The Outsider by Jason Dean

Synopsis

Jason Strickland and his son are in witness protection, and have seven days before he testifies. He is being protected by US Marshal Angela Delaney, and she suspects a inside leak so seeks outside help from a old friend. James Bishop is a former marine, experienced in working protection but he never expected to see Angela again. However when he meets Strickland and his son, he immediately agrees to protect them. 

It's fast moving, and full of exciting set pieces. Dean clearly has the knack of creating twists and turns in thrillers, and also makes the characters believable and likable. It's necessary to make the lead character in this kind of story, empathetic but capable of great violence when they need to be, and Dean manages to make Bishop into a character that I could actually like a lot. 

Dean also creates a friendship between Clea, a character that helps Bishop and Strickland get quite far along in their mission and the two men. This is despite the fact that the relationship begins because Bishop pulls a gun on her. It's refreshing that the relationship between her and Bishop doesn't tip over into romance as well. 

Barney, Strickland's son is very composed despite all the things that he is put through over the course of the novel. He manages to keep a level head even after being kidnapped, and losing his mother, despite the fact that he is still a teenager. 

If you enjoy action packed stories with a lot of twists and turns, then this is definitely one to consider. 

Authors beginning with the letter H

A night in with Grace Kelly by Lucy Holliday

Synopsis

Libby Lomax has realised that her best friend Olly is the one for her, but he's happy and in love with Tash. Another conflict is the fact that she is trying to make her own business work, and making a bad first impression on her financial backer. Fortunately Libby meets Joel in a accidental meeting straight out of a romantic comedy. Soon afterwards Grace Kelly appears, and tries to help Libby see that happy endings aren't just for fairy tales. 

This is the last one in the trilogy that Holliday created to feature Libby. I read the first one in which Libby meets Audrey Hepburn and thoroughly enjoyed it. Libby is a avid film fan who grew up idolising the stars of Hollywood's golden years through her father. Holliday's version of Grace Kelly is initially reluctant to accept the idea of Libby being real, and persists in thinking of Libby as a figment of her own imagination. 

Libby is still surrounded by distinct and endearing characters such as Bogdan- the aspiring hairdresser who mixes up his idioms regularly. Nora- the always supportive best friend. Her sister and mother who focus on their own lives rather than Libby. Her mother has traits similar to Mrs Bennet from Austen's Pride and Prejudice, in that she wants her children to achieve big things, and form a attachment preferably with a wealthy man. 

Holliday made Libby into a very supportive and loving character in the first book, prone to putting others before herself, and keeps that trait intact in this one. Libby is there for her ex boyfriend Dillon, a relapsing alcoholic. He made a appearance in the first book, and was the obstacle between Olly and Libby, as he was her main love interest then. 

It's a lighthearted and well written novel, with a unusual secondary character in Grace Kelly. Holliday's Grace is unsure of whether she truly wants to be married to Prince Rainer, and has had a relationship with Cary Grant. I don't know if Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe interacted very much in reality, but Holliday has them banding together to save Libby's life, and also giving their own take on what is important in romantic relationships. 

I really enjoyed this one, and will be seeking out the second one so that I can fill in the gaps in Libby's story seeing as Holliday currently doesn't intend to write further adventures for her and Olly. 

Authors beginning with the letter L

Hidden Killers by Lynda La Plante

Synopsis

Jane Tennison is promoted from WPC to DC and joins Bow Street station, the move makes her conflicted. She doubts the way that her colleagues investigate crimes and deal with suspects. 

La Plante's Tennison has been a byword for strong female character within crime drama for years, and La Plante shows that strength even though this novel is set in Tennison's early career. I was glad of that, enjoying seeing such a strong and determined woman holding her own against men who typify 1970's views within the police force. 

It follows on from the first prequel, simply entitled Tennison, and some of the characters are referenced here. Jane is still coming to terms with the events of the end of Tennison, and interacts with other members of the team who are dealing with the same things. It's touching to see that she still values Kath in particular, but that she hasn't sunk under the weight of her emotions. Her family life has progressed as well, as her sister has got married, and there is a pregnancy within the course of the novel. 

