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Blog Tours book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures

BLOG TOUR: The Man of Her Dreams by Sarra Manning

Published November 9th, 2023 by Hodder & Stoughton
Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy, Humorous Fiction

Today is my stop on the blog tour for this funny, sexy, warm and uplifting romcom. Thank you to Alara from Hodder & Stougton for the invitation to take part the copy of the book.

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SYNOPSIS:

‘Romantic, funny, sweet and sexy’ MARIAN KEYES

‘The funny, clever, deeply romantic, sinfully sexy, devastatingly heartbreaking, perfectly uplifting book of your dreams’ CRESSIDA MCLAUGHLIN

‘A very swoony, sexy, warm read’ CESCA MAJOR

Is he too good to be true?

Meet Theo. Handsome, sexy, funny. kind. And he can cook.

He’s literally the man of Esme’s dreams. But Esme’s sensible enough to know that you can’t just manifest your perfect boyfriend then have him turn up on your doorstep.

Or can you?

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MY REVIEW:

“I’ve already said, you’ve been in my head for years. Like a fantasy boyfriend. A sweet smorgasbord of all the qualities I’d want in an ideal man.”

The Man of Her Dreams is everything you could want in a romcom. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, sexy, warm, romantic, and uplifting. It’s a hug in book form that soothes your soul, makes you believe in love, and is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. 

Esme Strange doesn’t believe in forever and has closed herself off to love ever since a messy divorce eight years ago that ripped her heart out. But her friends and family are encouraging her to move on, so during a hen party she creates a vision board of her perfect man to keep them from nagging her all night. Then she suffers a head injury on her way to the second venue and ends up in hospital being treated for the nasty gash to her head. While there she meets Theo and there’s an instant attraction. What’s more, he seems to be her vision board brought to life. Esme’s head-over-heels, but she’s known for her rich imagination and her friends and family all think Theo is yet another fantasy boyfriend, making Esme begin to doubt what’s real and what might be in her imagination. Could Theo be too good to be true? Or is luck finally on Esme’s side?

I absolutely adored this entertaining and refreshing twist on the usual ‘girl meets the man of her dreams’ story. Sarra Manning is an author I can always rely upon to deliver a fantastic romcom, but this was the best I’ve read yet. In a masterclass of storytelling she had me hooked as she expertly spun the threads of this cleverly crafted, swoon-worthy romance to perfection. It’s chaotic, crazy, utterly charming, and completely unputdownable. 

Esme is a fantastic protagonist. She’s snarky, disorganised, and a daydreamer who creates fantasy boyfriends with elaborate backstories that she has filthy fantasy sex with (giving you an idea of how spicy this book can get at times). She’s understandably jaded when it comes to love and relationships but seems to be finding it hard to let go of her failed marriage despite it ending eight years ago. I loved her and found her funny, relatable and very easy to root for. Then there’s Theo, the kind, sweet, thoughtful but incredibly sexy love interest. They do have the kind of relationship that is absolute goals: it’s mutually respectful, filled with open communication, understanding, support, care, they fancy the pants off each other and have red-hot sex. It all sounds too good to be true but good men and good relationships DO exist, and it was great to see Esme finally have her time. But Manning is shrewd, sewing  little seeds of doubt into our minds about whether or not Theo is real. Obviously, you’ll need to read the book to find out the truth, but I loved the mystery and unreliability of not being sure if this was real or all in Esme’s active imagination. 

Dreamy, sensuous, sweet, heartwarming and hilarious, The Man of Her Dreams is a gripping must-read romance.

Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Sarra Manning has been a voracious reader for over forty years and a prolific author and journalist for twenty five.

Her novels, which have been translated into fifteen different languages include Unsticky, You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, After The Last Dance, The Rise And Fall Of Becky Sharp and her latest, Rescue Me, which publishes in 2021. Sarra has also written over fifteen YA novels, and four light-hearted romantic comedies under a pseudonym.

She started her writing career on Melody Maker and Just Seventeen, has been editor of ElleGirl and What To Wear and has also contributed to The Guardian, ELLE, Grazia, Stylist, Fabulous, Stella, You Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar and is currently the Literary Editor of Red magazine.

Sarra has also been a Costa Book Awards judge and has been nominated for various writing awards herself.

She lives in London surrounded by piles and piles of books.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon*

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Thanks for reading Bibliophiles xxx

Please check out the reviews from the other bloggers taking part in this tour.

