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laural27's reviews
706 reviews
Geli Voyante's Hot or Not by Elle Field
5.0
This is Elle's second novel and I must admit I loved this more than her debut. Earlier this year I read Kept by Elle and although I felt the writing was really great and the plot was brilliant, I found it a little hard to get on with the protagonist which left me a little disappointed.
When I saw this book was going on a blog tour, I quickly got involved and couldn't wait to get back into a world that Elle had created. And, FEAR NOT for this book, in my opinion is much better than her debut and I found myself LOVING the protagonist!
Geli is the Hot or Not girl at a newspaper and spends her life declaring things either Hot or totally Not Hot. People seem to think she's a little shallow and materialistic but she wants to prove she's more than that. She works alongside the very, very HOT Theodore Bones and when her arch nemesis, Tiggy Boddles gets engaged (Not Hot) and her best friend gets engaged (Hot) she wants to prove to Theo that she's marriage material; she doesn't want to be left on the shelf!
But Geli starts to realise that people are sometimes not who they seem to be (Not Hot) and sometimes people may look Hot but they might have Not Hot personalities.
As I mentioned above, I found I could really get along with Geli. I thought she was a great protagonist and I loved her voice. She made me laugh a lot but was also serious at times too and I loved the way she grew over the novel. Tiggy was a typical bitch (!) and Elle wrote her character well, using lots of physical descriptions which meant I could picture her standing there with her hands on her hips and a a sarcastic smile on her face! Theo was a character who left me a bit hot under the collar after a steamy rendezvous in Geli's hallway but over the course of the novel he started to become a little less hot!
The plot was a little predictable in places but no less enjoyable for it and I found myself rushing through the pages to see what would happen with Geli next. Elle has a great writing style; it's very comical and witty. Her descriptions are tangible and her characters seem to become part of your world as you get trapped in a little bubble of fiction! One small, tiny, minuscule thing that was a little frustrating was how a lot of words were itallicised for effect which, in my opinion, didn't add a lot BUT that's just a tiny little thing I picked up on.
Aside from that I would definitely recommend you check Elle's novels out! I would perhaps start with this one and then go onto Kept, again, like I mentioned above, I enjoyed this one more and I think you will too. I am super excited to see what Elle has for us next because she seems to be going from strength to strength and if this is anything to go by then we're all in for a treat!
Geli may be the Hot or Not girl but I am going to steal the reins for today and declare this novel 100% HOT!
When I saw this book was going on a blog tour, I quickly got involved and couldn't wait to get back into a world that Elle had created. And, FEAR NOT for this book, in my opinion is much better than her debut and I found myself LOVING the protagonist!
Geli is the Hot or Not girl at a newspaper and spends her life declaring things either Hot or totally Not Hot. People seem to think she's a little shallow and materialistic but she wants to prove she's more than that. She works alongside the very, very HOT Theodore Bones and when her arch nemesis, Tiggy Boddles gets engaged (Not Hot) and her best friend gets engaged (Hot) she wants to prove to Theo that she's marriage material; she doesn't want to be left on the shelf!
But Geli starts to realise that people are sometimes not who they seem to be (Not Hot) and sometimes people may look Hot but they might have Not Hot personalities.
As I mentioned above, I found I could really get along with Geli. I thought she was a great protagonist and I loved her voice. She made me laugh a lot but was also serious at times too and I loved the way she grew over the novel. Tiggy was a typical bitch (!) and Elle wrote her character well, using lots of physical descriptions which meant I could picture her standing there with her hands on her hips and a a sarcastic smile on her face! Theo was a character who left me a bit hot under the collar after a steamy rendezvous in Geli's hallway but over the course of the novel he started to become a little less hot!
The plot was a little predictable in places but no less enjoyable for it and I found myself rushing through the pages to see what would happen with Geli next. Elle has a great writing style; it's very comical and witty. Her descriptions are tangible and her characters seem to become part of your world as you get trapped in a little bubble of fiction! One small, tiny, minuscule thing that was a little frustrating was how a lot of words were itallicised for effect which, in my opinion, didn't add a lot BUT that's just a tiny little thing I picked up on.
Aside from that I would definitely recommend you check Elle's novels out! I would perhaps start with this one and then go onto Kept, again, like I mentioned above, I enjoyed this one more and I think you will too. I am super excited to see what Elle has for us next because she seems to be going from strength to strength and if this is anything to go by then we're all in for a treat!
