The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jenny Colgan has done it again! She has concocted another sweet morsel of a novel in The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris.

When an accident in a chocolate factory in the North of England left thirty-year-old Anna Trent lying in a hospital with two missing toes, she thought her life was never going to be the same again. That was before she knew that her French Teacher, Claire, was in the same hospital room as her. Claire, a patient with terminal Cancer, kept Anna company whilst in hospital. Then she made Anna a proposition of a life-time: To work in a chocolate shop in Paris owned by the only man whom Claire ever loved, Thierry Girard--a master chocolatier.

As the sun rises over the Pont de Neuf, and the cobbled alleyways of Paris come to life, Anna Trent is busy making chocolates the old fashioned way--by hand. As she mixes, blends and tastes the finest chocolates in Paris, the Chateau Chocolat sells them to the grandes dames of Paris.

As the story unfolds, you get to meet and love Claire as she tells the story of her younger self who was sent as an Au Pair (Nanny) to Paris to mind the children of her mother's life-long pen pal, Madame Legarde. While in Paris the young Claire meets and falls in love with the town's master chocolatier, Thierry Girard, owner of the prestigious Le Chateau Chocolat. The pair fall helplessly in love until Claire has to return home to England to resume her studies, leaving behind the man she truly ever loved.

Years later, through Anna Trent, Claire and Thierry meet again and relive their romance for one last time. This book made me cry in places and made my mouth water. I fell in love with the book's characters, the chocolate and the city that brought this book to life. I have always wanted to see Paris and this book transports me to the city of light and romance without having to purchase a ticket. At the end of the book Colgan features a repertoire of chocolate recipes guaranteed to tantalize your taste buds. Each recipe is tested by Colgan herself.

Fools Rush In

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thirty-something Bella Rossi is about to have her life turned topsy-turvy when her Italian turned Texan family hands over the family Wedding Planning Business to her. As a Wedding co-ordinator Bella lands her first job....to organize a Texan-themed wedding for one of her clients. The only problem is...where is she going to find a DJ who can play Texan music with a family whose taste in music is anything but eclectic; they only like and listen to Frank Sinatra.

When fate and a misunderstanding introduces her to DJ Neely, a handsome Texan from Splendora, Bella falls head over heels with him, literally. DJ Neely saves the day, and Bella. He agrees to be the Disc Jockey and introduces Bella to the rest of the Neely Family. But will DJ and his family accept Bella and her crazy Italian family? With a pizza- making uncle with ties to the mob, a crazy broom-wielding aunt, a barking-mad dog named Precious, a bad-mouthed parrot named Guido, an insanely jealous ex boyfriend, and an insane delivery of 80 cowboy boots, will Bella ever get to hear Wedding bells of her own? There's loads of 'Boot Scoot'n' fun and crazy antics to keep you turning the pages. The story is written in the first person by Bella Rossi as she gives an account of her first Texas Wedding as a Wedding Planner and her encounter with DJ Neely and his family.

There are many underlying Christian morals or themes in the book. One quote that keeps resounding in the book is: "Where there is life, there is hope." One of the themes in the book is hope...hope that, in spite of the chaos in our lives, everything will turn out just fine. Another theme is that we should surrender our fate to God....to put our relationships in God's hand and not worry about the small hiccups. Another theme within the book is embracing change, as Earline's favourite bible passage states:

2:8-13 The voice of my Beloved God! Behold, he conquers the mountains (triumphant over adversity,
obstacles), (9) he beckons me to come, leaving my fears behind (to trust His good leadership). (10) I will arise, I will come away with You. (12) The Lord is doing a new thing, the season of singing has come (the
new Songs from Throne), the harvest of the nations is at hand. I will arise (I will leave my fears behind).
~Song of Solomon 2:8-13

This is book one in the Wedding by Bella series. I loved the book! It made me laugh in places and put me in a good mood. There's lots of rooting' tooting action and adventure in this book, not to mention some good 'ole fashioned beauty secrets. Janice Thompson is a Christian Romance writer living in Spring, Texas. She started out writing screenplays. I can't wait to read the rest of the Wedding by Bella series.