I always enjoy La Plante's writing style, and the action does zip along swiftly. It's a well crafted detective story with plenty of twists and turns, and I will be very interested to see if she does another prequel. 

Review of I take you by Eliza Kennedy

Synopsis

Lily Wilder is a New York based lawyer who is planning her wedding to Will: a museum director. She loves him but finds monogamy a real challenge. 

Kennedy writes from Lily's 1st person point of view allowing the reader to get right into Lily's head from the first page. She's created a acerbic, funny and intelligent character who has a very complex family life. Her father has the same inability to settle down in a long term relationship with one woman, and the first three of his wives are attending Lily's wedding. The three women have developed a close friendship, despite the fact that they met because of Lily's dad's philandering. 

There are some distinctive and memorable characters. Ana: one of Lily's stepmothers is a congresswoman from California with a raucous laugh and is only five foot tall. Jane: another of her stepmothers is elegant and well groomed, as well as being very cultured. Freddie: Lily's best friend is a bisexual who has been engaged three times and has a high sex drive. 

Lily's kept a lot of her past hidden from Will and slowly it comes out through her interactions with those she left behind. She hasn't returned to her hometown in nearly thirteen years. Kennedy dripfeeds what might have been the reason that Lily has avoided Key West for so long, slowly allowing the reader to get to know who Lily is at the present point in the story. 

It is a very funny take on the genre, with a lead character who is rightly unapologetic about the fact that she likes to have sex. There are slight similarities with Bridget Jones, in that the main thrust of the story is about a thirty something and her relationships, with friends, family and romantic partners. Although for me Lily is more akin to Samantha from Sex and the city, even though Lily does ultimately find that she wants a long term future with Will. 

Kennedy is a honest and witty writer, creating believable, flawed but likable characters, and subverting some of the cliches of this genre. 

Here Comes Trouble by Simon Wroe

Synopsis
Ellis Dau has spent his childhood dreaming of London, New York and Ashford in Kent, from his home in Kyrzbekistan. When he's expelled from school, his father takes him to work with him at the Chronicle, the last remnant of free speech in the highly repressive country. As Ellis starts to fall in love, with the local oligarch's daughter, he grows to learn that some things are worth fighting for.

It's a relief to see that Wroe's ability to reveal the eccentricities in his characters has not lessened in his second book. Ellis starts off the novel as a very mixed up sixteen year old, and I recognised his melodramatic tendencies from my own teenage years, as Ellis thinks of his grounding as being a prisoner, telling his mother 'this is a gross injustice'.

His father Cornelius possesses some unique traits such as standing on his head every morning for ten minutes, and is a mystery for Ellis. I like the fact that Wroe includes this detail, as many teenagers have no idea why their parents behave the way that they do, and it's endearing that Ellis 'would put on his father's spare town shoes and walk about' in a attempt to understand his father, as well as absorbing 'the serious adult power he imagined lay within'. It's only when Cornelius takes Ellis to work with him, that Ellis sees something more to his father than the very taciturn and quiet man that Cornelius is at home. Wroe's way of describing the difference is memorable as well 'the dry riverbed of conversation became a raging torrent'.

Wroe divides the book into three sections, First Glimpses, Cuts and These words are forbidden. First Glimpses ends with Ellis realising that his father can't solve everything, and that he had only ever been 'the small, the neutral'. Cuts is about Ellis becoming stronger, and learning to care about freedom of speech for his fellow countrymen, however I think it's the arrest of his mother that truly tips him over into action.

Wroe's ability to paint graphic pictures for the reader comes out again, and inevitably there are violent sections of the novel, given that there are a group calling themselves the Horsemen who seek to oppress wide swathes of the Kyrzbekistan people.

Each of the characters Wroe creates within the novel are flawed, but those that Ellis is interacting with regularly, seem to have a shared tendency to stand up against oppression regardless of the personal consequences. Joan, Ellis's love interest is brave from the outset reacting with 'deep reverential boredom' to Grotz, the leader of the Horsemen. Cornelius tells Grotz that they are 'thugs' even after the Chronicle has been trashed.

