A Blogger's Year of Bookish Events

When I started Random Things it was a place for me to share my reviews of books that I've read and enjoyed. I had been submitting reviews to Amazon, Waterstone's and Goodreads for a few years and blogging seemed to be taking off in a big way so I thought I'd have a go at it.

It's been such fun, I really love talking about books and being part of the blogging world. It's still purely a hobby, for my pleasure, and I enjoy every minute of it. I know that some bloggers begin to feel bogged down by how many books they receive, and feel tied to deadlines. I've never felt like that. Yes, I do get far more books through the letterbox than I'll ever be able to review, but if I promise a publisher or author that I'll review their book, I do. If someone chooses to send a book to me without checking first, well that's their gamble - if I can, I will review, if I don't have time, then it will go on the ever-increasing 'to be reviewed when I have the time' pile.

What I never expected, and what has been the most exciting part of being a blogger has been the invitations to bookish events. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would be meeting the authors that I idolise, or frequenting such places as The Ivy! Never in a million years!

2014 has been a year of wonderful bookish events. Living in Lincolnshire can make it very difficult to attend launches and parties, as most of them are in London, and the journey is quite long and fairly expensive. I was sorry to have to decline some really exciting invitations this year, but I did get to some fabulous events over the past twelve months.

January; the year began with the Pan MacMillan Women's Fiction Party and launch of The Window
Seat. This was held at Paramount Bar, Centre Point, New Oxford Street and this was the second year that I was invited to attend this party.
We had a fabulous evening thirty-two floors above London, and it was a chance to meet up with my great friends Nina, Jenny and Rebecca. I chatted to lots of authors including Lucy Diamond, Naomi Wood and Rebecca Wait.

February:  February brought two amazing invitations, and also a battle against the striking Tube drivers. I was delighted to be invited to the  launch of Rowan Coleman's The Memory Book being held at The Parlour Bar, Jewel Piccadilly. Despite the Tube strike, I was determined to get there and Rowan tweeted encouragement throughout the day. I did make it, and it was a wonderful night. I was so pleased to meet Rowan at last, along with lots of other of my favourite authors and some new book blogger friends too. Getting home was another story, but I am grateful to the doorman of The Ritz who flagged down a black cab for me (it's a long story!)

Later on in February I found myself at The Ivy, yes The Ivy! I was honoured to be the guest of Cathy Rentzenbrink who is Associate Editor of The Bookseller  at the launch of The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes, hosted by Penguin.  I was the only blogger at the party, and it was top secret, I had to keep it secret until after the event. I was in the same room as some of my all time favourite authors; Victoria Hislop, Jojo Moyes and Jenny Colgan. The Ivy is a fabulous venue, the champagne flowed and the canapes were delicious. I really didn't want to leave!

March: Up North this time, just a short train journey to York. My friend Anne who blogs at Being Anne asked if I'd like to join her at the Literary Lunch with Rowan Coleman, part of the York Literature Festival. A three-course lunch at the lovely Dean Court Hotel, another chance to meet Rowan Coleman, a day out with a great friend and a day off work? How could I resist?  We had a great afternoon with delicious food, a funny and warm talk from Rowan and a huge hug too. The perfect day! 

April:  Spring had sprung and I found myself in London again. This time at Penguin's very impressive head office at Strand. Again, with my friend Anne and this time we were joined by our friend Karen who blogs at My Reading Corner. We had been invited to the launch party of One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis. All three of us have quotes from our reviews printed in the paperback edition, and we all felt very honoured by this. It was fabulous to meet Tina at long last, she had successfully self-published her novel before getting a deal with Penguin. 

May:  In May I finally got to meet the team from Cutting Edge Press when I attended the launch party for The Judas Scar by Amanda Jennings.  I've been a fan and a supporter of Cutting Edge for some time now, they publish some wonderful books that have been a real joy to read. It was fabulous to meet them at at long last. Amanda was a great host too, welcoming and bubbly and very thankful for all the support that she's had. 