Festive Fiction

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. The Christmas Bake-Off by Abby Clements
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Christmas Bake-Off is a short holiday story about a baking competition in a little English village. Bake shop owner, Katie, is hoping she'll win this year's competition,thus making her name in the baking world known; while Rachel wants to prove she is more than a home cook. She tries to impress the judges with her gingerbread house. There's even a little romance brewing between John the Baker and Katie. Who will the winner be in this sweet but short holiday Bake-off? I guess you'll just have to read it to find out.

I found the book short but sweet. Being a baker myself, the title enticed me, so I picked it up from Amazon for my Kindle. I gave it four stars because I thought the author could have added more depth to the characters, but in all fairness it is a lite-hearted festive read. There's an added bonus......two recipes at the end of the book for the readers to try. I can't wait to read Under the Mistletoe by Abby Clements.



Those Christmas Angels by Debbie Macomber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Divorced artist, Anne Fletcher, has barely enough faith left in her. After her husband left her for their son's fiancée and cheated her out of her inheritance, Anne Fletcher and her son, Roy were, left devastated. Their son, Roy, was left hurt, bitter and not wanting anything to do with love, women or Christmas. One Christmas, Anne, in desperation and concern about her son, prayed that her son find someone who could restore his faith and teach him how to love again.

Entrepreneur, Roy Fletcher, has built himself an empire...and walls around himself to protect him against women. To him women are all the same....interested in one thing and one thing only.....money. All hope is lost for this scrooge-like person, or is it? Enter three matchmaking angels called Shirley, Mercy and Goodness who are on a heavenly mission to put the Christmas spirit, joy and love back into Roy's life.

I enjoyed this holiday book. It brought a tear to my eye and delighted me all at the same time.
I don't know how she does it, but Debbie knows how to weave an amazing story. This comes from a woman with dyslexia. The lady has written over a hundred books! I have read several Debbie Macomber books including, the Christmas Basket , Falling for Christmas and Christmas in Seattle. Her books are about relationships and the dynamics of family relationships; but she writes them in a way that puts something magical into every page. I can't wait to read her other books.

Christmas at the Cupcake Café by Jenny Colgan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Issy,Poud owner of the Cupcake Cafe, a quaint little cupcake shop in Stoke Newton (a district of London), couldn't be happier. Her relationship with banker entrepreneur, Austin, is blossoming; business at the cafe was booming and Christmas was around the corner.

When Austin is offered a job at a bank in New York and invites Issy and his eleven-year-old brother, Drany, to fly to New York in the hopes that Issy will fall in love with the city and consider moving to New York, the bubbles on Issy's cappuccino begins to burst. Will Issy face the possibility of a long distance relationship? Will she lose Austin to the glory of the Big Apple and a little waitress at a New York Cafe who sells awful cupcakes laden with oil and chemicals? Can Issy leave her home, her dream job that she started at the Cupcake cafe, and friends behind to start life with Austin in the Big Apple? I'll leave it to the reader to find out.

I really enjoyed this festive book. To me, Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe, is a Christmas pudding of a book......rich, dense and full of fruity flavour which burst in your mouth, flooding your taste buds with the flavours of Christmas. The characters are well-rounded and come to life. I enjoyed the scene where Pearl, one of Issy's employees is left to mind the fort at the Cupcake Cafe and train a new employee, Maya, who cant get the hang of the coffee machine, leaving unsatisfied customers waiting for their Java fix. Worse, Pearl explodes the mixer, which drips strawberry cake mix all over the walls and ceiling. I particularly liked the twist at the end where both Issy and Austin fly in opposite directions across the pond to be with each other. The book also includes tips and recipes and an excerpt from Jenny's new book, The Loveliest Chocolate shop in Paris.


Christmas in Venice by Meadow Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Olivia takes a Christmas trip to Venice, Italy, little does she expect to be stopped by security as a terror suspect. With the Italian President due to arrive shortly and a bomb scare, Inspector Alessandro Rossi orders the Marco Polo airport shut. When the bomb squad hears ticking noises coming from Olivia's suitcase, Rossi orders Olivia to open her suitcase, revealing a rather unusual item.

