Just A Taste by Anise Starre

About the Book

A Christmas romance featuring a personal chef who is snowed-in with her least favourite client – a sexy but miserable technopreneur.

The only thing personal chef Noelle Jones loves more than cooking is Christmas. She has a roster of extremely wealthy clients, including the elusive and stoic Alexander Hoxton.

When he asks her to cook a last-minute business meal he’s having, offering triple her pay for the short notice, Noelle jumps at the chance. It’s easy money, one of her favourite dishes and she'll still have plenty of time to get to her family’s annual Christmas reunion.

But, when a sudden blizzard leaves Noelle snowed-in with Alexander, she quickly realises he wants absolutely nothing to do with anything festive. Stuck with a veritable grinch, she’s sure this Christmas is about to become one of her worst . . .

Title: Just A Taste

Author:  Anise Starre

Published By:   Simon & Schuster UK

Publication Day: 23rd October 2025

Links:   UK:   Amazon    US:   Amazon

Our Review

Despite multi millionaire Alex Hoxton hiring Noelle Jones as his private Chef two years earlier, he has always kept his distance from her meaning she knows nothing more about him than she did at the start. 

So when Noelle finds herself snowed in at his house with him after a Board meeting she can’t think of anything worse especially as she was looking forward to a traditional family Christmas at her Grandma’s house. 

Alex is completely unwelcoming and Noelle feels extremely awkward in his home, especially as he expects her to still cook for him even though she's not getting paid for it but she soon puts him in his place about that.

Alex is very grinch like about Christmas whereas Noelle loves the season and is desperate to get to see her family. The tension is broken a few times when Noelle facetimes her twin sister Eve who is hilarious and a huge tease, she can't resist winding Noelle up about the situation she has got herself into. Despite being cheered up by Eve's conversations they also make her sad because she can see a glimpse of the family christmas going on at her Grandma's house but Alex can also see what's going on and I think he begins to get to know Noelle more through those interactions than he has done in the years she has been working for him.

When the heating breaks down things get very cosy and Noelle wonders whether Alex's cold heart will begin to thaw and will she ever feel warm again?

I loved how Noelle always seemed to make the most of whatever situation she found herself in, despite being stuck in a freezing cold house with someone that could give the Grinch a run for his money, she still managed to scrape together amazing culinary, seasonal treats and between them they found a little spice to keep themselves warm.

Just a Taste has all the ingredients for the perfect sexy, Christmassy story, start with one handsome but troubled hero, throw in a beautiful and talented heroine, whisk together with a snowstorm, add a tablespoon of sass and a sprinkling of spice to raise the temperature. Then cook on hot hot hot.

Sincerely

Book Angel x

About the Author

Anise Starre is a born and bred Londoner who now travels the world with her husband. She loves writing sweet, fluffy romances featuring Black women being loved on and adored, with a hint of steam and spice to get the heart going.

You can keep up to date with Anise by following her on Instagram: @authoranisestarre

Bea's Book Wagon by Julie Haworth

About the Book

Set in the fictional Sussex village of Blossom Heath, and featuring characters you will know and love from Julie Haworth’s RNA Katie Fforde Debut of the Year Always By Your Side and follow up New Beginnings at The Cosy Cat Café, Bea’s Book Wagon is a cosy, uplifting and comforting romance that tells the story of two love-interest heroes vying for Bea’s heart – her artisan-cheesemaking childhood sweetheart and a knock-you-off-your-feet property developer. 

After impulsively jacking in her dead-end temp job and investing her life savings in a ramshackle old horsebox, Bea sets about turning her dream of running a bookshop into a reality, and opens Bea’s Book Wagon. But it’s not all smooth sailing, and as Bea struggles with the challenges of running her own small business, she can only hope that her love of literature and the power of reading can help transform the lives of her friends, her community and herself in the process.

