BLOG TOUR: 8 1/2 Stone - Liz Jones

When I reach eight and a half stone... I will be able to shop in Topshop. I will be able to go swimming and not displace all the water and create a tsunami. I will fit in changing rooms without banging my elbows or exposing the moon of my arse through the curtain when I bend over. I will be able to fit behind the narrow benches at Ronnie Scott's to listen to jazz instead of being offered a chair at the end of the row. I'll be able to see my toes, which I haven't seen since 1996 without the aid of a selfie stick. I will be promoted and not have my desk moved to inside the stationery cupboard for being off-brand.

What did I think?

This has to be one of the funniest books I have ever read; I was laughing so much I had tears running down my face just from reading the very first page.  I mean I've always been suspicious of anyone who is able to whittle down their favourite chocolates to create a Top 10 so I have total respect for Pamela's honesty.  With a sweet tooth like mine, I don't think I could even narrow it down to a Top 20 but my number 1 will always be Maltesers, which is something I have in common with Pamela; she's a woman with great taste!

Unfortunately for Pamela, she may have great taste in chocolate but she certainly doesn't have great taste in men.  A lot of this is down to her own self-confidence and her unhappiness with her body; they do say that in order to be loved you must love yourself.  As someone who has struggled with her weight for many years, I could totally relate to Pamela and found it completely heartbreaking.  It's not very pleasant when you're constantly dieting and depriving yourself, especially when it seems like you can put on weight just by looking at a slice of cake.

As much as I found some of Pamela's stories funny, especially written with Liz Jones' amazing side-splitting sense of humour, it is very sobering at times when reading Pamela's innermost thoughts and insecurities.  Many women think that they're unloveable because they don't have the perfect body but I think it's good to remember that the perfection we are striving to achieve is more than likely an airbrushed fabrication.  It really made me think about how we judge each other unfairly when somebody may be over or underweight due to an underlying health condition.

I experienced a full spectrum of emotions when reading 8 1/2 Stone from laugh out loud funny to heartachingly poignant.  I'll never be able to pick up a copy of Marie Claire magazine again without laughing; I keep calling it the same name as Pamela and even typed it wrong at first.  A well deserved 5 stars for this brutally honest and absolutely hilarious debut from Liz Jones; this book needs to be on every woman's bookshelf.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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About the author:

Former Marie Claire editor-in-chief Liz Jones’ debut comic novel is inspired by her own long-term struggles with an eating disorder and takes an honest look at how women view their bodies, and themselves.

Liz has millions of readers across the world and was shortlisted five times in the last six years as Columnist of the Year at the British Press Awards and Columnist of the Year 2012 at the BSME awards. Editor-in-chief of Marie Claire - where she ran a high profile campaign to ban skinny models - fashion editor at the Daily Mail and now columnist at the Mail on Sunday, Liz grew up in Essex, and now lives in Richmond Yorkshire.

Follow Liz:

Twitter: @lizjonesgoddess
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TherealLizjonesgoddess

Website: https://www.lizjonesgoddess.com/

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BLOG TOUR: Friend of the Family - Tasmina Perry

She thinks your life is perfect. She thinks you don't deserve it.

Your job

Amy is more than happy to offer the daughter of an old friend work experience at her London magazine. Josie is young and ambitious. She just needs a foot in the door.

Your home

When Josie arrives, she swiftly makes herself indispensable at work and at home. And when childcare falls through before a long-awaited university reunion in Provence, it begins to look as if Josie may be staying longer than Amy had bargained for.

Your husband

In the heat of Provence, Josie's presence starts to unsettle Amy, especially around her husband. As cracks begin to appear in Amy's perfect life, she cannot shake the feeling that the family friend may not be a friend at all...

What did I think?

I'm delighted to open the blog tour for Friend of the Family by Tasmina Perry by sharing my review today.

Amy Shepherd has it all: a handsome husband, a much coveted job and the cutest little daughter but everything seems to fall apart when she does a favour for her old friend, Karen.  Inviting Karen's daughter, Josie, into her life appears to be a big mistake for Amy and paranoia quickly sets in over Josie's motives.  Josie is young, attractive and clever and she seems to have everyone wrapped around her little finger, while Amy becomes discredited at every turn.  Why is Josie out to get her?

The setting for Friend of the Family is a fashion magazine, so if you've ever watched Ugly Betty you will easily be able to visualise the cutthroat environment portrayed here.  There is so much backstabbing and bitchiness behind smiling faces!  Josie is painted as so sweet on the outside but dark and manipulative on the inside that you can't help but dislike her, but I wondered where her motivation to destroy Amy had come from.

