A Gift from Woolworths by Elaine Everest

Will the war be over by Christmas?
As the war moves into 1945 the lives of the women of Woolworths continue. When store manager, Betty Billington, announces she is expecting Douglas’s baby her future life is about to change more than she expects.

Freda has fallen in love with the handsome Scottish engineer but will it end happily?

Maisie loves being a mother and also caring for her two nieces although she still has her own dreams. When her brother appears on the scene he brings unexpected danger to the family.

Meanwhile Sarah dreams of her husband’s return and a cottage with roses around the door but Woolworths beckons.

Will our girls sail into times of peace, or will they experience more heartache and sorrow? With a wedding on the horizon, surely only happiness lies ahead – or does it?

A Gift from Woolworths is the next installment in Elaine Everest's much-loved Woolworths series.

Title: A Gift from Woolworths

Author: Elaine Everest

Published By: Pan Macmillan

Publication Date: 1st November 2018

Links UK: Amazon      US: Amazon

WHSmiths     Waterstones

Our Review

This is the fifth book in the Woolworths series and it gave me the same lovely warm cosy feeling as the others did.

The war is coming to an end and the three friends Sarah, Maisie and Freda go through tumultuous times trying to deal with everything that’s thrown at them and they have some really difficult situations to get through.

However they don’t have to struggle on their own as they have the support of Sarah’s nan Ruby Caselton who is the head of the family and has taken all the girls under her wing and firmly into her heart. Ruby is definitely someone you would be glad to have on your side as she has a heart of gold but also someone that you would never want to cross as she doesn’t suffer fools.

Betty Billington is the girls’ boss and the relationships she has with them are very sincere and protective.

It is so interesting reading books like this because I learn so much from them, for instance I didn’t know that Winston Churchill hadn’t been re-elected after the war and find that quite puzzling seeing as he is so often praised for his war effort.

It’s also interesting to see the effect the war had on the women of that time who had all started working and then were reluctant to give their jobs back to the men and seemed to stand up for themselves more. This affected the relationships with their husbands too.

The characters take the reader through lots of emotions with their various ups and downs but the overall feeling that I came away with was one of hope for their future.

The next instalment from Elaine is called The Teashop Girls and I’m really looking forward to that. Also Elaine hasn’t ruled out a follow up to the Woolworths series which would be fab. 

Sincerely 

Book Angel x

About the Author

Elaine Everest, author of Bestselling novel The Woolworths Girls and The Butlins Girls was born and brought up in North West Kent, where many of her books are set. She has been a freelance writer for twenty years and has written widely for women's magazines and national newspapers, with both short stories and features. Her non-fiction books for dog owners have been very popular and led to broadcasting on radio about our four legged friends. Elaine has been heard discussing many topics on radio from canine subjects to living with a husband under her feet when redundancy loomed.

When she isn't writing, Elaine runs The Write Place creative writing school at The Howard Venue in Hextable, Kent and has a long list of published students.

Elaine lives with her husband, Michael, and their Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Henry, in Swanley, Kent and is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Crime Writers Association, The Society of Women Writers & Journalists and The Society of Authors as well as Slimming World where she can be seen sitting in the naughty corner.

Follow me:

Facebook: Elaine Everest Author page

Twitter: @elaineeverest

My writing school: www.thewriteplace.org.uk

The Mother of all Christmases by Milly Johnson

THE MOST PERFECT CHRISTMAS FEEL-GOOD READ!
'Every time you discover a new Milly book, it’s like finding a pot of gold' Heat

Eve Glace - co-owner of the theme park Winterworld - is having a baby and her due date is a perfectly timed 25th December. And she’s decided that she and her husband Jacques should renew their wedding vows with all the pomp that was missing the first time. But growing problems at Winterworld keep distracting them …

Annie Pandoro and her husband Joe own a small Christmas cracker factory, are well set up and happy together despite life never blessing them with a much-wanted child. But when Annie finds that the changes happening to her body aren’t typical of the menopause but pregnancy, her joy is uncontainable.

