THE {ANTI} WEDDING PARTY.

 

THE {ANTI} WEDDING PARTY BY LUCY KNOTT.

Genre ... Romance

Publication Date ... 14th March 2024

Publisher ... Aria (Head of Zeus)

Standalone Novel

Estimated Page Count ... 320

Order Link: https://amzn.eu/d/3BBbaqQ

It's the biggest day of their best friends' lives... and they might just ruin it.

​Andi hates weddings. So when her best friend Alex tells her she’s getting married in Italy, and asks her to be her maid of honour, she knows she’s the wrong woman for the job. But Alex won’t take no for an answer, and so begins a week-long trip to a beautiful villa in Italy, full of potential disasters that it’s Andi’s job to avoid. But what if she’s the one causing them?

​Enter Owen, fellow wedding-hater, Best Man and also the worst person for the job. Tall, sexy and warm, Andi can’t help but feel the ice around her heart begin to melt when he’s around. But as Andi and Owen grow closer, the disasters begin to multiply, try as they might to keep them at bay. Together, can they put their feelings aside and pull off a successful wedding for those they love most?

Narrated by Andi who, OK we get it, perpetually sweating and with a nervous, grumbling tummy really isn't into the whole wedding scene ... and who can blame her after what happened minutes before her own wedding.  

But then this is the wedding of her best friend and I'd have expected some degree of support and yet Andi makes it all about her and her feelings. Feelings which the author spends a lot of time convincing us, the reader, of to the point that, any empathy I might have had gone, I found myself irritated by Andi's 'poor me' attitude.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the book though. A 'rom-com' for all of those readers who don't do weddings which I guess is kind of refreshing; I liked the other characters; its just a shame that other than the one incident that is very briefly mentioned we get to know little of Owen and what had happened in his past relationships that turned him so cynical about marriage; and, oh my goodness, the Italian setting and all of that talk of Italian food, it was this that truly made the book for me.

Lucy Knott loves nothing more than curling up in a cozy writing spot, with coffee and biscuits on hand, and writing the day away.

She loves love in all its forms and adores writing warm, happy stories full of romance, sibling bonds and best friends who know each other inside and out. You’re also guaranteed to find the most delicious food in her books, with Lucy being a lover of Italian food and anything and everything sweet.

​When not writing Lucy enjoys spending time with her partner and her family, cooking her Nanna and Grandad’s Italian dishes (that you can find in her and her twin sister, Kelly’s cookbook, Fame Da Lupo), baking all kinds of cake and cookies, and getting lost in a good book.

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With thanks to Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for organising a paper copy. One of several bloggers participating in the Blog Tour of this book, agree or disagree with me, all opinions are my own; no financial compensation was asked for nor given; threats of violence towards my favourite teddy bear went unheeded as did promises of chocolate.

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THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER & THE GOOD DOCTOR OF WARSAW.

 THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER BY STEPHEN CHBOSKY. 

"I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they're here. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day...or wondering who did the heart breaking and wondering why."

Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But Charlie can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

👍 Not normally a fan of the diary entry format, even less so books written in the 'stream of consciousness' style so as you might imagine I approached this book {one of several received from my mam} with some degree of doubt. Imagine then if will my surprise that I actually enjoyed The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. 

👍 A character driven reader who particularly enjoys well written female characters ... and is even more impressed when they are penned by a man; Chbosky's female characters are every bit as well developed as their male counterparts. 

👎 Sexual abuse and suicide feature quite heavily as do drugs, sex and swearing. In a book of just over 200 pages there are also themes of rape, relationship violence, abortion, drugs, child molestation, incest ... the list goes on; that's an awful lot of heavy issues to be dealing with, so many in fact that I felt the author could not do justice to them all and it felt as if some were pointed out and then seemingly forgotten.

THE GOOD DOCTOR OF WARSAW BY ELISABETH GIFFORD.

'You do not leave a sick child alone to face the dark and you do not leave a child at a time like this.'

Warsaw 1940. The Jewish ghetto is under the Nazis' brutal control. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children slowly starve within the walls. 

But while all around is darkness, one man brings hope, caring for the ever-increasing number of destitute orphans in the face of unimaginable conditions.

And, torn apart as the noose tightens around the ghetto, how will one young couple's survive the terrible tests of wartime?

A book that though fiction features actual individuals, something that could not fail but to bring home the horror of their fates. 

