Name: Surviving the Rachel
author: Aven Ellis
Format: ebook
Pages: 262 pages
Release date: 20th December 2014
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Teaser
Bree Logan is ready to
start her post-college life, but when she’s dumped by The One, unable to
land a professional job, and has to move back in with her parents, she
doesn’t think things can get worse until she ends up with her hair
chopped into The Rachel, the infamous haircut made famous by the show
Friends. Which is not good since it’s no longer 1994. But sometimes you
have to go through challenges to get what you really need, and for Bree,
could that include a different career and a romance with Jack Chelten,
the boy-next-door?
Wow, what a year this has been. I can't believe 2014 is about to end. On 6th December 2014 I celebrated my first anniversary of my blog. I'm very happy that I decided to start blogging on Dreaming With Open Eyes. It's been a wonderful year. When I started blogging I had no idea what to expect. The more time passed the more I learned about book blogging, the community and publishers. I somehow made my way through it. Ordering a professional layout for my blog was one of the best decisions I made. I'm still utterly happy with and I can't stop staring at it. Again a huge thank you to Jenny of Magic Feather Design. Another thing I am very happy about is I bought myself a kindle in the beginning of the year which also was a brilliant decision. I still love paperbacks but I never thought I will prefer reading a digital copy to physical copy. I makes my reading flow so much easier and I read the books so much quicker. I love my kindle!
I have to admit, this year has not always been easy for me. Despite the good times I had with blogging I also had doubts and concerns about my blogging, thoughts about giving up. There were times when it was all too much for me. I put too much pressure on myself to keep up with everyone else. I thought my reviews will never be good enough. I got jealous of other book bloggers who received tons of book post and invitations to blog tours. I think anyone feels like that sometimes, especially as a non UK blogger. I have a nine to five day job which makes it impossible to compete myself to the people who have a lot of time for reading. It frustrates me when I hear people read two or three books a week when I sometimes only managed to read one.
Luckily I found my own way now. I do it my way and I try not to let me bother anything else. I'm glad I didn't give up on blogging. I don't read the most up to date books all the time. I have dozen of paperbacks I have bought over the years and they are all waiting to be read. I'll try to find a good mix of review copies and my own books. The good parts of book blogging definitely outweigh the bad ones. First of all I met dozen of lovely people on Twitter. Let it be authors, publicists or book bloggers. You are all a wonderful bunch of people and I appreciate your support so much. Even when I don’t thank you all the time, it means the world to me. Thank you for all your bookish chats and friendship.
One of the greatest things I've seen about the comminity is that you stick together and support each other unconditionally. I also had the chance to meet a lovely blogger in person. It’s been wonderful to meet you Simona, I hope we can meet up in 2015 again. Another thing I am quite overwhelmed with is the number of books I read this year. I read 84 books (reviewed the most of them). I don’t know how many books I read in 2013 but I am sure it’s not even the half of it. I know many of you bloggers have read between 100–200 books which is quite amazing but I am proud of my number too.
I'm looking forward to go on a new journey in 2015 full of book blogging and reading.
Looking at the
list of the books I’ve read this year, it’s been very easy for me to pick my favourites of 2014. I'll do them in no special order because them are all incredibly amazing
in their own way.
Name: Written in the Stars
Author: Ali Harris
Format: paperback
Pages: 450 pages
Release date: 5th June 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Teaser
Bea
Bishop is horrible at making decisions. Forget big life ones, even
everyday choices seem to paralyse her. She's learned to live with this
because experience has taught her that it doesn't matter what you do, no
one has the power to control destiny. Anyone who believes they can is a
fool. But as her wedding day approaches, her years of indecision
are weighing heavily on her, and she can't help but wonder, 'What if,
what if, what if….'
What if she hadn't upped sticks and moved to
London? What if she hadn't grabbed the first job that came along and
settled down with the first guy who showed an interest? But all of her
questions are silenced when she slips while walking down the aisle and
is knocked unconscious. In this split second her life splits into two:
in one existence, Bea flees back down the aisle and out of the church.
In the other she glides blissfully towards her intended. But which story will lead to her happily ever after?
Name: Skating at Somerset House
Author: Nikki Moore
Format: ebook
Pages: 40 pages
Release date: 4th December 2014
Publisher: HaperImpulse
Teaser
There’s
nothing Holly Winterlake loves more than Christmas and skating, so
working as an Ice Marshall at London's Somerset House is a dream come
true.