Palma Collins has agreed to act as a surrogate, hoping the money will get her out of the gutter in which she finds herself. But when the couple she is helping split up, is she going to be left carrying a baby she never intended to keep?

Annie, Palma and Eve all meet at the ‘Christmas Pudding Club’, a new directive started by a forward-thinking young doctor to help mums-to-be mingle and share their pregnancy journeys. Will this group help each other to find love, contentment and peace as Christmas approaches?

The brand new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Perfectly Imperfect Woman; a gorgeous read full of love, life, laughter - and crackers! 

Title: The Mother of all Christmases

Author: Milly Johnson

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 15th November

Links:- UK:  Amazon     US: Amazon

WHSmith:   Paperback    ebook    

Waterstones

Our Review



Heartbreaking with a beautiful silver lining.
Firstly I would just like to point out that this is not a shmaltzy fairy tale kind of Christmas book and is quite a lot darker than Milly’s other books but it is a cracker of a read that I guarantee will break your heart.

Although it does have its own Winter Wonderland with fake snow and reindeer, this is a hard hitting novel describing the grittiness of life for one of the characters called Palma who has hit her rock bottom and is trying to climb back up into a decent life.

When she becomes pregnant she joins the Christmas Pudding club which has been set up by her doctor to allow mums-to-be to meet up and who can then support each other through their pregnancies.

Through this club she meets Annie who’s the owner of a Christmas cracker factory and Annie and the other employees provide the light hearted and fun element of the story through their hilarious banter, especially Iris and Gill. I loved the parts were Gill was FaceTiming from Spain because it’s such a real thing we do in this age of technology we can still very much stay in contact with our friends and loved ones.

Palma is a very flawed character but mostly born out of survival skills that she had to develop to see her through the rough patch that was her life. Whilst it’s easy to judge Palma for some of the actions she took, at the time she just thought it was the right thing to do and I found I understood her reasoning and quickly warmed to her.

Although she often felt very much the outsider in the group the others all clucked around her like mummy ducks protecting their young and I think this was special for Palma because she had never had any self worth.

There is a heartbreaking tragedy which puts everything into perspective for many of the characters but the lovely thing that shines through from this story, apart from the strong bonds of friendship between women which Milly's books are renowned for, is the love that grows between a mother and her unborn child and the same with the man that she chooses to be a father to that child.

There were some very touching scenes involving a lovely man called Tommy which truly brought a tear to my eye. His story was so uplifting and just shows that when someone really believes in you then you can achieve anything you put your mind to and the fact that he wanted to provide that chance for other children was inspiring.

The book although quite dark at times has a beautiful silver lining and ends with a really lovely positive glow.

Many of the wide range of characters from Milly’s previous books feature in this one, including Cariad and Effin from The Barn on Half Moon Hill which Milly wrote to raise money for her friend who lost her sons in the most horrendous way. All proceeds from that novella go to the Care for Claire charity which is such a worthy cause.

To buy please click here. Their stories were all very cleverly intertwined and it was lovely to see how they were doing and especially lovely to visit the Sunflower Cafe once again.

I cried again when reading the acknowledgments because Milly talks about her own rollercoaster of a ride with motherhood which I can totally relate to as our children are approaching University age and it becomes obvious right there how much love and passion has gone into writing this book.

I've loved all of Milly's books and devour them whole, I really can't wait for the next one.

Sincerely

Book Angel x

About the Author

Milly Johnson was born, raised and still lives in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. As well as being an author of 15 published novels, 2 short story books and 2 novellas, she is also a copywriter for the greetings card industry, a joke-writer, a columnist, after dinner speaker, poet, BBC newspaper reviewer, and a sometimes BBC radio presenter.

She won the RoNA for Best Romantic Comedy Novel of 2014 and 2016 and the Yorkshire Society award for Arts and Culture 2015.


She writes about love, life, friendships and that little bit of the magic that sometimes crops up in real life. She likes owls, cats, meringues, handbags and literary gifts - but hates marzipan. She is very short.


