It Started With a Tweet, by Anna Bell

Format: e-ARC, 416 pages

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre

Published: 28 December 2017

ISBN: 9781785763694

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction

Back cover blurb: Could YOU survive a digital detox? 

Perfect for fans of Lucy Diamond and Sophie Kinsella, It Started With A Tweet is the hilarious new romantic comedy from the author of The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart.

Daisy Hobson lives her whole life online. But when her social media obsession causes her to make a catastrophic mistake at work, Daisy finds her life going into free-fall . . .

Her sister Rosie thinks she has the answer to all of Daisy’s problems – a digital detox in a remote cottage in Cumbria. Soon, too, Daisy meets a welcome distraction there in Jack, the rugged man-next-door.

But can Daisy, a London girl, ever really settle into life in a tiny, isolated village?

And, more importantly, can she survive without her phone?

My review: Started off hilariously and ended with quite a serious message about how we are all losing personal connections because of our smartphone addictions. It was easy to relate to Daisy as she made her massive faux pas and was then bustled off to the country by her sister for a digital detox. The characters were realistic, there was so much humour, and I absolutely loved the little letters shared between Daisy and Jack. I was also glad to see a certain character being taken down a peg in the end, too. Great story, and I will certainly be checking out Anna Bell’s other titles.

***Disclaimer: This e-ARC was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to them. ***

My rating: 4/5

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The Governess Affair, by Courtney Milan

Format: Kindle Edition

Published: April 22, 2012

Publisher: Courtney Milan

Back cover blurb:

She will not give up…

Three months ago, governess Serena Barton was let go from her position. Unable to find new work, she’s demanding compensation from the man who got her sacked: a petty, selfish, swinish duke. But it’s not the duke she fears. It’s his merciless man of business—the man known as the Wolf of Clermont. The formidable former pugilist has a black reputation for handling all the duke’s dirty business, and when the duke turns her case over to him, she doesn’t stand a chance. But she can’t stop trying—not with her entire future at stake.

He cannot give in…

Hugo Marshall is a man of ruthless ambition—a characteristic that has served him well, elevating the coal miner’s son to the right hand man of a duke. When his employer orders him to get rid of the pestering governess by fair means or foul, it’s just another day at the office. Unfortunately, fair means don’t work on Serena, and as he comes to know her, he discovers that he can’t bear to use foul ones. But everything he has worked for depends upon seeing her gone. He’ll have to choose between the life that he needs, and the woman he is coming to love…

My review:

Courtney Milan is fast becoming a favourite with me. First of all, her covers are gorgeous, but more than that, she can write in such a way to make you fall for even the most vilest of scoundrels.

Hugo Marshall is a coalminer’s son who is the Duke of Claremont’s “fixer” – he makes things go away – but when he is confronted by Serena Barton, a governess who was raped and left pregnant by the duke, he finds she is not so easy to pay off and dismiss.

I loved Serena and her stubborn persistence, and the way in which Hugo eventually gets her to reveal her story to him. She gets under his skin to the point where he cannot just leave her and her child to rot. Oh, the meeting in his office, and the game with the pins… *sigh*… and the letters! Milan really had me with the letters.

I couldn’t put this down, and cursed when I had finished and realised the next book isn’t out yet. The series seems to pick up next with the duke’s (legitimate) son, Robert, but I seriously hope we go back to find out what happens to Serena’s sister, Freddy. If anyone needs to get laid it’s her.

My rating: 5/5

Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell

Format: Kindle Edition, 336 pages

Published: April 14, 2011

Publisher: Orion

Back cover blurb:

It’s 1999 and for the staff of one newspaper office, the internet is still a novelty. By day, two young women, Beth and Jennifer, spend their hours emailing each other, discussing in hilarious detail every aspect of their lives, from love troubles to family dramas. And by night, Lincoln, a shy, lonely IT guy spends his hours reading every exchange.

At first their emails offer a welcome diversion, but as Lincoln unwittingly becomes drawn into their lives, the more he reads, the more he finds himself falling for one of them. By the time Lincoln realizes just how head-over-heels he really is, it’s way too late to introduce himself. What would he say to her? ‘Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail – and also, I think I love you’.

After a series of close encounters, Lincoln decides it’s time to muster the courage to follow his heart . . . and find out whether there really is such a thing as love before first-sight.

Heartwarming, witty and unforgettable, ATTACHMENTS is an irresistible romantic comedy that has it all.

My review:

Some of my favourite stories are those where people fall in love via letters, where their words mean everything and they gradually reveal their personalities and feelings without taking any notice of physical appearances. So when I saw the blurb for this book I knew it was for me, and add in the newsroom setting and I was hooked.

Firstly, I must say I have worked in newsrooms with plenty of skeevy IT guys before, so it sent a shudder down my spine to find out Lincoln’s job involved reading intraoffice e-mails. However, he turns out to be a lovely, geeky guy working lonely nightshifts who becomes somewhat addicted to the correspondence between movie reviewer Beth and copy editor Jennifer which gets flagged by the office software for containing inappropriate words. In fact they are just discussing their lives – their partners, Beth’s sister’s wedding, Jennifer’s suspected pregnancy – and Lincoln decides not to reprimand them. Instead he keeps reading, and over several months comes to fall in love with Beth. Without ever having seen her.

Meanwhile, she has seen him, although she doesn’t know his name or what he does at the newspaper. When she tells Jennifer about the cute guy, and Lincoln eventually realises she’s writing about him, he dares to hope… *sigh*

I loved the way Lincoln came out of his shell as the book progressed. He made friends on nightshift, joined a gym, and all the while I was rooting for him to pluck up the courage to talk to Beth. There is tragedy, many laugh-out-loud moments, lots of pop culture references, and journalism in-jokes. Rowell is a reporter, so she gets all the newsroom eccentricities spot on and I recognised many of the colourful secondary characters from my own experiences. I also laughed out loud reminiscing at the Y2K subplot; like many I know, the newspaper was reluctant to change to computers and allegedly only got rid of its electric typewriters in 1992. At the newsroom I worked in in 1992, we only just got electric typewriters that year!

I loved this book. It’s so me I wish I had written it.

My rating: 5/5