Review- Caramel Hearts by E.R. Murray

Caramel Hearts on Goodreads

 BOOK SUMMARY:

Liv Bloom’s life is even more complicated than that of your average fourteen-year-old: her father walked out on the family when she was young, her mother is in a recovery centre for alcoholics, and her older sister is struggling to step into Mum’s shoes. The only person she can turn to is her best friend Sarah, who gets out of scrapes at school and is a constant source of advice and companionship. One day Liv discovers a book of recipes written in her mum’s handwriting, which sets her off on a journey towards self-discovery and reconciliation – but a theft, a love rivalry and a school bully are just some of the many obstacles on the way.

Structured around real cake recipes, Caramel Hearts is a coming-of-age novel about love, disappointment and hope, and discovering the true value of friends and family, no matter how dysfunctional they are. 

Release date: May 26th 2016

Published by: Alma Books Ltd.

Page numbers: 300 (paperback), 355 (Kindle)

REVIEW:

Caramel Hearts is the sad story of Olivia who goes through heaps of trauma at a very young age because of a father who left his family and an alcoholic mother. She lives with her sister, Hatty with whom she shares a very typical sister relationship where there are fights, rude comebacks and tension but who still are there for and love each other. Together, the two try as hard as possible to keep everything under control so that the social services don't take underage Olivia away. 

While there were many positives about this book, for me, Olivia got on my nerves more than once. From the very beginning, I found her to be silly. Her actions seemed to contradict her beliefs. Most of the time, she knew what she was doing was reckless and wrong- and while I do understand teenage angst and the need to have purpose- she still made a bunch of mistakes while knowing she was making them and that is so silly. She knew her sister was working hard and yet she kept snapping at her. She could see her mother trying hard and yet she never gave her an opportunity to improve. 

The positives in this one, like any young adult novel, was the importance give to family, friends and school. Olivia's family was not the perfect one, but then which family is perfect? Their problems and shortcomings were portrayed in a raw and real manner. Olivia goes through a roller coaster with her friendships but eventually, everything starts falling in place. Her school life was hard, and while she did mess up many, many times, the hardships always overpowered the silliness. 

The most incredible part of Caramel Hearts was the way in which food was effortlessly incorporated in the story. When author E.R. Murray describes Olivia's state of being while she bakes the delicious treats her parents noted down, it was so easy to believe because I feel the same sense of calm and ease when cooking. The way food was involved in bringing people together was very well done. I am slightly tempted to try a few of the recipes on my own. 

Overall, Caramel Hearts is a quick and great young adult novel that might seem silly at times but that is still very gratifying. 

P.S: I had won this book from a huge Instagram giveaway by Bloomsbury Publishing! 

Buy the book: AMAZON

Review- Three Sisters by Helen Smith

Three Sisters on Goodreads

 BOOK SUMMARY:

Three Sisters introduces twenty-six-year-old amateur sleuth Emily Castles in this popular new British mystery series.

Emily receives an invitation to a party in a large house at the end of her street, hosted by a mysterious troupe of circus performers. She accepts, despite her misgivings, because her dog has died and she needs cheering up. But when she witnesses a murder in the midst of the surreal entertainment, no one will believe what she has seen. Is Emily befuddled with grief at the loss of her pet? Or has something wicked happened in plain sight of all the party-goers? Emily and her eccentric neighbours attempt to discover the truth in a charming story that will have you giggling at every funny line.

Readers of M C Beaton or Alexander McCall Smith will enjoy discovering a new mystery author.

Chosen as a “Favorite Book of the Year” by Elizabeth at The Frugal Ereader.

This short mystery is a standalone story set in London. The Emily Castles mysteries can be read in any order, but if you’d like to read them in the order they were written and published, this is the chronology:

#1 Three Sisters (Emily Castles Short Mysteries)
#2 Showstoppers (Emily Castles Short Mysteries)
#3 Invitation to Die (Emily Castles Mysteries)
#4 Beyond Belief (Emily Castles Mysteries)



Release date: February 5th 2011
Published by: Tyger Books
Page numbers: 104

REVIEW: 

Previously, I have read a couple of short stories by Helen Smith, and they ended up being very interesting. Same goes for Three Sisters as well. It was a very interesting read that had a mysterious aura surrounding it since the first page and went on till the end of the story. Being a novella, the story was very well thought of and put down in a minimum number of pages. 

Three Sisters is a novella in the Emily Castles Mystery series. In this one, Emily has recently lost her dog. As she is still accepting the permanent absence of her feline half, she is invited to a communal party for which she makes a rather passable dish of potatoes. At this gathering, there is food, music, performances and art in all forms. 

