BLOG TOUR: Scandalous Women - Gill Paul

1966:In London, Jackie Collins's racy The World is Full of Married Men hits bookshops and launches her career. In New York, Jacqueline Susann's debut novel Valley of the Dolls is published, and she's desperate for it to be a bestseller. But both are about to discover the price they will pay for being women who dare to write about sex.

Meanwhile, college graduate Nancy White is excited to take up her dream job at a Manhattan publishing house. But Nancy could never be prepared for the rampant sexism she is about to encounter.

When Nancy introduces the two Jackies, she fears they will become rivals in their race to top the charts. As she strives to achieve her ambition of becoming an editor, can all three women succeed despite the men determined to hold them back?

 

What did I think?

Gill Paul has done it again!  Gill Paul's beautiful writing creates a vivid multidimensional picture of Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins, bringing them to life on the page.  I was completely blown away by Scandalous Women and I loved every single perfectly written word.  

The story is told from three different points of view; that of Jacqueline Susann, Jackie Collins and Nancy White.  Nancy could be a talented editor in a publishing house if she was a man but this is the 1960s so she is passed over for promotion, despite being the best person for the job.  Author Jacqueline Susann is known for being difficult and demanding, so Nancy is given the job of looking after her and the pair become friends.

I love the way that Nancy is the link that connects the two Jackies as they are all women who are struggling to make their name in a man's world.  I am completely in awe of Gill Paul's ability to create character voices that are so individual and unique that I felt as if they were actually talking to me and telling me their story.

Of course I am aware of Jackie Collins but I am embarrassed to say that I had never heard of Jacqueline Susann before reading Scandalous Women, but she deserves full credit for paving the way for female authors to take the publishing world by storm.  I really want to read Valley of the Dolls and some Jackie Collins novels now.

This magnificent novel is absolutely breathtaking and completely unmissable.  Scandalous Women is an imaginative and entertaining glimpse into the lives of three talented women in the 1960s whose lights refuse to be hidden under a bushel.  A very highly recommended read and I can't wait to see whose life Gill Paul decides to recreate next.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: I Know It's You - Susan Lewis

Marina Forster has left her past behind. She is happily married with two twin daughters and holds a senior position at a leading publishing company. She never thinks about what happened fourteen years ago, about the scandal, the trial, the trauma that nearly broke her.

When a new fiction submission lands on Marina’s desk, she at first thinks nothing of it; That Girl is just another novel by another aspiring writer. But as she reads on, the parallels between the novel and Marina’s own past become ever clearer. At first, she is unnerved; then, she is terrified. Who is writing this? What do they want? And how do they know what happened all those years ago?

Increasingly paranoid and unsure who to trust, Marina fears the past may be about to repeat itself. She must put a stop to this before it’s too late – but who will believe her this time?

What did I think?

I Know It's You Is Susan Lewis' 50th novel and what an absolute belter it is.  I haven't read a Susan Lewis book I haven't loved and I Know it's You is no exception.  It's a book within a book with chapters of a new novel being gradually revealed in a submission to a publisher and I couldn't read fast enough to discover all the secrets of the past.

Marina seems to have the perfect life, married to Maxim, mother to twins and working in publishing, but she has some dark secrets in her past.  The past never stays buried for long but Marina's past might be about to get very public when a book is being written that seems to know a lot about Marina's life.  Oh this gave me tingles from my head to my toes as I tried to imagine how scared Marina must have felt.

There are always two sides to every story and the story being told in 'That Girl' is very one sided, but Marina is clearly rattled so you have to wonder how much of it is true.  I was as gripped by the story in 'That Girl' as I was by everything that was happening in I Know it's You.  It was a little confusing at first as each character in the book also has another fictional character but I quickly got used to it.

It's so cleverly written that I was suspicious of everyone and I didn't know which version of Marina was true.  I also loved the glimpse into the world of publishing and the setting is a book lover's dream.

As clever as it is compelling, I Know it's You is a fabulous novel to mark such a wonderful achievement for Susan Lewis.  I haven't read all 50 of her novels but I'm already excited for whatever she writes next; in the meantime, I've got a lot of her back catalogue to get through.

Very highly recommend and many congratulations on your 50th novel, Susan.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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About the author:

Susan Lewis is the internationally bestselling author of fifty books across the genres of family drama, thriller, suspense and crime, including I Have Something To Tell You, One Minute Later, My Lies, Your Lies and Forgive Me. Susan’s novels have sold over three million copies in the UK alone. She is also the author of Just One More Day and One Day at a Time, the moving memoirs of her childhood in Bristol during the 1960s.