Milly's website is www.millyjohnson.co.uk. She is on Twitter @millyjohnson and has a Facebook page (just google Book Page of Milly Johnson). She also has a monthly newsletter www.millyjohnson.co.uk/newsletter with exclusive, news, offers and competitions.

Dreaming of Christmas by T.A Williams

It’s the dream Christmas: snow, mountains… and, er, an ex-boyfriend. But can Zoe still find love in the Alps?
Dumped on Christmas Eve by her long-term boyfriend, it's been a rough year for Zoe Lumsley. But then she gets an invitation she can’t refuse: an all expenses paid skiing holiday with old university friends.

The bad news: her ex, Grant, will be there with his new girlfriend. But so will her former flatmate Billy, the organiser, and in the meantime he’s done rather well for himself. As Christmas in the Alps approaches, it'll be great to see the old gang. Some more than others...

Title:  Dreaming of Christmas

Author:  T.A Williams

Published By: Canelo Escape

Publication Day: 27th August 2018
Links:  UK: Amazon    US: Amazon 


Guest Post 

Welcome to T.A. (Trevor) Williams, author of Dreaming of Christmas, who gives us an insight into what Christmas is like for him.

Dreaming of Christmas is set in a quaint old ski resort in the Austrian Alps. You know what they say – write about what you know. So that’s why it’s set there. Back when our daughter was a teenager, we went to Austria at Christmas on a number of occasions and loved it. Hopefully my love of the place shines through in the book. We only stopped going there after two successive years when the pistes were green, rather than white. That’s the trouble with Austria; the ski stations aren’t very high up and snow isn’t always guaranteed. For the purposes of Dreaming of Christmas, however, I chose to bestow the heaviest December snowfall for many years upon my fictitious village of Bad Bergstein. The snow in the book is distinctly deep and crisp and even.

One year we had a problem with our pre-booked accommodation and ended up moving to a very posh hotel. This has formed the basis for the luxury hotel in the book. One of the things we loved about Austria and this particular hotel was how spotlessly clean it was and how comfortable the rooms were with triple glazed windows or even two sets of windows to keep out the cold and a glorious thick feather duvet on the bed. The place made a great impression on me and that’s why I chose to put it in Dreaming of Christmas.

Since then, Christmas has mostly been spent at home, except for one memorable Christmas spent with my wife’s family in northern Italy. This was most enjoyable, but very different from a normal Christmas back here in the UK for lots of reasons, principally snow. As they live in the foothills of the Alps, there was a lot of snow. Now don’t get me wrong, I like snow. But only in its place. And the proper place for snow is on a ski slope, not on the road. The only serious road accident I have ever had was on snow – an insurance company nightmare of a British-registered car, insured in Italy (I was working there at the time), being written off by an uninsured Algerian driving a French-registered car in Switzerland. No wonder the Swiss police laughed – and why my opinion of Swiss police (and Algerians) has never recovered.

Back here, Christmas alternates between our place or my brother’s place. Our daughter, now married, alternates between us one year and her husband’s family the next. This year everybody (13 or 14 people) will be with us and I’m going to do my traditional Christmas barbecue. Barbecuing for 14 is a challenge, especially for somebody old-fashioned like me who insists upon using real charcoal, not bottle gas. Last time I did it, I got all of it right apart from the little chorizo sausages. I now know that they cook very quickly and catch fire even quicker. I almost lost my eyebrows that time. This year I’m using my new double barbecue so the chances for disaster will be doubled.

My favourite Christmas anecdote concerns Merlin, our wonderful black Labrador, now immortalised in my books. He was an abused child and we had only just got him. He had been starved and you could count his ribs. As result, he was even hungrier than usual for a Lab. As we were sitting down to Christmas lunch, there was a crash. Merlin had nicked a long French baguette from the kitchen worktop and had tried to make his getaway with the swag through the dog flap set in the back door. We found him standing, looking dazed, with a third of the loaf in his mouth and two neat pieces lying either side of the dog door. Clearly, the canine brain hadn’t worked out the width of the dog door.

