Review | A Winter Flame by Milly Johnson | Twelve Days of Christmas!

A Winter Flame

by Milly Johnson

My Rating: 

Eve has never liked Christmas, not since her beloved fiancé was killed in action in Afghanistan on Christmas Day. So when her adored elderly aunt dies, the last thing she is expecting is to be left a theme park in her will. A theme park with a Christmas theme…

And that's not the only catch. Her aunt's will stipulates that Eve must run the park with a mysterious partner, the exotically named Jacques Glace. Who is this Jacques, and why did Aunt Evelyn name him in her will?

But Eve isn't going to back down from a challenge. She's determined to make a success of Winterworld, no matter what. Can she overcome her dislike of Christmas, and can Jacques melt her frozen heart at last…?

Throughout November I was on something of a contemporary kick, so at the end of the month I decided to tick one of the books off my Winter TBR. As soon as I came across A Winter Flame I knew I had to get my hands on a copy of it - who doesn't want to read about a Christmas theme park? - and luckily for me my local library had a copy.

It only took me a couple of days to read. It was fun, quick and festive, but my reviews can only be honest, and honestly I was disappointed with this book.

Eve is not a likable character. That may seem like a harsh thing to say given that she is a character who is still grieving, but even people who are grieving are capable of being nice human beings. For the most part Eve was a grumpy, bitter woman who jumped to ridiculous conclusions about everyone around her, which was odd for someone who was apparently such a good judge of character.

Jacques was on the other end of the scale in that he was almost too ridiculous. He was just too lovable and boisterous, to the extent that at times he felt like more of a caricature than a three-dimensional character.

One of my biggest problems with the book was this recurring message that all of the women could only ever be happy with a good man by their side. Eve had managed to start and run her own successful business and was very proud of her achievements in the workplace, and yet all everyone wanted was for her to meet a man and settle down so she could be 'truly happy'. It was as though people were judging her for being single and successful. No wonder the woman's grumpy.

Ultimately I enjoyed the book enough to read it to the end, and if you're looking for something fun and fast during the festive season I would recommend it, but unfortunately it's quite problematic in places and not the story I was hoping it would be.

What's Up Wednesday! | 03/12/14

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk as a way for writers and readers to stay in touch!

What I'm Reading

Since last week I've continued on my contemporary kick by reading A Winter Flame by Milly Johnson, which I didn't like as much as I'd hoped I would. If you want to know about my thoughts on it I'll be reviewing it later this month as part of my Twelve Days of Christmas.

Right now I'm reading Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop by Jenny Colgan and Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, both of which are on my Winter TBR. So far I'm really enjoying them both!

What I'm Writing

On Monday I accidentally wrote the first lines of my Christmas Sci-Fi/Contemporary Romance SNI, featuring an Asian/British protagonist with one leg and a figure from Greek mythology who falls from the stars. I didn't really have any plans to work on it - I still don't even really know where it's going - but the mood took me, so I wrote!

What Works For Me

Reading! This year I've challenged myself to read seasonal books for Christmas (something I've always been really rubbish at in the past) and as my SNI is set during Christmas all the festive books I've been reading are a really fun inspiration.

My writing goal for the week: Write the first 2,000 words of my SNI!

(I'm probably not going to give myself writing goals very often, because I'm very, very bad at sticking to the goals I set myself. This week, though, I want to give it a try!)

What Else Is New

Yesterday I started my new job! I am now an Administration & Marketing Assistant at Seren Books, which is a tiny publishing house in South Wales. I've been made to feel very welcome and I really enjoyed my first day. I think the job titles in publishing can often sound more dull than the jobs themselves, because the majority of my role - which is guaranteed for at least six months, but will hopefully last for a year - is helping to organise the centenary celebrations for a Welsh WW2 poet who was born in 1915. I'm a big fan of war literature, so it's really exciting!

Other than that I haven't been up to much else aside from Christmas shopping. What's new with you?

Reading Wrap-Up | November 2014

November was a pretty decent reading month for me. I managed to get through five books, and while the majority of them disappointed me (I've been very critical lately) this month has been the first month in a while where I've constantly been reading something. I finished a book and then immediately picked up another, and I feel as though I haven't done that in a while without giving myself a headache!

Also, unusually for me, I've been on something of a contemporary kick this month! I don't usually read a lot of contemporary, but this month, apart from one book, everything I read was contemporary.

So, on with the wrap-up!

Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams

by Jenny Colgan

My Rating: 

Rosie Hopkins thinks leaving her busy London life, and her boyfriend Gerard, to sort out her elderly Aunt Lilian s sweetshop in a small country village is going to be dull. Boy, is she wrong.

Lilian Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton s sweetshop, through wartime and family feuds. As she struggles with the idea that it might finally be time to settle up, she also wrestles with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully coloured sweets.

This was my very first dip into Jenny Colgan, and I really liked it! I've owned this book for a while after my sister recommended it to me, and I decided to pick it up this month purely so I could read Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop as the festive season approaches - in fact I'm reading it now! 