However dark the events of the book get, Wroe has created patches of lightness as well. He creates situations for Ellis to get into, such as trying to get into a nightclub, and making up his own game of 'body bowling', which are very funny.

This book confirms my opinion of Wroe as a incredibly gifted writer with a keen eye for the quirks and silliness that can exist in human nature. I will be keeping a look out for whatever he does next.

The Liar’s Chair by Rebecca Whitney

Rebecca Whitney has managed to craft a detailed portrait of a highly dysfunctional central romance in the middle of her debut novel. It’s a psychological thriller about a woman named Rachel who is trapped in a very controlling marriage with David. She has been conducting a long term affair when the novel opens, and happens to be returning from a assignation with her lover when she accidentally runs over a local homeless man.

The novel alternates between Rachel’s past and her present at regular intervals without losing the pace of the initial mystery. It’s a impressive feat especially as it’s Whitney’s first full length novel. However it’s not a novel that you can approach without full concentration, as it would be very difficult to fully understand the many twists and turns in the story if you’re not really focused.

The sections when Whitney reveals the depth of the dysfunction and cruelty which exists in Rachel’s marriage can be a little hard to take. The David character is cold, and subjects Rachel to physical violence and emotional cruelty which I found difficult to read about. There is a part about him leaving her locked up with his two pet dogs, and no real human sustenance. Whitney writes wholly from Rachel’s perspective, and maintains Rachel’s characteristics throughout, there didn’t seem to be anything in her reactions which seemed to be wildly out of character.

However Rachel isn’t a character that I could truly connect with, as the situations that she finds herself in, are wholly out of my sphere of experience. I did want to see her escape from the abusive marriage, but found her decisions to be a little unusual, as she tried to get away.

It’s a tribute to Whitney’s high standard of writing prowess that I found myself reading to the very end, and I even want to see what the second novel will be like. She is working on another psychological thriller, according to the author’s details.

Favourite Reality Stars (in no particular order) number 13

Marcel Somerville

Love Island

He was definitely the nicest and most straightforward man in the group of first five men to enter the villa. He stands out in the midst of stereotypical reality show contestants, as he's very respectful of women from the start, and is clearly very emotionally intelligent. He offers constructive and thoughtful relationship advice to everyone else that needs it, to the extent that Iain Stirling's voiceover regularly refers to him as 'Dr Marcel'. Jonny's Dilemma | Love Island. 

He was responsible for some of the most heartwarming, and romantic speeches I've ever seen on Love Island, the first of which was when he reassured Gabby about her physical attractiveness, Marcel comforts Gabby and lets slip those three special words. 

The two relationships that he has with the female islanders, that seem to be the strongest, are Gabby Allen, and Camilla Thurlow. The friendship which has sprung up between Marcel and Camilla, is sweet, and seems to be absolutely sincere despite their apparent differences in background. There have been several lovely moments between the two of them throughout the seven weeks, such as him giving her a piggyback to bed, and him giving her advice about how to push things forward with Jonny. Camilla Needs Advice | Love Island. 

I was really glad that he and Gabby made it to the final, and it seems clear that their relationship is going to be one of the few reality romances that continues after the show. 