This is a very short story set in the background of Venice, Italy during the festive season. The author wrote the story as a free gift to the reader in preparation for her full length book, Midnight in Venice. I enjoyed the story but it was rather short, it left me wanting for more.

Autumn Reads

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. Where The Heart Is by Jeanette Hornby
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eighteen year old Daniela Santé returns to her home in Waroona, Australia, from Perth, where she had been staying at a friend's house while attending secretarial college. Breaking up from her boyfriend, Darren, Daniela thought that by coming home she would find peace and comfort; but little did she know that her life back home would be anything but comforting.

Once home, Dani discovers that there was a stranger living at home...a good-looking Italian Chef named Antonio. Antonio was a house guest of her parents who had lost his parents recently in Italy. Dani finds Antonio pleasantly annoying. Being Italian herself and loathing her heritage, she finds Antonio representing all she loathes about being Italian. Not only did this stranger take her old room, but it seems that, like her father, he tells her what to do. Besides this nuisance, Dani faces the unprecedented realization that her life in Perth was anything but safe. The underlying theme of the book is "Home is where the heart is" Antonio repeats this saying several times. Being accepted is very important to people and Antonio Bartolini came to call Waroona , Australia, home. Dani, always felt out of place with her Italian heritage, but Antonio and Navid helped her settle down and accept her true heritage.

I found the book to be well-written and interesting. I couldn't put the book down. I kind of knew whom Dani would end up with in the end, but Navid's character threw me off that scent in places; I thought Dani would end up with Navid as she found him to be easy to talk to and she grew very fond of him. This book has drama, romance, gossip, and even crime. I did wonder in places why Dani's parents were so strict. I mean, come on, an eighteen year old girl whose parents questioned whom she went out with and held a tight grip on the girl seemed quite unreal; but, after thinking about it, Italians, like the Cubans, are quite over-protective of their daughters. My parents were quite over-protective of me. My parents were Cuban and they over-protected me, even to the point as not letting me go out with anyone or even go out on my own without questioning and interrogating me....even when I was in my thirties! Yikes! Never-the-Less, They did it out of love, concern and because of their heritage.

Bah, Humbug! A Romantic Comedy Novella by Heather Horrocks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Festive Read!

Lexi Anderson, aka known as Alexis Anderson, a thirty-something divorced mother of two children and the next Martha Stewart has just moved in to a new house in the middle of what's known as Christmas Lane. She soon meets her next door neighbour, Kyle, a well-known author whom her children love. To her horror, however, Lexi discovers that this is not the man she envisioned her children's favourite author to be, as she caught him red-handed destroying her snowman.

Best-selling author, Kyle Miller, is known in the neighbourhood as Scrooge. When Kyle sits down to finish his next book he is stuck, for he is suffering from Writer's block. To add to the pressure, his editor has asked him to hand in the finished manuscript before the holidays are over. Taking a walk through the neighbourhood in what he hoped might inspire his muse, he discovers his neighbour's snowman. He thinks of a plot in his head that would help write the ending to the book. Inspired, he heads out to see if he can hide a weapon inside the snowman to see if the character of his series of books would be able to in an attempt to hide the evidence. Just as he was about to hide a small flashlight in the snowman's head, Kyle is caught red handed by Lexi.

Kyle tries to apologize to Lexi for meeting each other on the wrong foot, but she won't accept his apology. Still, she is mesmerized by his charms. Having lost her parents when she was young, Lexi married for the wrong reasons. When her husband left her, she vowed never to get involved with a man again. Having lost his mother, Gabriella at Christmas Eve many years ago, Kyle and his brothers and father are still grieving for their loss. They do not celebrate Christmas. But when Lexi offers to cater a Christmas Dinner at Kyle's place for his family, she puts back the meaning and joy of Christmas into the family's heart and in the process discovers she is part of this new family.

