Novelicious - The Female Fiction and Chick Lit Blog

Novelicious Undiscovered 2012 is Live!

2012-02-14T11:00:12+00:00

Now you get to see why team Novelicious have been a bit giddy these past few weeks. Click on the picture to get all the juicy details about The Novelicious Undiscovered 2012 Competition!

The Secret Dreamworld of an Aspiring Author - Finding The Perfect Partner

2012-02-14T09:28:53+00:00

I think I have the perfect partner in my husband, he’s very motivational, pushing me upstairs into my writing room of an evening (has nothing to do with the darts/rugby league/snooker/football/superbike that is on TV, he tells me). But lately I’ve been thinking I may need a new partner. This is nothing do with my husband’s choice to go watch to a football game on Valentine’s day. No, I think I need a writing partner...

Now, I’m not talking about writing with someone, I don’t think I could ever do that – I’m a terrible sharer. But I was reading last week about a Match.com equivalent for writers; a website called Ladies Who Critique where you can sign up and connect with a critiquing buddy who also writes your genre.

I’ve never joined a writing group, mainly because I haven’t wanted to join a mixed group of genre writers. I guess I think that often chick lit is viewed as the poor relation in the literary world (undeservedly so) but I didn’t want to have to constantly defend my writing choices. I also don’t know whether I’d trust non chick lit lovers to critique my work. I mean, I wouldn’t dream of reviewing a fantasy novel for a review site because I’d have no idea about comparable works in the genre, so how could I critique a fantasy writer in a writing group?

So the idea that you could be paired with another writer from your genre sounded more appealing to me. But then I started wondering whether I could really trust someone I didn’t even know. What if I had a totally brilliant book and the person critiquing suggested a tweak that would ruin it forever more? Or if I’m reading their book – what if I give them the worst advice ever?

I have to admit that one of the best bits about publishing my ebook on Amazon is having comments from people I don’t know. I had a nice tweet conversation with one person in which we debated the ending, and I even toyed with changing the ending at the last minute. Maybe that is where your critiquing partner comes in handy?

If I did take the plunge and decided to try and find a writing partner, could I really just go on a website and find one? I know that people go on dates and some even marry people they met on internet dates (in my single days I did internet date – albeit very disastrously) but somehow I find the idea of finding a critique partner online scarier! Am I being too cautious?

I’d love to know what you think. Do you a have a critique partner? If so where did you find them? And if you don’t would you consider an online site to find them?

Romantic Novelists' Association Awards 2012 Shortlist Revealed

2012-02-10T11:11:27+00:00

The Romantic Novelists' Association have announced which authors are shortlisted for this year's awards in March..

Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees!

(If Pippa Wright doesn't win for Romantic Comedy, I'll eat an Advance Review Copy)

Here are the nominations in full...

Contemporary Romantic Novel

It Started with a Kiss            Miranda Dickinson         (Avon)
Summer of Love             Katie Fforde             (Arrow)
The Untied Kingdom            Kate Johnson             (Choc Lit)
To the Moon and Back            Jill Mansell             (Headline)
Chances                 Freya North             (HarperCollins)
Christmas at Tiffany’s            Karen Swan             (Pan Macmillan)

Epic Romantic Novel

Jubilate                Michael Arditti            (Arcadia Books)
That Liverpool Girl             Ruth Hamilton             (Pan Macmillan)
The Lantern                Deborah Lawrenson         (Orion)
The Kashmir Shawl            Rosie Thomas            (HarperCollins)
Crimson China                Betsy Tobin             (Short Books)

Historical Romantic Novel

Highland Storms            Christina Courtenay        (Choc Lit)
The Noble Assassin            Christie Dickason         (HarperCollins)
Daughter of Siena             Marina Foriato            (John Murray)
Perhaps Tomorrow            Jean Fullerton            (Orion)
A Gathering Storm            Rachel Hore            (Simon & Schuster)

Romantic Comedy Novel

The Look of Love            Judy Astley             (Transworld)
Please Don’t Stop the Music        Jane Lovering             (Choc Lit)
Wrapped up in You            Carole Matthews         (Sphere)
Who’s Afraid of Mr. Wolfe        Hazel Osmond         (Quercus)
Lizzy Harrison Loses Control        Pippa Wright             (Pan Macmillan)

