Book review: You and Me, Always by Jill Mansell

"On the morning of Lily's twenty-fifth birthday, it's time to open the very last letter written to her by her beloved mother, who died when she was eight.

Learning more about the first and only real love of her mum's life is a revelation. On the same day, Lily also meets Eddie Tessler, a man fleeing fame who just might have the ability to change her world in unimaginable ways. But her childhood friend Dan has his own reasons for not wanting Lily to get too carried away by Eddie's attentions.

Before long, secrets begin to emerge and Lily's friends and family become involved. In the beautiful Cotswold village of Stanton Langley, nothing will ever be the same again..."

Reading a Jill Mansell story is like a comforting hug. It's warm and reassuring, makes you happy and cheers you up if you need it. That's exactly how You and Me, Always made me feel when I read it earlier this month.

Picture the scene- Christmas is over. The decorations are down, mince pies are eaten, the back-to-work blues are setting in and everything's a bit... 'meh'. I wanted to read something I could get lost in and would life my spirits, and it didn't take very long to choose this book that was practically yelling to me from my kindle. 

The story follows Lily, who, on her 25th birthday opens the last letter from her mum, who passed away when she was younger. Before she died, Lily's mum wrote her a series of letters to open on her birthday, but this is the last one. In it, she talks about her first love (before Lily's absent father) which inspires Lily to try and find the man who meant so much to her mother. 

We also meet Lily's life-long friends Patsy and her brother Dan. I LOVED these two, I thought they were both brilliant in different ways. Patsy is brash and outgoing and I really enjoyed hearing about her string of disastrous dates. As well as that she's kind and caring and overall I think is a really great support to Lily. Her brother Dan is wonderful, he's a womaniser but is also funny and handsome, so you can see why! The three characters friendship is lovely to see... they'd do anything for each other and I thought this was the highlight of the story for me. 

Then there's Eddie Tessler, an actor who's seeking a bit of quiet time away from the spotlight. When he and Lily meet there's a spark, an instant fizz of attraction that has you intrigued from the offset. He's so different to Lily's small-town-girl life, which makes it so interesting to see how the two work out. I'm not going to spoil anything (what would be the fun in that!?) but I will say that although I'd guessed how this, and Lily's love-life, would turn out - I wasn't disappointed. 

Now, with Jill Mansell stories I come to expect a pretty, quaint location and You and Me, Always delivers on this front. The small village where Lily lives sounds beautiful and charming and captured my imagination from the offset. In such a small place though, everyone knows everyone and no secret is rarely left unturned. As the story progresses, you can see the tangled webs that have formed and discover some shocking secrets along the way. They're what make this story a bit grittier and absorbing - it adds a dynamic edge to a lovely romantic fiction story. 

Overall, You and Me, Always is a wonderful read. Packed with great characters, a pretty location, friendship, romance and secrets it's what you expect from a Jill Mansell novel and it certainly delivers. I think she just gets better and better each time and this is up there as one of my favourites. It's engaging, funny and emotional and picked me right up out of my January slump! Thanks, Jill! 

*A big thank you to the publishers of the book, Headline,  for an advance copy on Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. 

Book review: Scandalous Lies by Nigel May

'Lovers and liars, divas and sinners, welcome to a world of scandal, where one woman will pay the ultimate price. 

SUSPENSE: Georgia’s best friend, ballroom dancing sensation Mitzi, has vanished with boyfriend Foster while on holiday in California. Can Georgia get to the truth of their disappearance before it’s too late? 

SECRETS: Reality TV star Nova could give the Kardashians a run for their money. But while she allows millions of viewers into her fabulous home, she’s unaware what her husband, celebrity mogul Jacob, is up to behind closed doors … 

SEX: Tanya is filthy rich, married to a man who adores her but she is restless. And her sexual appetite is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble. 

SCANDAL: Victoria, once the trophy-wife, has lost her mojo. Determined to get her life and marriage back on track, she’s desperate to inject some excitement in her life – but at what cost? 

From the glitz of Hollywood to the glamour of Milan and the exotic luxury of India, Scandalous Lies is a deliciously unputdownable read.'

Okay now I'm going to start this post off with a confession: I'm not a big fan of 'bonk-busters', erotica or anything too sexy. I'm not a prude, I just usually don't enjoy that kind of read as much as my usual women's fiction preference. However, Nigel May has managed to change my opinion of this genre with his intriguing, racy and just all-round brilliant writing style.

Scandalous Lies centres around the disappearance of Mitzi and her partner Foster. On a break from their TV dancing careers, the lovers head to America for a glitzy RV trip. However, they don't return from the trip and end up missing. After the first few days the press lose interest in the story and so it falls to those that know them to either find them, or at least an answer as to what happened to them. 

Now this story has loads of character and at first, it's quite a feat to keep track of all the names. Don't let that put you off though, as each character has a vivid, unique personality that adds to the story, and all the characters link together nicely - you can see the connections the characters all have to Mitzi and to each other, which makes it easier to follow. To keep my review at a manageable length I won't go into each character and their scenario, I'll just give you a quick summary of some of my favourites.

Georgia and Charlie were up there as my favourite characters in the story. Georgia is a weather girl for an English breakfast TV show, and Charlie is the showbiz reporter for the same programme. Their relationship is really genuine (which seems to be a rare occurrence amongst the rich and famous of this story) - they are really in love and so happy. Their partnership is full of support, promise and affection which made it a joy to read. Not only are Georgia and Charlie great together, but separately too. Charlie is really supportive to Georgia as she struggles to deal with the unexplained disappearance of her friend. She is a really caring person, who just wants to find out what happened to Mitzi - even if her determination does put her at risk.

One of my other favourite characters was Nova (Charlie's mum). She is a reality super-star (think Kardashian heights), her every move is recorded and meticulously planned so it makes good TV (which provides some funny scenes!). Charlie doesn't join in her programme, nor does her partner Jacob, but they support her and also keep her slightly more level-headed than she would be if they weren't around. She isn't affected as such, just not quite aware of how things work without fame and fortune. Despite this she is still highly likable and an infectious, bubbly character who I thought was a key part of the story. 

Now as I mentioned above, this book is quite racy... so I think we'd better quickly talk about sex. This is one of the few books I've read where I haven't cringed at a sex scene - the language isn't too flowery or awkward and there's just the right level of race and passion. One character in particular is quite kinky and there was one scene that shocked me, but it didn't put me off  the rest of the story, because it actually added some depth to her character and explains some of her reasoning and thought processes. (I won't say what happens as I don't want to ruin it, but believe me, you'll know what I mean when you read it!)

The main reason I'm personally not a huge fan of bonk-busters is because I usually find that sex is the main focus of a story and everything else weakens because of it- characters, plot, location - they are all only there because of the sex, not the other way round, which makes for a pretty weak story (50 Shades, anyone?). However, this certainly doesn't happen with Scandalous Lies - all the characters are well written and have strong personalities,  the plot if gripping and well thought through and the description for the story (as well as the sex scenes) is equally as good. Nigel uses sex scenes as a way to add to the plot, not as the plot which, to me, makes a massive difference.

So there you go. I'm a convert to sexy reading and fully enjoyed this story. If you want some sexy, glamorous, star-studded, exotic reading this summer then grab a copy of Scandalous Lies - it'll more than deliver.