I've been on BorrowBox again, choosing books to read/listen to. There are a lot of books that are available to reserve, but not too many that are available for immediate borrowing. The Switch by Beth O'Leary was available, so I chose it and started listening.
Thus began a very quick obsession with the writing style, and so I went for the next one available – The Flatshare.
Then The Wake Up Call.
Basically, I listened to each book Beth O'Leary has released in turn, until I had run out. And it didn't take me long to get through them. So I figured they would constitute as one really long post, rather than 5 separate ones.
So strap in!
Leena is too young to feel stuck.
Eileen is too old to start over.
Maybe it's time for The Switch...
Ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, Leena escapes to her grandmother Eileen's house for some overdue rest. Newly single and about to turn eighty, Eileen would like a second chance at love. But her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen.
So Leena proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love, and Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire.
But with a rabble of unruly OAPs to contend with, as well as the annoyingly perfect - and distractingly handsome - local schoolteacher, Leena learns that switching lives isn't straightforward. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, and with the online dating scene.
But is her perfect match nearer to home than she first thought?
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My Review!
While on the surface, things seem to be well for both Eileen and Leena, the truth is not quite as simple. A year ago, Leena’s sister passed away, and both of them have found it difficult to move on from the tragedy. While Eileen has faced the loss every day, looking after Leena’s mother in the small village, Leena threw herself into work instead, to cope. The switch forces Leena together with her mother, whom she hasn’t been able to properly face since her sister’s death, while giving Eileen time away, to figure out who she really is after losing her granddaughter and husband. The contrast of the two women stepping into each other’s lives is stark – Eileen is not prepared for the fast paced environment of London, and Leena isn’t ready to drag up the past when she has tried so hard to keep moving forwards. However, being forced to face their fears and step up forces them both to step outside their comfort zones, and attempt to find themselves.
Eileen quickly grows accustomed to the lively and bustling nature of London, but is not prepared for the lack of community she finds. In Leena’s building, no one knows their neighbours, and there is a distinct lack of life in the building. By attempting to bring country life to the city, Eileen quickly blossoms into her new, self-proclaimed, role of positively meddling in everyone’s lives for the better. As she meets more people, and grows closer to them, Eileen truly starts to shine, and is such a kind and loving woman to read about – although she really can’t help but stick her nose in if she thinks she can make a situation better!
Leena hasn’t spent a lot of time in Yorkshire since her sister’s death, and is not prepared for how open everyone in the neighbourhood is to talking about the loss. The OAPs of the village, all of her grandmother’s friends, are not as welcoming to Leena attempting to step into her grandmother’s role as she originally thought they might be. Trying to relax into village life after the fast paced stresses of working as a businesswoman in London isn’t something Leena finds particularly easy, and she finds her emotions getting away from her whenever she sees her mother. I really loved Leena. She is such a lovely person, and she does put her all into everything she does, even if she isn’t entirely sure what she is doing, and when everyone around her seems to think she isn’t capable. She is determined to prove herself, and she works so hard to do so.
While the novel conveys a lot of emotion, it does not hold back on the humorous side of things. There is nothing quite like reading about a pair of elderly ladies talking about penises to make you chuckle! Between Leena’s mishaps, and Eileen’s worming her way into other people’s business, there is plenty in this novel to make you laugh out loud. It is certainly a memorable read.
Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met...
Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they're crazy, but it's the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy's at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.
But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven't met yet, they're about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window...
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My Review!
Tiffy desperately needs somewhere to live, and Leon needs a little extra money each month. The idea of renting out his flat to someone, to share the space, is the perfect solution for him. He works nights, and is only in the flat during the day, when anyone else would normally be at work. The only slight problem might be that there is only one bedroom, so sharing the flat also means sharing the one bed – albeit at different times! Although not ideal, Tiffy has little choice. And so, even though they do not get a chance to meet prior to moving in together, both Tiffy and Leon start to adapt to having another person in their space.
With Leon’s unsociable hours, and the fact that Tiffy has still not met him and doesn’t quite know what kind of person he is, they begin to communicate through notes left about the flat. This way of communicating with each other truly brought their connection closer together, and you can absolutely feel the joy of finding a new note while reading. Tiffy and Leon are very different people, Tiffy eccentric and sure of what she likes and her own opinions, whereas Leon is very quiet, and keeps his thoughts to himself. Leaning more about each of the characters though their notes was certainly an interesting and intriguing way of getting to know them.
Tiffy introduces herself very easily and is very open with the reader, whereas the reader has to work a little harder to get to know Leon. His quietness and calculating nature comes across perfectly in the way his chapters read. His perspective comes in the form of short, to the point, sentences, reflecting his nature of being more reserved, but also that of his work as a palliative care nurse, jotting down anything of importance and ignoring the rest. I did particularly enjoy this way of showing his way of thinking and it gave an excellent way to get to know Leon.