I enjoyed everything about this book. It was well-written, entertaining and has well- rounded characters that come alive as the story unfolds. The book is short enough to read in a few hours if you are an avid voracious reader or in two days; yet the book is not that short to disappoint. The story is rich and interesting enough to keep the reader turning the pages. I can't wait to read the author's other stories. This book really put me in the festive mood.

My Kindles Contents

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. 

                        This is my Kindle collection of books I'm currently reading:

                                                         My Kindle Collection

Collection		Title				Author	total titles
ANGELS
1	Angel over the Right Shoulder					Pellman
2	Angelic Wisdom				Swendonborg
3	Ordinary Angels					Drummon
4	Heaven's Sorrow					Plath, Hannah	4	4
CATS-FICTION
1	Guardian cats and the lost book of Alex				Krambo
2	Saladin the Cat				Kavokin
3	Story of a Cat						3	3
CHRISTMAS
1	A Christmas Carol				Dickens, Charles
2	All I want for Christmas is You				Mondello, Lisa
3	Bah, Humbug				Dickens, Charles
4	Charles Dickens' Children's Stories				Brown Abbie Farwell
5	Christmas Angel				Macomber, Debbie
6	Christmas in Seattle				Pardo, Emilia
7	Cuentos de	Navidad			Macomber, Debbie
8	Falling for Christmas	Christmas			O'Henry
9	Gift of the Magi				Kendrick, John
10	Little Book of Christmas, A				Laird, Phillip
11	Story of Solomon Bear				Clements, Carl	Clarke		12
12	Twas the Night Before Christmas				Horrorocks, Heather		12
CLASSICS
1	A Tale of Two Cities				Dickens, Charles
2	Adventures of Sherlock Holmes				Doyle, Connan
3	Aessop's Fables				Aessop
4	Bleak House				Dickens, Charles
5	Crime and Punishment				Dostoy
6	Eight Cousins				Alcot, Louisa May
7	Great Expectations				Charles Dickens
8	Jane Eyre				Bronte, Charlotte
9	Jo's Boys				Alcot, Louisa May
10	Little Men				Alcot, Louisa May
11	Little Women				Alcot, Louisa May
12	Moby Dick				Melville, Herman
13	Nicholas Nickleby				Dickens, Charles
14	Pride and Prejudice				Austen, Jane
15	Shakespeare's Sonnets				Shakespeare, William
16	The Water Babies				Kingsley, Charles
17	Treasure Island				Stevenson, Louis
							17	17
FAIRY-TALES
1	Beauty and the Beast				LePrince, Maria
2	Children's Book, The				Dickens, Charles
3	Fair Tales every child should Know				Wright, Hamilton
4	Grimm's Fairy Tales				Brothers Grimms
5	Household Tales				Grimm, Jacob
6	The Cuckoo Clock				Molesworth, Mrs
7	The Fairy Godmothers and other Tales				Gatty, G, Mrs
8	The Wind in the Rose Bush				Wilkins, Mary Elenor
9	Witch Stories				Lynn, Elizabeth
10	The Happy Prince and Other Tales				Wild, Oscar
							10	10
FICTION-CONTEMPORARY
1	Ask the Dice				Linskey, Ed
2	Cat Calls				Smith, Cynthia
3	Darkwaters				Fitzpatrick
4	Delivery				Rusk, Diana
5	How to Date a Vampire				Pressey, Rose
6	Lost Ark				Rain, J.R.
7	Moonstone, The				Collins, Willkie
8	Occupy Heaven				Tallman
9	Pet Noi				Nagel, Patti
10	Rascals Sing at the Opera				Puddle, Patricia
11	Room				Donohue, Emma
12	Six Geese A Laying				Kinsella, Sophie
13	Soul Identity				Batchelder, Dennise
14	True Essence				Shawneda, marks
15	Twenty-Two Short Stories				Robinson		16
16	Unitl You				Marton, Sandra		17
17	White Tiger of the Titanic				Garrett		17	17
HALLOWEEN
