Is it just me or are there LOADS of brilliant books being released today? It (almost!) feels like Christmas, plus the majority of books being published today are actually Christmas novels, which is rather excellent in itself. So whilst I try to contain my excitement let’s take a look at which books are landing on our book shelves or e-readers today.
And a big, sparkly Happy Publication Day to all of the following authors! ♥
The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes. Published by Michael Joseph.
Stella Sweeney is back in Dublin. After living the dream in New York for a year – touring her self-help book, appearing on talk shows all over the USA and living it up in her 10-room duplex on the Upper West Side – she’s back to normality with a bang. And she’s got writer’s block.
Stella wants a clean break as she didn’t exactly leave New York on a high. Why is she back in Ireland so soon? Who is it who keeps calling? Stella wants to get back to being the woman she used to be. But can she? And should she?
Click to buy.
The Great Christmas Knit Off by Alexandra Brown. Published by Harper.
The perfect seasonal tale of how laughter, friends and wacky Christmas jumpers can mend a broken heart. For fans of Trisha Ashley and Jenny Colgan.
Heartbroken after being jilted at the altar, Sybil has been saved from despair by her knitting obsession and now her home is filled to bursting with tea cosies, bobble hats, and jumpers. But, after discovering that she may have perpetrated the cock-up of the century at work, Sybil decides to make a hasty exit and, just weeks before Christmas, runs away to the picturesque village of Tindledale.
There, Sybil discovers Hettie’s House of Haberdashery, an emporium dedicated to the world of knitting and needle craft. But Hettie, the outspoken octogenarian owner, is struggling and now the shop is due for closure. And when Hettie decides that Sybil’s wonderfully wacky Christmas jumpers are just the thing to add a bit of excitement to her window display, something miraculous starts to happen…
Click to buy.
It’s Not Me It’s You by Mhairi McFarlane. Published by Harper.
Delia Moss isn’t quite sure where she went wrong.
When she proposed and discovered her boyfriend was sleeping with someone else – she thought it was her fault.
When she realised life would never be the same again – she thought it was her fault.
And when he wanted her back life nothing had changed – Delia started to wonder if perhaps she was not to blame…
From Newcastle to London and back again, with dodgy jobs, eccentric bosses and annoyingly handsome journalists thrown in, Delia must find out where her old self went – and if she can ever get her back.
Click to buy.
Cold Feet at Christmas by Debbie Johnson. Published by HarperImpulse.
Running out on your wedding shouldn’t be this much fun!
A remote Scottish castle on a snowy Christmas Eve. A handsome husband-to-be. A dress to die for. It should have been the happiest day of Leah Harvey’s life – but the fairytale wedding turns sour when she finds her fiancé halfway up the bridesmaid’s skirt just hours before the ceremony!
Fleeing the scene in a blizzard, Leah ends up stranded at the nearest cottage, where she collapses into the arms of its inhabitant – a man so handsome she thinks she must have died and gone to heaven!
And when Rob Cavelli suddenly finds himself with an armful of soaking wet, freezing cold, and absolutely gorgeous bride on the run, he’s more than happy to welcome her into his snowbound cottage this Christmas…
Click to buy.
Ivy Lane, Part Four, Winter by Cathy Bramley. Published by Transworld.
Hope thrives at Ivy Lane . . .
As winter descends on Ivy Lane, the frost sparkles and icy winds flurry – but Tilly is still reeling from the events of the Hallowe’en party. Only the die-hard plot holders brave the cold weather, and Tilly fears the loneliness that gripped her a year ago will return.
Resolute to stay cheerful, she throws herself into organizing both the inaugural Ivy Lane Great Cake Competition and the Christmas Party, and even squeezes in a little match-making along the way.
Surrounded by her friends at the Christmas Party, Tilly has come a long way in a year. She can feel her own heart slowly melting, but who will be waiting under the mistletoe?
Click to buy.
Solomon’s Kitten by Sheila Jeffries. Published by Simon and Schuster UK.
‘This is a special kitten. She has come to heal.’
Moments after she is born, tiny kitten Tallulah, with her bright eyes and silver and white fur edged with gold, is whisked away from her father Solomon and dumped in the hedge like rubbish.
After a tough start to life, neglected and abandoned, Tallulah eventually finds a new home with the Lee family and forms a special bond with their daughter Tammy. But Tammy has a terrible secret and Tallulah must do all in her power to keep the family safe.
Moving, uplifting and inspiring, Solomon’s Kitten is the story of a cat who heals a family, and explores the true gift an animal can bring to our lives.
Click to buy.
A Proper Family Christmas by Chrissie Manby. Published by Hodder.
Annabel Buchanan has it all. A privileged life. Pots of cash. Looks and manners born of generations of fabulous breeding. At least, that’s what she likes people to think. But Annabel’s carefully created image is about to come crashing down.
With her beloved daughter Izzy in need of a kidney transplant, Annabel is desperate to find a suitable donor. That’s how she comes to admit that before Annabel Buchanan there was Daisy Benson, given up for adoption by her teenage mum and dad.
Hoping her biological family will be able to help, Annabel traces the Bensons and is horrified by the embarrassing, chavvy bunch she discovers. They’re definitely not her kind of people. And she is equally baffling to them.
But as Christmas approaches and Izzy’s situation brings the Benson and the Buchanan families closer, will Annabel discover at last that blood is thicker than water?
Click to buy.
Bookaholic Confessions 