Whilst I did enjoy {if that's the right word to use} The Good Doctor Of Warsaw, I'm afraid I felt it was the author's depiction of these individuals that let the book down somewhat; that sad to say I found main characters { Misha and Sophia} lacking in substance and rather, well, flat which was rather disappointing given that their story goes on for so much longer than that of Dr. Korczak, the good doctor of the title, whose story seems very much secondary.

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ENEMIES CLOSER.

 Today its my pleasure to be sharing my thoughts on ...

ENEMIES CLOSER by TOM BATT.

If You Can't Beat Them

... Join Them

Jaded police detective Mike Palmer has been trying to take down suspected bank robber Donovan Carter for eighteen months. However, this pales in comparison when Mike's ex-wife threatens to take their daughter away to another country and he needs a lawyer to fight her for custody. Mike turns to Donovan for money and is enlisted by him to help pull off his next heist.

Donovan has his own problems too; under the thumb of a dangerous gangster forcing him to perform the heists to pay off a debt and desperate to keep his crimes hidden from his wife. As the former adversaries work together on Donovan's biggest heist to date, they also have Mike's partner Jade Edmonds closing in, hoping to take them down.

One of the more surprising reads of 2023.

I'm not usually into shorter stories {and at 166 this is a little longer than your average novella which is largely accepted as being 70 to 160 pages long} as, for one thing, the plot rarely proves satisfying and, for another, the characters, well, lets just say that I more often than not find that the story is too short for the characters to develop properly. There is however always the exceptions and Enemies Closer proved to be one of those exceptions.

The chapters short, the story well plotted, the pace fast, the characters, diverse and intriguing; the two leads, jaded cop DI Mike Palmer and, DS Jade Edmonds, his number two {the moral compass of the story which is kind of odd given how unlikeable I actually found her} who is intent on climbing her way up the ranks ... but at what cost? Will she make the same mistakes as Palmer? Will she become the one thing she has promised her wife she won't become? 

'Just don't turn into one of those obsessive detectives that bury their head in the investigation and neglect the other things on life. I've seen those detective shows. That's how it always ends.'

'That sounds like my partners,' Jade replied, well aware of how Mike's obsession affected his personal life.

'Exactly. I just hope you stay strong and maintain focus on what's important in life. I'm not losing you to a bunch of criminals.' 

- pg 36

Yes, this is a police procedural but it is also so much more. Its also a story of families; of the price people are willing to pay in what they think are in the best interests of their nearest and dearest; of what people see as being important in life; of how the personal  lives of cops, Palmer and Jade along with that of criminal Donovan Carter are all in their own ways crumbling around them.

Written with flair and an engaging cinematic quality, its not all screenwriters {award winning or otherwise} whose plots and characters work well when it comes to the written word and yet Batt writes here with great aplomb.

Tom Batt published his first book, Old Wounds: A Nick Shelby Case and Other Crime Stories in 2021 to positive reviews following it up with a second collection of short stories, MindSpaces in 2022. His first novella Street Siren was published the same year. He is also an award-winning screenwriter.

Social Media Sites ... ~ Website ~ GoodReads ~ X {Formerly Twitter} ~ 

With thanks to Tom for supplying me with a paper copy.

Agree or disagree with me, all opinions are my own. No financial compensation was asked for nor given. Threats of violence towards my favourite teddy bear went unheeded as did promises of chocolate.

Like my reviews and/or are an author, publisher etc who has a book you'd like me to review? Please get in touch, details can be found via my Review Policy. Likewise, lets share the bookish love; if you are a fellow bookworm/blogger please leave a comment and/or follow Pen and Paper on Google Friend Connect via the box on the right, I'll be more than happy to return your visit/follow your blog.

THE WOMEN WHO WOULDN'T LEAVE.

 My sincere apologies to both Blog Tour host, Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources, and author, Victoria Scott that due to circumstances beyond my control I am only now posting my thoughts on a book I should have shared with you on the 6th of August so without further ado ...

THE WOMEN WHO WOULDN'T LEAVE by VICTORIA SCOTT.

Genre ... Women’s’ fiction, uplit, commercial fiction

Publication Date ...  3rd August 2023

Publisher ... Aria (Head of Zeus)

Standalone Novel

Estimated Page Count ... 384

⚠️Author Content Warning ... Eviction, personal trauma, depression, alcoholism,

Order Link ...  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Women-Who-Wouldnt-Leave-ebook/dp/B0BJZXCS8X/

A gripping and uplifting new novel by the author of BA Book of the Month and LoveReading Debut of the Month Patience.