I loved the flashbacks to Amy's life at Oxford in 1995; a small group of young men and women who have remained friends for many years.  Their lives intermingle as they work and holiday together and anyone would give their right arm to be part of their tight-knit group...but what is hiding behind those smiles?  Everyone has secrets so put your crash helmet on as they're all about to come out!

Friend of the Family is proper bitch-lit; trust no one in this cutthroat psychological domestic noir novel...but remember to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon




About the author:

Tasmina Perry is the Sunday Times bestselling novelist of twelve novels including Daddy's Girls, one of the biggest selling debuts of 2006. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages and have sold over two million copies around the world.

A former lawyer and award-winning magazine journalist, she has edited several national titles including In Style and More. She also writes psychological thrillers under the pseudonym JL Butler. JL Butler's debut thriller Mine has been optioned by Sony Pictures and is in development with Original Film.

She lives in London with her husband, son and too many shoes.

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BLOG TOUR: She's Having Her Baby - Lauren Sams

Georgie Henderson doesn’t want to have kids, but her best friend, Nina, has wanted to have a baby for as long as she can remember. Sadly, Nina’s uterus refuses to cooperate. One drunken evening, Nina asks Georgie for the ultimate favour: would she carry a baby for her? Georgie says yes and spends the next nine months wondering why.

With intense bacon-and-egg roll cravings and distant memories of what her feet look like, Georgie tries to keep it all together in her dream job as the editor of Jolie magazine. Her love life’s a mess – and sauvignon blanc’s off the menu – leaving Georgie to deal with twists in her life she never expected.

Sams has created the Australian Bridget Jones in this hilarious story, an emotive trajectory that pushes the boundaries of rom-com fiction.

What did I think?

I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did.  It sounds like chick-lit with a serious storyline when Georgie agrees to be a surrogate for her best friend Nina, but it has a hilarious twist in the tale.  I laughed so much that I felt as if I'd had an intense tummy workout.  She's Having Her Baby is the best kind of exercise for those out of shape tummy muscles.

Georgie is a brilliant character; I absolutely loved her.  As a career woman with an aversion to babies, she somehow manages to be both selfish and selfless when she offers to carry a baby for her best friend.  Georgie's complete denial when she finds out that she is pregnant is so funny, it's only when she practically bursts out of her bra that it really hits home for her.  I almost choked with laughter when Georgie got fitted fitted for an F-cup and said that the F stands for 'fark me, your tits are massive'. 

Being friends from school, I loved the history that Georgie and Nina have.  Their school reunion is hilarious when Nina tells Kelly, the school bully, what everyone really thought of her.  Never mind rapturous applause from the people in the book, I was punching the air and applauding too.  It's funny how people remember the past differently and I wanted to smack Kelly in the face when she was being all sickly nice to Georgie and Nina but Nina saved me by giving her a well-deserved and well-overdue tongue lashing!

Georgie's job as editor of Jolie magazine reminded me of The Devil Wears Prada with all the minions running around while Meg The Big Boss swishes in and out issuing instructions.  Georgie might thinks she's friends with Meg but I've always said that you don't have friends at work and Georgie finds this out the hard way.  I enjoyed the trips to Georgie's office, as it gave us a little insight into the world of magazine publishing.

With her inimitable Aussie humour, Lauren Sams writes like an Australian Marian Keyes, as she manages to put an amusing slant on everyday observations.  The unbreakable, but often tested, thread of friendship is woven throughout the book so I knew that Georgie would 'get by with a little help from her friends'.  See what I did there?  Lauren Sams adds a few song references now and again and I bet I didn't even spot all of them but it was good fun seeing how she slipped them in there.

Both witty and heart-warming, She's Having Her Baby is as fresh as it is funny.  I loved every single page of it; fans of Lauren Weisberger, Marian Keyes and Helen Fielding should definitely not miss this one!

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon



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Career Girls - Louise Bagshawe

All's fair in love and war?  Blonde, beautiful, upper-class Rowena Gordon is the perfect English rose.  Topaz Rossi is a feisty, Italian-American red-head from Brooklyn.  Both are determined and talented.  And there's nothing they wouldn't do for each other. Until Rowena hooks up with Topaz's boyfriend.  Now, years later, they are star career girls at the top of their game; Topaz in journalism, Rowena in the music industry.  When their paths cross again, Topaz is not about to just forgive and forget.  She'll do everything in her power to shatter Rowena's success.  And Rowena will do anything to stop her...

What did I think?