Geli may be the Hot or Not girl but I am going to steal the reins for today and declare this novel 100% HOT!
Christmas at Carrington's by Alexandra Brown
5.0
After falling in love with Alexandra’s first novel Cupcakes At Carrington’s I was so incredibly excited to find out that there was going to be a second book based around the same characters. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to hear when it would be published, and, even without a working e-reader, I managed to download it from NetGalley and read it in just two sittings! I was addicted from the first page and I couldn’t stop reading. It was so brilliant to get back into these characters lives again and see how they’ve all grown and moved on from the first book.
Georgie and Tom are blissfully in love, Sam and Nathan are happier than ever and Eddie, is just, well, he’s just the glorious Eddie! When a TV crew turn up at Carrington’s and begin to film scenes for a TV reality show, Georgie isn’t sure what is going on. Why hasn’t Tom told her anything about this? Kelly, the TV producer, has brought her vile daughter along too and soon, everything Georgie thought was going right in her life seems to be going wrong. Armed with her two BFF’s Sam and Eddie, she finds out what is really important in life and may just be happily surprised by what Santa has up his sleeve for her this Christmas…
I LOVED THIS BOOK. In my eyes, Alexandra can do no wrong and this was just another example of why I love her writing so much. Her characters are believable and loveable (most of them (apart from the ones your supposed to hate!)) the pace of the novel is sublime and Alexandra manages to have incredibly moving scenes as well as some of the funniest and slapstick scenes ever. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of reading about Georgie falling over or Eddie doing something whacky; I find myself laughing so much. There is one scene in this book involving snow and a helicopter that left me in stiches; I love books that can lift your mood so easily!
The character development is fantastic. I really enjoyed finding out more about Georgie’s Dad and her childhood and spending more time with Sam was lovely; she’s such a beautiful character. Tom was a bit of a fleeting presence in this book, there are few scenes where he is present, but I still managed to fall head over heels in love with him again, one mention of that tanned chest and brown hair was all it took to set me off.
And, of course, how can you have a book about Carrington’s without talk about gorgeous handbags and delectable treats from Sam’s café? The type of cakes in this book had my mouth watering and I could have very happily had a mug of banoffee coffee, a red velvet cupcake and a slice of chocolate cheesecake. PLUS in the back of the book there are recipes for the cakes mentioned in the book; I cannot wait to whip up my own red velvet cakes!
I can’t say much more about this book because I’m just going to keep gushing and gushing about it. If you loved Cupcakes at Carrington’s then you will LOVE this sequel. If you haven’t read Cupcakes then I don’t know where you’ve been for the past year, YOU MUST READ IT NOW (and then read this one straight after).
A delicious, indulgent novel about cakes, Christmas and the gorgeous cast of eclectic characters that keep the doors of Carrington’s open every day.
Georgie and Tom are blissfully in love, Sam and Nathan are happier than ever and Eddie, is just, well, he’s just the glorious Eddie! When a TV crew turn up at Carrington’s and begin to film scenes for a TV reality show, Georgie isn’t sure what is going on. Why hasn’t Tom told her anything about this? Kelly, the TV producer, has brought her vile daughter along too and soon, everything Georgie thought was going right in her life seems to be going wrong. Armed with her two BFF’s Sam and Eddie, she finds out what is really important in life and may just be happily surprised by what Santa has up his sleeve for her this Christmas…
I LOVED THIS BOOK. In my eyes, Alexandra can do no wrong and this was just another example of why I love her writing so much. Her characters are believable and loveable (most of them (apart from the ones your supposed to hate!)) the pace of the novel is sublime and Alexandra manages to have incredibly moving scenes as well as some of the funniest and slapstick scenes ever. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of reading about Georgie falling over or Eddie doing something whacky; I find myself laughing so much. There is one scene in this book involving snow and a helicopter that left me in stiches; I love books that can lift your mood so easily!
The character development is fantastic. I really enjoyed finding out more about Georgie’s Dad and her childhood and spending more time with Sam was lovely; she’s such a beautiful character. Tom was a bit of a fleeting presence in this book, there are few scenes where he is present, but I still managed to fall head over heels in love with him again, one mention of that tanned chest and brown hair was all it took to set me off.
And, of course, how can you have a book about Carrington’s without talk about gorgeous handbags and delectable treats from Sam’s café? The type of cakes in this book had my mouth watering and I could have very happily had a mug of banoffee coffee, a red velvet cupcake and a slice of chocolate cheesecake. PLUS in the back of the book there are recipes for the cakes mentioned in the book; I cannot wait to whip up my own red velvet cakes!
