A Year Of Finding Happiness by Lisa Hobman (Audiobook)

Greg is struggling to come to terms with the death of his girlfriend 5 months previously. When Mallory moves to the small Scottish village Greg is immediately attracted to her but accepts he's not ready for a new relationship. Tragically Mallory's fiance is killed in a road accident and Greg decides that he can offer support since he is well aware of the emotions she must be feeling.

I much prefer male-centric romance novels, added to which we have the gorgeous Scottish lilt of Greg Miller Burns narrating the story. You are immediately gripped by events and feel very sympathetic towards Greg. His struggle with grief comes across very clearly, particularly as he's generally a loner and doesn't appreciate support. Being set in a small community there's nowhere for Greg to hide and those around him keep an unobtrusive eye on him.

Having lost his girlfriend 5 months earlier in a climbing accident Greg immediately feels sympathy towards attractive newcomer Mallory. Unfortunately all he manages to do in his initial interactions with her is come across as grumpy and rude. Obviously this is a romantic trope but it works well in this situation since both characters are struggling to come to terms with their grief.

Eventually Greg and Mallory form an uneasy friendship. Greg is determined to support Mallory in any way he can. Greg is constantly consumed by guilt that he finds Mallory attractive and regularly withdraws from her as a form of punishing himself. The guilt he feels results from a lack of closure since his girlfriends body was never found.

Time works wonders (hence the title of the book) and with patience and support, along with a couple of hazards along the way, the couple eventually find happiness.

Music plays a huge part in this story. Greg struggles to say what he means and puts his foot in it more often than not. By using music he's able to convey exactly what he wants to say. The choice of music referenced throughout the story is fantastic.

I did feel the story dragged a little bit. At more than one point Greg and Mallory almost give in to each other but fate throws a spanner in the works. I'm not sure so many interventions from fate were really needed to make this an enjoyable story, especially when we all know exactly how it's going to end.

A Year Of Finding Happiness by Lisa Hobman will be published in audio format on 20th October 2022. The paperback and ebook formats are available now. My thanks to NetGalley and Saga Egmont for a review copy.

 

We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

Ash and Edi have been best friends since they were children. When Edi needs end of life care as a result of ovarian cancer Ash spends all her time with her, supporting and reminiscing.

This is not an easy read, thankfully it is a relatively quick one. There is no gentle lead into the brutal fact that Edi only has a few weeks left to live and her family are faced with some difficult decisions. The descriptions of the care Edi receives are honest and stark. 

What we do have is a glimpse into an abiding friendship. Friends who've seen each other at their very best and their very worst. Friends who, above all else, are honest with each other. Ash is always honest with Edi, she never tries to sugar coat what is happening or make unrealistic promises. I loved the part that described a close friend as the backup drive to your own memories.

While we are present for all of the things that Ash does for her friend (sourcing food requests, trips outside, plucking chin hair) we also see that she is able to do all these things because of the wonderful support network she has. There is also the reminder that for friends and family life falls into two categories, dealing with someone dying and then coping with the loss.

Descriptions of the hospice and it's staff show the amazing job these places do. We see life celebrated as well as death mourned. We also see that humour still has a place in these situations, that these types of release valves are vital.

We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman will be published in ebook and audio format on 8th November 2022. The hardback format will be available on 12th January 2023. My thanks to NetGalley and Transworld Books for a review copy.

 

Forever Home by Graham Norton

 

Carol Crottie and Declan Barry have lived together for ten years. Marriage was never on the cards. They’d both been married previously. Carol was divorced, but Declan’s wife had walked out on the family years previously, so technically he was still married. When Declan is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, his grown children throw Carol out of their father’s house and prevent her from having any say in his care. Declan had made Carol promise that the house would never be sold, so when she discovers it is on the market, she has to act fast, and this leads to a shocking discovery.

I absolutely loved this book; I simply couldn’t put it down. The opening pages reminded me very much of the opening of an old film where the scene is set by panning slowly across a landscape before gradually focusing on one particular point. Graham Norton does exactly the same as we move through the small Irish town of Ballytoor, arriving at Stable Row and focusing on number seven.