June:  Summer was upon us and I was absolutely thrilled to receive another invitation from Cutting Edge Press.  This time it was the launch party for Who Are You? by Lizzie Forbes. I'd been lucky enough to receive a pre-proof, pre-publication copy of Who Are You? and read it long before most people even knew about it, and it's a stunner. 

A taut psychological thriller that sends shivers down the spine. This party was held at the incredibly posh Cavalry & Guards Club in Piccadilly, so swish! I met up with my good friend Nina again, and we were joined by Leah who blogs at Reflections of a Reader and Karen from My Reading Corner. It was a wonderful evening, I met so many people and at long last, I finally met Lizzie herself. She's adorable. I was honoured and thrilled to find that the finished book has a quote from my review on the BACK COVER!  

Also in June, I was really happy to hear that Lucy Diamond would be at Waterstone's in Doncaster as part of a promotional tour for her book One Night In Italy.  I really enjoyed the book and as Doncaster is just 25 minutes away, I thought it would be lovely to go along and support her. I met Lucy earlier in the year at the Pan Macmillan party, and I follow her on Twitter and Facebook. 

July:  Yet again, I found myself in London in July. Myself and Anne from Being Anne were invited to the launch party for Where Love Lies by Julie Cohen. The party was held at Lutyens & Rubenstein bookshop in Notting Hill on a beautiful summer's day. The shop was beautifully decorated and was jam packed with lots of our favourite authors. I was delighted to meet Julie Cohen and to listen to her read from her fabulous novel. Everyone had such a great evening, there was lots of laughter and lots of wine.




A little nearer to home for my two final bookish events of the year. In July, I went along to an event organised by a new independent bookshop in Lincoln. Lindum Books only opened this year, but already it has become one of my favourite shops in the City. I was excited to learn that they were
hosting an event with Pan MacMillan, and that Jessie Burton would be coming to Lincoln to talk about her hugely successful book The Miniaturist.
The event took place at The Collection in Lincoln on another beautiful summer's evening. Jessie's talk was fascinating, she's very personable, very funny and has great talent. I was delighted to meet her after the event and thrilled that she recognised me and thanked me for my review.


And finally, my last bookish event of the year was another local event. I went to listen to Lincolnshire author Rebecca Mascull talk about her novel The Visitors. This event was hosted by Waterstone's and took place in their Lincoln High Street store. When I read The Visitors I hadn't realised that the author was local, she comes from Grimsby - which is officially classed as North Lincolnshire. It was really interesting to listen to Rebecca talk about how she had got the idea for her novel, and I was also really pleased to see so many young adult readers at the event. I got a chance to chat to Rebecca and her beautiful little daughter too.

It's been a full and exciting year of wonderful bookish events. I've met so many authors, publishers, agents and bloggers over the past twelve months. I really love being part of the blogging community, it's great to feel part of this book-loving community, and wonderful to think that we ordinary readers can help our favourite authors to get their books noticed.

I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who included me in their events in 2014, and apologies to those that I had to decline.

Here's to 2015, and hoping that it is another fabulous book year, filled with parties and fun and laughter.

Vigilante by Shelley Harris

Jenny Pepper never expected to end up like this. 

Tired of her job and the domestic grind, and bewildered by her teenage daughter, one night Jenny stumbles into a vigilante rescue. 

Suddenly her world is exciting again - and she's a hero. In the costume, she can be anyone she wants. 

And so her secret life begins. But when a real villain appears, Jenny's need for adventure begins to cost her dearly. 

As she starts to see less and less clearly through the mask, she finds her fantasy life becoming frighteningly real.

We all want to be extraordinary, and we all have a moment in our lives when we realise that we're not. Vigilante is about a woman who refuses to accept it gracefully...

Vigilante is published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson on 8 January 2015 in hardback and ebook, and is Shelley Harris's second novel.

Jenny Pepper is a pretty ordinary woman. She works in a charity bookshop, she has an angst-ridden teenage daughter who is into steampunk and is most probably gay. Her husband is a successful designer and Jenny tidies up a lot. Jenny feels fat and invisible. She gave up a career as an actress to be a wife and mother. When she was an actress, people noticed her. Now she's a wife and a mother, she's seems to be wearing her own personal invisibility cloak. Jenny is fed up.

