GIVEAWAY - I Listened To My Heart By Rosemary Louise Gallagher

You may have seen a few months ago I reviewed I Listened To My Heart by Rosemary Gallagher and I absolutely loved it. Rosemary has very kindly given me a copy of the book to give away, so if you would like a chance to win it just enter below. The giveaway will run from 11th - 19th December and the winner will be contacted within 24 hours of the closing date.

To find out what the book is about and my thoughts, you can read my review here.


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It's December...

Which means only one thing.. It's nearly Christmas! 

Christmas is my all time favourite time of the year! At the first sign of Christmas cards, trees and gifts in the shops I usually start getting festive (even if that means it's August)! I just love it! Although, one thing I never get around to doing and it shocks me a lot, is to read Christmas books!
So, this year I have decided to challenge myself to read 5 Christmas books before Christmas. I have already read Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher which was amazing, so the books I am planning to read are.

I have chosen these books because based on the blurb they are just the types of book you can curl up with on a cold winter night and get a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Perfect!

I'd love to hear from you if you are planning to read or have read any Christmas books, or if you have read any that I am going to read. 

Nightfall by TK Lawyer

Tamara’s spicy scent, thrills, seduces, and weakens him like no other. She is his and he wants her. Unfortunately, she is done with men. Tamara has been burned too many times in the past, and she’s not looking for a relationship…ever. But when she finds a stray dog on her doorstep, she decides she wants a relationship with a male, after all—that of pet and pet owner.

Josh is not a dog, and he has no interest in staying her pet. He has one burning desire—Tamara—in his bed, nightly and permanently. He will stop at nothing to convince Tamara they are better together, and that he needs her, forever.

Their paths are intertwined and their future is inevitable, but will Tamara allow Josh to love, cherish, and protect her? Or will she say goodbye to the amazing, dedicated man, whose loyalty and sweet promises could shatter her walls completely, and consume her with desire?


Thank you to T K Lawyer for sending a copy of this book for me to review. 

This novel was so strange, that I don’t even know where to start with explaining it. It was like nothing I have ever read before, the blurb gives absolutely nothing away and you actually get a shock when you find out what the book is about. I loved that you are kept guessing until almost half way through the book and I loved the whole plot and story, it kept me hooked. 

I liked the way TK has written Tamara as plus sized woman, this is something we rarely find in novels and it teaches young (and older) women that you can be attractive, sexy and loved to somebody no matter what you look like or what size you are, and that it doesn’t matter. She was such a down to earth, kind, caring woman that you couldn’t help but love. She just wanted to live her life and finally find somebody to love her and be faithful to her.

I had mixed feelings about Josh the whole way through. At first I hated him, I hated the way he straight away claimed Tamara as his own, didn’t like her talking to or doing anything with anybody but him. Then as they developed their relationship I did start to warm to him as he would do whatever he could to protect and make her happy, even if that meant hurting himself emotionally and physically. He still however had times when he annoyed me by being too protective over Tamara, although you do see why he does this and understand a little more. 

I don’t want to say too much about this book because you could never guess what it is about and I don’t want to ruin it! I would definitely recommend this book to anybody that wants a romantic, thought provoking, suspense building and at times scary book. I cannot wait to read more from TK Lawyer as I think her books will just get better and better.

Amazon UK | Amazon US

The Boy Who Loved Rain by Gerard Kelly

Colom is the teenage son, and Fiona the wife, of David Dryden, pastor of a high profile church in London, who is admired for his emphasis on the Christian family. But all is not well. Colom's erratic behaviour causes a great deal of family stress. When a commitment to die is discovered in Colom's room after the suicide of a school friend, David finds himself out of his depth - and Fiona, in panic, takes Colom and flees . . . A wonderful, intelligent and searching novel about the toxic nature of secrets, and the possibility of starting again.

Thank you to Lion Fiction for having me as part of the blog tour for this book. I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would!

This novel is about Colom, a teenage boy who is having dreams he can’t understand and has secrets he feels are there but has no knowledge of. Colom felt so real and I started to feel like I had to protect him in some way. You root for him throughout the whole book and want him to be able to live a normal teenage life.
I loved that something as simple as rain was the theme of this book, it is something that I have never seen before and it worked brilliantly. It is explored so well and although you might think ‘what? A story about rain?’it is written so beautifully that you can't not enjoy it. This book makes you think but without knowing you are doing so, it is so powerful, intriguing and has the power to take over you completely. I loved how at the beginning of each chapter he gave us a quote about rain, I didn't think there could be so many! 