Connie Darke is trying to run away from the traumas in her past, and it's led her home, to the small rural council estate she left almost 20 years earlier.

Matilda Reynolds has spent most of her long life in the Worcestershire village of Stonecastle, and she's content there, with her animals and her solitude. Until a fall lands her in hospital, and Matilda has to turn to her strange young neighbour Connie for help looking after her home.

Out of their tentative arrangement, each woman gains a new sense of community. But before long, that community comes under threat when the council decides to sell the estate, to make way for expensive developments.

Connie and Matilda are determined to fight for their home, whatever it takes...

Its no big secret, I adore books featuring well written, strong, feisty women and, oh my goodness, Constance {aka Connie} and Matilda ... Wow! What can I say?

Written with such a wonderful warmth and wit; the vulnerability of Connie in particular beautifully done, if ever there were two characters that I could not fail but to invest in it is these two.

Told from dual points of view, something that doesn't always work but on this occasion was used to good effect. The story of two very different women, each with their own distinct voice; each with past traumas which are slowly and somewhat shockingly revealed, brought together in a bid to save their homes and that of their fellow residents who, hitherto as good as strangers to Connie, all have their own reasons for wanting to stay, perhaps Matilda who has a big secret most of all.

There was a pause, during which Matilda could feel Constance's gaze boring into her.

Then, Matilda came to a decision. It was time to tell someone about it all. Why not? She was old. What could they do to her now?

'I stole my sister back,' she said finally.

'You stole her?'

Matilda clasped her hands together and scrunched her fingers up into a ball.

- Pg 269 

Not that these are the only two characters worthy of note. Whether primary or secondary, each of the characters, sensitively penned with great compassion, has their own back story ... and as for the non-human characters {especially the goats Rory and Clarrie} important in their own right, their ability to calm Connie is balm to the soul.

For all of its humour and essential feel good element, a tale that drives home many issues of modern living. Having read this, I feel compelled to check out the author's other books, Patience and Grace, both of which hold promise of equally memorable characters.  

Victoria Scott has been a journalist for longer than she wants to acknowledge, working for outlets including the BBC, Al Jazeera, Time Out and the Telegraph.

She lives on a Thames island with her husband and two children and a cat called Alice, and when she's not writing she's a university lecturer, freelance journalist and copywriter.

​Victoria Scott's first novel, Patience, was the Booksellers Association Book of the Month and LoveReading Debut of the Month.

You can follow Victoria on Twitter @toryscott and on Instagram @VictoriaScottAuthor

Social Media Links ...  Website ~ FaceBook ~ X {Formerly Twitter} ~ Instagram ~ TikTok ~

With thanks to Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for another well organised Blog Tour. 

Agree or disagree with me, all opinions are my own. No financial compensation was asked for nor given. Threats of violence towards my favourite teddy bear went unheeded as did promises of chocolate.

Like my reviews and/or are an author, publisher etc who has a book you'd like me to review? Please get in touch, details can be found via my Review Policy. 

Likewise, lets share the bookish love; if you are a fellow bookworm/blogger please leave a comment and/or follow Pen and Paper on Google Friend Connect via the box on the right, I'll be more than happy to return your visit/follow your blog. 

PS. If you haven't already done so please check out today's other review, The Cornish Rebel by Nicola Pryce, which I shall be posting soon.

THE SUNDAY LUCH CLUB.

 THE SUNDAY LUNCH CLUB by JULIET ASHTON.

Meet new friends for lunch!

Every few Sundays, Anna and her extended family and friends get together for lunch. One of them prepares the food; than they talk, they laugh and they bicker as only families can.

Sitting between her ex-husband and her new lover, Anna is coming to terms with some life-changing news at the age of forty. Also at the table are her ageing grandmother, her fragile sister, her secretive brother, and memories too terrible to contemplate. Until, that is, a letter arrives. 

Can Anna reconcile her painful past with her uncertain future? And can she keep her family on speaking terms in the meantime? ... Back Cover Blurb

Everything - but everything - had changed. ... First Sentence, Prologue

 Anna needed to get back to Yeti. Did I really just think that? The dog was useless: he was scared of thunder; he hid her shoes when she was about to leave the house; he burrowed between her and Luca at night. Responsibility had bred something else; not love, surely, for the monster shaggy animal that got in her way and shed hair on her furniture. ... Memorable Moment, Page 224

With a glorious, memorable cast of characters, I soon found myself right at home; my place at the Sunday Lunch {Club} set, ready to hear the latest goings on.

One of my favourite family based reads of 2022. 