It is a completely different cloak that changes Jenny's life. An invitation to a fancy-dress party would usually be her biggest dread, but when she hits on the idea of dressing as a super-hero, complete with mask and cloak, she begins to feel excited. Jenny buys the outfit in secret, guarding it until the day of the party, nobody has any idea of what she will be dressed as.

The night of the party arrives and Jenny is ready. On her way to the venue she stumbles upon a mugging and leaps into action, becoming a real-life super hero. She is noticed, she is admired, she feels great. Jenny decides that this is the life for her, she will go out there and protect the public from the bad guys.

Up to this point, Vigilante is best described as a funny, well-written, if a little over the top, story about a woman going through a mid-life crisis. It soon turns into a tale of terrifying attacks on young girls, and a mother's realisation that her own daughter is in danger, and that a fantasy life is not always better than real life.

I like Jenny, she's very real, she likes books and reading and she's a little unsure of herself. She's funny and bright and a little bit mad.

Shelley Harris has done 'that' thing. Written a book that deals with some dark issues, and looks quite deeply at relationships whilst still being funny and an easy read. Her writing is sharp and assured, and a little bit different.

Vigilante is one of those books that make you gasp and smile within one paragraph. Light-hearted at times, yet deadly serious at others. A finely balanced story that delivers a satisfying punch.

My thanks to the publisher Weidenfeld & Nicolson / Orion Publishing for sending my copy for review.

Shelley Harris was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1967, to a South African mother and a

British father. She has worked, among other things, as a teacher, a reporter, a mystery shopper and a bouncer at a teen disco. When she is not writing, she volunteers at her local Oxfam bookshop, helping customers to find just the right book.
In 2010 Shelley Harris won The Writers' Workshop inaugural 'Friday Night LIVE' competition which led to the publication of her first novel, JUBILEE, in 2011.
JUBILEE was a Richard & Judy Book Club choice and a Top 10 bestseller, it was shortlisted for the Commenwealth Writers' Prize and was read on BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime. 
As part of her research for VIGILANTE Shelley Harris dressed up as superhero and wandered the streets of her local town, Marlow, to find out what it was like. Nobody batted an eyelid. 

For more information about Shelley Harris and her writing, visit her website www.shelleyharris.co.uk
Visit her Facebook Author Page      Follow her on Twitter @shelleywriter
Follow her Pinterest page

Check out Shelley Harris talking about Vigilante in this YouTube Video

Summertime by Vanessa Lafaye

Florida, 1935. Heron Key is a small town where the relationships are as tangled as the mangrove roots in the swamp. Everyone is preparing for the 4th of July barbecue, unaware that their world is about to change for ever. Missy, the Kincaid family's maid and nanny, feels that she has wasted her life pining for Henry, whom she has not seen since he went to fight on the battlefields of France in WWI. Now he has returned with a group of other desperate, destitute veterans on a government works project, unsure of his future, ashamed of his past.

When a white woman is found beaten nearly to death in the early hours, suspicion falls on Henry. Old grievances and prejudices threaten to derail the investigation. As the tensions rise, the barometer starts to plummet. The residents think they're ready, and so do the soldiers. They are wrong. Nothing in their experience could prepare them for what is coming. For far out over the Atlantic, the greatest storm ever to strike North America is heading their way...

Summertime by Vanessa Lafaye will be published in hardback on 15 January 2015 by Orion, and is the author's debut novel.

Set in the fictional Florida town of Heron Key in the 1930s, Summertime is a wonderful novel that encompasses the power of nature, the horrors of both war and segregation and the resilience of a small community.

Heron Key is the host town to a group of World War One veterans. These men are hardened, sometimes cruel and badly let down. They returned from the battlefields of France, having fought hard for their country to find nothing for them. The compensation that they were promised by the Government didn't appear, they protested to no avail. They find themselves toiling the land on a Government work project, expected to be grateful, but bitter and angry instead. The locals (known as Conches) do not welcome the veterans, they are frightened, wary and suspicious of them.