Title:  Bea's Book Waggon

Author: Julie Haworth

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 9th October 2025

Links:   UK:   Amazon    US:   Amazon

Waterstones

Our Review

First of all I just love this gorgeous cover, the colours are just so beautiful and secondly I just love stories when the main character gets to do up something old and give it a whole new purpose in life. So I was in my element reading about Bea when she drunkenly purchases a decrepit old horse box and has the brainwave to turn it into a book shop. I thoroughly enjoyed Bea's journey of doing up the van especially when a hunky old flame Nate turns up and offers to help. Things don't always go to plan though and Bea suffers a bit of a disaster which sets her back alot and makes her wonder whether the whole venture was a huge mistake.

It doesn't take long before she is swept off her feet by rich and handsome property developer Lochlan and flattered that he shows an interest in her. But when Bea decides to go down a more serious route with her business she finds out that all is not quite as it seems. 

I loved my visit back to Blossom Heath and revisiting some of the familiar characters there from Always By Your Side and New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe.

Bea's Book Wagon is a real feel good book about love and friendship and someone finding their self worth and following their dreams despite what might be thrown at them on the way and there is a lovely little surprise at the end especially for book lovers.

Sincerely

Book Angel x

About the Author 

With a degree in English and American Literature, Julie Haworth worked as an English teacher for a number of years, specialising in working with learners with literacy difficulties, before launching her own freelance copywriting business. She is  a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, and her debut novel, Always By Your Side, which she wrote whilst recovering from Covid in 2020, won the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award in 2023. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Let the Bells Ring Out by Milly Johnson

About the Book

Seven people, four days and a snowy Christmas on board a luxury sleeper train. This festive season getting away from it all takes on a new meaning…

‘Escaping into Milly’s world is always a joy and Let The Bells Ring Out is Christmas perfection!’ JILL MANSELL

The Yorkshire Belle is a glamorous steam train all decked out for an escapist festive getaway. It is not supposed to be where a group of people, all trying to get to their destinations for the holidays, will spend their Christmas. 

Seven people, each with their own hopes and dreams, secrets and sorrows, board the train as strangers, but as the snow keeps falling and they realise they are going nowhere fast, they are forced to slow down and embrace the present.

This Christmas on board the Yorkshire Belle, will the friendships they make change their lives forever?

Title:  Let the Bells Ring Out

Author:  Milly Johnson

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Publication Day:  23rd October 2025

Links:  UK:   Amazon    

Waterstones

Our Review

If ever seven people were destined to meet it was these seven characters from Let the Bells Ring Out. All strangers apart from one couple, they were all thrown together and snowed in on the most amazing luxury train called the Yorkshire Belle. I don't think that the characters expected to get to know each other so well but then they did end up spending the whole of christmas together with a kitchen and bar stocked up full of festive goodies and luxurious rooms. I can think of much worse places to get snowed in and I think we could all do with switchng off from the outside world every now and then and give ourselves a bit of a reset which is exactly what these characters were able to do. I honestly didn't want this book to end. I'm contemplating taking a journey on the Northern Belle which this train was based on because the author made everything sound so tempting and I felt like I was there in the thick of it with these amazing characters.

I've said it before because Milly is my favourite author but she doesn't just write a story she creates a wonderful world jam packed with so much going on while expertly weaving the character's storylines and intertwining them in parts and always with a bit of Milly magic sprinkled on top. 

This story was filled with the joys of Christmas along with secrets, heartache, heartbreak, love and friendships made for life. This was the sister book of I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day and features radio DJ Brian Cosgrove who added to the atmosphere on board the train. I dread to think what some of these characters lives would have been like had they not met. It was a wonderful whirlwind from beginning to end. I loved every Christmassy page of it. 

Sincerely

Book Angel x

About the Author

Milly Johnson was born, raised and still lives in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. She is the author of 22 novels, 4 short story ebooks, a book of poetry and a Quick Reads Novella ('The Little Dreams of Lara Cliffe') and was an erstwhile leading copywriter for the greetings card industry. She is also a poet, a professional joke-writer, a newspaper columnist and a seasoned after dinner speaker.

She won the RoNA for Best Romantic Comedy Novel of 2014 and 2016, the Yorkshire Society award for Arts and Culture 2015, the Romantic Novelist Association Outstanding Achievement award in 2020, the Goldsboro Books Contemporary Romantic Novel Award in 2021 and the Richard Whiteley Award for Inspiration to the County of Yorkshire in 2022.