Writing Sample 1

Sitting in the backseat, Jason shifted uneasily, the cool metal of the handcuffs biting into the skin of his wrists. He was all too aware of the police officer's stare, as the man's slate grey eyes swept over his face through the rear view mirror.
He was well used to people staring though, after the last eighteen months. First had come the pitying looks as the relationship between Kate and Adam became public knowledge on the campus, and then... He shook away the bad memories, and then realised that the police officer was talking "So you must be innocent,"
"What makes you say that?" the manners his parents had instilled in him, hadn't waned even though everything else from the past was gone.
"I've had loads of prisoners in my car. Right about now is when they all start saying 'I didn't do it.' 'I'm innocent'."
He struggled to hold back the snort of derision. "Well you ain't gonna hear that from me," The stream of traffic heading back into the city, caught his attention when three police cars with their sirens blaring, sped past on the other side of the reservation.
The police officer carried on talking over the splutterings from his radio, and he forced himself to listen. He didn't really care but it did distract him from his darker thoughts.
“Stop!!” Jason shouted, when he spotted the white clad figure swaying in the middle of the road, just ahead of their car.
            The police officer let out a curse, pulling the steering wheel as hard as he could to the left. The car skewed across the outer lane, plunging down the grassy verge and crashed into a thick tree.
            Jason lost consciousness, when his body was jolted into the back of the police officer’s seat, his head colliding with the head rest at a tremendous pace.
            The last thing he saw before everything turned black, was Kate’s bright eyes shining with love, like she had looked, the day after their wedding.
Jason strode into Salmon Enterprises with a broad smile on his face. “Good morning Stacey,” the receptionist looked astounded to see him there so early.
            “Morning sir,” her face lit up in a beaming smile. “I thought that you were taking the day off.”
            “I have an urgent meeting with Miss Reed, show her up the moment that she gets here would you?”
            “Of course sir,” he grabbed one of the mints sitting in the bowl on the desk, and popped it in his mouth, before he moved to the elevator. The memories of the previous night flooded through him, the way her lips felt against his, the touch of her hand, the smell of her hair, the way it had felt to have somebody backing him up, an equal who was just as fearless as he was. It had been years since he had felt that good, and that content within his own skin.
            The good feeling ebbed away when the doors slid open into his pent house office and he saw that Marcus Miller was waiting for him. “I know that the Millers have a very loose sense of business ethnics but I didn’t think even you would stoop to breaking and entering.” Jason circled the desk to stand behind it, he was unwilling to concede control to Marcus anywhere but especially in his own office.
            “The secretary let me in, she was very friendly and obliging,” a hint of sarcastic pleasure crept into his tone as he surveyed the younger man.
            Jason was relieved when the phone sprang into life, and the receptionist said “Mr Salmon, Miss Reed is here,”
            “Let her come up,” he tried to hide his delight, as he knew that Marcus would probably use the fledging relationship against him in a attempt to score some kind of advantage. The Millers had hated the Salmons for generations, but it had sunk to new depths of loathing when Jason was a toddler.
            The door opened and Kate walked through. She looked fresh faced and completely rejuvenated despite their very late night, and had changed into a pair of faded jeans and a bright yellow vest under a fitted jacket. “Kat! I didn’t realise that you were back in town,”
            Kate smiled back as she hugged the older man “I got back last week. I’ve left a couple of messages for Adam but he must be busy. I’ve not heard back. How is he?”
            “Oh he’s fine. He’s having a costume party on Halloween. You should come, I know he’d be pleased to see you,” Marcus felt a tingle of pleasure as he looked at Jason. The younger man couldn’t hide his disbelief and confusion at Kate’s evident connection with the Millers.
            “That sounds great. I have a few ideas of costumes Jason and I could wear,” Kate also glanced at Jason, reaching out to take his hand. The touch of her skin against his own, drove away some of the lingering anger he held towards Miller. He had never really understood how she managed to do that, calm him down with just one touch, but it had been something that he had felt since the first time she held his hand.
            “I will see you there then,” Marcus picked up his briefcase, and exited after pressing a soft kiss against Kate’s forehead.
            “How do you know the Millers?” Jason let go of Kate’s hand, the moment that he heard the lift descending.
Kate’s hand came to rest at the base of his spine, hearing the angry tone to his voice. “Marcus was a college friend of my dad’s. Adam and I were kind of brought up together, a lot of shared family holidays.” She replied.
“So there was never anything…”
“Romantic?” she laughed at the idea “You’ve met Adam right? Besides I’m not the type to cheat on my husband,” Jason couldn’t hold back the smile, as he saw the thin band decorating her left hand.
He leaned down to kiss her, breathing out “I can’t believe that Miller didn’t notice my ring,” against her soft lips.
“Do you really want to talk about him?” she slipped her deft fingers into the belt loops of his pants, pulling him tighter against her. The warmth of her lithe frame sank into him, through the thin cotton of his shirt and he was unable to stop the moan from escaping. “We could continue where we left off this morning…” her lips brushed against the skin of his jaw, and he was powerless to resist the longing she had managed to inspire within him.
One of his hands slipped to the buzzer connecting his office with his secretary’s. “Mr Salmon?”
“Hold my calls for the next two hours,” he managed to say, while Kate’s nimble fingers unfastened his shirt, giving her access to the expanse of his chest.
“Yes sir,”
Jason’s eyes flickered open, and he had to suck in a breath to suppress the pain surging through his head. Blood trickled into his eyes, making it hard for him to see. “Officer?” there was no response from the front seat, and then he heard the sound of gunshots echoing outside the car.
Acting on autopilot, he kicked out at the window of the police car. It took several moments before the glass shattered, enough for him to be able to crawl free. The thick grass was soft against his knees, but he still landed with a thump. The impact sent shockwaves vibrating through his spine, and he barely managed to regain his balance. Stumbling along, the blood from the wound at his crown, dripped onto his hands.
The sight of the crimson droplets sent his brain skittering back to the night of the Halloween party.
“Jason! Are you coming?” Kate’s voice came through the open door of their bedroom, and he readjusted the sash of his costume with a frown.
“Do we really have to?”
“Yes.” Her voice was firm but tinged with laughter, and he peered around the jamb of the bathroom door. The sight that met his eyes didn’t exactly make him want to leave the flat, and head to Adam Miller’s party. Kate wore a sheer cream outfit, the top was short enough to expose a wide expanse of toned stomach muscles to his eyes, and the trousers revealed her slender legs through the diaphanous fabric. She leaned over, finishing off her eye makeup, the thick line of kohl making her deep blue eyes stand out even more in her heart shaped face.
He caught hold of her hand as she reached out for the veil which sat on her bedside table, “Are you sure that we have to go? We could have fun all on our own,” his other hand caressed the skin of her back, but the look in his eyes leaving her with no doubt what kind of fun her husband was offering.
“We’ve had fun all on our own for the last ten weeks,” she wasn’t opposed to further exploration of Jason’s seemingly insatiable taste for her, but she did want to feel like she was still connected to the world. “It’s time to act like a ordinary couple once again.” She placed the slippers she had brought on her feet, using Jason as a balancing post. “It’s only a couple of hours, that you have to put up with Adam, and the party will probably be so packed you won’t even see him,”
“Promise?” he caught hold of her around the waist, pulling her closer as she straightened up once more.
“I promise.” She pressed a kiss to his nose, just as her phone vibrated. “That’s the taxi.”