Gerard Kelly is a brilliant writer, he has the ability to keep you hooked on the story and make it impossible to put down. There is so much emotion in his novel that you can’t help but feel like you are living it.

I don’t want to say too much more about this book because it is so good that I want everybody to read it and don’t want to ruin it, so if you want to know more you will have to buy the book!
I would highly recommend this book to anybody, it is a thought provoking, engaging and intriguing novel that you just can’t put down. I loved this story and I cannot wait to read more of Gerard’s novels.

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Clockwork Heart by Jeffery Martin Botzenhart

Until the end of time…and then beyond…

Would it be a crime against nature to help those in need by the use of unusual and possibly illegal medical procedures? Victoria begs her father, a brilliant physician, to commit such a crime for the man who she has forever fallen in love with. Trevor was critically injured by enemy artillery while fighting on the Western Front. Victoria hopes that through the restoration of his damaged body, their love will flourish once he is well again.

Unforeseeable revelations and unimaginable confrontations create havoc for the lovers. Will Victoria and Trevor find a place where their love will last for eternity…or has time run out?


Thank you to the author for sending a copy of this book to me for review. This book is so short I got through it in about an hour, it is the perfect book to start reading when you want a bit of a break from longer books.

I really enjoyed Clockwork Heart, it is such a simple story yet so magical and full of love. Jeffery Martin Botzenhart is a brilliant writer, he makes you feel as though you are in the story and really connects with the characters. The way he so brilliantly describes everything in the book means that you can close your eyes and put yourself everywhere the characters go.

I loved Victoria and Trevor, there love happens so fast, but I loved seeing how much they cared for each other before actually properly knowing one another. It was a 100 year old story of love at first sight.

One of the characters I didn't really understand was Victoria's father, there was just something about him that I found very strange. He was so over-protective of Victoria and didn't seem like he was letting her live her life, you could see that he cared for her but he took away her freedom. He then all of a sudden completely changed and seemed to be happy for Victoria and Trevor, I would of liked to learn a little bit more about him and get inside his head.

You can't really guess much of the novel from the blurb and I liked that because you just don't know what is going to happen. I don't want to say to much more about this book because I want people to read it the way I did, completely unsure of what is going to happen.

I do wish this book was a bit longer as I wanted to see more from Victoria and Trevor but it did end perfectly and made me a bit teary! I would recommend this book to anybody looking for a short, easy to read, romantic novel.

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Connectivity by Aven Ellis

Overachiever Mary-Kate Grant (who is indeed named after an Olsen Twin) has followed every rule to the letter to pursue her dream of working in TV programming. Ripping a page from the “hard work pays off” playbook, she takes an assistant level job at a Chicago sports network to break into the industry.
MK has no time or desire for a relationship right now—she is totally focused on her career and being independent, unlike the other women in her family.

But MK’s plans are run through the shredder when she finds herself working for William Cumberland, a British media mogul who made his fortune with Connectivity, a social media site. William blows into Chicago just like the winds off Lake Michigan and purchases the group of networks MK works for—and makes her his personal assistant in the process.

Suddenly MK finds her career plans in jeopardy. William makes her question everything she has ever thought and has the uncanny ability to see right through her. And for the first time in her life, MK finds herself not only questioning what she wants for her career but for her personal life as well…


Thank you to Aven Ellis for gifting this book to me. I have become addicted to Aven’s novels and this one was no different. I read this book in a day, as I have with pretty much all of Aven’s books, I just devour them. After reading all of Aven’s other books you can tell that this is her first novel, but it is not a bad thing, she has developed as a writer from this book to her others and you can see how this one led her into writing them. Having said that though this book is still brilliantly written and you can't help but love it!

Mary-Kate (MK) is an assistant working at a sports media company, which she hates, but it in the same building, so a step closer, to her dream job on Beautiful Homes Network. When William Cumberland, a British media mogul, takes over the company and makes MK his personal assistant, both of their lives change.