Young Adult Romantic Novel

Artichoke Hearts            Sita Brahmachari         (Pan Macmillan)
Dark Ride                Caroline Green         (Piccadilly Press)
My So-called Phantom Lovelife    Tamsyn Murray         (Piccadilly Press)
Angel Fire                 L. A. Weatherley         (Usborne)

The RoNA Rose Award

Flirting with Italian            Liz Fielding             (Mills & Boon)
A Christmas Knight            Kate Hardy            (Mills & Boon)
Ordinary Girl in a Tiara        Jessica Hart             (Mills & Boon)
The Kydd Inheritance            Jan Jones             (Robert Hale)
The Dangerous Lord Darrington    Sarah Mallory             (Mills & Boon)
Winning the War Hero’s Heart        Mary Nichols             (Mills & Boon)

The Harry Bowling Prize

Child Pretending             Sheila Bugler
Sweeping Up The Village        Bren Gosling
A Dark Flowering             Natalie Lloyd-Evans
Island Of Dreams             Aline P’Nina Tayar
The Benjamin Exhibition         Simon Van der Velde

Review - The Unseen by Katherine Webb

2012-02-09T15:02:14+00:00

REVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN

It is 2011 an unknown soldier from the First World War is unearthed in Northern France. Found with a sealed tin containing two letters from one ‘H.Canning’ the quest to discover the identity of this mystery soldier is taken on by Leah – a writer searching for a new story. As she delves into the past, chasing ghosts, she uncovers all sorts of other secrets buried with him. The rest of the book is set in the hot summer of 1911. The newly-wed Hester Canning has employed a feisty maid, Cat Morley, fresh out of Holloway, to help her run her household. Her husband, Reverend Albert Canning, invites Robin Durrant, a theosophist, to stay and together they try to witness sightings of elementals, fairies, in the meadows around Thatcham. Years later Leah tries to discover just what went on that summer in 1911 and what happened to all involved.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The wonderfully exuberant Cat Morley, or “Black Cat”, was a sympathetic character. An unusual maid to say the least: a well-educated girl living a life of drudgery, challenging the current thinking and wanting to be more than a slave to others. Through her we see the frustration so many women must have felt, particularly amongst the lower classes, in this period. The scenes in Holloway are graphic, painful and desperately sad. The other woman, Hester Canning, is a naive and closeted character and again painted beautifully in the time. Bewildered by her own husband’s apparent disinterest the reader cannot help but feel her pain. Katherine Webb merges the modern story well and I wanted to read more about Leah as she discovered more of the past. For me this book was all about the women in it. The title then is perhaps a little misleading - for all those obsessed with supernatural goings on you might be a little disappointed. This is a story very much based in the real world.

I would recommend this book to any fans of the genre. It is well-researched and full of rich characters – from the surly cook Sophie Bell to the wonderfully beaten-up, generous George. It is an amazing reminder of the plight of some women at the start of the twentieth century and, more than anything, gets you turning the page.

Thank you to Orion for sending me a copy to review.

8/10

The Unseen on Amazon

You can find our more about Katherine Webb and her books here.

Review - Smoked Meat by Rowena Macdonald

2012-02-09T12:05:00+00:00

REVIEWED BY AMANDA KEATS

In a cold wintery Montreal, people are going about their lives. There is the life-model coming between two best friends, the gay man living in denial with a woman and the former waitress looking to make it big in New York.

Rowena Macdonald takes an honest look at the everyday lives of Montreal's inhabitants as they strive to find work, love, acceptance, fulfilment and happiness and beautifully weaves their tales together in one clever book. Though the stories could easily stand alone as a series of short stories, there are links to connect them to each other. A person who is in the background of the first story suddenly becomes centre stage in the next.

There is no real beginning - middle - end to this book, rather a glimpse into the people's lives over the course of a year. It is a snapshot, nothing more, but in looking at how each life connects to others around it, Macdonald manages to build a bigger picture of what makes people move from one city to another, what makes them accept their lives and what makes them finally say that they've had enough and want better. The connections are great if you remember them but it doesn't detract anything from each person's story if you don't remember exactly where you read about them earlier. It is an adult book, as it deals with adult stories - apart from one - and the sex and complications that go along with it. But it does not use sex as a selling point or make it the raunchy focus of the book. It simply glides along and is relevant when it is relevant.