The veterans join the townfolk for their annual Fourth of July beach barbecue, and things soon turn ugly. There are scores to be settled, especially with Henry, a veteran, but also a native of this small town. Henry is pulled between his allegiance to his men, and his love for his estranged family. When local white woman is discovered, beaten half to death, the veterans are the main suspects, and Henry soon finds himself fighting for more than just his country, he has to fight for his honour, and possibly for his life.

Vanessa Lafaye draws the reader in from the first chapter and has created layers upon layers of tension. The divided community, the racial hatred, the oppressive heat and the threat of the storm constantly make the reader feel uneasy, yet her writing is so compelling and engaging that each page is turned rapidly, to discover just what will happen next.

This is an incredibly powerful story, with deep and very detailed characters. The terrifying and powerful storm is described so well, with details that are both violent and heartbreaking.

A novel of small town America, of racial divide, of the strength of nature and ultimately a love story. Summertime is an exquisite piece of writing; rich, satisfying and beautiful.

My thanks to Gaby from Orion who sent my copy for review.

Vanessa Lafaye was born in Tallahassee and raised in Tampa, Florida, where there were hurricanes most years. 
She first came to the UK in 1987 looking for adventure, and found it. After spells of living in Paris and Oxford, she now lives in Marlborough, Wiltshire, with her husband and three furry children. 
Vanessa leads the local community choir, and music and writing are big parts of her life.

For more information about the author, visit her website www.vanessalafaye.wordpress.com
Visit her Facebook page         Follow her on Twitter @VanessaLafaye

The Liar's Chair by Rebecca Whitney

Rachel Teller and her husband David appear happy, prosperous and fulfilled. The big house, the successful business . . . They have everything.

However, control, not love, fuels their relationship and David has no idea his wife indulges in drunken indiscretions. When Rachel kills a man in a hit and run, the meticulously maintained veneer over their life begins to crack.

Destroying all evidence of the accident, David insists they continue as normal. Rachel though is racked with guilt and as her behaviour becomes increasingly self-destructive she not only inflames David's darker side, but also uncovers her own long-suppressed memories of shame. Can Rachel confront her past and atone for her terrible crime? Not if her husband has anything to do with it . . .

The Liar's Chair is published in hardback by Mantle (Pan MacMillan) on 15 January 2015 and is Rebecca Whitney's debut novel.

Rachel and David Teller; partners. Partners in a successful business and partners in marriage. How they appear to colleagues and associates is very important, it is important not to let anyone scratch beneath the surface, for if they do, the poison will seep out.

It is the morning after the night before. Rachel is driving her shiny, fast sports car down the narrow twisting roads near to their perfect home. She's probably still drunk, she reeks of sex with another man, she's intent on getting her story straight, making sure that David is not suspicious. Her mind is on other things, she certainly didn't expect to see anyone in the middle of the road. God, she's sorry the tramp is dead, but she needs to hide the body, get home and clean herself up.

The death of the homeless man with the briefcase is the event that finally fractures Rachel and David's marriage for good. David deals with things in his usual way, he controls it, he pays for it, he ensures that no traces are left .... just as he does with their marriage.

Rachel and David are characters who are easy to hate. David is controlling, sadistic, ruthless and incredibly plausible. Rachel is teetering on the verge, she's flaky, she's haunted by events from her childhood and now has the death of a stranger on her conscience.

As David uses this incident to his advantage by increasing his terrifying hold on Rachel, she self destructs. There are incidents of self-harming and of casual sex. David's cruelty appears to have no boundaries and Rachel's mind slowly unravels until she cannot function any longer.

Rebecca Whitney is a new talent to watch out for. Her ability to create sinister, almost crazed characters is incredible. There is something about this story that makes the reader feel a little grubby whilst reading, there is a voyeuristic feel to it, as though you know that you really shouldn't, but you really can't help but keep watching, and reading.