Susan has previously worked as a secretary in news and current affairs before training as a production assistant working on light entertainment and drama. She’s lived in Hollywood and the South of France, but now resides in Gloucestershire with husband James, two stepsons and dog, Mimi. @susanlewisbooks

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Open Your Eyes - Paula Daly

Haven’t we all wanted to pretend everything is fine?

Jane doesn’t like confrontation. Given the choice, she'd prefer to focus on what’s going well, the good things in life.

But when her husband, Leon, is brutally attacked in the driveway of their home, in front of their two young children, Jane has to face reality. As he lies in a coma, Jane must open her eyes to the problems in her life, and the secrets that have been kept from her, if she’s to find out who hurt her husband – and why.

Maybe it’s time to face up to it all. Who knows what you might find . . .

What did I think?

I noticed on Twitter a while ago that Paula Daly had a new book coming out this summer, so when it came up as a serialisation on The Pigeonhole I put my name straight down.  Thankfully, I was chosen to read Open Your Eyes over ten days and, although I would normally read a book in no more than three days, reading this way builds up the tension and suspense to feverish levels.  So much so in my case that I woke up two hours before my alarm and the first thought that popped into my head was to read the final stave!

I've read Paula Daly books before so I knew to expect the unexpected and boy does Open Your Eyes have the shock factor!  The book starts with a bang (literally) as Jane's husband Leon is attacked in their driveway.  I can't say any more without spoiling the gasp out loud moment for others, but this is guaranteed to have readers reaching for their virtual running shoes in order to race through the book.  It's easy to take the book title as an instruction as you will not want to blink for fear of slowing down your reading of this fast-paced book.

I'm being careful to say very little about the plot, other than what's in the blurb, but Jane has to start digging into Leon's life to find out who could possibly have hurt her husband.  With Leon in a coma, Jane feels vulnerable in her home alone with two small children.  What if whoever hurt Leon comes back for her?  Jane must look at everything and everyone as a threat, especially when somebody seems to know exactly what she's up to.

I loved that some of the characters are authors so there are some fabulous references to the publishing world that give book lovers some idea as to the anatomy of a book from conception to publication.  I really felt as if I was peeping behind the curtain into Oz as the wizards of the publishing industry worked their magic.  It is because I love books so much (no? really?), that the final sentence gave me goosebumps and just shows how much Open Your Eyes had got under my skin.  

Gripping, compelling and so very clever, Open Your Eyes firmly establishes Paula Daly at the top of the domestic noir genre - long may she reign!

My rating:

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Away for Christmas - Jan Ruth

Jonathan Jones has written a novel. Losing his job a few days before Christmas means the pressure is on for his book to become a bestseller, but when his partner drops her own bombshell, the festive holiday looks set to be a disaster.

When he's bequeathed a failing bookshop in their seaside town, it seems that some of his prayers have been answered, but his publishing company turn out to be not what they seem, and when his ex-wife suddenly declares her romantic intent, another Christmas looks set to be complicated.

Is everything lost, or can the true meaning of words, a dog called Frodo, and the sheer magic of Christmas be enough to save Jonathan's book, and his skin?

What did I think?

Just the thing to get us in the Christmas spirit is the latest novella from Jan Ruth, although the main character is more of a grinch than a jolly Santa Claus.  That's why I liked him!  I wasn't sure what to make of Jonathan Jones at first: he's an accountant who wants to swap numbers for letters and become an author.  His idea of keeping warm when it's cold outside is to wear two sweaters - give this guy my number, it's like looking into a mirror!

When Jonathan loses his job at the same time as his partner quits her job, it looks like Christmas isn't going to be much fun.  Add to this Jonathan's struggles with his publisher, who seem to forget he even exists, and even the coldest heart would start to feel sorry for him.  Things start to look up when he becomes the surprise new owner of a charming but neglected bookshop where he finally sheds his accountant skin and takes a few risks that could see all his dreams come true.

A book with books in it is always going to get a big thumbs up from me - it's definitely a book for booklovers.  I could virtually smell the books in Beachside Books and I knew it would be a place where I could spend hours browsing the shelves.  I loved Jonathan's dreams of becoming an author and taking risks which would be completely against his nature.  To see him evolve from an unhappy accountant to a much happier person at the end was well worth it.

Although it has Christmas in the title, it's not too Christmassy so you could definitely read Away for Christmas at any time of the year.  Whenever you read it, I know you will enjoy it as much as I did.

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

My rating:

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