We’re then introduced to Carol and her confrontation with Declan’s grown children, Sally and Killian. I was immediately filled with anger and sadness as it became clear that Carol was being thrown out of her home. We slowly discover that Carol and Declan had never married, and Declan had never made a will, so she had no rights to remain in the house. It was very clear that there was animosity between Carol, Sally, and Killian.

As we slowly learn about Declan’s decline with Alzheimer’s and Carol’s determination to keep him at home for as long as possible, we build a better picture of the dysfunctional family.

With nowhere else to turn, Carol has to move back in with her parents. This really hit home that no matter how old you are, your parents will always be worried about you. Dave Crottie tries to remain in the background, letting his wife deal with the emotional stuff. Moira Crottie is a force to be reckoned with. Despite being eighty, she seems to have boundless energy and the fierceness and cunning of a lioness protecting her young.

When Carol’s parents buy the house on Stable Row for her, they make a startling discovery. Carol begins to question whether she truly knew the man she had lived with. Things become even more involved when a stranger from the past suddenly appears.

The last quarter of the book contains some very black humour, most of it instigated by Moira, proving how strong-willed she is. We also see how Carol reverts to being almost child-like and never questions her mother's decisions.

Forever Home by Graham Norton will be published on 29^th September 2022 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a review copy.

Last Circle Of Love by Lorna Landvik

When  a group of church fundraisers are looking for a new idea to raise money for their ailing church someone suggests writing an "ABC of Erotica". As the members of the group, their partners and some other members of the church begin to reflect on what they would include in the book lots of memories are revived and some hostilities arise.

I must admit that previously I hadn't read anything by Lorna Landvik, even though I have a couple of her books on my TBR pile. Who can resist titles such as Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons or Chronicles Of A Radical Hag. 

Books about small town America always appeal to me. They tell the story of community and friendship that I'm sure many of us dream of. This book offers just that kind of feeling. The more I read the more I was comparing this to books by Fannie Flagg, another writer who does strong women in small town America very well.

What the women end up with isn't a book of erotica, it's more a self-help book about relationships. As they think about past and present relationships lots of memories are stirred up and they begin to re-examine their current relationships, realising that over time we begin to take those relationships for granted. As feelings are awakened lots of relationships are rejuvenated, there are also some startling confessions. The women also have to deal with some prejudice from members of the church, realising that there are more people supporting them than against them.

Last Circle Of Love by Lorna Landvik will be published on 6th December 2022 in paperback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a review copy.

 

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

 

When the Thursday Murder Club turn their sights to a ten year old murder case little do they realise the extreme events that will ensue. Journalist Bethany Waites was on the trail of a VAT fraud worth £10,000,000 when her car went off a cliff edge. Even though her body was never recovered the consensus is that she's dead. No-one was ever convicted of her murder and the £10,000,000 never recovered. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are determined to figure out exactly what happened to Bethany.

Everything that fans of The Thursday Murder Club have loved in the previous two books,  The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice, shine through in the third book in the series. Each of the main characters plays their role to perfection. Ibrahim uses his skills as a psychiatrist to uncover information. Ron, ever a trade unionist, uses his connections to gain access to people with a shady past.

The women are at the forefront of the investigation. Joyce is as ditsy as ever, able to talk herself into any place or situation. Elizabeth really has to put her spy craft to full use in the investigation, particularly when things take an unexpected turn and her past with MI5 (or is it MI6) rears it's head.

There are a host of lesser characters supporting our intrepid investigators. Donna, Chris and Bogdan as usual are at the beck and call of the Thursday Murder Club. The villain from the second book in the series, Connie Johnson, agrees to help discover information. New characters add another dimension to the story. Pauline, a make-up artist, offers romance for Ron. We begin to see a softer side of Ron but we also have sympathy for Ibrahim as he is slowly losing his friend. Another new character is local TV celebrity Mike Waghorn. Mike has stuck with regional TV for the whole of his career, lapping up the celebrity status it gives him locally. 

The story is threaded with humour and a little sadness. The storylines involving Elizabeth's husband, Stephen, really do highlight the devastating effect of Alzheimer's and fill you with dread.