The romance in this novel is inevitable, although it does not feel clichéd. Tiffy and Leon spend a long time getting to know each other through the notes they leave around the flat, but they do hold a lot back, not writing down everything about themselves. Watching them slowly begin to find out more about each other, and realise they truly enjoy coming home to find out what the other has left for them to read was beautiful, as you can watch them start to care about each other.
Although this novel is quite lighthearted, there are undertones of some more serious topics, including manipulative and abusive ex-partners, and PTSD. These topics are handled tactfully, and the characters involved have a lot of support from those around them. The friendships in this novel are certainly strong ones, built on trust.
Albeit not necessarily a character often in the spotlight, I absolutely adored Leon’s brother, Richie. His part in this novel is certainly important, and adds a lot of depth to the story, but he also provides a sprinkling of humour, even though his situation is anything but humorous. Through his phone calls, he keeps both Leon and Tiffy's spirits high, and it is next to impossible not to like him.
This novel is certainly up there on the list of my favourite books. It is the kind of book that makes you want to read it again and again, for you simply cannot get enough of the characters.
They'll do anything to save the hotel, except work together . . .
Welcome to the Forest Manor Hotel, where the staff and guests are one happy family. Except for Izzy and Lucas - bitter rivals banned from working the same shift, for everyone's sake.
After struggling for years, the hotel may soon have to close its doors forever. But when Izzy returns a guest's lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management this might fix everything. With four rings still sitting in lost property, Izzy and Lucas are forced to work together to try to save the day.
But as their rivalry becomes something much more complicated, Izzy and Lucas start to wonder if there's more at stake here than the hotel's future . . .
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My Review!
Forest Manor Hotel is the kind of place where everyone who visits feels at home, where all the guest and staff create a family of sorts, and all are welcome. But the hotel is in trouble, the financials mean that it might not be much longer until they have to fully close. Izzy and Lucas have both been working on reception for a while, and both feel as at home there as everyone else – unless they are working the same shift, that is. They have always been on different shift patterns, a rota engineered to save their co-workers from listening to their arguing, but with staff cuts, there is no choice but to have them working together.
When they go through the lost property, and start selling things in an attempt to raise some money, they come across a container of lost wedding rings, and Izzy refuses to sell them. A wedding ring is something deeply personal, and she wants nothing more than to return the rings to their rightful owners. A large reward from the return of ring number one turns the other four into a challenge – who can find the owners of the other rings, and garner rewards to save the hotel and preserve their jobs.
The competition between Izzy and Lucas certainly pushes them forward in their attempts to save the hotel. They are both desperate to prove the other wrong, to prove how much better they are at the task at hand. Their petty arguments can be quite amusing at times, for they are very different people and their personalities certainly clash. They are, though, both quite likeable characters. What really makes this book though is the setting – Forest Manor Hotel is truly a stunning place, and even just reading about it makes you want to visit it, or even to join in the efforts to save it.
Izzy and Lucas have been at odds for many months, making it almost impossible for anyone else to stand being around them both. They argue to no end, try to one up each other at every turn, and hate being around each other. But they both have feelings, hidden deep, deep down, that even they don’t want to admit. The enemies to lovers aspect of this story is very obvious, there is no doubt that they will end up together. If anything, Izzy and Lucas’ relationship seems less of enemies to lovers, and more along the lines of them being attracted to each other but in denial. Their relationship doesn’t progress slowly, but rather rapidly, and their hatred for each other seems rather forced. The progression of their relationship may have worked better, and seemed more natural, if it was more of a strangers to lovers story, rather than making them enemies. There is a cause of their hatred for each other, but the way their relationship was presented didn’t necessarily work for me.
Despite not necessarily liking the way their relationship progressed, this is an enjoyable novel and Izzy and Lucas are characters you can’t help but like. For a lighthearted read, with plenty at stake, this is certainly a book you won’t want to put down.
Addie and her sister are on an epic road trip to a friend's wedding in rural Scotland. But, not long after setting off, a car slams into theirs. The driver is none other than Addie's ex, who she hasn't seen since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.
Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. And with four hundred miles to go, they can't avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship . . .
Will they make it to the wedding? And, more importantly, is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?
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My Review!
Addie and her sister, Deb, are on their way to their friend’s wedding, a road trip hundreds of miles north to get to Scotland. Their car is already a little fuller than they would’ve liked, having offered a lift to Rodney, who put out a message asking for a lift to the wedding. But when a car slams into the back of them, things are about to get a little more hectic.
Addie and Deb’s car is fine, but the car behind them is totalled. Meaning that Dylan, Addie’s ex, and his best friend, Marcus, have no way of getting to the wedding they were also heading to. Unable to leave them on the side of the road, Addie offers them a lift, and they both pile into the car with them as well. But Addie and Dylan didn’t split on good terms, and they still have a long way to drive.