1	A Story of Mystery Little				Rossiter, J
2	Castle of Otronto				Walpol, Horrace
3	Curse of Anna Greene, the				Aris, Mary
4	Demon of Waker Wood				Dillard, Dan
5	Dracula				Stoker, Bram
6	Dracula's Guest				Stoker, Bram
7	Frankenstein				Shelly, Mary
8	Halloween collection				Macnally, Edward
9	Hidden Witch, A				Geary, Debora
10	Horror at Halloween		Part one		Gordon, John
11	Legend of Sleepy Hollow				Washington, Irving
12	Modern Witch, A				Geary, Debora
13	One Deadly Sister				Housington, Rod
14	Payback's a Witch				Astor, Rachel
15	Scary Mary				Hunter, S.A.
16	Superstitions of Witches				Williams, Howard
17	The Witch and other stories				Checklov
18	Witch Stories				Lynn, E
19	The cupboard Under the Stairs				Knowles, Roger
							19	19
NON-FICTION
1	Easiest Way in Housekeeping				Campbell, Helen
2	100 beauty Tips				Adam, Nichol
3	A Classification and Subject				Melville, Dewey
4	Book of Dreams and Ghosts				Lang, Andrew
5	Book of Tea				Okakura
6	Child's Story of the Bible				A, Mary
7	Crafting Novels and Short Stories				Writer's Digest
8	Fast and Easy Birthday cake Recipies				Roberts, Amy
9	Feasting on the Father				Smith
10	Free Weights and Measures				Mobile Reference
11	History of England Part 1				Hume
12	Holy Bible
13	How to Lead a Holy Life				Orr, Charles
14	How to Sew Basics				Various
15	How to Speak and Write correctly				Devlin
16	How to write 10 pages a Night				Mason
17	Library Primer				Cotton, Dana,
18	Life of Her most Gracious Majesty the Que				Tyler
19	Story of Saint Valentine's Day				Krako
20	Valentine's Day Recipes				E-Kitchen books
21	Wicca: Magical Beginnings				D'Este
22	Word Study and English Grammar				Fredrick, William
23	Write or Die				Nicholson, Scot
ROMANCE							23	23
	After Life Club				Ryan, Jude
1	Book of Romance				Lang, Andrew
2	Boss's Valentine				Graham, Lynn
3	Crying Rose				Beers, B.A.
4	Cupcakes and Cupids				Conner, Jennifer
5	Dancing in the Moonlight				Thayne, Rosanne
6	Devil's Food				Leeburg, Jessica
7	Falling Star				Dempsey, Diana
8	Going to the Chapel				Webb, Debra
9	Golden Acorn				Cooper, Cathrine
10	Holiday Romance				Dickens, Charles
11	Hot Girl's Friend				Scott, Lisa
12	How to Date a Vampire				Pressey, Rose
13	Lady Sophie's Midnight Seduction				McFalls, Dorathy
14	Lesson in Passion				Conner, Jennifer
15	Magic Touch				England, Darla
16	Matchmaker 2.0				Geary, Debora
17	Matchmaker Cat				Kyrne, Elizabeth
18	Meant to Be				King, Tiffany
19	Moonstone, The				Walkie, Collins
20	My Darling Husband, Charlie				Close, Charlie
21	Nasti's Beauty Salon				Estella, Vanessa
23	One I Love, The				Pikinton, Paul
24	Royally Yours				Ryan, Jude
25	Sacred and Profane Love				Bernette, A.
26	Sentence of Marriage				Parkinson, Shavine
27	Shaken: A Romantic				Beason, Pamela
28	Shakespeare's Sonnets				Shakespeare, William
29	Six Geese A Laying				Kinsella, Sophie
30	Slow Hands				Kelly, Leslie
31	Something				Stetson, Ted
32	Strides of Destiny				Garriga, L.
33	Traditional Love				Hensley, Atta
34	Wedding at a King's Convenience				Child, Maureen
35	Week at the Beach				Jewel, Virginia
36	The Lady and the Locksmith				Young, Cody		36	36
37	She's Got to Me Mine				Skully, Jennifer		37	37
SPANISH COLLECTION
1	Don Quixote de La Mancha				Cervantes
2	Spannish Tales for Beginners				Hill
							2	2
							213	213
					Total Sum		426	books

