Thursday, 28 March 2013
Brook Cottage Books is very excited to be part of the Fiction Addiction Book tour for Carol E. Wyer. You can find out more about the tour HERE .
Surfing in Stilettos is the follow up to Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines. However, saying that, Surfing in Stilettos can be read as a stand alone book. Having not previously read Mini Skirts and Laughter I did not have any difficulties at all getting into the story of Surfing in Stilettos.
Amanda and her super grumpy husband Phil are off on an adventure 'Gap Year' with Bertie the very unreliable camper van. The first leg of their journey starts off in France but Bertie has other ideas and breaks down. Amanda and Phil are forced to spend longer in France than they first intended. Amanda spends the time wondering if she will be able to stop herself from strangling Phil as he constantly complains, is poor company and seems downright miserable! Amanda is kept company via Skype with her very eccentric and totally bonkers mother Grace, whose philosophy of life is to live it to the full. Grace is a die-hard party animal who believes that one can never have too much fun, with age being no barrier!
Amanda and Phil leave their son Tom to house-sit, although they soon realise that this was a huge mistake and soon Phil leaves France to evict some uninvited house guests. Amanda decides to stay in France and soon meets the wonderful Bibi and they two become firm friends. But, Bibi has her own story and difficulties within her marriage that she endeavours to fix. However, Bibi's plan may backfire, having consequences for poor Amanda!
I have to say I absolutely adored this book! The characters were so entertaining and there were parts in the book that did make me laugh out loud. I loved them all! Grace is the sort of person I want to be when I am elderly! She is without doubt a Granny who rocks! I love that Amanda is unaware of the effect that she has on those around her. She really doesn't realise just how loved she is. Anytime I thought of Bibi I kept thinking of a very young Audrey Hepburn.
The story has a wonderful plot with keeps the reader interested and entertained. There are a few exciting plot twists that were not expected at all! I loved the fact that Amanda has a blog and shares her adventures with all her online friends. The central message throughout the book is that you are never too old for adventure, love, new direction in your life and a damn good time! I highly recommend this book! Its great fun and wonderfully entertaining. It is very well written, in a refreshing and humorous way and has that 'feel-good' factor that lots of books sadly lack.
As part of the Book Tour there are a series of great giveaways! The giveaway is for 3 x Handmade Belgium chocolates (stilettos and handbags), 2 x Scotch stiletto tape dispensers in pink, 1 x stiletto key ring and 3 x copies of Surfing in Stilettos. So, just what do you need to do to be in with a chance of winning? You lovely readers need to firstly Like Carol E Wyer’s FB page, Follow Carol on Twitter, Follow Carol’s blog Facing 50 with Humour and tweet/share one of the tour posts. This giveaway is for the whole tour and is open from 25th March until 6th April. Just click on the link below!
Author links:
Amazon UK Author Page
Amazon US Author Page
FeedARead (PAPERBACK VERSION ) Surfing In Stilettos
FeedARead (Paperback Version) Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines
Website
loveahappyending.com
Thornberry Publishing
Safkhet Publishing and How not to Murder your Grumpy
Blog
Goodreads
Member of Romantic Novelists Association
Want to know a little about the very talented Carol E Wyer?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After completing a degree in French and English, Carol E Wyer became a language teacher. She actually began her working life abroad, in Casablanca, Morocco, where she taught English as a Foreign Language in an American Language school. It was soon discovered that she could speak French rather well, and she became a translator and teacher to large organisations and companies such as ‘Regie de Tabac’, Morocco’s largest cigarette company, and the Mediterranean Shipping Company.
After a few years she was ‘head-hunted ‘to run the English as a Foreign Language department of a private school in the UK. (Imagine Hogwarts without the wizardry.) Carol taught English up to, and including ‘A’ Level, along with English as a Foreign Language. She also qualified to teach pupils with Dyslexia and became Head of English for Special Needs. In 1988, Carol set up her own language company called Language 2000 Ltd and worked in schools and for companies. She taught a variety of languages, including basic Japanese, to all ages and translated documents.
A recurrence of spinal difficulties that began when she was a teenager, forced her to give up teaching and choose a new direction. In order to deal with her health problems, Carol attended a fitness course (Premier), took the qualifications to become a fitness instructor and became a personal trainer. That led her to become a trainer for others, particularly for older people who, like herself, had undergone major surgery.
Thanks to older age, Carol now no longer trains people, but she is currently writing a series of novels, articles and books which takes a humorous look at getting older. It is her hope that they will educate through laughter and help others appreciate life.Carol has written several short stories over the years, including humorous books for children which served to teach them French. She was not able to fulfil her desire to be a full-time author until two years ago when her son flew from the nest, leaving his bedroom which Carol turned into her office.
Since then, she has written two novels, Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines and Surfing in Stilettos, both of which have enjoyed media attention and success, becoming best sellers and winning awards. Carol writes regularly for author websites and she has recently become a contributing author on a help guide entitled Tutorials and Tools for Prospering in a Digital Age.
I am genuinely blown away by this review. You have completely "got" my writing, story and characters. Thank you for making my morning so bright. X
Yay! Well done, Carol. FAB review, sweetie! Thanks for sharing, JB! :) xx
I very much enjoyed my visit to BCB and reading such a fabulous review. We could all do with a bit of 'feel good factor' in our lives. Thanks JB and thanks Carol. gx
Very insightful review JB. Loved reading it :)
Thanks for being a part of the tour x
Great review. I'm looking forward to reading this series.
Carol is a fabulous author - full of life and it comes across in all of her novels!