I can’t say much more about this book because I’m just going to keep gushing and gushing about it. If you loved Cupcakes at Carrington’s then you will LOVE this sequel. If you haven’t read Cupcakes then I don’t know where you’ve been for the past year, YOU MUST READ IT NOW (and then read this one straight after).
A delicious, indulgent novel about cakes, Christmas and the gorgeous cast of eclectic characters that keep the doors of Carrington’s open every day.
A Cinderella Christmas by Holly Kingston
5.0
A Cinderella Christmas is a debut novella from Holly Kingston and what a debut it is!
It's the time of year again where panto is the name of the game and Lucy, an actress who has always suffered with an aversion to being centre of attention, has landed the role of a lifetime: the back end of the comedy cow.
Cinderella is being played by a Charmaine; a nip and tucked, botoxed to death celebrity and Prince Charming is being played by the one and only Ryan Aspell (the hottest man to ever grace TV screens). When Lucy gets the chance to become Charmaine's unofficial PA (look after her dog, stock the fridge kinda role) she hopes she might be able to get into Charmaine's magical celebrity world and become super famous too. She also hopes Ryan will realise how much he loves Lucy and marry her straight away. The front end of the cow and acting friend, Ben, tries to keep Lucy grounded but as Christmas draws closer and the curtain begins to rise, Lucy finds herself wanting to break out of the cow costume and step into the spotlight.
If you get excited about Christmas as early as I do then this is a little festive treat to keep you ticking over until the big day. I had the biggest grin on my face from start to finish and instantly fell in love with Lucy. She was hugely funny and the situations she ended up in were extremely comical which led to more smiling and laughing. Charmaine was the perfect evil bitch character and more than once I wanted to slap her round the face and give her a taste of her own medicine. I was really impressed by Lucy's journey over the course of this novella; she managed to pack a lot into a short space of time!
Holly is an author I am so excited to have discovered. I am on tenterhooks to see what she has for us next as her writing just blew me away. She is going to definitely be one to watch out for and will be quickly biting at the heels of the bestsellers for sure. Her pacing is sublime, the characters are believable, the humour is perfect; it really is just flawless writing! Although, saying that, there was one problem; I wish this book had been hundreds of pages longer because I didn't want to leave the world of these characters!
A blinding debut from an author I cannot wait to read more from. Make sure you put this book at the top of your `To Read' list and I guarantee you won't be disappointed!
A cute Christmas comedy that will keep you smiling and guessing until the very end.
It's the time of year again where panto is the name of the game and Lucy, an actress who has always suffered with an aversion to being centre of attention, has landed the role of a lifetime: the back end of the comedy cow.
Cinderella is being played by a Charmaine; a nip and tucked, botoxed to death celebrity and Prince Charming is being played by the one and only Ryan Aspell (the hottest man to ever grace TV screens). When Lucy gets the chance to become Charmaine's unofficial PA (look after her dog, stock the fridge kinda role) she hopes she might be able to get into Charmaine's magical celebrity world and become super famous too. She also hopes Ryan will realise how much he loves Lucy and marry her straight away. The front end of the cow and acting friend, Ben, tries to keep Lucy grounded but as Christmas draws closer and the curtain begins to rise, Lucy finds herself wanting to break out of the cow costume and step into the spotlight.
If you get excited about Christmas as early as I do then this is a little festive treat to keep you ticking over until the big day. I had the biggest grin on my face from start to finish and instantly fell in love with Lucy. She was hugely funny and the situations she ended up in were extremely comical which led to more smiling and laughing. Charmaine was the perfect evil bitch character and more than once I wanted to slap her round the face and give her a taste of her own medicine. I was really impressed by Lucy's journey over the course of this novella; she managed to pack a lot into a short space of time!
Holly is an author I am so excited to have discovered. I am on tenterhooks to see what she has for us next as her writing just blew me away. She is going to definitely be one to watch out for and will be quickly biting at the heels of the bestsellers for sure. Her pacing is sublime, the characters are believable, the humour is perfect; it really is just flawless writing! Although, saying that, there was one problem; I wish this book had been hundreds of pages longer because I didn't want to leave the world of these characters!
A blinding debut from an author I cannot wait to read more from. Make sure you put this book at the top of your `To Read' list and I guarantee you won't be disappointed!
A cute Christmas comedy that will keep you smiling and guessing until the very end.