I was pre-warned that this book was a little steamy and it certainly was!  Sex scenes aside, it was actually a really enjoyable story about two women who used to be friends at university but fell out when Rowena slept with Topaz's boyfriend.  When they both find themselves in New York, whilst trying to climb the career ladder, we find out that Topaz has neither forgiven nor forgotten Rowena and seeks her revenge.

Rowena is a young executive in the music industry, trying to discover bands and make a name for herself.  Topaz is climbing the ladder in magazines and uses her influence to take shots at Rowena every chance she gets.  It was really exciting to see what Topaz would do next and I almost forgot that Rowena was the boyfriend-stealing baddie and started to feel sorry for her.  Then Rowena starts an affair with a married man, making any compassion I felt for her melt away like the ice cubes in my gin and tonic (who am I kidding, I don't water down my drinks).

I wouldn't have the energy to carry a grudge like Topaz, but it certainly made good reading.  As they were mixing in the same social circles, I did wonder if they could ever bury the hatchet and be friends again.  When business eventually throws them together, I couldn't put the book down!

As with other Louise Bagshawe books we are treated to excellent descriptions of items being worn.  This one didn't feel it was advertising as much as Destiny but I still wondered if people in New York walked backwards as their ass always seems to get a mention.

It was a nice few hours of escapism from Louise Bagshawe with the glitz and glamour of New York's social scene and the cut-throat backstabbing of the business world.

My rating:

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Destiny - Louise Bagshawe

Kate Fox was a teenage orphan from the rough side of the Bronx. Now a beautiful woman, Kate wants wealth and security for life. When media mogul Marcus Broder proposes, it seems the dream has come true. But a life of pampered luxury does not make Kate happy. When she walks out and forges a career of her own, a humiliated Marcus is furious. Bitterly jealous, he is determined to destroy her. Wall Street's favourite entrepreneur, David Abrams, has heard the rumours that Kate Fox is a gold digger. But is Kate still the woman she once was? When irresistible passion flares between them, David has to decide if winning Kate is worth the gamble of losing everything he has...including his heart.

What did I think?

After reading and enjoying Sparkles by Louise Bagshawe, I decided to pick up another of her books.  I was quite disappointed with this one - it seemed rather flat and trashy in comparison with the glamour and excitement of Sparkles.

I have remarked before on Louise Bagshawe's descriptive writing whereby she ensures that the reader knows what each character is wearing, both clothing and makeup.  Destiny seemed to go a little bit too far, in my opinion.  I'm all for reading that somebody is wearing a Chanel suit but stating that your main character is wearing Sure Ultra Dry anti-perspirant made me feel like I was being hit with subliminal advertising.

Kate is a likeable character, even though she set out with the purpose of snaring herself a rich husband.  She soon finds out that money can't buy happiness and leaves her husband.  It's not long before she truly falls in love with another rich guy, although will he see past her gold-digger label?

It wasn't a bad little story, although very predictable and far too many mentions of what a fabulous ass some people have.  To the point where I was thinking, oh we haven't read about her amazing ass in this chapter yet...oh there it is.

This isn't one I would recommend, so I'm glad it was loaned rather than bought.  Now I'm off to buy me some Sure Ultra Dry...

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

The Dish - Stella Newman

Laura is a food critic for a magazine, a job she acquired not due to her experience or qualifications but due to her love of food and her descriptive writing skills.  Not to mention that the boss is also an old family friend, so Laura turned to Roger for a job after her divorce.

After the abrupt end to a disastrous date, Laura goes to a cafe for a bacon sandwich only to find that the last one has been sold to another customer.  She then plumps for a custard doughnut, but is served a jam doughnut instead.  You've guessed it, the bacon sandwich guy has also now ordered the last custard doughnut!  This prompts Laura to strike up a conversation with the guy, Adam, and barters with him for the doughnut that Adam agrees to share (ahhhh).  

Laura and Adam start dating, but Adam is a chef and his shifts are a nightmare so they find it difficult to meet up.  On one of their dates, Laura finds out that Adam is a chef at a new restaurant in London, a restaurant she visited before she met Adam and about which she has written a scathing review that is soon to be published.  Laura debates whether to tell Adam about the review but as time goes on, it gets harder to tell him.  Then the review is published and all hell breaks loose.

This was what I call a "no brainer" read - it all turns out as you expect in the end.  The food descriptions were excellent and you could almost smell them at times but I didn't really warm to Laura or Adam.  I also thought that the constant printing of Laura's email exchanges with various recipients was a little boring and pointless.  

This would be a good holiday read for chick-lit lovers.

I received this e-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Buy it from The Book Depository