*These links are affiliate links

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Blog Tours book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures Paperback Publication Day

PAPERBACK BLOG TOUR: London, with Love by Sarra Manning

Published August 3rd, 2023 by Hodder & Stoughton
Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Humorous Fiction

Today I’m delighted to be resharing my review of London, with Love for the paperback publication blog tour. Thank you to Alara at Hodder & Stoughton for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book.

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SYNOPSIS:

‘A VERY special book. GORGEOUS, real believable and BEAUTIFUL’ – Marian Keyes

London. Nine million people. Two hundred and seventy tube stations. Every day, thousands of chance encounters, first dates, goodbyes and happy ever afters.

And for twenty years it’s been where one man and one woman can never get their timing right.

Jennifer and Nick meet as teenagers and over the next two decades, they fall in and out of love with each other. Sometimes they start kissing. Sometimes they’re just friends. Sometimes they stop speaking, but they always find their way back to each other.

But after all this time, are they destined to be together or have they finally reached the end of the line?

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MY REVIEW:

After meeting at college, Jen and Nick strike up a close friendship that sizzles with an undercurrent of love and lust.  Over the next twenty years the pair dip in and out of each other’s lives, fall in and out of love and try to make it work with other people.  But when two people are meant to be something will just keep pulling them back together.  Can they finally get the timing right or will they reach the end of everything they’ve shared?

London, with Love is a story of love, friendship, joy, heartbreak, triumph and tragedy. I loved the concept of following a couple that first fall for eachother in the all-important yet crazy teenage years but can never quite make it happen.  It’s the fantasy of ‘the one who got away’ or the person who you always wonder ‘what if’ about that great romance stories are made of yet the reality never quite lives up to.  I liked that Sarra Manning gave this book a dash of both fantasy and reality that she combines into one great story.  There were times I was rooting for Nick and Jen to just get together already, and other times I wanted them to wake up and realise it would never work.  But at every point I loved reading their story and rooting for Jen to find happiness.

But this love story isn’t just about romantic love.  There is the love of writing and books woven into both Jen and Nick’s characters that this bibliophile adored, and then there is the fact that this novel is undoubtedly a love letter to the city of London.  While it isn’t a place I’ve been many times or am that familiar with, I did find myself getting caught up in Jen’s love for her home city and how intricately it is woven into every facet of her life.  The author makes London feel like a character in its own right and I could picture every place so clearly thanks to her evocative descriptions.  Jen’s passion for London leaps from the pages and made even this staunch northerner feel a little bit of love for our capital. 

But the thing I enjoyed most about this book is the nostalgia.  I’m just under a decade younger than Jen and Nick, so while I was still in primary school when the book opened in 1986, I was of a similar age to them at many points in their story and enjoyed reliving the nineties and early noughties through them.  The author weaves many memorable historical moments into the story such as Y2K that pulled me in and helped me feel even more connected to the story.  I couldn’t help but reminisce about where I was, how I felt and what I was doing in life flashed before my eyes as I read.  

So if you enjoy readable romances filled with compelling characters, engaging plotlines, familiar tropes and heaps of nostalgia, then this is the book for you.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Sarra Manning has been a voracious reader for over forty years and a prolific author and journalist for twenty five.

Her novels, which have been translated into fifteen different languages include Unsticky, You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, After The Last Dance, The Rise And Fall Of Becky Sharp and her latest, Rescue Me, which publishes in 2021. Sarra has also written over fifteen YA novels, and four light-hearted romantic comedies under a pseudonym.

She started her writing career on Melody Maker and Just Seventeen, has been editor of ElleGirl and What To Wear and has also contributed to The Guardian, ELLE, Grazia, Stylist, Fabulous, Stella, You Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar and is currently the Literary Editor of Red magazine.

Sarra has also been a Costa Book Awards judge and has been nominated for various writing awards herself.

She lives in London surrounded by piles and piles of books.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones* | Amazon* | Bookshop.org*

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Thanks for reading Bibliophiles xxx

Please check out the reviews from the other bloggers taking part in the tour.

*All purchase links are affiliate links

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews Squadpod

BLOG TOUR: One Enchanted Evening by Katie Fforde

Published: March 2nd, 2023
Publisher: Century
Genre: Romance Novel, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Romantic Comedy
Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audiobook

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for the utterly delightful One Enchanted Evening. Thank you to EdPR for the invitation to take part and to Century for the gifted copy of the book.

