Book reviews in magazines I write for in August #bookreviews

The following books made it to Fleet Life magazine this month.

FL Aug 15

For the online edition go to http://www.fleetlife.org.uk load the online directory and turn to page 28.

The Family Trap by Joanne Phillips

Rise Of The Enemy by Rob Sinclair

Old Town Nights by Linda Lee Williams

Swamp Ghosts by Marcia Meara

Country Affairs by Zara Stonely

The next set of books made it into the August edition of The Elvetham Heath Directory,

EHD Aug 15

The online edition can be found at http://www.ehd.org.uk load the online directory and turn to page 22

Big Men’s Boots by Emily Barraso

The Cunning Woman’s Cup by Sue Hewitt

Will O’ The Wisp by C. S Boyack

Dream On by Terry Tyler

From Lime Street To Yirgacheffe by Robert Leigh

The Family Trap by Joanne Phillips @joannegphillips #Family #Drama

The Family TrapThe Family Trap by Joanne Phillips

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Family Trap is a contemporary read about family relationships. It opens with 16 year old Lipsy giving birth to a baby. Stella her 38 year old Mum has been holding her hand and is now exhausted. Baby Phoenix arrives safely and now it’s time for Stella to think about her own future.

A pregnancy test affirms Stella’s beliefs that her new grandchild will soon have a playmate who is also his Aunt or uncle. But first she must break the news to Paul. They are about to be married and move away to Derbyshire. Stella’s fears and worries about the future cause her to fumble telling Paul about the baby.

Lipsy finds motherhood hard and relies more and more on Stella, to the point where she can’t see moving to Derbyshire is a good idea. A rift occurs between Stella and Paul over the issue of children and it all comes to a head on their wedding day.

Stella has a job at a care-home, it gives her valuable support, the residents help her through the difficult months. Her family all try to help Stella too, they want what’s best for Stella, but the journey is a bump ride.

A good easy read.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Good Deeds Challenge Year 2, Week 52

This will be my last Good Deeds post, I’ve completed a 2 year challenge, enough to make Good Deeds a regular part of my day for the rest of my life.

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year, now I almost finished my second year.

New Good DeedsThis week I’ve been doing the following;

April 12th – Had a big afternoon setting my Mum up with spreadsheets and a Facebook account. Am reading Fallen On Good Times by Rewan Tremethick.

April 13th – It’s still the school holidays so no volunteering at school this morning, had a lunchtime walk and picked up litter instead. Washed loads of crockery and chinaware ready to take to the charity shop.

April 14th – We are into the third week of the A to Z Challenge, made a big effort to visit lots of bloggers today and give my support.

April 15th – Delivered 3 boxes of items to the charity shop. Read Going Through The Change by Samantha Bryant

April 16th – Picked up loads of litter on a morning walk. Today I’m reading Cupids’ Way by Joanne Phillips.

April 17th – We have friends coming over this afternoon, so I’ve baked a cake and nagged the kids to help with housework. In fact while I nipped into town and pocked up litter on the way home, they’d cleaned and tidied the lounge. Am reading Catching Cassidy by Melissa Foster, book one in a new NA series.

April 18th – My friend asked me to help out with a book review and I read James Bone and the Italian Job by Frank Bell a children’s book about secret agent animals. Began reading The Family Trap by Joanne Phillips last evening.

This is it, my final post to end my challenge, which began two years ago as a two week test to see it I could take up the challenge, then it moved to a year and then two years. It’s been an amazing experience and opened my eyes to wonderful everyday opportunities to make my world a better place to live in and to send out ripples into the lives of others who touch mine with friendship or as strangers.