totallytales's Reviews (1.9k)

Best friends Holly & Paige have wrangled their way to the hottest literary festival around at Skegton-On-Sea. They are totally infectious... their love of books and their need to be at one of the biggest literary festivals ever is totally relatable! But life is never as straightforward as it seems and soon Holly is stranded with author Lady Rockwell and her DIVA demands. Is this a bookshop girls dream or nightmare? Join the dynamic duo on their hilarious trip, to find out!

Coles' writing is engaging, easy-to-follow (for the younger audience it's aimed at) and entertaining. You'll soon be laughing at the antics the girls find themselves in. Among the fun and games, there are important topics brilliantly addressed as the girls experience the highs and lows of being teenagers.

Paige Turner is the funniest, feistiest and feminist character since Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicolson!

Polly works for Posh! magazine spending her days writing about aristocracy, from posh babies to infamous Marquess. She has just turned 30 and is destined to hopelessly single if her previous dates are anything to go by... will she ever find a plus one for her best friends wedding?

I literally laughed-out-loud throughout the novel Money-Coutts writes with refreshing honestly what it's really like to date in 2018 including the cringe-worthy hookups! Polly's inner thoughts are spot on. There are touching moments too and you find yourself really rooting for Polly to be happy in the end. It just missed out on the five stars because I guessed the ending! - but the antics Polly gets up to are too funny to miss, the perfect book to cheer you up on these cold gloomy nights.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Stories for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

Lily has been tasked with planning the wedding of her best friend alongside the groom's brother, whom she hasn't met before... It's not plan sailing he is always unapologetically late, not afraid to stand up for what he believes in and he is hot. Can he bring out Lily's wild side and stop her trying to please everyone else all the time?

This novel is delightfully filled with hope, happiness, and humour. It's perfectly set in the idyllic Castle Cove in the run-up to Christmas, (if only I was curled up in the Castle Teashop with a hot chocolate and a slice of that infamous chocolate cake!). I was hooked laughing at the antics Lily and Josh find themselves in as they disagree, compromise and sometimes (surprisingly!) agree on the perfect cake, flowers, car and shoes for Paul and Emily's wedding! The chemistry between the two characters is perfectly steamy but nothing is plain sailing - can they ever learn to stop running, let go of their hang-ups and give each other a second chance?

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

This a collection of short stories about 30 women each one at a different point in their lives each one experiencing some kind of dilemma for example 'the Women Who Unraveled' and 'the Women Blew Away'.


I enjoyed this collection it was thought-provoking with its messages presented in a unique and appealing way. Though some tales resonated more with me more than others they all feature issues which women experience in modern life, for instance, not being taken seriously by men in the workplace, being eaten by Mum guilt and feeling so embarrassed you want the ground to open and swallow you up.
It was very reminiscent of Aesop's fables but for a grown-up audience with each tale having a moral.

My personal favourites were 'the Women Who Wore Pink' and 'the Women Who Had a Strong Suit'. It is the perfect book to dip into when you want a short sweet tale, amusing but with a valuable message at its heart.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

Set around four siblings who as children visit a fortune teller, she discloses to each child individually the date they will die. The novel is split into four parts (one for each sibling) focusing on how they choose to live their lives based on their death date, how it affects them both as individuals and the wider impact it has on the family.

Overall I really enjoyed the book, the premise is really interesting and unique. Benjamin's writing is entertaining and the book is incredibly well researched. It spans 50 years and gives insight into topical events - AIDS, females legitimacy in male-dominated professions, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, animal testing/rights and the exploration of anti-aging science.

Each sibling reacts and is affected by the psychic's claims differently, some go adventure and live life to the fullest chasing their dreams, others choose to play it safe to protect themselves. Who does the right thing? - what would you do if you were in their shoes? This read is complex, believable and thought-provoking; well worth reading if you are after something entrenched in modern family life with an edge.

Lara has got on a plane for the first time ever with her best friend Susie to get some much-needed space from her 'we-need-a-break' boyfriend. What better place than New York at Christmastime! Maybe with the help of Seth, a gorgeous actor she will even be able to make him realize what he is missing.

This book is a love story to New York, falling in love, to stepping out of your comfort zone and learning to let new people and experiences in; for Lara, it's not to be content with 'visiting' the world from Twitter but to actually go and do it! Join Lara as Seth shows her the sights of New York and to have the courage to trust, to try new things and open herself up to a whole other world. In turn, Lara encourages Seth to see the silver linings in life not just think the worst.

Filled with laugh-out-loud moments and a few more poignant ones too, this fabulous cast of characters are easily investable and you'll soon be hooked, turning the pages long after you should have turned the light out to find out exactly how it ends. After all, Lara and Seth seem to bring out the best in each other but is this just a game to make her ex-boyfriend jealous and a good PR stunt for him or have they really fallen for each other?

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK & Ebury Publishing for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

Alice has had a lot of bad luck and after a series of unfortunate events she ends up having to welcome Tom "man-whore" Maddens into her home as her flatmate. In true man-whore style Tom has bet his friends he can bag Alice before he moves out. Sparks soon start flying between the pair who love to hate each other. Then Tom brings an adorable but trouble-making puppy to the mix..... is it a recipe of disaster or Alice fall for Tom's charms?

This is novel had me laughing out loud from page one! Written from both Alice and Tom's viewpoints you get well rounded perspectives of both characters. The antics Alice and Tom get into with the puppy are hilarious. Overall it is a fun, feisty & fabulous read, with a few touching moments. A perfect pick me up for these gloomy autumn days.

Thanks to Laura Barnard for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.