, he lives in Kent with Youtube gardener and writer Claire Burgess and a declining assortment of retired chickens.

Come and say hello at markstaywrites.com

Get free short stories at the Woodville Village Library https://witchesofwoodville.com/#library

Book Synopsis:

The first chapter in a dark and gritty crime seriesBrought up believing that sex is the devil’s work, a killer only finds release once he has saved his victim’s souls. Abiding by his vision, he marks them as his. A gift to guide his chosen ones on the rightful path to redemption.Detective Inspector Paolo Sterling is out to stop him, but Paolo has problems of his own. Hunting down the killer as the death toll rises, the lines soon blur between Paolo’s personal and professional lives.

My Review:

Say Your Prayers is a gritty, dark and addictive thriller which is the first book in the DI Sterling series.

The story alternates between the Killer and DI Sterling’s point of view which I found very interesting. The Killer has to be one of the most horrible, sadistic killers I’ve met for a while. Through his story we learn more about his background and what made him like he is. We learn more about DI Sterling and the busy home life he is trying to juggle alongside work too. I quickly grew to like Sterling and felt a lot of sympathy for him as I know how difficult it is to juggle both.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and have already bought book two which I hope to read soon. The plot was very fast paced with lots of little storylines running alongside the main one which was very clever. There were lots of twists and a few red herrings which kept me guessing until the end. The ending was fantastic, very dramatic and hugely satisfying.

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

About The Author:

When not working on her crime novels, Lorraine Mace is engaged in many writing-related activities. She is a columnist for both Writing Magazine and Writers’ Forum and is head judge for the Writers’ Forum monthly fiction competitions.A tutor for Writers Bureau, she also runs her own private critique and author mentoring service. She is co-author, with Maureen Vincent-Northam, of The Writer’s ABC Checklist. Other books include children’s novel Vlad The Inhaler – Hero in the Making, and Notes From The Margin, a compilation of her Writing Magazine humour column.