She writes about love, life, friendships and the importance of community spirit. Her books champion women, their strength and resilience and celebrate her beloved Yorkshire.

Her 22nd novel 'Same Time Next Week' out 27th Feb 2025 is about five women all negotiating big changes in their lives. Will coming together in a friendship group at the new Ray's Diner help them overcome what fate throws at them? Full of blueberry pie and cookies (don't blame me if you start craving them)

All Wrapped Up by Heidi Swain

In Wynbridge, the scent of autumn is on the breeze and love is in the air…

Clemmie Bennett has been renovating beautiful Rowan Cottage on the outskirts of the small town of Wynbridge, for eighteen months following a very public heartbreak back in her childhood hometown. The popular Instagram influencer, lost her husband, sold their home, and has been cosied up the Fens and living a very private life, but now she feels it’s time for a change.

A chance encounter with co-owner of The Cherry Tree Café, the bubbly Lizzie Dixon, pulls her into organizing Wynbridge’s first-ever Autumn Festival, and her once quiet life is soon a distant memory. With the whole town rallying behind the event, she discovers a new sense of purpose.

And when local vet Ash falls hard for Clemmie, she begins to wonder if she’s ready to move even further on from her past and fall in love again…

This autumn, cosy up with Heidi and this perfect seasonal romance.

Title:    All Wrapped Up

Author:   Heidi Swain

Published By: Simon & Schuster 

Publication Date: 11th September 2025

Links:   UK:   Amazon   US:   Amazon

Our Review

Heidi Swain is quite literally the Goddess of Autumn as far as I’m concerned so it came as no surprise that she would eventually write an autumnal book to go alongside her fab Christmas and Summer books. 

This is probably one of the most heartfelt books of Heidi’s because it’s about Clemmie who has been hiding herself away in a house in Wynbridge that she bought with her husband who unfortunately died not long after. 

Like Heidi, Clemmie is also a lover of Autumn and has an incredibly popular anonymous influencer site which she uses to communicate her love of the season to her many followers whilst remaining unseen. 

Ash is the local vet whom she meets one day and inadvertently ends up looking after a rescue dog called Pixie whose owner has died that Ash was trying to find a new owner for. 

Despite having avoided all the neighbours for almost two years Clemmie gets roped in to organise an Autumn festival and becomes part of the community, making friends and maybe even something more with a certain animal lover. 

It was lovely being back in Wynbridge with lots of familiar faces including Lizzie from the Cherry Tree Cafe which was Heidi’s first book.

The subject of heartbreak was treated so sensitively and I loved watching Clemmie slowly mend to be able to move on in life but always with a special place in her heart for her husband. It was so very moving. I think this book has become my second favourite of Heidi’s, the first being The Book Lovers’ Retreat. 

I love it when the title of a book is mentioned in the story, it always gives me that lovely warm glowing feeling inside.  All wrapped up is an emotional, heart warming and cosy read, perfect after a crisp autumnal walk, curled up in an armchair with a mug of hot chocolate and perfect in the lead up to Christmas. I just loved it. 

Talking of Christmas Heidi has lots of fabulous Christmas books out too, you can find them here. 

Sincerely 

Book Angel x

About the Author

Heidi Swain is a Sunday Times Top Ten best-selling author who writes feel good fiction for Simon and Schuster. She releases two books a year (early summer and winter) and the stories all have a strong sense of community, family and friendship. She is currently writing books set in three locations - the Fenland town of Wynbridge, Nightingale Square in Norwich and Wynmouth on the Norfolk coast, as well as summer standalone titles. Heidi lives in beautiful west Norfolk. She is passionate about gardening, the countryside, collecting vintage paraphernalia and reading. Her tbr pile is always out of control!

Heidi loves to chat with her readers and you can get in touch via her website or on social media.