They had only been at the party for twenty minutes, before Kate was engulfed by old friends, all eager to catch up with her. “Do you mind?” the look in her eyes, made him say no, even though he wished that she would stay at his side. He didn’t see anyone else that he wanted to talk to, but allowed his wife’s friends to pull her to the other side of the room.
Sighing Jason wound his way through the milling crowds, making his way to the makeshift bar. “Double whiskey,” he ordered from the bartender, a pretty redhead. She brought the drink over within seconds, despite the fact that several people had been waiting longer than he had.
“Something bothering ya?”
“No. I’m just not good with crowds,” sipping at his drink, he turned back to watch the dance floor, laughing when he spotted Kate. His wife was luminous, her features shining with the love of life that had attracted him instantly to her. She danced, alongside the gaggle of girlfriends that had commandeered her, all of them singing along to the pop song currently playing.
Her smile widened even further when they locked eyes, and she gestured for him to join them. The lack of confidence he had in his dancing ability was not shared by Adam. Jason’s fists clenched, when he saw the other man shimmying between Kate and one of her friends, Adam’s hand coming to rest proprietarily on her hip.
The sight of another man, let alone Adam touching Kate in such a way made Jason set the glass down on the bar. He was in motion almost before he knew what he was doing, reaching them within a minute. “Miller.” Kate shifted away from Adam’s fingers, leaning against her husband’s frame with a relieved sigh.
“Salmon.” Adam returned the curt greeting, “I didn’t think you were here,”
“I told you he was at the bar,” Kate interjected before Jason could snarl something back. “He was just getting us some drinks, right Jase?”
“Yeah, they’re waiting back at the bar,” his fingers tightened around hers, needing the calming effect as Adam’s smug smile didn’t ease. “Are you coming?” she nodded, letting him lead the way through the crowds in that direction.
“I’ll see you later Kate,” Adam called out, before they had gone more than a few steps. “Nice to see that you still fit into the costume I brought you,”
“What?” Jason stopped dead at those words.
“She didn’t tell you? I brought her that for her twenty first, when we were dating,”
“You and Kate were never dating Adam.” Julie broke in before Kate could recover her composure. “I was there remember? You were trying to get into her knickers but she wasn’t interested. Even after all the expensive stuff you gave her.”
“That’s not true.” Adam grabbed hold of Kate’s arm as she started to move again. The impact of his fingers against her skin made her wince, the look of pain on her features springing a protective urge to life within Jason. Without thinking, he balled up one fist, letting loose a blow to Adam’s nose that sent Adam falling backwards.