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would - in fact there were some parts of it that broke my heart a little bit - and I definitely want to check out more Colgan in future. I keep eying up Little Beach Street Bakery, but I think it'll be a read for the warmer weather, and after I finish Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop I'm hoping to borrow The Christmas Surprise from my local library.

The Giver

by Lois Lowry

My Rating: 

It is the future. There is no war, no hunger, no pain. No one in the community wants for anything. Everything needed is provided. And at twelve years old, each member of the community has their profession carefully chosen for them by the Committee of Elders.

Twelve-year old Jonas has never thought there was anything wrong with his world. But from the moment he is selected as the Receiver of Memory, Jonas discovers that their community is not as perfect as it seems.

It is only with the help of the Giver, that Jonas can find what has been lost. And it is only through his personal courage that Jonas finds the strength to do what is right…

I've been meaning to read The Giver for years, so in November I finally decided to cross it off my TBR and I'm sorry to say that I was very disappointed with it. If you want to know more about my thoughts on it, you can find my review here!

If I Stay

by Gayle Forman

My Rating: 

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

After I finished The Giver I was in the mood for something short, and preferably something short that wasn't going to disappoint me like The Giver did. I read If I Stay in a day and enjoyed it way more than I thought I was going to. I recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet, and I'm eager to watch the film adaptation now!

The Little Women Letters

by Gabrielle Donnelly

My Rating: 

With her older sister, Emma, planning a wedding and her younger sister, Sophie, preparing to launch a career on the London stage, Lulu can't help but feel like the failure of the Atwater family. Lulu loves her sisters dearly and wants nothing but the best for them, but she finds herself stuck in a rut, working dead-end jobs with no romantic prospects in sight. When her mother asks her to find a cache of old family recipes in the attic of her childhood home, Lulu stumbles across a collection of letters written by her great-great-grandmother Josephine March. In her letters, Jo writes in detail about every aspect of her life: her older sister, Meg's, new home and family; her younger sister Amy's many admirers; Beth's illness and the family's shared grief over losing her too soon; and the butterflies she feels when she meets a handsome young German. As Lulu delves deeper into the lives and secrets of the March sisters, she finds solace and guidance, but can the words of her great-great-grandmother help Lulu find a place for herself in a world so different from the one Jo knew?

I'm a big fan of the Little Women story and The Little Women Letters has been on my TBR for a while. I borrowed it from my local library while I was on my contemporary kick and, sadly, I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. Again, if you want to know more about my thoughts on it you can find my Goodreads review here!

A Winter Flame

by Milly Johnson

My Rating: 

Eve has never liked Christmas, not since her beloved fiancé was killed in action in Afghanistan on Christmas Day. So when her adored elderly aunt dies, the last thing she is expecting is to be left a theme park in her will. A theme park with a Christmas theme…

And that's not the only catch. Her aunt's will stipulates that Eve must run the park with a mysterious partner, the exotically named Jacques Glace. Who is this Jacques, and why did Aunt Evelyn name him in her will?

But Eve isn't going to back down from a challenge. She's determined to make a success of Winterworld, no matter what. Can she overcome her dislike of Christmas, and can Jacques melt her frozen heart at last…?

For my final book of November I decided to continue on my contemporary kick and tick one of the books off my Winter TBR. I didn't dislike this book exactly, but it did disappoint me. I'm not going to say much because I'll be reviewing it during my Twelve Days of Christmas!

What did you read last month?

What's Up Wednesday! | 26/11/14

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly feature created by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk as a way for writers and readers to stay in touch!

What I'm Reading

Since last week I've read The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly and finally gave up on A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan after three weeks of slogging through it. Both of these books were only okay. I reviewed The Little Women Letters on Goodreads here for anyone interested in my thoughts, and while I think I might return to A Natural History of Dragons at some point in future for now I want to concentrate on books I actually enjoy.

Today I'm hoping to make a start on my Winter TBR! I'm either going to pick up A Winter Flame or Burial Rites first, not sure which one just yet!

What I'm Writing

After a long break I'm finally starting to get back in the mood to work on Bloodroot and Bracken again, which is awesome.

Other than that I haven't been writing a whole lot, but I'm still jotting down ideas for one of my SNIs, a mix up of Sci-Fi and Contemporary Romance that I've mentioned before. I had a little brainwave this week regarding one of the characters, and because I'm in such a Christmassy mood it's accidentally turned into a Christmassy story. Probably because my favourite Christmas song is A Spaceman Came Travelling!

What Works For Me

I feel like this is going to make me sound really narcissistic, but sometimes I like to imagine that my WIP has been published and I'm being interviewed by BBC Radio 4's Book Club. Imagining what questions I could get asked about my characters and my writing process often helps me to solve something I'm struggling with. Weird, I know.

What Else Is New

I'm officially a published author! On Monday my science fiction short story, Beam Me Up, was published in the latest issue of Nebula Rift. It's only a short story, but I'm still really pleased - I've never had anything published before and it's a wonderful feeling!

And today I had a job interview with an independent publishing house based in South Wales. It's for a six month job as an administrative/marketing assistant. I do have another job waiting for me in January if I want it, but right now I'm keeping my options open. Of course if this company decide to offer me the job I need to make a decision, and when it comes to these kinds of decisions I hate making them.