Slow Burn by Oti Mabuse

Filled with scenes of sizzling passion, plot beats of swoon-worthy romance, and a cast of Black female characters that you’ll fall in love with, the unputdownable debut novel from Oti Mabuse brims with heat and heart. Perfect for fans of Talia Hibbert, Laura Jane Williams, Tia Williams, Farrah Rochon, Hannah Grace and Bolu Babalola.

For dancer Lira, Latin Ballroom is everything. Whilst her dreams of fame were cut short aged 19, she’s never forgotten the connection she felt dancing with a stranger at the Paris World Championship afterparty 13 years ago.

Now, with her younger sisters pursuing their own successful dancing careers, and the responsibility of running the family dance studio falling to her, Lira’s ambitious flame is about to flicker out. Until a chance encounter sees her secretly auditioning for Slow Burn, a new dance show about to embark on a 6-week European tour, and coming face to face with a blast from her past that sends her reeling.

Gabriele is the quintessential bad boy of the Latin Ballroom scene. Slim of hip, with long, lean muscles that pop, a chiselled jaw, dark eyes, obscenely long lashes, and a mouth that just won’t give, it's no surprise when he lands the principal male lead role on Slow Burn. But, with just a few weeks to go till the tour starts, he still hasn't found his female co-star. All it takes is one audition to set his world on fire...

On the dance floor they’re smouldering, off it, they’re on fire.



Title: Slow Burn

Author: Oti Mabuse

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 12th Feb 2026

Links: UK: Amazon 

Our Review

First of all how gorgeous is the cover, with really appealing vivid bright colours. Slow Burn is Oti Mabuse's debut novel and will definitely warm you up on a cold winter's night. Lira is the oldest of three sisters and runs her family’s dance school in a place called Castlebury where she teaches wedding dances to couples and has a lot more than exercise sessions with her personal trainer. (Ooh it's getting hot in here.)

Gabriel is a famous hot blooded Italian dancer. Known for being a lothario with the ladies he is also sleeping with his regular dance partner Daniella who unfortunately for him is beginning to become a bit too attached and he doesn't need that when he has a number of women he can go to.

But when famous choreographer Carlos decides to hold auditions for his brand new dance show Slow Burn at Lyra’s dance studio, Lyra is shocked to find that Gabriel is the principal dancer and he was also the guy she had had a one night stand with many years before. 

Carlos is unimpressed with the auditionees and asks Lyra to be Gabriel’s partner but neither of them are keen on the idea and both have other worries on their minds. 

Both Lyra and Gabriel had very strong family commitments, one of them was loyal to their family whilst the other one had made decisions that had disappointed their parents which was a shame. 

What they both had in common was the overwhelming guilt at constantly letting their parents down and I thought that was such a shame especially when something really sad happens. 

I felt really sorry for Lyra because of the expectations placed on her by her family meant she couldn't tell them about the show,  yet her sisters were allowed to take off and do their own thing. The book centres around the complex relationships between parents and their grown up children. I'm sure lots of people will relate to the guilt they feel about wanting to be there for them but also wanting to have their own lives as well. It's a difficult area to navigate in life and both Lira and Gabrielle are affected by this situation and it was great to see Lira stand up for what she wanted.

I found this a fascinating insight into (possibly) a behind the scenes peek at Strictly and would love to know who the main characters were inspired by. The sexiness of the dances plus the electricity and passion between Lyra and Gabriel made for a sizzling read. 

Sincerely

Book Angel x

About the Author

As one of the most instantly recognisable faces in the UK and one of the country's most beloved broadcasters, presenters and talent show judges, Oti Mabuse is a dancer of international success and renown, winning titles and championships across the world.  The only professional on Strictly Come Dancing to win twice concurrently, she left after seven years on the show and became a judge on Dancing on Ice appearing on our screens to over five million viewers per week. Family and connection means everything to her and in December 2023 she welcomed her first child into the world. Oti spends her (hard won) downtime getting used to the rhythm of Mum-life and escaping into romantic fiction, which, second only to her love of dance, is her other passion in life. Her favourite authors include Colleen Hoover, Bernadine Evaristo and Dolly Alderton. ​"My name, Otlile, means 'I am here' in Setswana, and that's exactly what I am – here. For too long women like me – empowered, curvy, black women – haven't been able to see ourselves in swoon-worthy, heart-racing romances... I want to change that." Oti Mabuse

The Secrets of Dragonfly Lodge by Rachel Hore

Uncovering secrets that span generations, Rachel Hore delivers intriguing, involving and emotive narrative reading group fiction like few other writers can.