The Liar's Chair is an excellent debut. It is psychologically thrilling, it is challenging and it is often an uneasy read. The author's characterisation is wonderful, but don't expect to actually like any of them, they are a bunch of cold and calculating, yet absolutely realistic people but at the same time are fascinating in a very dark sort of way.

My thanks to Sam Eades from Pan MacMillan who sent my copy for review.

Rebecca Whitney studied Creative Writing at Sussex. She has a background in film and television production and now runs a business with her film maker husband.

They live in Brighton with their two children.

The Liar's Chair is Rebecca's first novel.  She is working on her second.

Follow her on Twitter @RebeccaJWhitney

Things We Couldn't Explain by Betsy Tobin with Author Q&A

It's the summer of '79 and the small town of Jericho, Ohio is awash with mysteries. 

Annemarie is beautiful, blind, virginal - and pregnant. 

Ethan is the boy next door who'd do anything to win her heart. 

But when the Virgin Mary starts to appear in the sunset, the town is besieged by zealots, tourists and profiteers. 

Can love survive amidst the madness?

Things We Couldn't Explain by Betsy Tobin was published by Accent Press on 20 November 2014 and is the author's fifth novel.

Set in the late seventies, in a small town called Jericho in Ohio, Things We Couldn't Explain is a quirky story filled with charismatic characters. The story could be described as a little strange, possibly eccentric and certainly unlike anything that I've ever read before. It can also be described as touching and quite beautiful.

Annemarie is blind and pregnant, she's also a virgin. Ethan is her next door neighbour, he's in love with Annemarie, he's assumed to be the father of her baby, he wishes he was.

Doctors assume that there is some sort of genetic, medical explanation for this most unusual of pregnancies whilst others in this town of Christians are sure that this is an act of God and that Annemarie is the chosen one. When local people begin to see visions of the Virgin Mary in the town they are convinced that Annemarie's conception is indeed immaculate.

As is to be expected, the town becomes the focus of believers, bigots, zealots and the downright nosey. The Church is determined that Annemarie is a miracle, whilst the medical men do their best to prove that this is purely a medical blip.

Throughout this, Annemarie and Ethan continue to grow closer, they still have to find themselves and to deal with what is before them.

The characters are divine, they are funny and they are human, there are good and bad, there are those who are right and those who are wrong.

The author has brought this little town to life, she has very cleverly mixed a romantic comedy with a coming of age story, and added the unusual plot line to make this story quite unique.

A novel that brought a smile to my face as I was reading. Quite a different read for me, but nevertheless I did enjoy it and will certainly look out for more from this author.


My thanks to Becke who sent my copy for review on behalf of the publisher. Becke also kindly arranged for the author, Betsy Tobin to join me here on Random Things and answer a few questions. So please welcome Betsy to my blog and a huge thanks go to her for taking the time to respond to my questions.

Do you read reviews of your novels?  Do you take them seriously? 

Of course.  Anyone who says otherwise is dissembling!  I take all feedback seriously, at least in the first instance.  But one of the best pieces of advice anyone ever gave me was to read a bad review once, then never look at it again.

How long does it take to write a novel?

Three years.  Six months to gestate, eighteen months to deliver a reasonable draft, six months to remedy the inevitable imperfections.    

Do you have any writing rituals?      

Um…work…work…more work?  So I guess that would be no!  I have four kids and a partner who travels all the time.  Rituals are a luxury I can’t afford.

What was your favourite childhood book?     

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf (written in 1936 and still in print) in which Ferdinand the bull refuses to fight, preferring instead to sit beneath his favourite cork tree and smell the flowers.  My kind of bull.

Name one book that made you laugh?    

Joshua Ferris’ Man-Booker-shortlisted To Rise Again At A Decent Hour had some terrifically funny moments.  And I was pleased to see a comic novel on the list.

Name one book that made you cry?    

As a teenager I was hugely affected by SE Hinton’s coming-of-age novel The Outsiders, one of the first ‘YA’ novels ever written. Hinton was only 15 when she began writing the book, and it was published in 1967 when she was 18.  Its portrayal of gang violence and class warfare in Tulsa, Oklahoma was ground-breaking at the time. I read it in high school, and the scene where Jonny dies after the rumble is gutting.