Copyright Emily Morris 2017

Authors beginning with the letter B

Image credited to Amazon.co.uk

Crazy is my superpower

AJ Mendez Brooks

I was a great admirer of AJ during her time in the WWE, as her character was a lot of fun to watch, and she was incredibly impressive within the ring. I was interested to learn more about her background, when I discovered the book, to see what had shaped her into the determined figure she seemed to be within the WWE Divas.

The first thing I loved about the way that the book was written was that it was very honest, with a dry wit running throughout. The details about her family background, particularly the section about her father nearly dropping a television set on her mother during a intense fight and then smashing it against a wall because AJ defended her, are dealt with candidly. Her father and mother clearly have had their own difficulties, but I never got the impression that AJ ever feels much anger towards them, for her unconventional childhood. The family evidently moved quite a lot, and there is a very affectionate portrait of the time that she lived with her grandparents on their farm. I loved a anecdote about her grandmother dealing with a rooster that they owned when it went to an neighbouring farm, and telling her 'You never betray a Mendez woman'.

AJ seemingly has always agreed with her father's idea of how to deal with people, adopting his philosophy 'Life is like a wheel. Some days you're on top and some days you're on bottom. What's the fucking difference?'. It's shown particularly when she relates the days she worked as a checkout girl, and allowed at least one elderly couple to use expired vouchers to buy essential items.

It was interesting to learn a little more about the WWE, and she talks about how protective some of the wrestlers were about her. In one ancedote Mark Henry lifted a crew guy off his feet, when the man was ogling AJ in the middle of stretching in preparation for a match. Beth Phoenix was evidently supportive as well, as AJ relates a behind the scenes conversation she heard Beth having with the Head of Talent Relations, telling him 'That was just her 3rd match in one night, and they were all great matches. I hope I'm not the only one who noticed that.' It was also touching to see exactly how close she really was with Kaitlyn, I had realised that they were genuine friends from AJ's reaction to Kaitlyn winning NXT season 3.

AJ ultimately comes across as a highly relatable woman, who has managed to deal with various difficulties in her early life with humour, grace and determination. I admire her even more than I did, when I just knew her as the WWE wrestler. The book deals with serious and evidently life shaping events and issues, with a light humorous writing style. There are various laugh out moments, and she is definitely a writer I would read again.

Favourite Comedians (in no particular order) number 1

Johnny Vegas aka Michael Joseph Pennington

I'm a long standing fan of Johnny Vegas, he's just so normal in his delivery. It's like listening to a drunken uncle with a keen wit. A favourite clip of him performing is the one on the Last Leg, when he's disrupting the filming. There's something very intelligent about the way that he chooses to frame the gags though. It's angry ranting to some, but I find it hilarious to watch. 

I'm not sure how much of Michael Pennington's character was what drove the interactions with the British athletes during the Rio Olympics, but it was still endearing to see him so excited by the success of the incredible sportspeople. This Is What Johnny Vegas Said to Gold Medal Winner Will Bayley | The Last Leg


Johnny Vegas Messing With Adam, Alex & Josh - The Last Leg (Outtakes)


Johnny Vegas' funny response to John Lydon's heckle Uploaded by VHS Music Memories

Johnny Vegas Christmas rant - Shooting Stars - BBC comedy

Nutbush City Limits by Tina Turner

Image credited to Wikipedia

This song is energising to listen to, and no matter which version I listen to, there's a raw power in the delivery that is exciting. 