Christmas is the time for family and friends so that’s why I made Dreaming of Christmas the story of a bunch of old university friends meeting up for a reunion. Christmas for them is in the lap of luxury and I hope you enjoy reading about it. I wish you all a very happy Christmas and no burnt sausages.

Thanks for joining us today Trevor and good luck with the book.

About the Author

I write under the androgynous name T A Williams because 65% of books are read by women. In my first book, "Dirty Minds" one of the (female) characters suggests the imbalance is due to the fact that men spend too much time getting drunk and watching football. I couldn't possibly comment. Ask my wife...
I've written all sorts: thrillers, historical novels, short stories and now I'm enjoying myself hugely writing humour and romance. Romantic comedies are what we all need from time to time. Life isn’t always very fair. It isn’t always a lot of fun, but when it is, we need to embrace it. If my books can put a smile on your face and maybe give your heartstrings a tug, then I know I’ve done my job.
I‘ve lived all over Europe, but now I live in a little village in sleepy Devon, tucked away in south west England. I love the place. That’s why you’ll find leafy lanes and thatched cottages in most of my books. Oh, yes, and a black Labrador.

I've been writing since I was 14 and that is half a century ago. However, underneath this bald, wrinkly exterior, there beats the heart of a youngster. My wife is convinced I will never grow up. I hope she's right

Follow the blog tour for Dreaming of Christmas here...

Sincerely

Book Angel x

Snowflakes & Cinnamon Swirls at the Winter Wonderland

After calling off her engagement, Hayley, the Wynthorpe Hall housekeeper, wants nothing more than to return to her no-strings fun-loving self, avoiding any chance of future heartbreak. Little does she know, Wynbridge’s latest arrival is about to throw her plan entirely off course . . .

Moving into Wynthorpe Hall to escape the town’s gossip, Hayley finds herself immersed in the eccentric Connelly family’s festive activities as they plan to host their first ever Winter Wonderland. But Hayley isn’t the only new resident at the hall. Gabe, a friend of the Connelly’s son Jamie, has also taken up residence, moving into Gatekeeper’s Cottage, and he quickly makes an impression on Wynbridge’s reformed good-girl.

As preparations commence for the biggest event of the season, the pair find themselves drawn ever closer to one another, but unbeknownst to Hayley, Gabe, too, has a reason for turning his back on love, one that seems intent on keeping them apart.

Under the starry winter skies, will Gabe convince Hayley to open her heart again once more? And in doing so, will he convince himself? ~*~

Snowflakes and Cinnamon Swirls at the Winter Wonderland is the perfect read this Christmas, promising snowfall, warm fires and breath-taking seasonal romance. Perfect for fans of Milly Johnson, Carole Matthews and Cathy Bramley.

Title: Snowflakes & Cinnamon Swirls at the Winter Wonderland

Author: Heidi Swain

Published By: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 1st November 2018

Links: UK:  Amazon       US: Amazon

WHSmith    Waterstones

Our Review

This has to be Heidi’s best book yet. A beautiful setting in Wynthorpe Hall, an array of lovely warm friendly characters and two main characters Hayley and Gabe both wounded by their pasts and in Hayley’s case wonderfully flawed.
I also loved the visits to the cherry tree cafe and mentions of skylark farm and cuckoo cottage.

Hayley is tossed through every emotion imaginable in this book as she has family problems and a bit of a dark past. She lived her life as she thought she deserved it, pretty much settling for second best but when she has a rude awakening it gives her a chance to expect more for herself. It was lovely accompanying her on her journey to a better life.

Gabe is very sexy and hunky but he has problems moving forward with his life after events that have happened in his past. 

I really enjoyed being totally absorbed in this story, It was filled with hope and a sense of being able to become the person you want to be and not the person you were and that the past is in the past and shouldn't hinder a wonderful future. Hayley had made mistakes but was able to move forward into such a lovely direction, supported by people who loved her.