Which fictional character would you like to meet?

One of my own!  I fell quite hard for Dvalin, the half-man, half-dwarf protagonist of my third novel, Ice Land.  He was a gruffer version of Darcy: arrogant, defensive, stubborn, reclusive, hairy and short. But he was also clever, principled, good-hearted and funny.  And to this day if he came knocking at my door, I’d be off in a shot.

Which book would you give to your best friend as a present?      

Last month I gave my best friend an advance copy of Things We Couldn’t Explain and she passed it to her rather dour eighty-five year old mum.  A week or so later her mum rang me up to say that, while she was not generally a fan of my work, she absolutely loved this one.  A back-handed compliment to be sure, but one I appreciated.

Are you inspired by any particular author or book?      

Constantly.  Books that are very good at what they set out to do inspire me. In recent years that would include: Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites, for it’s extraordinarily evocative sense of place; Louise Doughty’s Apple Tree Yard, a textbook example of the perfect psychological thriller, and written in second person, a neat trick if ever there was one; Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behaviour for its fabulous metaphors, spot-on dialogue and characters that make you want to move in with them; and Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife for what I would call ‘perfect pitch’.

What is your guilty pleasure read?     

Bella Pollen’s Hunting Unicorns.  Hilarious.

Who are your favourite authors?  

I have a goldfish memory, so whomever I’ve read most recently that really impressed me.  See all of the above.

What book have you re-read?     

All of Austen.  Though admittedly, not recently.  I’m overdue.

What book have you given up on? 
Loads. Too many to number, which is a dreadful admission.  As a reader, I’m every author’s worst nightmare – if a book doesn’t engage me fairly quickly, I’m on to the next.  Most recently, I wasn’t convinced by LalinePaull’s The Bees.  Could have used a little more anthropomorphism for my taste.  But as I didn’t make it to the end, wouldn’t like to pass sentence.

Betsy Tobin is a novelist and playwright, born and raised in the American Midwest, now living in the UK. She is the author of five novels; Bone House, short-listed for the Commonwealth Prize and winner of a Herodotus Prize in America; The Bounce; Ice Land: Crimson China, a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, and shortlisted for Epic Romantic Novel of the Year; and Things We Couldn't Explain. She is a past winner of the London Writer's Competition for her short story, Joyride. In between books she also writes for stage and radio. Betsy lives in London and Wales with her husband and four children.

Read more about her work at www.betsytobin.co.uk

Follow betsy on Twitter @betsytobin

Visit her Facebook page

The Year of Taking Chances by Lucy Diamond

Because love is always worth the risk...

It's New Year's Eve, and Gemma and Spencer Bailey are throwing a house party. There's music, dancing, champagne and all their best friends under one roof. It's going to be a night to remember.

Also at the party is Caitlin, who has returned to the village to pack up her much-missed mum's house and to figure out what to do with her life; and Saffron, a PR executive who's keeping a secret which no amount of spin can change. The three women bond over Gemma's dodgy cocktails and fortune cookies, and vow to make this year their best one yet.

But as the months unfold, Gemma, Saffron and Caitlin find themselves tested to their limits by shocking new developments. Family, love, work, home - all the things they've taken for granted are thrown into disarray. Under pressure, they are each forced to rethink their lives and start over. But dare they take a chance on something new?

The Year of Taking Chances is published by Pan Macmillan on 1 January 2015 and is Lucy Diamond's ninth novel.  I'm a huge fan of Lucy Diamond's books and have reviewed three of her previous novels here on Random Things; The Beach Cafe (July 2011), Me and Mr Jones (May 2013) and One Night In Italy (March 2014) 

New Year's Eve; the night of expectation and hope, of making promises to yourself and contemplating the past year. The night that is hyped up as the beginning of something much better, but sadly, often turns into a night of tears and regrets.

Three woman are brought together on this particular New Year's Eve. Gemma, who is hosting the glittering party for most of the villagers, happily married and still madly in love with her husband Spencer, mother to two children and proud mortgage-holder of a house 'with potential'.
Caitlin, grieving for her mother, at a crossroads in her life and wondering what to do next and Saffron who is hiding from the world in a rented cottage with a temperamental electricity supply and decidedly dodgy interior design.

