Blog Tour - Our Life in a Day - Jamie Fewery

Our Life in a Day is the story of Tom and Esme who are going to be celebrating their ten year anniversary. Esme is always making up games for the couple to play and this time it involves them choosing memorable moments from their lives together but not necessarily just the happy times.

Tom and Esme meet at a party and right from that night Esme has made it clear that she values honesty but can Tom be totally honest with Esme?

Our Life in a Day is a story about the relationship between two people which unlike other books deals with the warts and all side of life. It also tackles the very topical subject of mental health from a male perspective which I found made for very interesting reading. It's often said that men don't like to talk about their feelings so to get inside Tom's head was fascinating.

I'm not a fan of book comparison's as I think books are very subjective (and in my experience they are mostly wrong) so to see Our Life in a Day compared to One Day by David Nicholls, I went into this book thinking it was going to be a lot more light and fluffy than it actually was. I certainly wasn't expecting a rough ride full of tension and grit, but that's not to say that it doesn't make for a good read.

I had no idea that this was a debut novel, the author has a real talent for language and creating character's that are worthy of a reader investing time in. I really felt for Tom throughout the book, he had so many things going on in his head but he just wanted a simple life with the woman that he loved but he was always afraid that it was all going to disappear in the blink of an eye.

If you're looking for a hearts and flowers story then this probably isn't it, but if you're in the market for a different kind of love story then you might just find it with Our Life in a Day.

You can follow the blog tour with these other lovely blogs:

With kind thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for my stop on the blog tour and also to NetGalley for the review copy.

Blog Tour - Blackpool's Daughter - Maggie Mason

I'm thrilled to be taking part in another blog tour for the hugely talented Maggie Mason who is also known as Mary Wood.

I absolutely LOVE this author, whether she's writing as Maggie or Mary and Blackpool's Daughter is no exception.

Julia and her fourteen-year-old daughter Clara live on the small island of Guernsey but with the war raging it's becoming clear that the island is no longer a safe place to be. Julia has a decision to make, should she keep Clara with her or should she send her to the mainland where she is more likely to be safe? She knows that sending her away is the right thing to do although she can't bear the thought of sending her beloved daughter off into the unknown.

Clara ends up in Blackpool and is placed with a lady called Mavis Brandon who owns a small grocery shop. Mavis is far from a kindly soul and puts Clara straight to work, making it very clear that her life her isn't going to be an easy ride but Clara isn't prepared for the heartbreaking turn of events that's about to unfold which means that she has to grow up very quickly.

Meanwhile Julia has left Guernsey with the hope of being reunited with Clara but to her dismay she discovers that no-one has any reliable records as to where her beloved daughter is. Julia's journey is just as troubled as her daughter's and along the way she finds herself hoping for news of not just Clara but also of someone else who has become very dear to her.

The reason why I love this author's books so much is that she always makes her characters leap from the page and as a reader I inevitably take them into my heart, living their story with them and I think it takes a very special type of author to make you feel that way with every one of their books. I also always know that life is going to throw more than it's fair share of obstacles into the characters paths so be prepared to maybe shed a tear or two if this is your first venture out with Maggie's books, but there will always be hope, love and friendship to lighten their loads.

Blackpool's Daughter is a captivating read and one that I read at every chance I had. Maggie has once again written a wonderful historical saga novel and I honestly can't recommend it highly enough. I can also tell you that you can download your copy for only 99p at the time of writing this AND if that's not enough if you head over to Maggie's Facebook page which you can find here,  you'll find details of the fabulous giveaway that she's running in conjunction with the blog tour.


You can also follow the blog tour with these lovely bloggers.

With kind thanks to author Maggie Mason for my spot on the blog tour and publisher Sphere for the review copy.

Hippo Happenings

So, you may have noticed that things have been a bit quiet here on The Hippo for the last few weeks. It's not because I haven't been reading, far from it, I've just been busy trying to get things organised for my new venture of providing author services.

I've already done a few jobs for people and I unofficially launched it a few weeks ago on my Facebook page and as a result I'm getting clients. I'll admit it's a scary thing to do but everyone so far has been happy with the results so I've been beavering away in the background learning new things and looking in to things that I may need in the future so it's a real learning curve and that's meant that I haven't been writing reviews for you, my lovely readers.

 

I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten you and I hope that you can all find it in your hearts to forgive me for my temporary absence and I promise that I've got some great reviews coming up for you all over the Easter period as well as a few giveaways!


Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you all soon!!

Blog Tour Promo & Giveaway - The Cornish Lady - Nicola Pryce

Today I'm joining the blog tour with a little promo post to help spread the book love for The Cornish Lady by Nicola Pryce.

Let's get things started by telling you about the book, here's the blurb:

Educated, beautiful and the daughter of a prosperous merchant, Angelica Lilly has been invited to spend the summer in high society. Her father's wealth is opening doors, and attracting marriage proposals, but Angelica still feels like an imposter among the aristocrats of Cornwall.

When her brother returns home, ill and under the influence of a dangerous man, Angelica's loyalties are tested to the limit. Her one hope lies with coachman Henry Trevelyan, a softly spoken, educated man with kind eyes. But when Henry seemingly betrays Angelica, she has no one to turn to. Who is Henry, and what does he want? And can Angelica save her brother from a terrible plot that threatens to ruin her entire family?

                                                    Author bio

Photo courtesy of Nicola Pryce

 

Nicola Pryce came to writing after a career in nursing. She has an Open University degree in Humanities and is a qualified adult literacy support volunteer. She is lives in the Blackdown Hills in Somerset and when she isn’t writing she’s probably gardening or scrubbing the decks. She and her husband love sailing and for the last twenty years they have sailed in and out of the romantic harbours of the south coast of Cornwall in search of adventure: it is there where she sets her books.

The Cornish Lady is her fourth book: The others are Pengelly’s Daughter, The Captain’s Girl, and The Cornish Dressmaker.

Nicola is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and The Historical Writers Association.

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If this sounds like a book for you then you might be pleased to know that it's available to buy right now:

Amazon UK
Amazon US

Alternatively you could enter the giveaway which is open internationally and you could win not only a signed copy of The Cornish Lady but also a box of delicious Cornish fudge and some bookmarks as well!

This could all be yours!

You can enter the giveaway here and please see the terms and conditions at the end of this post.*

You can find out more about Nicola Pryce and connect with her using the links below:

Website
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads

Don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour with these brilliant blogs:

*Terms and conditions

• Worldwide entries welcome.
• Open to entrants aged 18 or over.
• The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner.
• Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.
• I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.