Summer Reads

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. Bloody Mary by Ricki Thomas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Mary Miller was a woman scorned. Fifteen-year-old Mary was in love with her University professor, Harry --a married man. Mary and Harry had a clandestine affair which ended with the pregnancy of Mary Miller. All Mary wanted was to wreck Harry's marriage to Beryl and become Harry's wife. But Mary bore Harry's illegitimate twins, Ana and Andrew only to see both her children taken into adoption. Mary swore that if it took all her life, she would spend it finding her children and destroying the lives of those who tore her dreams to shred. Many years later, Mary swore to destroy the man who ripped her life and the woman who was her rival. Buying a psychic book from a charity shop, Mary posed as a physic, opening her home to desperate women who wanted to know about their loved ones who had passed on. To Mary's delight, Beryl walked into Mary's basement wanting to consult the spiritualist about the fate of her daughter, Sophie. This is where the story really begins and Mary finds out about Sophie. Mary now begins her plans for revenge.

Little did she know it, but her daughter Ana was adopted by Harry and Beryl who renamed the baby Sophie. Sophie married a man who abused her physically as well as mentally. When Mary learned she was her daughter, she put a plan in motion to bring her back into her life. As the story unfolds, Mary uncovers that her son is a police officer who happens to be the officer in charge of Sophie's husband's insurance fraud. It was Alan who first discovered that Sophie was a battered woman. Alan fell in love with Sophie unbeknownst that she was his twin sister. There are a lot of twists and turns in the story, making the story interesting in places. The book touches the theme of vengeance and violence and what it can do to people.

I thought that this was the worst book I had ever read. I did enjoy the story line and the twists up to the first half of the book; but the book was written so badly with lots of grammatical errors. Almost every page was full of grammatical errors. It seemed as if the author took the first draft of the book and published it. The Spanish in the book was taken literally from Google Translations; it did not sound right nor translated right. I am fluent in Spanish and know how to read and write it. Even in the passages where broken Spanish was spoken between English and Spanish characters, the Spanish used didn't translate right. I also didn't like the ending. I felt it was rushed. Also, I didn't think it was believable that Juan Murrilla, the Spanish doctor who attended the battered Sophie in Spain would fall so in love with Sophie so quickly that he decided to marry her in the space of a few days, move to England in the space of a month and leave his doctorate and family behind so swiftly.




A Collection of Cats Tales: A Cat-Lover's Anthology by Ditz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Collection of Cats Tales is an anthology of cat stories, extracts from varied authors such as William Blake, Emily Dickenson and Lewis Carol; and poems and quotations about cats. This is a beautiful book for any library and a must-have for cat lovers everywhere. The book is beautifully illustrated and hard-bound. I received this book a gift and I truly love it. This is a wonderful addition to my home library!


Recipes For A Perfect Marriage by Morag Prunty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I truly enjoyed this book! I couldn't put it down as I wanted to find out what happened to the main character's grandmother's romance and the secret behind her arranged marriage.


Young food writer Tressa Nolan wakes up one morning after her honeymoon and realizes that she may have married the gorgeous Dan, a maintenance man in her building out of panic than love. Then Tressa unwraps one of her wedding gifts, her grandmother Bernadine's cook book and diaries. In her grandmother's diaries and cook book, Tressa finds not only her grandmother's recipes but advice on marriage and a secret that her grandmother has been carrying around for years.

Tressa has always idolized her grandmother's cooking and marriage to her grandfather; but Tressa soon discovers that her grandmother wasn't at all happy in her marriage as she led on... until she discovered the truth about why James, the man that she had everyone believe was the ONE she loved except herself, truly married her. The story traverses from 2004 in Manhattan to 1932 in Ireland where young Bernadine first met the man she really loved.
I truly enjoyed this book. I first read it when I first got married and was delighted by this unique and well-written book. Throughout the book there are recipes you can make from Irish Stew to Bernadine's honey cake. In the end there's space to write your own recipes.