These three women bond, they crack open some fortune cookies and consider their fate. Each one of them is determined that the next year will be the best, they are going to throw caution to the wind and take chances.

What follows is a year of unexpected happenings. There are accidents at work, teenage angst, returning Mothers, mothers who aren't what they seemed, babies, love lost and found and a whole host of intriguing, funny and wonderfully created characters to support the women in their lives.

From Bunty, the celebrity client who makes Saffron's life almost unbearable, to Bernie the pub landlord with a bad memory but a heart of gold. There's Spencer; the husband who can't deal with being out of action, and Max and Henry; the hard-to-get, easy to misunderstand but gorgeous men.

There's something about Lucy Diamond's writing that really appeals to me. She creates characters who just jump from the page, who are so real, with everyday problems and almost begin to feel like real friends. I was totally caught up with these characters whilst I was reading, I really cared about them and was rooting for them so much.

The story is so easy to read, with parts that are laugh-out-loud funny, and parts that will touch the reader's heart. There are serious issues that are dealt with sympathetically but not lightly. Each of the women have their own particular story, yet they are all weaved together so seamlessly.

The Year of Taking Chances is another triumph for Lucy Diamond, her fans will be delighted by this, and new readers will become fans immediately. This is a real treat, a story that will transport the reader into the world of the characters.

Meeting Lucy Diamond at Waterstone's,  Doncaster

My thanks to the team at Pan Macmillan who sent my copy for review.

I've been lucky enough to meet Lucy a few times now, and she is a lovely as her books.




Lucy Diamond lives in Bath with her husband and their three children. One Night In Italy is her eighth novel. When she isn't slaving away on a new book (ahem) you can find her on Twitter @LDiamondAuthor.

She also has a website www.lucydiamond.co.uk

Book Break - online book series - Episode 8

BOOK BREAK - online book show series - Episode 8

Log on during your lunch hour for the Christmas Special Book Break where author Alexandra Heminsley is joined by David Whitehouse and Ben Collins, who will be talking about their latest titles and a special appearance of Garth Jennings

Broadcast date: Friday 12^th December

Broadcast time: 12:30pm 

In episode eight of BOOK BREAK, anchored by author Alexandra Heminsley (Running Like a Girl), we are joined by Betty Trask Prize winner David Whitehouse and Ben Collins, more commonly known as former Top Gear’s “The Stig”. We also have a special guest appearance of Film Director turned Children’s Author, Garth Jennings, as he undergoes the rigorous questioning in our Writer’s Room.

As the former “The  Stig”, Ben Collins appeared on Top Gear for seven years, taking us from series three to series 15 of the TV phenomenon. He’s raced cars in almost every class you can imagine and performed as a stunt

driver in films such as Skyfall and The Dark Knight Rises, he talks to us about his latest release, How to Drive, a perfect stocking filler for all petrol heads.

David Whitehouse

Award winning author of Bed, David Whitehouse’s breakout second novel is Mobile Library. Quirky, dark, magical and full of heart, Mobile Library is both a tragicomic road trip and a celebration of the adventures that books can take us on. It's a love-letter to unlikely families and the stories that shaped us. Mobile Library tells a tragicomic adventure about a troubled adolescent boy who escapes his small town in a stolen library-on-wheels.

Garth Jennings

Garth Jennings is best known as a film director, although he started out directing music videos for the likes of Blur, Radiohead and Fatboy Slim. He moved into feature films with The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy which he followed with Son Of Rambow. He’s now turned his talents to Children’s Literature with THE DEADLY 7 and he talks about his work as an author and the inspiration behind this book.

Finally Alexandra will share her recommendations on books you might like to buy for your friends and family this Christmas – as well as the books you might want to keep for yourself!

Follow #bookbreak on Twitter, subscribe to the Pan Macmillan YouTube channel or watch the broadcast right here at 12:30pm Friday 12^th December.