I loved MK, she was so down to earth, loyal, smart and you could so easily relate to her and she was SO clumsy, just like me! Learning that she was named after an Olsen twin took me right back to my childhood and made me instantly love her. There was nothing I didn't like about MK, she wasn't arrogant like you find in some girls in books and she wasn't selfish, she just wanted to do her job well and get her dream job. Also, even though she knows how rich and successful William is, she is not bothered about his money, she just loves him for the William he is away from being Mr Cumberland, successful business man. She reminded me a lot of Lucy from Aven’s other novel Waiting for Prince Harry (which I absolutely loved)!
Yet again Aven has written a gorgeous, smart, generous and kind male character in William who you fall in love with as quickly as MK does. I loved how he treated MK and how protective of her he was and it had me laughing out loud when he went into 'badass mogul' mode when standing up for MK.
I didn't take to MK’s friends Reese and Emily at all, they never seemed to have a good word to say to MK and were always bringing her down. I could see that they were concerned about her but they didn't give her a chance to be happy. 

I love how Aven added some banter between Mary-Kate and William by having them call each other names and laugh over English and American words, like trunk/ boot, cell/ mobile and especially aluminium, that is something that makes me cringe when I hear Americans say it haha! Sorry!

This book is not your typical romance novel, it is about finding love in an unexpected place. I loved how although MK was being warned off William nothing stopped her, she wasn't being stupid, she just knew it was worth the wait and the disapproval of her friends. The way Aven has the characters really develop and get to know each other before anything happens is what I love about her books, she never has her characters rush into sleeping together.

I liked how Aven wrote William and his and MK's trip to London. She seemed to have done a lot of research into Britain and the British and wrote about it so well. Aven is a brilliant writer and you can’t help but get sucked into her novels, they are just so cute, heart-warming and you find yourself smiling while reading them. Her writing style is just so intriguing and engaging and she makes you have to carry on reading.

I am so sad that this is the last Aven Ellis book I have on my pile to read, but I can’t wait for her next novel to be released! If you are looking for a light-hearted, cute, funny, romantic read I would definitely pick up this book!

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Finders Keepers by Kris Lillyman

Jake Sawyer has lost everything. His wife has left him for another man and taken their two young children with her, his business is in ruins and he is sinking under the weight of serious debt. He is at breaking point and ready to end it all. But as he prepares to jump from a bridge into oblivion, his fortunes suddenly change. A car crashes right beside him killing the driver instantly but in the wreck Jake finds a case full of priceless diamonds. Immediately seeing salvation and temporarily abandoning his sanity, he takes the case and escapes to Europe without barely considering the consequences of what he has done. A worldwide hunt for the diamonds ensues in which Jake has to evade both the police and the vicious mercenaries who are the true owners of the stones. Along the way, Jake encounters murder, heartache and love in his desperate quest to find redemption.

A breathtaking roller-coaster of a read that rattles along at blistering pace.

Thank you to Publishing Push for sending a copy of this book to me for review.

This is the first book by Kris Lillyman I have read but on doing some research I noticed that he has written many books, both thrillers and children’s books. So I had high hopes about this book before reading it, and I was not disappointed!

I have never read a book like this before, it is definitely not the usual type of thriller but that’s what makes it so great and definitely worth the read. It shows how one spare of the moment decision can change so much. I am not going to say too much about it because I want everybody that reads it to go into it knowing as little as possible about it, I did and it made the book so much better for me. 

This novel is about Jake Sawyer who has lost everything. His wife left him for someone else and took their two children with her, he is in a huge amount of debt and his business has failed. Things have gotten so bad for Jake that he is thinking about ending his life, he decides to do this by jumping off a bridge, Before he gets the chance he witnesses a car accident and Jake’s life changes. How? Why? You will have to read the book to find out.

I really liked Jake and connected with him and what he was going through, he is one of those characters that you’re not sure if you should like but you end up liking anyway. In the end you are really rooting for him.

Kris Lillyman is an incredible author, he has you hooked from just a few pages in and the story keeps changing that you just don’t know what is going to happen, just when you think you have worked out what is happening, Kris changes the story. This is so annoying yet so brilliant as you just have to keep on reading to see what actually happens.

I am definitely going to pick up other books from Kris as I need to experience more of his writing. If you are looking for a fast-paced, exciting, thrilling, attention grabbing book then this is it!

Amazon UK | Amazon US