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SYNOPSIS:

Step into the world of Katie Fforde where love, romance and the happiest of happy endings are just around the corner. The new novel by the number one bestselling author and queen of feel-good romance.
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Ever since she can remember, Meg has wanted to be a professional cook.

But it’s 1966, and in restaurant kitchens all over England it is still a man’s world.

Then she gets a call from her mother who is running a small hotel in Dorset.

There’s an important banqueting event coming up. She needs help and she needs it now!

When Meg arrives, the hotel seems stuck in the past. But she loves a challenge, and sets to work.

Then Justin, the son of the hotel owner, appears, determined to take over the running of the kitchen.

Infuriated, Meg is determined to keep cooking – and soon sparks between them begin to fly.

Will their differences be a recipe for disaster? After all, the course of true love never did run smooth…

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MY REVIEW:

It’s 1966 and professional kitchens are still a man’s world. But all Meg has ever wanted is to be a chef. So when she gets a call from her mother asking her to help with an important banquet coming up at the hotel she’s running, Meg jumps at the chance. 

Nightingale Woods Hotel is quaint and charming, but stuck firmly in the past and in need of some TLC. When Meg meets the owner’s son, Justin, it is clear that he has already consigned the hotel to the rubbish heap. Always up for a challenge, Meg sets to work updating the hotel, determined to modernise and attract new customers while proving Justin wrong. But she gets more than she bargained for when sparks begin to fly between them. Is this a recipe for disaster or has she found her happily ever after?

If you’re looking for an uplifting, feel-good read, then One Enchanted Evening is the book for you. A joy to read from start to finish, I was transported from the grey February skies of Sheffield to the summer sun of Dorset. I’m also a sucker for any book that has a good enemies-to-lovers romance, and this one certainly delivered with the bumpy road to love between Meg and Justin. 

I liked Meg immediately. She’s a protagonist and it was easy to root for both her and her crusade to save Nightingale Woods Hotel. I was totally invested in the outcome of her endeavours and it was heartbreaking to think that this charming and quirky little country haven might be sold. I was also rooting for Meg’s happy ending to include not only saving the hotel she’d grown to love, but the man she loves too. Like he did with Meg, Justin took a while to grow on me as a character. And while their love story was predictable in places, it was no less compelling, with me shouting at them to get their act together and admit they were in love already! 

This book also has a fantastic cast of background characters. I loved the sweet mother/daughter relationship between Meg and Louise and the friendship between Meg and her trio of old school friends. It was obvious that these characters have appeared in Ms. Fforde’s books before, but they soon felt like they were old friends of mine too. But my favourite character in this book was Ambrosine. Oh, I loved this sweet old lady. When her back story was finally revealed I loved her even more and would happily read an entire book about her life during the war (hint hint).

While I’d obviously heard the name Katie Fford, I must admit that this was my first time reading one of her books. Why did I wait so long? I have already bought some of her backlist books, including one of the books featuring Meg and her friends, and will be adding her future releases to my TBR. 

Captivating, heartwarming and utterly delightful, One Enchanted Evening was a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

From her Amazon author page:
I live in the beautiful Cotswold countryside with my family, and I’m a country girl at heart.

I first started writing when my mother gave me a writing kit for Christmas, and once I started I just couldn’t stop. Living Dangerously was my first novel and since then, I haven’t looked back.

Ideas for books are everywhere, and I’m constantly inspired by the people and places around me. From watching TV (yes, it is research) to overhearing conversations, I love how my writing gives me the chance to taste other people’s lives and try all the jobs I’ve never had.

Each of my books explores a different profession or background and my research has helped me bring these to life. I’ve been a porter in an auction house, tried my hand at pottery, refurbished furniture, delved behind the scenes of a dating website, and I’ve even been on a Ray Mears survival course.

I love being a writer; to me there isn’t a more satisfying and pleasing thing to do. I particularly enjoy writing love stories. I believe falling in love is the best thing in the world, and I want all my characters to experience it, and my readers to share their stories.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones | Amazon | Bookshop.org

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Thanks for reading Bibliophiles xxxxx

Please check out the reviews from the other bloggers taking part in the tour, particularly the Squadpod Ladies who are posting today.

*Purchase links are affiliate links