Next Tuesday is #Womensfictionday!

If you are a reader or writer of Women’s Fiction, I think you will join me in my excitement for #Womensfictionday next week – 8 June, to be precise. This is a day led by the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA), but all interested readers and writers are asked to promote the day and maybe…

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Book review: The Flat Share

The Flat Share book cover

I had heard about this novel that had been a runaway success, and was curious to read this feel-good, romantic comedy for myself. This is the story of two quirky young Londoners who both share a common challenge one would imagine is well understood by many a city dweller. How to afford living in London…

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Book Review: Grown Ups

Grown Ups book cover

Irish author Marian Keyes always delivers interesting characters, and her latest novel, Grown Ups, doesn’t disappoint. The novel unfolds in Dublin, and on various holiday locales around Ireland – and one further afield in Tuscany, Italy. We’re introduced rather quickly to a large cast of characters. The Casey brothers – Johnny, Ed and Liam –…

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Book review: The Heatwave

Heat Wave book cover

I read The Girl in the Photograph, an earlier novel by this author, and was underwhelmed, but I was intrigued by the premise of this novel and its setting. I’m glad to have picked it up, and found it a compelling read. This novel is largely set in southern France’s Provence region, in a small,…

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Book review: Midnight Blue

Midnight Blue book cover

I bought this book at an airport bookstore in Amsterdam’s Schipol heading back home from a long flight. It then sat for two years on my bookshelf before I remembered about it and picked it up. Am I glad I did! Written by Dutch novelist Simone van der Vlugt, this novel was translated to English…

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Book review: The Nanny

The Nanny cover

I enjoyed this novel told through multiple narrators, with its Gothic elements and an engaging backstory that slowly reveals itself as the novel progresses. Laura Holt fled England, her privileged life and her titled parents as soon as she could, eventually settling half a world away in California. But tragedy and financial woes force her…

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Book review: The Last Collection

Last Collection cover

I picked up this novel last summer because I was curious about one of the historical figures. This is the tale of two rival fashion designers that unfolds in pre- and post-World War II Paris. One of the designers was quite well known to me (and perhaps everyone): Coco Chanel. But the focus of the…

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Book review: Miss Iceland

Miss Iceland cover

I picked this novel up in a bookstore this past summer. I liked the cover and the book blurb, and I liked that it was translated from Icelandic. I’m always eager to discover good translated literature. Luckily, this was a great discovery. Miss Iceland is the sixth novel by Icelandic novelist Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir. Miss…

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Book review: Park Avenue Summer

I enjoyed White Collar Girl, an earlier Renée Rosen novel I read, so I was interested when I saw Park Avenue Summer. This is the story of 1960s Manhattan, and a new generation of young women working to carve out lives and careers for themselves in the Big Apple. Alice Weiss is a young woman…

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Book review: The Masterpiece

This is the third Fiona Davis novel I’ve read. Her novels are ideal for someone like me, who enjoys dual storylines: one historical, one contemporary. It’s a plus that Davis’ novels always include a New York landmark that serves as an additional story protagonist. In her first novel, it was the Barbizon – housing for…

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