Expanding the number of characters involved with the investigation works well, no doubt many of these characters will be called upon in subsequent books to help the team solve other cases. All that we need now is for Richard Osman to write faster.

Good Taste by Caroline Scott

Struggling writer Stella Douglas has had to return to her home in Yorkshire to be nearer to her recently widowed father. Writing a column for a women's magazine just about pays the bills but Stella relishes researching and writing biographies about 18th century cooks. Unfortunately not everyone is as fascinated by the subjects of these biographies and book sales are low. When her publisher suggests she writes about the history of English food Stella jumps at the chance. Letters fly in from all corners of the country and trips result in her meeting some interesting characters.

Set in 1931, we immediately sympathise with the lead character, Stella, as she has had to leave behind her life in London to return to Yorkshire. London is a heady mix of socialising, restaurants, nightclubs and discovery. By contrast Yorkshire is drab, damp and full of factory chimneys. 

Author Caroline Scott vividly describes Stella's life, from the cramped cottage and it's dank furniture, to her clothes and the food she is writing about. Thanks to these descriptions it is very easy to imagine life between the wars.

There are times when the descriptions are actually a little too much. Since the theme of the novel is the history of English food there are descriptions of meals that have now fallen out of fashion, many of them involving offal. As Stella collects anecdotes from around the country we learn all about "nose to tail" eating. Alongside this we also discover how tiny regional variations exist for some foodstuff such as Eccles cakes.

As Stella is researching recipes we meet some eccentric characters and there's even a little romance thrown in too. 

More than anything though I felt that Good Taste was more a social commentary. Researching 18th century cooks Stella shows how far we have come in our eating habits. But life in 1931 isn't much different to our life today. There's an obvious North/South divide, people are struggling financially with some having to rely on soup kitchens and there is a decline in bakers and butchers shops. There are even complaints that people have forgotten how to cook, having become reliant on modern culinary trends and labour saving devices. We really don't seem to have moved much in 90 years - apart from eating less offal!

Good Taste by Caroline Scott will be published on 13th October 2022 in hardback and ebook format. My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for a review copy.

 

 

Becoming Ted by Matt Cain

At forty-three Ted Ainsworth is content with his life. He's been happily married to Giles for twenty years and is employed in the family ice-cream business. When Giles suddenly announces he's leaving, Ted begins to question whether he genuinely is content.

Earlier this year I read The Secret Life Of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain and fell in love with the wonderful Albert, therefore I was really keen to read Becoming Ted. Thankfully I enjoyed this book just as much as I did the previous one.

It's difficult not to make comparisons between the main character in this book, Ted, and Albert from the previous book. Both are gay men, going through drastic changes in their lives. Both have a host of wonderful characters supporting them. I didn't love Ted as much as I did Albert but I didn't dislike him. 

Ted's dilemma is that he's always put other people in his life first, diminishing his own dreams. Husband Giles is horrible; self-centred, arrogant and fickle. Giles leaving is just the catalyst Ted needs to realise he needs to put "Ted First". This act of rebellion leads Ted to admit he has always wanted to be a drag queen. He also has to find the courage to admit to his family that he doesn't like ice-cream.

In order to fulfill his dream Ted is helped along by best friend Denise and pensioner Stanley. Denise is a larger than life character who only has Ted's best interests at heart. Along the way we discover that Denise is also lonely following a disastrous relationship. The description of Denise's experience with dating apps certainly raises an eye.

Flamboyant Stanley is probably the star of this story. In his nineties Stanley is now living in a retirement home. Unfortunately some of the other residents are making his life uncomfortable because he's gay. Stanley refuses to be cowed by them, having fought hard for gay rights as a younger man he refuses to give in to homophobic abuse. We learn how gay men were hounded and abused in the 1950's and 1960's. It makes you realise how far society has come since then, although there are instances in the story that show we still have a way to go in some parts of society.

We have numerous happy endings, as you would expect from a feel good story. A story about acceptance; acceptance of each other and, more importantly, of ourselves.

Becoming Ted by Matt Cain will be published in hardback, ebook and audio format on 19th January 2023. My thanks to NetGalley and Headline publishers for a review copy.