Nancy Foster has harboured a devastating secret that shattered her professional and personal life.  On meeting her, journalist Stef Lansdown realizes that she has the power to restore Nancy’s reputation and to heal the wounds, if only Nancy will trust her. But someone else wants to get to the bottom of the story first, someone who doesn’t want it to be told. 

Set in the beautiful environs of the Norfolk Broads in 2010, and in London in the '40s and ‘50s, when life for career-driven women was so different, The Secrets of Dragonfly Lodge is Sunday Times multi-million copy bestselling author Rachel Hore’s utterly compelling new novel, interweaving the past and the present. 

Title: The Secrets of Dragonfly Lodge

Author: Rachel Hore

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 31st July 2025

Links: UK:   Amazon   US:   Amazon

Waterstones

Our Review

The Secrets of Dragonfly Lodge tells the story of two women, Stef who is a freelance journalist who wants to write a book about female scientists and Nancy an older lady who was, in her youth, a scientist who did important work and was brilliant at her job but became disillusioned when she realised she couldn’t get any further in her career. She eventually had to choose a different course for her life due to the rampant sexism she had to face at that time. 

Stef wants to interview Nancy for her book but at first Nancy is very reluctant because it would rake up old wounds.  But when she gets to know Stef a little more she begins to trust her and once she unlocks her memories and begins to divulge her story she finds it impossible to stop. Nancy’s grandson Aaron is not happy and thinks that Stef is trying to take advantage of his grandmother. 

The two women bond as Stef realises what Nancy and her friends went through when they were younger but convincing Aaron to trust her is another story as he is so protective of his grandmother. 

This book provides a really interesting glimpse into the past and raises really important issues about how women were treated in the forties and fifties. Especially female scientists who literally had to make a decision to work or raise a family but in those days couldn’t do both. It’s really frustrating to think of these women who worked so hard on their studies only to not be taken seriously and have to move on to jobs that although important, didn’t fulfil their ambitions. 

I love the authenticity of the story being very close to home for the author in more ways than one but I don't want to give away that piece of information which is revealed in the acknowledgements.

A beautifully written, intriguing glimpse into the past with a lovely connection made in the present.

.

Sincerely

Book Angel x

About the Author

 I'm the author of thirteen bestselling novels, the most recent of which is The Hidden Years, now available in all the usual formats. My fourteenth novel, The Secrets of Dragonfly Lodge, will be published on 31st July 2025.

I came to writing quite late, after a career editing fiction at HarperCollins in London. My husband and I had moved out to Norwich with our three young sons and I'd had to give up my job and writing was something that I'd always wanted to try. I originally studied history, so it was wonderful finally to put my knowledge to good use and to write The Dream House, which is partly set in1920s Suffolk and London.

Most of my novels are dual narrative, with a story in the present alternating with one set in the past. I love the freedom that they give me to escape into the past, but also the dramatic ways in which the stories interact. My characters are often trying to solve some mystery about the past and by doing so to resolve some difficulty or puzzle in their own lives.

The books can involve a lot of research and this takes me down all sorts of interesting paths. For The Glass Painter's Daughter I took an evening class in working with coloured glass. My glass creations were not very amazing, but making them gave me insight into the processes so that my characters' activities would feel authentic. For A Week in Paris I had to research Paris in World War II and the early 1960s through films and books and by visiting the city - that was a great deal of work for one novel. Last Letter Home involved me touring a lot of country houses with old walled kitchen gardens in search of atmosphere and to explore the different kinds of plants grown there.

Places often inspire my stories. The Memory Garden, my second novel, is set in one of my favourite places in the world - Lamorna Cove in Cornwall - which is accessed through a lovely hidden valley. A Place of Secrets is set in a remote part of North Norfolk near Holt, where past and present seem to meet. Southwold in Suffolk, a characterful old-fashioned seaside resort with a harbour and a lighthouse, has been a much loved destination for our family holidays and has made an appearance in fictional guise in several of my novels, including The Silent Tide and The Love Child.

