It is great to be taking part in the 1st Birthday Blitz celebrations for Isabella May's Oh! What a Pavlova. There is also the chance to win a signed copy of Isabella's The Cocktail Hour. Details on how to enter are at the foot of this post.
Kate Clothier is leading a double life: a successful
jet-setting businesswoman to the outside world, but behind closed doors, life
with Daniel and his volcanic temper is anything but rosy.
Some days – heck, make that EVERY day – cake is her only
salvation.
Slowly but surely, the cities she visits – and the men she
meets – help her to realise there IS a better future.
And the ley lines of Glastonbury are certainly doing their
best to impart their mystical wisdom…
But will she escape before it’s too late?
My Thoughts
This was a surprising book for me due to the serious and unpleasant plot of domestic abuse. Just as the main character, Kate lives a double life, so the story seems to have two contrasting aspects: one is toxic and the other is bright and cheerful, with allusions to friends and cake. I found some of the scenes to be very difficult to read and you have to applaud Isabella May for not dealing with stereotypes but showing that the urge to hurt is a complex one. Coercion and gas-lighting are slow and paralyzing techniques. Nevertheless, you feel for Kate and at times feel impatient with her.
There is lots of humour in the interludes when Kate can escape into her working life and travel the world. There is such a variety of characters and I am sure that those in the publishing world will have had a smile. Kate is shown to have such a complex character. Impulsive at times, yet seemingly unable to act at others, it would be interesting to find out what happens to her next.
In short: a witty and well observed novel with disturbing undertones.
About the Author
Isabella May lives in (mostly) sunny Andalucia, Spain with her husband, daughter and
son, creatively inspired by the sea and the mountains. When she isn’t having her cake and eating it, sampling a new cocktail on the beach, or ferrying her children to and from after school activities, she can usually be found writing. As a co-founder and a former contributing writer for the popular online women’s magazine, The Glass House Girls – www.theglasshousegirls.com – she has also been lucky enough to subject the digital world to her other favourite pastimes, travel, the Law of Attraction, and Prince (The Purple One). She has recently become a Book Fairy, and is having lots of fun with her imaginative ‘drops’!
Costa del Churros is her third novel with Crooked Cat Books, following on from the hit sensations, Oh! What a Pavlova and The Cocktail Bar.
You can read my review of Costa del Churros here.
Thanks to Isabella May, Crooked Cats Books and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Giveaway (International)
To win a signed copy of The Cocktail Bar (Open Internationally) just follow the link below and good luck!
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box
below. The winner will be selected at
random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter
and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right
to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the
competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with
third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed
to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which
time I will delete the data. I am not
responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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