Tag: Bookshop

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The Little Island Secret: An absolutely gripping and heartbreaking page-turner 

300 pages Publication date Jul 21 2021 Bookouture publisher

ABOUT THE BOOK

t the bottom of the meadow is a tiny crescent of beach, and beyond it the wild grey sea. I’ve pictured this view in my head so many times, and now I’m here, I know it will change everything. The whitewashed cottage with a peeling green painted door to my right must be his house…

When Abby steps off the ferry and onto the tiny island of Kinlossay, she squeezes her daughter’s hand and prays this trip will be the escape they both so desperately need. For now, at least, Beth is safe from the bullies making her life a misery, and perhaps Abby might find out more about the mysterious man behind the letters she’s been receiving…

Cameron first got in touch to see if Abby’s shop stocked his favourite book. And has written every day since to tell her of his life on his rugged little island, where buttercups dance on rolling fields and the sky never stops moving. The weekend he once came to visit her – singing with Beth in the kitchen, kissing Abby’s lips so tenderly – is a memory she will treasure forever. But then, one day, the messages stopped. Abby received the heartbreaking news that Cameron had passed away.

As she watches her daughter run laughing along the windswept beaches he described so perfectly, Abby wonders if this goodbye trip could also be a new beginning. But then she sees a face across the street that she recognises instantly, and her heart shatters. If Cameron is dead, who is this man? What devastating secrets has this little island been keeping? The truth will change Abby and her daughter’s life forever – but only if they let it…

MY THOUGHTS

The Little Island Secret is a book I thought I’d like more than I did.
I very much enjoyed the bookshop setting in Scotland.
Cameron first contacts Abby to see if she has a hard to locate book writing every day after to tell her of his belove island with the waves crashing and its breathtaking view.
They fell in love, and he even came to visit once with her daughter loving him too as they sang and laughed.
Devastated she finds out he has passed away when the letters stop. She knows she must go to the island to get closure taking her daughter along.
The description of the island is breathtaking but the secrets the island harbors left me feeling unsettled as they were revealed. I can understand why it was done but would I have done it, no.
The book felt much longer than it was, it was a slog to get through.
There were parts I enjoyed a lot about the book and others felt unrealistic as I couldn’t make a connection with most of the characters.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

After a varied career, Emma Davies once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun and humorous (and not necessarily true) anecdote for their website. She wrote the following: ‘I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.’ Well the job in the design studio didn’t work out but she’s now a forty something mother of three and is happy to report the rest of her dream came true.

After many years as a finance manager she now writes full time, and is far happier playing with words than numbers. She lives with her husband, three children, and two guinea pigs in rural Shropshire where she writes in all the gaps in between real life. It’s a county she adores, her love of its beautiful people and landscapes providing endless inspiration for her books, and in fact the only thing that would make Shropshire more idyllic is if it were by the sea.

Pop over to her website http://www.emmadaviesauthor.com where, amongst other things, you can read about her passion for Pringles and singing loudly in the car. You can also wave to her on twitter @EmDaviesAuthor or find her on Facebook (a little too often than is good for her).

Enjoy your day. Thank you for stopping in.

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Bookish Cozy Mystery Clause of Death (A Booktown Mystery Book 16) BY Lorna Barrett

334 Pages Berkley Publisher June 7,2022 Publish Date

About The Book

Bookstore owner Tricia Miles tries to open a new chapter in life, but murder mars the pages in the latest entry to Lorna Barrett’s New York Times bestselling Booktown series.

Tricia Miles and her sister, Angelica, are the co-presidents of the Stoneham Chamber of Commerce. Things are changing in the booktown, and some merchants would say not for the better. They grumble that too many non-book-related stores are moving into the village, taking up the most visible storefronts on Main Street, diluting the “Booktown” moniker. Of course, the members with other businesses, like the latest, The Bee’s Knees, are fine with other businesses moving in. No matter what side of the argument they’re on, all the business owners agree on one thing: Tricia and Angelica are to blame. 
 