Welcome To Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop Of Dreams by Jenny Colgan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Auxiliary Nurse Rosemary Hopkins is asked to give up her London apartment which she shares with her partner, Gerard, to care for her aging great-aunt, Lillian. Lillian Hopkins lives in a quaint little town called Lipton where everyone knows each other's business. At first Rosie was adamant about moving into a strange town to take care of an old lady with a bad hip and try to sell the Sweetshop that her great aunt --a family run old-fashioned sweetshop that Lillian and her father owned in the Town of Lipton. Then Rosie began to meet Lillian's neighbours and little by little she fell in love with the town and it's locals with all their childhood secrets, scandals and family feuds. Soon Rosemary discovered that her London life wasn't all that glamorous; her partner Gerard a Mamma's boy, and there was more to life outside of London than she thought. In Lipton Rosie discovered the true lesson of love; she discovers the real reason her great- aunt never married and in the end finds true love herself and her life's true calling. The book gives you a glimpse into Lillian Hopkins's past when she was a girl in the 1940's, the love she found and lost; and her life as the daughter of the Town's sweetshop owner.

The book is very well-written, descriptive, and each chapter begins with a recipe or rhetoric about classic sweets. I enjoyed the book but I have to admit that I enjoyed the author's previous book better, Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe. I found parts of the book a bit like Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe--a bit familiar and predictable, but over-all a nice story. I expected more recipes for confectionary sweets as the author included in her previous book; but instead there were only two to three recipes in this book; the other chapters began with rhetoric on conventional confections. The characters come to life and it is hard not to identify with them. I cannot wait to read Colgan's new book, Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe.

Into the Darkest Corner

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books.

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes is a dark, psychological suspense Novel that takes the reader into the life of Catherine Bailey, an employee at a PR Firm in Lancaster living with OCD and post traumatic stress caused by an abusive relationship with a psychotic, controlling police officer. After being held prisoner by Lee, which Catherine met at a Pub, Cathy begins to develop severe OCD. At first Lee seems like a real charmer; too good to be true. Charming Catherine's friends, Lee seems to be the perfect catch for Catherine; but soon Catherine begins to see Lee's controlling nature, as he takes over her life, rearranging her drawers, taking over her wardrobe, and searching through Catherine's diary. When Catherine complains about perfect Lee, her friend Sylvia thinks she's crazy and being a bitch. But then Catherine is found badly beaten and unconscious and rescued by a friend. At the start of the Novel, we find Catherine living a new life and meeting Stuart, a psychologist who befriends Catherine and helps her get over her anxiety. The author uses the device of Flashbacks to tell the story of abuse and torture which led Catherine into developing OCD and Post traumatic stress. The Novel does have a happy ending...though I didn't like it that Lee, the villain in the Novel, has the last words at the very end. I suppose the author left his letter to Catherine as an opening to a sequel.

This is a gripping and disturbing novel if you are interested in psychological suspense thrillers. The author wrote the Novel as part of the National Writer's Month (Nanowrimo) in November. I was shocked and traumatized by several scenes where Catherine was savagely raped by Lee and equally shocked to read about how Lee tricked Catherine into escaping to New York by setting up a false E-mail account and tricking Catherine into believing that a guy from work was offering Catherine a job in New York and a chance of escaping from Lee. When Catherine arrives in Heathrow Airport to fly to New York, she is arrested by Lee and held prisoner in her spare room, where Lee punches her senseless, rapes her, cuts her with a knife (and makes it look like Catherine is self-harming) and leaves her unconscious until she is found by a friend. I did find a few spelling mistakes in the novel, but it didn't take away from the story. I would have liked to read Sylvia's side of the story; why she was tricked into taking Lee's side and betraying Catherine. I also would have liked a different ending; one that has the villain locked away for life or dead and Catherine and Stuart living a new life under the Witness Protection Agency; but this is what I would have preferred, not as the author intended. This is, after all, the author's story and her style of writing. The plot has many twist and turns, many of which I didn't see coming.

The Author is a police Intelligence Analyst living in Kent. She started writing fiction in 2006. She has taken several courses in Creative Writing. Into the Darkest Corner is her debut Novel. She has recently published Revenge of the Tides.