Book #65 Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay

Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had not heard of Jill Mansell until I saw her appear on 'Pointless Celebrities' a couple of weeks back. I was rather taken aback to learn that she has written twenty-eight books and still writes in longhand with a fountain pen! I had to take a look and bought a copy of her latest book 'Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay'. Pigeonholing a book in the Chick Lit category never puts me off as a male reader. I am a romantic at heart and this is a delightful read. What's not to like?

It is set in Cornwall, a county that I love, and it is full of likeable characters. Clemency, Sam, Ronan, Kate, Josephine, Marina - and Belle at a push! A heartwarming tale of love and buried secrets. Witty and humorous, the plot just resonated with me.

Jill Mansell is right up there with Jenny Colgan and Katie Fforde. And I loved it!

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Book #20 The Little Shop of Happy Ever After

The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have never taken much notice of the moniker - Chick-lit. Ever heard of Bloke-lit? No, neither have I. But the label Chick-lit probable puts off a lot of men from reading them and that's a pity. I came across Jenny Colgan's work through the pages of a Rosie Hopkins story and I was hooked. This latest offering from Jenny is just as enjoyable. I love books (don't we all?), I love people who love books and I have a certain envy of those who own and run a bookshop. So, how about a mobile bookshop?

Nina Redmond is 29 years old. The library where she works is to be closed, like so many, and Nina finds herself facing a bleak future in Birmingham where she lives. The library services are to be compressed into the centre of town where they would become a 'hub' with a 'multimedia experience zone'. Ugh! Not for Nina who is caught looking at adverts for large vans for sale, by her friend Griffin. A mobile bookshop? Why the hell not? There are thousands of books available as the library is closing. The snag though is that the van that really catches Nina's eye is in Scotland...

And thereby lies the tale of another delicious read from Jenny Colgan. What's not to like about a bibliophile selling books from a van, following her trials and tribulations and her love life, as it is, in the Highlands? Curl up in front of the fire with a cup of tea (OK, a single malt felt more appropriate) and enjoy this story that makes you feel warm inside.

I loved it.

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Perfect Chick-Lit - for blokes!

A Christmas Feast and other stories by Katie Fforde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Perfect for the Christmas season. OK, so it's chick-lit, not really aimed at the male reader. But the woman who stood next to me at the bookshelves in ASDA said I would enjoy it. And enjoy it I did. A number of short stories that were a delight to read, even for a male reader.

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