I've also started working on my PhD applications. Fun stuff!

Other than that I've just been Christmas shopping and wrapping the presents I do have. I'm desperate to have all my presents so I can wrap them all and make them all look pretty; I think I love giving people presents more than I like receiving them, to be honest!

What's new with you?

Top Ten Tuesday | My Winter TBR!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find out everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR'. I really enjoyed doing my Autumn TBR, so I jumped at the chance to do another seasonal reading list. I know a lot of people like to read Christmassy books at this time of year - I do too! - but I'm pretty bad at reading things at the right time of year. I read Dash & Lily's Book of Dares during one of my Easter holidays. Oops!

So this year I'm making an effort to read some seasonal books - because I'm in a really wintery/Christmassy mood right now - which is why I've split my TBR into two mini piles. First up I have my Christmas/winter reads, and my second pile is made up of some YA books I really want to cross off my TBR before the end of the year!

Seasonal Reads

A Winter Flame by Milly Johnson: Lately I've been on a bit of a contemporary kick, which is unusual for me because contemporary reads aren't usually my thing. I borrowed this book from my library just yesterday and I can't wait to read it because it just sounds adorable, and I think Christmas is the perfect time for a bit of wintery romance reading!

Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop by Jenny Colgan: I read Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams at the beginning of the month purely so I could read this book when Christmas rolled around, and it's another one I'm really looking forward to reading because I loved the first book. Plus Jenny Colgan's latest novel, The Christmas Surprise, is another Rosie Hopkins novel, so if I read this one I might just read that one, too!

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: This time of year is the perfect time to reread this classic, which is pretty much the only Dickens story I can push myself through. Victorian fiction is dense, but Dickens takes density to a whole new level...

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: Okay, so unlike the previous three I hope think this book is going to make me cry, because it doesn't have the most cheerful of premises, but I do think winter is the perfect time to read it because of its barren, Icelandic setting. I've owned this book since Easter and I've been saving it - I can't wait to read it!

The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston: First of all, how gorgeous is that cover? With a name like The Winter Witch how can I not read this book at this time of year? Not only that, but it's set in Wales, where I'm currently living, so I'm interested to see how the setting has been described.

YA Reads

Blackout by Mira Grant: As I'm sure any of you who have been following my blog for a while will know, I've absolutely fallen in love with the Newsflesh trilogy this year. I've already started Blackout, but I'm savouring this trilogy while I still can and I'm aiming to finish it soon!

The Host by Stephenie Meyer: Taking part in Sci-Fi Month has really put me in the mood to read some sci-fi, and frankly The Host has been on my TBR pile for far too long - I've owned my copy since the book first came out, so it's about time I read it!

Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers: The third and final book in the His Fair Assassin trilogy, another trilogy I've loved this year. I have this book on my Christmas list, so with any luck I'll find a copy of it under the tree on Christmas Day and I can see how this trilogy ends.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: I've heard nothing but praise for this series, and a couple of weeks ago I finally caved and bought myself a copy of The Raven Boys. I want to read it before the end of the year and see what all this hype is about!

My True Love Gave to Me, edited by Stephanie Perkins: I own quite a few short story collections, but I don't think I read enough of them at all. I don't own this one yet, but I think I might treat myself to a copy of it nearer Christmas for some festive fun!

Which books made your top ten?

My Underhyped Books!

As some of you may know this week is the Underhyped Read-A-Thon. I am sort of taking part in this read-a-thon (I say 'sort of' because, sadly, I have too much work to do to commit to an entire week of non-stop reading) and I decided to only read books with less than 1,000 ratings on Goodreads.

I thought there wouldn't be that many, but it turns out I own quite a lot of book with less than 1,000 ratings and it makes me sad that so many books aren't getting a lot of attention. There could be a book out there you might love, you've just never come across it before!

So today, I thought I'd share with you a list of just some of the books I own with less than 1,000 ratings on Goodreads. I'm going to give you nothing but the title, the author, the number of ratings and a link to the Goodreads page, then if there are any titles which catch your eye you can go and look it up and perhaps discover a new book.

• After Flodden by Rosemary Goring (28 ratings)
• Burn Mark by Laura Powell (808 ratings)
• Devoured by D. E. Meredith (246 ratings)
• The Gallows Curse by Karen Maitland (824 ratings)
• The Lady's Slipper by Deborah Swift (448 ratings)
• The Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower (238 ratings)
• The Resurrectionist by James Bradley (919 ratings)
• The River Midnight by Lilian Nattel (437 ratings)
• The Salem Witch Society by K.N. Shields (231 ratings)
• The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan (490 ratings)
• The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer (803 ratings)
• Tower of the King's Daughter by Chaz Brenchley (190 ratings)
• Vivian Versus the Apocalypse by Katie Coyle (353 ratings)
• White Star by Robin Llywelyn (9 ratings)
• Witches: A Tale of Scandal, Sorcery and Seduction by Tracy Borman (22 ratings)
• Witchstruck by Victoria Lamb (622 ratings)
• The Yorkshire Pudding Club by Milly Johnson (739 ratings)

Happy reading!

J.