The story of the Pipers {Anna, her sister, her two brothers, her grandmother ... and lets not forget Yeti}, their partners and the various ex's, new lovers, friends and long lost family members who meet up {almost} every Sunday at a different family member's home.

There's bickering, there's disagreements, there's fallings out but, always there for each other when it really matters, they are the kind of family that let's face it many of us dream about.

I loved that each chapter was headed by which family member was hosting that particular Sunday Lunch Club and what it was they were serving, that we quickly got to know them; their likes and dislikes, what has been going on in their more often than not chaotic lives, all that kind of thing.

Beautifully written, the dialogue flows flawlessly, the family dimensions are depicted perfectly, the conversations and interactions ... Ahh! Lets just say that there were so, so many threads to this story that had me wondering what was going to happen next  that I often found myself reading until silly o'clock; so involved that I found myself worrying about/rallying for one or other of the clan throughout, in tears, of both joy and sorrow.

A great read that I totally lost myself in, I'm so hoping there'll be invites to further Sunday Lunch Clubs. 

GOODS & EFFECTS.

 Today its my pleasure to be sharing my thoughts on GOODS & EFFECTS by AL SCHNUPP.

What happens when a free-thinking widow, raised in a deeply religious environment, is forced to create a new life? Devastated by the death of her husband and sons, Hannah sells the family farm and creates a store and living quarters in a delivery truck. As a travelling sales-woman still centred in her rural community, she becomes the heart of a network of interlinking lives. Her friendships span years as she blossoms into a feminist. A clever problem-solver, shrewd schemer, and spinner of tender lies, she's a dream weaver - and a quietly effective advocate for justice. ... Back Cover Blurb

Hannah was told by Deacon Stahl her husband would not be given a church funeral. ... First Sentence, Page 1

The men dropped everything: sign, posts, shovel, rifles, metal fuel can. Wild-eyed and spooked, they started racing back down the lane toward their getaway truck.

When the forerunners reached the bridge, they tripped over the repositioned plank. Any attempt to break their fall failed. Hands and feet slipped through the gap and the men were sent sailing into the net, which fell down over them. It was a melee of twisted ankles, jammed wrists, scraped shins and crushed testicles. Memory Moment, Page 80

All in all, what I thought to be a highly readable novella that would make a great film with great characters who will wind their way into your heart.

The narrative, straightforward, the prose, sparse, the story, delightful, humorous, heart-breaking, the characters, well, for me it is the characters that make Goods & Effects such a joy to read.

Opening with the death of her husband and two sons, at first I thought Hannah a bit of a cold fish who seemed if not totally unconcerned about the deaths then certainly not as devastated as we might have expected but then it quickly became apparent that far from cold Hannah is one of those women who, nothing if not practical, does not have time to weep and wail ... at least not just yet.

A road trip novel with a difference ... Yay! I love a book that's that bit different 😊.

A story of self realisation that follows Hannah as she coverts an old green and yellow 1955 International Harvester Metro van into her home and travelling shop, Hannah's Goods & Effects, and sets off on the road with her companion, Five Paws, the cat. 

Whilst the plot lines are charming, engaging and compelling and the ending, oh my goodness, that ending ... be sure you have some tissues at the ready, I felt that the emphasis was very much on the characters; not that I'm complaining, I simply adore well written characters with a story to tell.

All kudos to the author for his portrayal of Hannah, intelligent, creative and not above being manipulative should the occasion arise, what a wonderful character she is; it isn't all male authors who can write female characters with such authority and feeling but Schnupp does so beautifully. 

And then, and then there's the rich diversity of characters who, all too often overlooked in novels set in rural communities during this period of time {this time being the 1960's}, feature here in such an organic, 'its no big deal' kind of a way. I loved Darla who, highly intuitive, despite/because of her deafness displays a wonderful artistic talent and then there were lesbians, Velma and Vivian, and person of colour, musician, LeRoy, all of whose lives were enriched because of Hannah ... not that every thread of the story has a happy ending.

About Al Schnupp ... Born and raised Mennonite in rural Pennsylvania, Al Schnupp trained as an actor before earning assorted degrees in theatre. He's spent his career teaching, directing, producing, set designing, and writing plays - and a few novels - mainly in California. He's re-created classics {The Little Prince} and scripted into figures like Kathe Kollwitz {Censored} and Peggy Guggenheim {The Collection}. His political satire, Zero to Infinity, originally a screen play, is now a published novella, Zero. And he makes his own are.

Follow Al Schnupp ... ~ Website ~