This book is split into the ‘now’ and ‘then’, telling the story of both the trip to the wedding, and also the start of Addie and Dylan’s relationship. The backstory does add to the story, although they weren’t my favourite chapters. I really loved the chapters of the road trip, both the arguing in the car and everyone banding together to solve problems along the way. Their trip turned nightmarish on multiple occasions, and it turned more into a journey of trials and tests, forcing everyone to work together to get through them.
Despite this book being about Addie and Dylan’s relationship, I couldn’t help but focus more on Marcus. He is a very annoying character, but I did really like him. He has a lot of struggles, which are dramatically highlighted in this book, but he certainly has a good redemption arc. There is a vast difference between the ‘then’ and ‘now’, most noticeably in Marcus, for he has changed a lot in the time between the two.
Dylan and Addie’s relationship in the ‘then’ didn’t necessarily seem the best to me. They argued a lot, and never seemed to truly see eye to eye. Them reuniting in the ‘now’ seemed to happen with a greater understanding of each other, making their interactions seem a lot more genuine, and grown up. I understood the two sides of the story, and although their communication wasn’t great, there was no real bad guy in the majority of their relationship. Both were doing what they thought was best, and they had their own problems to work through. Although they were frustrating at times to read about, the difference in the characters between the ‘then’ and ‘now’ certainly highlighted the character development, and how much each character had grown and matured in the time.
While it handles some difficult topics, this novel is light-hearted, fast paced, and will certainly make you chuckle every now and again. It felt very much like the trip was a quest, and that the characters had to work together to get to the end of a game level, the final destination being the wedding, and it made the whole journey entertaining while giving it a deep sense of purpose.
Three women. Three dates. One missing man...
8.52 a.m. Siobhan's looking forward to her date with Joseph. Breakfast on Valentine's Day surely means something ... so where is he?
2.43 p.m. Miranda's hoping that a Valentine's Day lunch with Carter will be the perfect way to celebrate her new job. But why hasn't he shown up?
6.30 p.m. Joseph Carter agreed to be Jane's fake boyfriend at a dreaded engagement party tonight. But he's not here...
Meet Joseph Carter. That is, if you can find him.
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My Review!
Three women, three missed dates. Joseph Carter was absent on all three planned Valentine's dates, so where was he, and why?
Between Siobhan, Joseph's London fling, Miranda, his girlfriend, and Jane, his book club best friend, Joseph has an intricate and intimate life. Three women attempt to figure out the truth behind Joseph Carter, try to get to know him, but there are things he keeps hidden, and the full truth behind his absences on Valentines Day is something he doesn’t seem to want to talk about.
As you start to get to know the three women, it becomes almost impossible to justify any of Joseph’s actions – spending time in one woman’s chapter instantly makes her the favourite, but as soon as you switch to another’s perspective, you begin to question which of the three women most deserve the truth, and whether or not any of them actually deserve Joseph’s full attention. If Joseph is the prize they are all unknowingly fighting for, it is difficult to determine whether he is a prize worth fighting for – after all, there are three women all vying for his attention, each unaware of the other two.
It would be difficult for me to pick favourites between the characters of this novel. All three women are such distinct characters, and none of them fade into the background. There are no chapters, or characters, that you want to skip over to get back to your favourite, as they all become fast favourites. Plus, they all provide a different perspective to the mystery of Joseph, for they all see a different side to him. The girlfriend, the best friend, the hookup – Joseph reveals different truths to different women, and it is difficult to garner the truth between the things he holds back.
Although I loved all the women in this book equally, I did massively relate to Jane, and I must say I found myself preferring her chapters over the others (although only slightly). She lives off routines, and has so much going on in her life – meeting Joseph is something entirely unplanned, and all that unfolds after their initial meeting is something she never could have planned for. She is an incredibly endearing character, and I so loved how this story played out for her.
There is a massive plot twist in this novel, one that is absolutely not expected, and entirely unpredictable. Not often have I actually gasped out loud while reading a book, but I did when the first portion of the twist was initially revealed. The last quarter or so of this book was read hurriedly, for once things started to unravel, it was impossible to put this book down.
For intense matters of the heart, three incredibly lovable female leads, and a mystery spanning the intricate life of one man, this is certainly a book for lovers of romance. It has been crafted masterfully, and as you advance through the story, it begins to infiltrate your life so much you can’t stop thinking about it.
And done!
I think this is the longest post I've ever had 'in the making', but with five full length novels playing a part in the making of it, the time taken to actually get this post finished is fairly understandable.
Now I've read all of Beth O'Leary's books, I guess I had better get looking for another author to obsess over!
Anyway, that's all for now...
Bye!