The only real downside to the book is that if I were not reading it for Novelicious, I would not have given it a second glance. The title is based on a Canadian food dish but doesn't really translate to UK audiences. The cover, a picture of a slightly banged-up looking Chevy, does not do the book justice at all as it goes no way to explaining what makes the book such a great read. It is in fact a rather tenuous link to one of the stories within.

The fact that the book feels like a compilation of short stories but is linked enough to feel like one complete book, plus the straightforward narrative and dialogue used, means that Smoked Meat is an enjoyable and easy read - though not remotely patronising. It would be ideal for the commute or for a holiday read as it's very easy to dip in and out of.

7/10

You can find out more about the author here and you can follow her on Twitter @RowenaMacdonald

Novelicious Goes To... The Book Launch Of Tom-All-Alone's

2012-02-09T09:30:00+00:00

By Amanda Keats

Last week I got to join in with the launch for Lynn Shepherd's new book Tom-All-Alone's, a Dickensean style mystery, inspired by Bleak House and set in the mirky depths of 1850's London. The launch itself was far from mirky. At the Dickens museum in London, we got to walk the halls of his former residence and see his original works.

Shepherd was evidently delighted to be holding the launch in the museum, saying that if it's true that your life flashes before your eyes when you die - this moment will certainly make the reel. Then we were treated to a reading of the prologue to Tom-All-Alone's - Shepherd's homage to Bleak House.

Thank you to PR lady Emily for the invite and congratulations Lynn and all at Constable and Robinson for a great launch.

You can read my review for Tom-All-Alone's here

Review - There's Always Tomorrow by Pam Weaver

2012-02-09T06:10:00+00:00

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

It doesn’t seem to matter what Dottie does, or how devoted she is to her husband, Reg, she never manages to please him. Reg isn’t the same man she married. He’s changed by his terrible experiences during World War II and far from being the kind, loving husband she remembers, he’s now violent and spiteful. Dottie has been brought up by an aunt who taught her that you have to find a way to live with your choices and marriages are supposed to be worked at and not given up on.

Desperate for a baby, Dottie knows that she is never going to experience motherhood with her relationship the way it is with Reg. One day Reg receives a letter and Dottie learns that he has fathered a child during the war. Reg decides to take on his newly orphaned daughter and whether Dottie likes it or not, she is forced to accept his eight-year-old child into her home. Things don’t turn out how Reg expects them to and it soon dawns on Dottie that the care of this child is going to be down to her. There are many aspects to Reg’s nature that she is oblivious to and as time goes on Dottie realizes that the man she thought she married is capable of cruelty she could never have imagined.

This book is set in the fifties. Dottie and Reg live in their cottage in a small village where everyone knows one another and each other’s business. Their lifestyle is quiet and gentile and their home is comfortable. Appearance is everything and people are quick to make assumptions about each other. Behind the scenes though, Dottie’s life is very different to the one she shows publicly. The story begins with Dottie welcoming her husband home from work and immediately we see his vicious, cruel streak and apparent need to humiliate his devoted wife. Reg has a dark side that becomes clearer as the story moves along. The reader learns before Dottie the depths he’s willing to stoop to, to get what he wants from life and those around him.

I must admit that I started reading this book thinking it would be a gentle story about two fairly average people in England, but as Reg’s true nature becomes clear and we discover more about his past we also see Dottie beginning to acknowledge just how bad things really are between them and how little she really knows about her husband.

I really enjoyed, There’s Always Tomorrow, and despite focusing on the darker aspects of one of the main characters, the author also brings the atmosphere of the fifties vividly to life, with the fashions of the time and the simple pleasures that people seemed to enjoy in that less frenetic era. The story might deal with a darker side of human nature, but it also includes devoted loyalty and strength to over come the odds when it seems that there’s no way out. The ending was uplifting and satisfying and I definitely want to read Pam Weaver’s other books.

8/10

There's Always Tomorrow on Amazon

You can find out more about the author and her other books here.