An Ordinary Life by Amanda Prowse **Book Review** @rararesources

Happy Saturday y’all!

This was an emotional story about a woman who lived anything but an ordinary life.

An Ordinary Life

From the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner comes a tale of love, loss—and one last extraordinary dance.

Christmas Eve, 2019. Ninety-four-year-old Molly lies in her hospital bed. A stroke and a fall may have broken her body—but her mind is alive with memories.

London, 1940s. Molly is a bright young woman, determined to help the war effort and keep her head up despite it all. Life becomes brighter when she meets and falls in love with a man who makes her forget everything with one dance. But then war forces her to make an unforgettable sacrifice, and when she’s brought to her knees by a daring undercover mission with the French Resistance, only her sister knows the secret weighing heavily on Molly’s heart.

Now, lying in her hospital bed, Molly can’t escape the memories of what she lost all those years ago. But she is not as alone as she thinks.

Will she be able to find peace—and finally understand that what seemed to be an ordinary life was anything but?

My Thoughts

A lovely story about an extraordinary woman. The story starts off with Molly age 94 writing a very important letter followed by a tumble down the stairs. The book then jumps back to Molly at age 18 working for the British government as a translator during WWII. The story than documents Molly’s life through the decades. First love, war, sacrifice, tragedy, hardship, friendship, forgiveness, hope. Molly didn’t always have an easy life but she always had a bit of a spark. I really liked Molly and enjoyed getting to know her throughout her life. She really made the ultimate sacrifice and lived with the fallout for all her life. But I do have to say I think she made the right choice and came to peace with it in the end. The perfect book to pick up when you’re in the mood for a quieter story with a big heart.

*** Big thank you to Amazon UK for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

Purchase Link – https://bit.ly/_AnOrdinaryLife_

Author Bio – Amanda Prowse is an International Bestselling author whose twenty six novels and seven novellas have been published in dozens of languages around the world. Published by Lake Union, Amanda is the most prolific writer of bestselling contemporary fiction in the UK today; her titles also consistently score the highest online review approval ratings across several genres. Her books, including the chart topping No.1 titles ‘What Have I Done?’, ‘Perfect Daughter’, ‘My Husband’s Wife’, ‘The Girl in the Corner’, ‘The Things I Know’ and ‘The Day She Came Back’ have sold millions of copies across the globe.

A popular TV and radio personality, Amanda is a regular panellist on Channel 5’s ‘The Jeremy Vine Show’ and numerous daytime ITV programmes. She also makes countless guest appearances on BBC national independent Radio stations including LBC and Talk FM, where she is well known for her insightful observations and her infectious humour. Described by the Daily Mail as ‘The queen of family drama’ Amanda’s novel, ‘A Mother’s Story’ won the coveted Sainsbury’s eBook of the year Award while ‘Perfect Daughter’ was selected as a World Book Night title in 2016.

Amanda’s ambition is to create stories that keep people from turning the bedside lamp off at night, great characters that ensure you take every step with them and tales that fill your head so you can’t possibly read another book until the memory fades…

Praise for Amanda Prowse:

‘A powerful and emotional work of fiction’ – Piers Morgan
‘Deeply moving and emotional, Amanda Prowse handles her explosive subjects with delicate skill’ – Daily Mail
‘Uplifting and positive, but you will still need a box of tissues’ – Hello!
‘A gut-wrenching and absolutely brilliant read’ – The Irish Sun
‘You’ll fall in love with this…’ – Cosmopolitan
‘Deeply moving and eye opening. Powerful and emotional drama that packs a real punch.’ – Heat
‘Magical’ – Now magazine

Social Media Links – 

Say hello on Twitter:  @MrsAmandaProwse

Friend me on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/AmandaProwseAuthor

Tag me on Instagram:  www.instagram.com/MrsAmandaProwse

Visit my Amazon Author Page:  Amanda Prowse Author  

Check out my website: www.amandaprowse.com

Her Perfect Life by Sam Hepburn **Book Review** @bookouture

Happy weekend all!

This book was quite a wild ride! I had no idea where it was going for most of the book, and I have to say the ending completely surprise me. 😯

My Thoughts

An entertaining slow burn. Gracie appears to have the perfect life. A doting husband, an adorable daughter, a gorgeous home, an amazing job. Juliet’s Life is messy. Her husband is living in a different country with his pregnant girlfriend, her daughter is frightened of her own shadow, her flat is a dump, her career has never got off the ground. But as much as Juliet despises Gracie for her perfect life she still wants to very much be part of it. The story bounces back-and-forth between the perspectives of Gracie and that of Juliet. And there is a lot going on here: adultery, stalkers, infertility, abuse. Neither of these women were tremendously likable, but I sure did want to find out what was going on. My only tiny Kniggle with the story is some parts went on a little too long and I think that’s because there was so much going on. The book really was kind of like a maze. You’d be going along thinking you knew where it was headed and then you’d run into a dead end and have to redirect. A wild ride filled with plenty of twists and untrustworthy characters.

This book in emojis 👩🏻‍🍳 🍷 🩰 📱 🐶

*** Big thank you to for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

About the Book

One woman has nothing to lose.
The other has everything.

To the outside world, Gracie Dwyer has it all: the handsome husband, the adorable child, the beautiful home and the glittering career.

Juliet’s life couldn’t be more different. A single mother struggling to make ends meet, she lives in fear of her vindictive ex-husband taking their five-year-old daughter from her.

So when Gracie moves into Falcon House, just streets away from Juliet, she sees an opportunity. If Juliet can just get close to Gracie, maybe her fortunes will begin to change. After all, if anyone has luck to share around, it’s Gracie Dwyer.

And if cracks begin to appear in Gracie’s perfect life, well, it’s Juliet who will be there to pick up the pieces. Because no one’s life is really that perfect – and sometimes all it takes is a little push to expose the darkest of secrets…

A gripping and suspenseful psychological thriller with a mind-blowing twist, fans of The Wife Between Us, My Lovely Wife and Gone Girl will be utterly addicted to this twisted story of envy, secrets and lies.

 

Author Bio: 

Sam Hepburn read modern languages at Cambridge University and, after a brief spell in advertising, joined the BBC as a General Trainee. She worked as a documentary maker for twenty years and was one of the commissioners for the launch of BBC Four. Since then, she has written several books, including psychological thrillers Gone Before and Her Perfect Life, and novels for young adults and children. She won the 2017 CWA Margery Allingham Short Story award and has been nominated for several other prestigious prizes, including the CILIP Carnegie Medal for her YA thrillers.

 

Sam has worked and travelled widely in Africa and the Middle East, and is a trustee of the Kenyan’s children’s charity, I Afrika. She now lives in London with her husband and children. 

 

Author Social Media Links:

 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Sam_Osman_Books

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/SamHepburnAuthor