Review: Aphrodite’s Closet, by Suzy Turner

23 October 2018 by Melissa

About the book, Aphrodite’s Closet

Paperback: 296 pages
Publisher: Independently published (May 9, 2017)

Agatha Trout didn’t even know she had a Great Aunt Petunia, so imagine her surprise when she finds Petunia left her a corner shop in her will. But it’s not just any old corner shop—it’s a corner shop that needs something unique, something the town of Frambleberry has never seen before.

Influenced by her confident best friend, Coco, Agatha is soon convinced that there’s only one way to go: an adults-only sex shop.

While some of the townspeople are clutching their pearls in horror, others are open to the new experiences this shop offers. But not everyone in Frambleberry is convinced. Will the women soldier on in the face of violent threats or will their fears get the best of them—and their new venture—before it even gets off the ground?

Buy, read, and discuss Aphrodite’s Closet:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

About the author, Suzy Turner

Born in England and raised in Portugal, Suzy lives with her childhood sweetheart Michael, their two crazy dogs and three cats.

Shortly after completing her studies, Suzy worked as a trainee journalist for a local newspaper. Her love of writing developed and a few years later she took the job of assistant editor for the region’s largest English language publisher before becoming editor of a monthly lifestyle magazine. Early in 2010 however, Suzy became a full time author. She has since written several books: Raven, December Moon, The Lost Soul (The Raven Saga), Daisy Madigan’s Paradise, The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw, The Temporal Stone, Looking for Lucy Jo, We Stand Against Evil (The Morgan Sisters), Forever Fredless, And Then There Was You, Stormy Summer and her latest, Aphrodite’s Closet.

In 2015 she launched her popular 40+ lifestyle blog which continues to go from strength to strength, while just over a year later, she trained to become a yoga instructor. Suzy continues to write, blog and teach yoga in one of Portugal’s loveliest settings – the Algarve.

Connect with Suzy:

My Thoughts

I am in love with Aphrodite’s Closet. Funny and smart, and a perfect example of the genre we used to call “chick lit,” but is really just another type of contemporary fiction, this novel will make you laugh, make you cry, make you nod in agreement with universal truths, and make you root for the heroine, Agatha Trout.

Author Suzy Turner has drawn two dynamic leads in Agatha and her best friend Coco. Either woman could easily be someone you know. Agatha is more low key, less adventurous, and more level-headed. At times she can even be frumpy. Coco, on the other hand, is bold and a little brassy, wears five-inch heels, and is also generous to a fault. Together they represent everything that is best about deep friendship.

That core friendship is what I loved about the novel, but I also appreciated Turner’s flair for snappy dialogue and her ability to create characters with just a few descriptors (busy-body Amelia and Agatha’s mother are prime examples).

Overall, this novel is a light, fast read that balances comedy and truth really well.

Goes well with cosmopolitans and light hors d’oeuvres.

Review: Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Cafe, by Richard Dee

13 February 2018 by Melissa

About the book, Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café

Meet Andorra Pett; with her trusty sidekick, she’s taken over a derelict café. On a mining station. It just happens to be orbiting Saturn!
She’s hoping for a fresh start, away from all the drama of her old life. It’s a chance to relax and start again in a place where nobody knows anything about her or her past.

But the café holds a secret, and secrets have a habit of coming out; whether you want them to or not. And being accident prone doesn’t help. The more you try to pretend that you know what’s going on, the worse it gets.
Andorra’s plans for peace and quiet get lost amid the revelations and skulduggery and she soon realises that the fate of the whole station lies in her hapless hands.
In space, you can still trip over your feet; the question is, will you land upright?

Buy, read, and discuss Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Cafe:

Universal Purchase Link | Goodreads

About the Author, Richard Dee

A native of Brixham in Devon, Richard Dee’s family left Devon when he was in his teens and settled in Kent. Leaving school at 16 he briefly worked in a supermarket, then went to sea and travelled the world in the Merchant Navy, qualifying as a Master Mariner in 1986. Coming ashore to be with his growing family, he used his sea-going knowledge in several jobs, including Marine Insurance Surveyor and Dockmaster at Tilbury, before becoming a Port Control Officer in Sheerness and then at the Thames Barrier in Woolwich. In 1994 he was head-hunted and offered a job as a Thames Estuary Pilot. In 1999 he transferred to the Thames River Pilots, where he regularly took vessels of all sizes through the Thames Barrier and upriver as far as H.M.S. Belfast and through Tower Bridge. In all, he piloted over 3,500 vessels in a 22-year career with the Port of London Authority. Richard was offered part time working in 2010, which allowed him to return to live in Brixham, where he took up writing and blogging. He retired in 2015, when he set up and ran a successful Organic bakery, supplying local shops and cafés. The urge to write eventually overtook the urge to bake but Richard still makes bread for friends and family. Richard is married with three adult children and two grandchildren.

Connect with Richard:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

I was literally bouncing in my chair when I was offered the chance to read Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Cafe. I mean, a novel about a feisty woman opening a cafe in a mining station in the rings of Saturn? As someone whose gateway into Science Fiction began with A Wrinkle in Time and continued with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, this sounded like something I would really enjoy.

And I did.

Richard Dee has given us a tale that has everything – humor, suspense, a strong but struggling heroine, a fantastic sci-fi setting, and a truly universal story (no pun intended).

In Andorra Pett, I found a protagonist I would totally love to hang out with, and have coffee with. At times a tough entrepreneur, and at other times a vulnerable woman, she is smart, sassy, and incredibly resourceful. More than that, she embodies hope, something we can all use more of these days. From the moment Andorra walked into the derelict husk of a basement unit that would eventually become her cafe and worried about space spiders, to the final moment of the book, I was hooked on her story, and happy to follow her on her adventure.

With a supporting cast that covers every part of the spectrum of good and evil, Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Cafe is a must read for anyone who dreamed about sipping espresso with international spies in Paris… or out in space.

Goes well with coffee and a pastry ring (model of Saturn optional).

Review: The Magic of Stars by Jackie Ladbury

7 February 2018 by Melissa

About the book, The Magic of Stars

Sapphire Montrose always felt like a loser in the struggle of life, but when she becomes the airline manager of a run-down airline she starts to believe she is a winner – until she unwittingly propositions her new boss and all her hard work is undone.

In a moment of recklessness air stewardess, Sapphire Montrose throws caution and her dress to the wind by propositioning a handsome stranger in a hotel in Florence, only to find herself waking up alone and embarrassed in her hotel room.

Unfortunately for Sapphire, it turns out that her new boss, Marco Cavarelli, is the man she failed to seduce and she is now fighting for her job and her self-respect when he tells her there is no place in his revamped airline for an alcoholic woman with lascivious tendencies. To make matters worse she is increasingly attracted to him and he seems to be giving out the same vibes. Or is he simply testing her? One wrong move could be the end of her career. But what if he really is offering love – and is he worth the risk?

Buy, read, and discuss The Magic of Stars:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

About the author, Jackie Ladbury

Jackie Ladbury was desperate to become a journalist when she left school but was ousted within minutes on the day of the exam at her local rag because she’d forgotten to bring a pen.

Short and sharp lesson learned.

Her budding writing career was not on hold for long, though, as Jackie found herself scribbling love stories of pilots and ‘hosties’ while she flew in aeroplanes of various shapes and sizes as a flight attendant herself.

Fast forward a good few years and, after being short-listed in a couple of prestigious romantic writing competitions, Jackie decided it was time to discard her stilettos, say goodbye to the skies and concentrate on writing romantic novels, where the only given is a guaranteed ‘happy ever after.’

Connect with Jackie:

Website | The Write Romantics | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts:

Love is complicated. Affairs are messy. When either of those pleasures mixes with work – in this case a woman and her boss – complicated and messy become exponentially worse.

In Jackie Ladbury’s deft hands, what could be a story of soap opera exaggeration is, instead, a very human story about love and lust and the choices we make. Sapphire is a perfect representation of the contemporary woman: flawed but working on those flaws, self-aware, but sometimes only in hindsight, and yearning for more than just a paycheck or a one night stand. Marco is also flawed, sexy and smart and a little bit reckless. The perfect object of adoration (at first) and affection (later).

In The Magic of Stars Ladbury has given us a romance that combines a touch of fantasy with a large dose of reality. Her plot moves at a good pace. Her dialogue feels believable. Her characters are dimensional.

This is the perfect read for a wintry weekend by the fire.

Goes well with Irish coffee and a chocolate brownie.

Cover Reveal: The Magic of Stars, by Jackie Ladbury

12 January 2018 by Melissa

About the book, The Magic of Stars

Buy, read, and discuss The Magic of Stars:

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

About the author, Jackie Ladbury

Jackie Ladbury was desperate to become a journalist when she left school but was ousted within minutes on the day of the exam at her local rag because she’d forgotten to bring a pen.

Short and sharp lesson learned.