Until recently I taught Publishing and Creative Writing part-time at the University of East Anglia, but now I'm a full-time writer, which felt like a big step. My boys are all grown up now and finding their way in the world, but we still see a lot of them. My husband David is a writer, too (he writes as D.J. Taylor), so we understand each other's working lives.

I find I have to have a regular routine with my writing, not least to keep the book in my head. My aim is to sit down at 9am every morning and write till lunchtime, then again the afternoon, but there is often something ready to interrupt this, not least our Labrador girl Zelda, so I go with the flow.

I hope that you are able to find my books easily and enjoy them - I am always happy to hear from readers!

Happy reading!

Rachel Hore

You can follow the rest of Rachel's Blog Tour here:-

New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe by Julie Haworth

 

About the Book

New Beginnings at The Cosy Cat Café tells the story of Tori who, after being dumped and left stranded by her long-term boyfriend Ryan on a trip of a lifetime to Asia, returns home to the sleepy Sussex village of Blossom Heath with her tail between her legs and her dreams shattered. Donning her frilly apron to help her Mum, Joyce, behind the counter at The Cosy Cup Café, Tori starts to believe – with the help of a hunky fireman and a clowder of rescue cats - that perhaps the secret to her future happiness might lie closer to home than she ever thought possible.

If you love your romance with a side order of cake, cats and cosy community dynamics, this is the purrfect uplifting, feel-good read from the winner of the RNA Katie Fforde Debut Novel of the Year 2023.

Title:  New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe

Author: Julie Haworth

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 2nd July 2024

Links:  UK:   Amazon     USA:   Amazon

                                                                             ***

Our Review

After being unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend in Japan, Tori moves back to Blossom Heath and helps her mum in the Cosy Cup Cafe. Whilst there she decides to introduce some of the recipes that she discovered on her travels which goes down very well with the customers. 

Tori enjoys reuniting with her childhood friend Rose and settles back into Blossom Heath nicely but she had so many plans in life and feels as though she needs to do something. One of her favourite things about her travels was visiting the cat cafes in Japan and as she looks around the cafe she shares an idea with her mum of converting The Cosy Cup into one. After discussions with Grace the local vet who is delighted with the plan, Tori is introduced to the local cat rescue which is called New Beginnings. Whilst there she falls in love with quite a few of the feline guests and decides to go for it. 

She has to get through lots of red tape in order to maintain the safety of the animals so progress is alot slower then she intends and not all of the locals are happy about her making changes. But with her mum and her friends to help her and a very sexy fireman to distract her from her ex, she manages to get through it all, despite a few setbacks caused by a mystery person.

Julie Haworth has created a lovely little community in Blossom Heath with a plethora of believable and lovable characters and it was such a pleasure to revisit. I did feel sorry for Tori's own cat Ernie as he wasn't allowed in with the other cats and could often be seen looking in the window, he was very spoilt and well looked after by Tori and her mum though.

A perfect book to cosy up with your furry friend beside you if you have one but just make sure you have a cuppa tea and a very generous slice of cake to accompany it because you will be craving it when you start reading about Tori's mum's baking and you might even be tempted to adopt a cat yourself because they all sound adorable.

To read our review of Julie's first book Always by Your Side please click here

Sincerely

Book Angel x

About the Author

Julie Haworth writes uplifting stories about friendship and community, bursting with romance and charm, from her home in the bustling city of Chelmsford, Essex. Her debut novel, Always By Your Side, won the RNA's Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award for 2023. Julie is still pinching herself that she’s realised her lifelong dream of becoming a published author!

When she’s not busy writing or running her copywriting business, Julie can mainly be found shopping, drinking ridiculous amounts of coffee and hanging out with her two rescue cats. Julie is also a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors.

Julie loves to chat with her readers and you can find her on Twitter @jhaworthauthor or over on Instagram @juliehaworthauthor