Noel Summerford hates the festive season and is a disaster
on the ice, so taking his godson to Somerset House is his idea of the
nightmare before Christmas!
Things are bound to get interesting when these two collide…
With
a forty foot Christmas tree, an assortment of well meaning friends and
relatives, and a mad chocolate Labrador, will this festive season be one
to remember … or forget?
Name: The Postcard
Author: Lily Graham
Format: ebook
Pages: 132 pages
Release date: 9th December 2014
Publisher: self-published
Teaser
“She always said she’d find a way to let me know that death wasn’t the end …”
When
Ivy Everton, a children’s book illustrator, moves to Cornwall to start a
new life with her husband Stuart, she gets given her mother’s old
writing desk, a bittersweet token from a mother who made childhood
magical.
When she clears it, she finds that the desk holds an
unexpected surprise; one she wishes, in a way, that she hadn’t found, as
wedged in the corner is a blank, faded postcard addressed to her, in
her mother’s hand. At first, the postcard serves only to haunt her; a
constant reminder of her mother’s last message, now forever silenced,
and she can’t help but wonder what unwritten secret lies unsaid.
Yet,
as the days pass mysterious inexplicable things begin to happen, odd
items go missing from her studio, only to reappear, ethereally
transformed in the seemingly empty desk.
Soon Ivy realises that the postcard was never really blank, it was simply waiting … waiting for her to find it.
Name: The Christmas Bucket List
Author: Ella Fairlie
Format: ebook
Pages: 82 pages
Release date: 30th November 2014
Publisher: self-published
Teaser
It’s Christmas time in
London: there’s snow in the air, Regent Street is bustling, and the
Trafalgar Square tree’s all a-glitter. Isobel Gray is dreaming of a
perfect movie-style Christmas for her first Noël away from home, and
with a hot man and a bucket list of festive fun ready to be ticked off,
she thinks she has it all wrapped up. But when her boss-slash-boyfriend
goes AWOL just days before the holiday, she finds herself a little Lost,
Actually instead. Will she end up home alone, or is there a Christmas
miracle waiting under the mistletoe?
Can young hearts ease a restless spirit?
On the shores of stunning Lake Geneva, Gina Remy is celebrating her brother’s wedding – when the figure of a woman appears hovering above the water, beckoning to her. Ghostly visitations do not happen to Gina - a self-confessed control freak with her own successful property business, she prides herself on being level-headed. But as she is tormented by dreams and visions, her perfect life begins to unravel, and she knows she needs to help this ghost find peace if she’s to get any of her own!
Enter Ollie Martin, an Anglo-Swiss property developer who’s sexy as hell and knows it. His arrogance annoys Gina, but he’s the only one who will take her seriously… and the closer they come to understanding the quest the ghost has set for them, the closer they get to one another…
Name: You Had Me at Merlot: Part 4
Author: Lisa Dickenson
Format: ebook
Pages: 80 pages
Release date: 4th August 2014
Publisher: Sphere
Teaser
Elle
didn't plan on falling for anyone on this singles' holiday so it came
as a huge surprise to her when she fell, hard, for her very own Italian
stallion. But it seems he's not as perfect as he first appeared -
especially now that his maybe-not-so-ex ex-girlfriend has turned up.
Elle
doesn't want to believe that it was all a lie but it's hard to ignore
the very real bombshell standing in front of her. Has she been taken for
a fool? As the end of the holiday approaches, confusion and heartbreak
threaten to ruin Elle's hard-fought peace of mind. Does Tuscany have
enough magic left to fix her broken heart?
Today
I am featuring debut author Caroline Batten. Her debut novel #FORFEIT which came out on 31st July. When Caroline offered me to read her book for an honest review I thought from reading the synopsis it sounds like a fantastic
read. I'm reading this book at the moment (not far in yet). I can't wait to discover more about the authors writing and those great characters.
Getting divorced at twenty-five sucks
Teaching
over-confident rich kids when you're all but homeless sucks. In fact,
every single aspect of Daisy Fitzgerald’s life is one big…
#fail
Enter
Xander, a Knight-in-Shining-Cricket-Pads, who knocks her off her wedge
heels and into his privileged world of It-girls, players and Michelin
stars.
High on cocktails & escapism
Daisy
agrees to play Forfeit, the ultimate game of dares. A simple kiss dare
ignites her relationship with Xander, but the game's called Forfeit for
good reason. Can they survive three rounds?
Blackmail • Betrayal • Revenge
Move over Gatsby, there's a new bunch of bored young things in town.
More information about this book:
Goodreads