Amongst these performers are twin sisters ZiZi and Zsa-Zsa who play with knifes and come from a Hungarian family that specialises in the same. There is also Emily's friend Midori who goes by the name Hana-bi as the DJ for the night. Just as Emily is cleaning up her plate after having food with a handsome guy named Joe, she sees Midori collapse. A series of unexpected and freaky events later, Emily is determined to find out the mystery behind all acts with the help of another neighbour, Dr. Muriel and Chirs, another bloke. 

Not the biggest fan of the novella, I still felt it was quite entertaining as it kept me wanting to know more in the tiny amount of time it took me to finish the story, which was very decent. The writing was nice as well, and the mysterious, almost alarming aura made it fun but gave me goosebumps as well. This is a really great novella for the occasional short length mystery read for when one is in the mood for that. 

Buy the book: AMAZON

Review- Jeeves and the Wedding Bells by Sebastian Faulks

Goodreads Summary:

A gloriously witty novel from Sebastian Faulks using P.G. Wodehouse's much-loved characters, Jeeves and Wooster, fully authorised by the Wodehouse estate.

Bertie Wooster, recently returned from a very pleasurable soujourn in Cannes, finds himself at the stately home of Sir Henry Hackwood in Dorset. Bertie is more than familiar with the country house set-up: he is a veteran of the cocktail hour and, thanks to Jeeves, his gentleman's personal gentleman, is never less than immaculately dressed.

On this occasion, however, it is Jeeves who is to be seen in the drawing room while Bertie finds himself below stairs - and he doesn't care for it at all.

Love, as so often, is at the root of the confusion. Bertie, you see, has met Georgiana on the Cote d'Azur. And though she is clever and he has a reputation for foolish engagements, it looks as though this could be the real thing. However, Georgiana is the ward of Sir Henry Hackwood and, in order to maintain his beloved Melbury Hall, the impoverished Sir Henry has struck a deal that would see Georgiana becoming Mrs Rupert Venables.

Meanwhile, Peregrine 'Woody' Beeching, one of Bertie's oldest chums, is desperate to regain the trust of his fiancee Amelia, Sir Henry's tennis-mad daughter.

But why would this necessitate Bertie having to pass himself off as a servant when he has never so much as made a cup of tea? Could it be that the ever-loyal, Spinoza-loving Jeeves has an ulterior motive?

Evoking the sunlit days of a time gone by, Jeeves and the Wedding Bells is a delightfully witty story of mistaken identity, a midsummer village festival, a cricket match and love triumphant.

REVIEW:

*NOTE: We (The Readdicts) received a copy of Jeeves and the Wedding Bells by Sebastian Faulks from Random House India in exchange for an honest review. We thank the publishing house for the book! 

I came across Jeeves and the Wedding Bells in the wonderful Literary Blog Hop where it was up for grabs on quite a few blogs. I was lucky enough to win a copy and coincidentally, we even received it for review. For the life of me, I've never read or even thought of reading any P.G. Wodehouse book but I've heard some amazing things about them and do plan to pick at least a book or two sometime. I went into Jeeves and the Wedding Bells without having any idea about how it'd be but excited nonetheless because it sounded pretty interesting. Because I have no previously read P. G. Wodehouse experience to compare  Jeeves and the Wedding Bells to, my review is predominantly going to be about how the latter was for me. 

Honestly, the so to say "classic" or "literary" writing, though very beautiful, is something I find hard to follow and the- and again I say so to say- "old" or "traditional" English way of life, although supremely fascinating, is difficult for me to comprehend. And Jeeves and the Wedding Bells has both those which I found pretty nice and enjoyable but it couldn't hold my attention as it took me a lot of time to read the book. There are many, and I really mean many, many characters in the book which got really confusing at times but the main characters like Wooster from whose point of the view the book goes, Jeeves after whom the book is named and Georgina stood out and the numerous others, while very confusing to keep track of, were wonderfully put down. 

Jeeves and the Wedding Bells is quite an enjoyable read and I found myself laughing more than once at the absurdity of it and above everything else, the book truly amused me and for a first experience, it turned out to be pretty good. Maybe I didn't get the book as a Wodehouse fan would, but I did have a good time whilst reading it. I can say nothing about author Sebastian Faulks' take on a Wodehouse classic, but I have to say that the author's writing is very sharp and his story very entertaining. I enjoyed the references that I could understand and I only wish I'd liked the book more and maybe someday that's very far away when I decide to reread it, I actually will. 

RATING: