Tag Archives: witty

An absolutely magical opposites attract work romance

Posted on by

Total-Creative-Control-GenericTotal Creative Control by Joanna Chambers & Sally Malcolm

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If ever a book deserved more stars – and a TV adaptation – it’s this one.

It would make an utterly brilliant Netflix show as it has all the elements you need for success:

1) An opposites attract plot featuring a grumpy one and a sunshine one.

2) The UST of a pining ‘will they, won’t they’ office working relationship that’s really so much more.

3) Tensions galore with a secondary plot involving the adaptation of a British TV show onto one for the American market.

4) Fanfic 😉 the adoration lovers of a book or TV series or film can have for the characters. You only need to look at Hugo awarded A03 to see the power of transformative work.

5) Two heroes who truly see each other, flaws and all, even if one of them (yes Lewis, I’m looking at you here #sideeye ) needs it practically stamping on his forehead.

Bonus 6) Fantastic setting, great secondary characters, and a beautiful nod to the duplicitous way certain elements of the creative media industry have for queer baiting or burying the gays.

It’s also subversively funny, tender and witty, with an elegance of narrative that just flows beautifully from start to finish.

I cannot praise this book highly enough. I adore the work of both authors when they write separately, but together they’re producing something magical.

I cannot wait to see what comes in books two and three (Owen please?!)

#ARC kindly received from the authors in return for an honest and unbiased review.

View all my reviews

My Heart was bursting after this fabulous debut novel from JR

Posted on by

LYHBL ebook CoverLet Your Heart Be Light by J.R. Lawrie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Absolute perfection.

This book focuses on two couples with three short stories which give the initial meetings of each pair and a bonus second dip into Zach and Richard’s life.

JR’s writing has such charm to it. Both romances are set in London but they’re different in tone.

David and Julian’s is the filling being book ended by Zach and Richard’s extraordinarily impressive storyline and I’d absolutely kill for a full-length novel with them.

Not to take anything away from the doctor and his upstairs neighbour come patient.

Theirs is a sweet, bumbling fall into feelings after Julian has an accident which puts him in David’s loving hands.

But Zach and Richard are special. If you’ve ever seen the British TV show Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister, then you’ll see little nods and hints in this book to what goes on behind the scenes of the “corridors of power”.

I loved it so hard. The first story, of how they meet, is wonderfully funny, although I internally cried when Zach described Richard as an older man when his Twitter handle included a 1978 birthdate.

Guess it’s time to face up to my own impending half century 🤣

But The Farringdon Club had me howling with laughter. I want Richard Curtis to get hold of this book because OMG, some of the scenes in this are prime material for a film from him.

Although he’d have to take the sex down a notch to get it shown on Christmas Day 😉

Just brilliance from start to finish, I was sad when I realised I’d reached the end of the book.

Do yourselves a favour and pick up this one when it comes out next week, it’s a joy.

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

View all my reviews

Beth Bolden hits all the right notes with this compelling fairy tale

Posted on by

yoursforeverafter ebook smallerYours, Forever After by Beth Bolden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In a complete departure from her usual writings, Beth Bolden visits the world of the fairy tale.

With Yours, Forever After, she gives the reader an utterly compelling and truly delightful romance between a naive young Prince and a world-weary jaded man who’s long given up on his royal birth.

Throw in a sarcastic and snooty unicorn and this has all the makings of a wonderful tale of heroes and villains, great adventures, slow burn romance and that’s what you get.

From Gray’s initial scepticism and unwillingness to get involved, to the sly manipulation that the King of Unicorns performs on his unwitting heroes, to the great bunch of side characters who appear along the way, Beth delivers.

I will declare an interest here, as I was once again lucky enough to be a beta reader for Beth, but there were very little suggestions to make because the pacing of this book takes the reader through from the hesitant first exchanges and into an exciting ride which sees all the hallmark moments you’d expect from a fairy story.

I do hope there’s more in this world as I’d love to see what happens next for Grey and Rory and I rather miss the imperious tone of Evrard telling everyone what to do and how to behave as they head off into the mountains to find a hidden treasure which turns out to be something rather more than just that.

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review

View all my reviews

« Older Entries