Still, it’s a pretty typical day in the life of a small-town Chamber of Commerce until one of the disgruntled bookstore owners is killed—Eli Meier from The Inner Light Bookstore, the most vocal of the Chamber complainers. He sold religious and other spiritual books, but also stocked books on wild conspiracy theories and sold incense, crystals, etc. Eli had never been a member of the Chamber until Angelica recently convinced him to join. He hit on her and she, having good taste, turned him down. He hounded (but not stalked) her, and some might think that was a motive for murder. 
 
Stoneham’s new police chief is an old friend of Tricia’s, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to go easy on her sister. One might even say that he’s going to throw the book at her.

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My Thoughts

Clause of Death is the sixteenth book in the Clause of Death series.
Having read several books in the series I was looking forward to this book.
What I thought was pretty neat is because this is Booktown, most of the bookstores and restaurants along with shops have a book related name. I want to visit this bookish town.
I am familiar with our main characters, Tricia Miles and her sister, Angelica, who are the co-presidents of the Stoneham Chamber of Commerce.
At the town meetings and around town some of the residents make it known they are very unhappy with non-bookish shops coming into town and taking prime spots on Main Street.
When a disgruntled bookshop employee is found dead Stoneham’s new police chief has no problem trying to throw the book at one of the sisters.
There were some very surprising going On’s and it had a sad ending that I was hoping would have had a different outcome.
I’m looking forward to many more books in this series.

Pub Date 07 Jun 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

The Author

The immensely popular Booktown Mystery series is what put Lorna Barrett’s name on the New York Times Bestseller list, but it’s her talent — whether writing as Lorna, or L.L. Bartlett, or Lorraine Bartlett — that keeps her there. This multi-published, Agatha-nominated author pens the exciting Jeff Resnick Mysteries as well as the acclaimed Victoria Square Mystery series and has many short stories and novellas to her name(s).

Lorna lives in Rochester, NY with her husband and two cats, Poppy and Emma.

Have a wonderful day. Thank you for visiting.

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Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner Book Review

By the bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society.

My Review

Bloomsbury Books is an old fashioned and rare book store in 1950 that has been in existence in Englad for over a hundred years. It is run by men but the real back bone of the store are the women. This shop has fifty one rules and all the employees know them and know when an employee is not following them. It is after world war two and things are changing now in publishing and the world in general despite the men not welcoming these changes.
The book is rich with literary figures and details. I really would have loved to visit this book store, so much going on here. Full of nostalgia . Delves into women’s rights and sexism.

Published May 17th 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

GoodReads Synopsis

The internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society returns with a compelling and heartwarming story of post-war London, a century-old bookstore, and three women determined to find their way in a fast-changing world.

Bloomsbury Books is an old-fashioned new and rare book store that has persisted and resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the general manager’s unbreakable fifty-one rules. But in 1950, the world is changing, especially the world of books and publishing, and at Bloomsbury Books, the girls in the shop have plans:

Vivien Lowry: Single since her aristocratic fiance was killed in action during World War II, the brilliant and stylish Vivien has a long list of grievances – most of them well justified and the biggest of which is Alec McDonough, the Head of Fiction.

Grace Perkins: Married with two sons, she’s been working to support the family following her husband’s breakdown in the aftermath of the war. Torn between duty to her family and dreams of her own.

Evie Stone: In the first class of female students from Cambridge permitted to earn a degree, Evie was denied an academic position in favor of her less accomplished male rival. Now she’s working at Bloomsbury Books while she plans to remake her own future.

As they interact with various literary figures of the time – Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and others – these three women with their complex web of relationships, goals and dreams are all working to plot out a future that is richer and more rewarding than anything society will allow.

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About The Author

Natalie Jenner is the author of two books, the instant international bestseller THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY (2020) and the forthcoming BLOOMSBURY GIRLS (2022). A Goodreads Choice Award runner-up for historical fiction and finalist for best debut novel, THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY was named one of the best books of 2020 by Amazon, was a USA Today and #1 national bestseller, and has been sold for translation in twenty-one countries. Born in England and raised in Canada, Natalie has been a corporate lawyer, career coach and, most recently, an independent bookstore owner in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs. To learn more, visit http://www.nataliejenner.com.

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