Tina Turner is obviously the one most people are familiar with, when it comes to this song, but there have been several women that have put their own slant on it. Each one combines powerful vocals, and energetic dance moves, in a nod to Tina's version. 

My personal favourite cover of the song is Courtney, a 12 year old who auditioned on Voice Kids with it. She combines a powerful and raspy voice with dance moves she's copied from James Brown, and is extraordinary. 

Here are a few of the different versions, I've come across. 

Tina live in 1970

12 year old absolutely smashes the song

Beth Morris from The Voice UK

Santana from Glee

Authors beginning with the letter F

Image credited to Amazon.uk

Sunshine on a rainy day

Bryony Fraser

Synopsis

Zoe and Jack have only been married for a year, but announce their divorce at the party amongst family. Zoe receives the counselling of her three sisters, and Jack's best friend attempts to help him through it.

This book has a different slant on relationships to others in this genre, and it drew me in for that reason. Fraser opts to show both Zoe and Jack's perspective on their relationship, which was a little confusing at the start, but was easier to follow when I got used to their differing voices. She also gives us snapshots of different time periods in Zoe and Jack's relationship, such as seven years before the marriage, in a non linear manner not unlike Quentin Tarantino's earlier films. Although there's very little of the violence and explicit language he employs.

It also reminded me a little of the plot of a Vince Vaughan and Jennifer Aniston movie, as that movie's plot centred on a couple breaking up, but unwilling to move out of their shared home. Zoe and Jack both refuse to be the one to search for a new place to live, and are reduced to making a weekly rota for their bed. The supporting characters such as Benni, Zoe's boss and Chuck, her sister's current boss to name but two, all have a different slant on what they want from a romantic partner.

The history between Zoe and Chuck is evident throughout the novel, but Fraser allows the truth of the past unhealthy relationship to unfold slowly in the background. Fraser writes Zoe as being a woman influenced but not overwhelmed by her former relationship, which made her a endearing and likable character.

It's a lighthearted and less predictable addition to the 'chick lit' genre, and definitely worth packing for holiday reading.

My favourite fictional friendships

Laurel Lance and Felicity Smoak

Arrow

Katie Cassidy and Emily Bett Rickards

I really liked Laurel during the first season, and still find her a fascinating character. I know that there are constant wars between some Laurel fans and Felicity fans, but I think that there are more similarities than differences in the two.

Wait! Hear me out.

When we first meet Laurel, she's buried herself in her work, her determination to help others leading her to take on the corrupt regardless of the financial complications. She's clearly very intelligent, seeing as she has managed to become a lawyer. She has a defensive streak, protecting herself by maintaining a distance from others, due to something painful in her past. She is working for a pro bono lawyer firm, when she could potentially be earning a good deal of money. 

Felicity's introduced a couple of episodes later, but she has also buried herself in her work. She's doing something below her intelligence and ability level, just like Laurel. She clearly doesn't like being underestimated, letting loose when Walter calls her into his office, her outrage mirrored by Laurel when Laurel defeats Max's thugs who are beating Oliver and Tommy. 

Admittedly it's not exactly the best start for their friendship when the two first meet on screen it's a blink and you miss it moment. Laurel meets Felicity. Felicity interrupts a conversation between Oliver and Laurel, and I don't think the two meet again until season two. 

It is not until season three when Laurel has been given the story line of becoming the Black Canary, that the two of them start developing a real friendship. I think it's because Sara, the one that Laurel has the strongest connection with, amongst the female characters, is killed off during the season three premiere. Both Felicity and Laurel spent a good deal of time with Sara, and Sara was the only female friend that we had seen Felicity have on screen, certainly during the second season. 

The writers needed to develop the friendship between Laurel and Felicity, especially given the fact that the two characters would be spending a lot of time together, as Laurel became a solid part of Team Arrow. 