Connect with Jackie:

Website | The Write Romantics | Facebook | Twitter

Review: A Recipe for Disaster, by Stephen Phelps – with Giveaway

7 November 2017 by Melissa

About the book, A Recipe for Disaster: Cooking up a Big Italian Idea

A Recipe for Disaster is a cookbook, a travelogue and the companion to Cookucina, a six-part TV series available on Amazon Video, iTunes and Google Play – see www.cookucina.com .

It’s also the entertaining journey of an Englishman struggling with the ups and downs of living in rural Italy. After giving up a successful career in television, Stephen found himself dragged back into a world he had happily given up when his neighbour, Lia, persuaded him to listen to her Big Idea – making a TV cookery series. But Lia speaks no English.

And Stephen’s partner, Tam, can’t cook. So, much against Stephen’s better judgement, the three of them embarked on a six-part series set among the rolling hills of the little-known, but spectacularly beautiful, Italian region of Le Marche. In the Cookucina TV series Lia teaches Tam to cook alla Marchigiana, while Tam translates. A Recipe for Disaster follows their many encounters with the real Italy – a world away from the picture-book ideal of summer holidays in Tuscany.

As the team try to construct a professional series with no funding they come to rely on the generosity of the Marchigiana people, while attempting to overcome the constant difficulties thrown up by those whose stubborn adherence to their age-old way of life is rooted in their beloved fields and woods. A Recipe for Disaster is a goldmine of simple yet delicious recipes, while peeling back the veneer of television professionalism and opening the door to a world of Italian surprise and delight.

A Recipe for Disaster comes with unique access to Cookucina, the final six-part TV series, so you can see for yourself how the team cracked their problems and (just about) held it all together in a blistering heatwave. Experience this contradictory world of vendettas and kind hearts through the laughter and frustrations of Stephen and the team, as you follow A Recipe for Disaster slowly coming to its surprising fruition.

Buy, read, and discuss A Recipe for Disaster:

Amazon (Paperback) | Amazon (Kindle) | iBooks | SmashWords | Goodreads

About the author, Stephen Phelps

Educated at Oxford University, I began working with BBC Radio, moving to BBC TV where I launched Watchdog and produced the investigative legal series Rough Justice. In Hong Kong for BBC World Service Television I oversaw the start of BBC World. I then spent twelve years running my own TV production company, Just Television, specialising in investigative programmes in the field of law, justice and policing. In particular, Trial and Error for Channel 4 which exposed and investigated major miscarriages of justice, winning the Royal Television Society’s inaugural Specialist Journalism Award in 1999. Recently I have been working as a consultant for Aljazeera English on major documentary projects.

In 2002 I took an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Writing credits include many plays for BBC Radio, my most recent being a drama documentary for the 30^th anniversary of the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster. Books: The Tizard Mission published by Westholme Publishing in the United States, tells the extraordinary story of how Britain’s top scientists travelled in secret to America in the autumn of 1940 to give away all their wartime secrets to secure US support in WWII. A Recipe for Disaster is a book about living in Italy while trying to make a TV cookery series, Cookucina (now available on Amazon Video, Google Play and iTunes.

I have several other books and three screenplays in development.

Connect with Stephen:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Medium | Twitter

My Thoughts:

I love travelogues and cookbooks and true stories about people undertaking bold things. Under the Tuscan Sun and Peter Mayle’s Provence series are some of my favorite books in this genre. I read them, and I imagine leaving my cushy suburban lifestyle and relocating to Guadalajara, MX, or somewhere in Scotland.

Agreeing to read and review A Recipe for Disaster: Cooking Up a Big Italian Idea was obviously a no-brainer for me. I expected that I would enjoy Stephen Phelps’ story about living and cooking in Italy, especially when he has a non-cooking partner. (My own partner has a limited repertoire of boxed pudding, soup from the deli, and pasta with pre-made sauce, and I still have to walk him through the latter.)

What I did not expect was to fall in love with the book so hard that I paid the $12 to buy the series from Amazon. What I did not expect was to spend page after page laughing, crying, and drooling over Stephen, Tam, and Lia, the process of making a tv show, the process of learning to cook, and the shared experience of living in such a surreal bubble in time.

Reading this book makes you want to get your grandmother’s recipe box and systematically work through every family favorite you’ve ever known, but it also makes you want to start a restaurant, make a tv show, and learn to cook a new-to-you kind of food, or speak a new-to-you language.

At the same time, makes you want to run far away from all those things because each one has its own frustrations.

Candid, funny, sometimes poignant, A Recipe for Disaster is one tasty piece of fiction.

Goes well with any of the food mentioned in the book with a glass of a good Italian table wine. Need not be fancy. (I really want to make the roasted tomatoes (with breadcrumbs, baked herbs and orange zest).)