Heidi has created a wonderful village in Wynbridge and it is such a pleasure to visit there again with each new book. The winter wonderland sounded amazing and I loved reading about the planning stages and especially the craft that Gabe came up with. It all sounded so perfect.

All in all this book filled me with joy and hit me in the feels with the twists and turns of Gabe and Hayley’s lives. I loved it.

I really hope that the Gavin mug becomes a reality as I really want one. 

Sincerely

Book Angel x

About the Author

Heidi Swain is the Sunday Times bestselling author of five novels. She lives in Norfolk with her husband, two allegedly grown-up children and a mischievous black cat called Storm. She is passionate about gardening, the countryside and collects vintage paraphernalia. To find out more, follow Heidi on twitter @Heidi_Swain or visit her website: heidiswain.co.uk.


Why not follow the rest of the blog tour here...

The House of Christmas Secrets by Lynda Stacey

This year we’re just going to have a nice, normal Christmas…

Last year’s Christmas at Wrea Head Hall didn’t quite go to plan which is why Jess Croft is determined this festive season will be the one to remember, for the right reasons. And she has plenty of reasons to be hopeful, she’s going to marry the man of her dreams, Jack Stone, seven days after New Year’s Eve.

However, as family secrets are revealed in hidden letters and two unexpected guests turn up on the doorstep, Jess is left wondering whether her life will ever be the same again.

Can Jess and Jack still experience a peaceful festive season that they had imagined or are there some problems that even Christmas can’t fix?

Title: The House of Christmas Secrets

Author: Lynda Stacey

Published By: Choc Lit

Publication Date: 5th December 2017

Links: UK: Amazon       US: Amazon

Our Review

This book is not just for Christmas, it can be read all year round as it is a thriller/gritty crime novel rather than a gentle Christmas story.
This is the sequel to House of Secrets which is again set in the beautiful Wrea Head Hall where we find out more about Madeleine's sister Jess and what happens a year later.

Fast paced and gripping it kept me wanting to find out what would happen next throughout the whole book.
Two strangers come looking for Jess at Wrea Head Hall and danger is not far behind them. What follows plunges her and her family into a living nightmare. I was totally on edge whilst reading this part as it was so gritty with lots of tense moments.

This could be read as a stand alone as we are told what happens in the first book, however I'm glad I read the House of Secrets first to have the in depth details of Maddie's story.

The plot is exciting and scary and it unfolds at the same time as more secrets about the original family at Wrea Head Hall are revealed. This added such an interesting thread to the main story with a really satisfactory ending.

Sincerely
Book Angel x

About the Author

Lynda grew up in the mining village of Bentley, Doncaster, in South Yorkshire and went to both Bentley New Village School, and Don Valley High School.

She is currently the Sales Director of a stationery, office supplies and office furniture company in Doncaster, where she has worked for the past 25 years. Prior to this she’d also been a nurse, a model, an emergency first response instructor and a PADI Scuba Diving Instructor … and yes, she was crazy enough to dive in the sea with sharks, without a cage.

Following a car accident in 2008, Lynda was left with limited mobility in her right arm. Unable to dive or teach anymore, she turned to her love of writing, a hobby she’d followed avidly since being a teenager.

Her own life story, along with varied career choices helps Lynda to create stories of romantic suspense, with challenging and unpredictable plots, along with (as in all romances) very happy endings.

Lynda joined the Romantic Novelist Association in 2014 under the umbrella of the New Writers Scheme and in 2015, her debut novel House of Secrets won the Choc Lit Search for a Star competition.

She lives in a small rural hamlet near Doncaster, with her ‘hero at home husband’, Haydn, whom she’s been happily married to for over 20 years.

Come and find me at www.lyndastacey.co.uk to hear my latest news. You could follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lyndastaceyauthor or watch out for my tweets @Lyndastacey
Come say hello. I'd love to hear from you. Oh and if you love the book, I'd be really grateful if you'd take the time to leave me a review.