The scene after Laurel has been fighting what she thinks is her sister, while hallucinating is a particularly touching one. Felicity comforts her, and gives her a new reason to wear the Black Canary mask. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cor9P_VLiRY


The friendship is cemented during the fourth season, and Laurel is a sounding board for both Oliver and Felicity about their romantic issues, after the exposure of Oliver's son, and Felicity's shooting by Damian Dhark. 

I enjoyed seeing Felicity and Laurel interact, as their relationship was different to the relationships between Nyssa and Laurel, as well as the one between Sara and Felicity. Those seemed to be more about Nyssa and Sara training the other girls, but Laurel and Felicity together alone supported each other in a different way. 

The actresses apparently enjoyed their scenes together as much as I enjoyed watching them, Emily Bett Rickards and Katie Cassidy at Paley Fest 2015

I'm not the only viewer who enjoyed their scenes together, as there are a number of fan videos featuring the pair. Here are a couple I found: 

Laurel and Felicity- Stand by You by jdmalone95

felicity & laurel | the nicest thing (3x13) by nedlovesyou

Spandex and the City by Jenny T Colgan

I've never read any of Colgan's novels before I don't think, but I was drawn to this one because of it's storyline. It's about a normal human woman who lives in a city that is protected by a superhero who possesses extraordinary powers. The two of them develop feelings for each other after he rescues her from a attempted mugging, and try to cope with the realities of pursuing a romantic relationship given their differing abilities, and the pressures of his chosen vocation.

I've watched a lot of superhero based tv shows and movies, and it's a common thread for the extraordinary hero to develop feelings for a human, but I don't think that I've seen it explored in written fiction. I'm sure that there are probably numerous examples in comic books, but I've never read all that many of them.

Colgan delivers a believable heroine in Holly Phillips, who has family issues and work troubles to deal with. I wanted her to be able to have the romance with Ultimate Man, and that her brother would be able to reconnect with her.

It's a relatively fast paced book, but at times can get confusing. I found the motivations of the villain to be a little hard to work out, and so found it hard to care about the stakes in that part. However Colgan has a fun and easy way of description, and a light hand when creating her characters.

If you're a fan of superheroes, and want something light and easy to read then you should give this one a try.

Authors beginning with the letter A

Little Women 

Louisa May Alcott

I recently reread this book, after a long time because it was selected as this month's title for the book club I'm part of. I had forgotten just how important it had been to me during my childhood, all of the characters struck some kind of chord with me, and I remember wishing that I could have a sister like Jo.

Jo was always the one that I felt the strongest connection with, being as she was the tomboyish writer. I wasn't ever a girly girl like Meg and Amy were drawn to be, and I definitely wasn't as selfless as Beth, although I was quiet and reserved about my emotions. The section in which Jo leaves home in pursuit of her writing ambitions was something that I wished that I could experience one day, as I sat scribbling short pieces of fiction in my bedroom.

I also related to the stormy relationship that Jo and Amy had throughout the novel, because my relationship with my brother in particular wasn't without it's tensions. Although thankfully he never burnt any of my writing, he did destroy a couple of my toys after I had done something to irritate him.

Alcott manages to create four distinct characters in the four sisters, who share a tight bond without a strong male influence for the majority of the novel. Her own father was absent for at least part of her childhood, not at war but in England trying to gain some financial independence back after a failed attempt to run his own school.

Alcott was evidently a staunch believer in the old adage that writers are supposed to work by namely 'write what you know', incorporating her own mother's ability to run the household without the influence of a man, her desire to write for a living, and the death of her sister Lizzie into the novel.

Lizzie is largely accepted to be the sister that Beth is based on. She was the shy and reserved sister who kept house while the elder Alcott girls were out at work. She contracted scarlet fever, battling it for two years before passing away.

Shortly after the death of Lizzie, another event happened that Alcott placed almost whole into the novel. Her sister Anna announced her engagement, and Alcott reportedly reacted in a similar way to Jo does, when Jo discovers that Meg is to marry John Brooke.

Alcott's ability to create endearing and realistic characters is part of the reason that I still enjoy reading the novel. I like spending time in the largely female dominated world of the March girls, and Alcott was one of the first writers that I read as a child, which showed me that I didn't have to necessarily always rely on a male partner in order to live a fully happy life.