Secrets Of The Toffee Factory Girls by Glenda Young

Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls: The second in a heartwarming wartime trilogy about secrets, friendship, love and toffee . . . by Glenda Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 328

Publisher - Headline

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

As the Great War rages, Jack's toffee factory in the market town of Chester-le-Street, Durham, is threatened with closure when sugar rations begin.

Anne, who works for the owner Mr Jack, must choose between her heart and her head when Mr Jack declares his love for her. Not only might he have to sell the toffee factory if he breaks off his previous engagement, but he can never know the secret that Anne carries.

Elsie is forced to keep a secret when she risks her safety as well as her reputation in order to make ends meet.
And, for Hetty, a long-hidden family secret surfaces, threatening to tear Hetty's family apart. Her future with Dirk feels more fragile than ever.

Together the three toffee factory girls share laughter, sorrow and secrets, and support one another through the challenges ahead.


My Review

Book two of a trilogy (book one is The Toffee Factory Girls) - I absolutely recommend reading book 1 because it is good and you get your intro and back story to the characters. We mostly follow the three main who happen to be colleagues and friends, Hetty , Elsie and Anne. They came together and forged a friendship in book 1 and had many a drama there.

So where are we at now? Hetty, poor Hetty has never had it easy with her mother, she can be quite vicious and this book we finally get some insight into why the mother behaves as she does. Hetty we see a bit of a dramatic change in Hetty and she gets into scrapes along the way, some I found myself irritated noooooo, don't do that, why are you doing that? She finds herself in some dangerous and shocking scenarios. Anne, there has always been something between her and the boss, now with feelings being made clear Anne finds that not everyone is happy about it and it isn't just the effects of war causing issues.

We see the pressures and strains with the war, rationing not just on the families and money issues but of course the factory. With sugar rationing it puts the factories future in danger, jobs and that of course has huge impact of all the workers.

A lot of drama, issues, some violence and threats, relationships, family, secrets ooft a mixed bag. Whilst some attitudes and actions raise temper and emotions it is a book I easily found myself immersing in, 4/5 for me and I am very much looking forward to book 3.

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Worth Fighting For by Lisa Niemi Swayze

Worth Fighting For: Love, Loss, and Moving Forward by Lisa Niemi Swayze
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - as able over 4 days

Pages - 336

Publisher - Atria Books

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Wait a minute . . .
. . . there.

I made it to the next moment.

And that’s how you get through a bad moment of grief. You do it one moment at a time.

—from Worth Fighting For


My Review

This is Patrick Swayze's wife book about their time together, pre and post diagnosis, treatment and through his lie and when he passes on. Written almost in diary form, first person, some thoughts lifted and put in amongst the chapters. Each chapter has a photograph at the header. We learn about their relationship, married for over 30 years, how Lisa dealt with Hollywood/fame being mrs Swayze and the heartbreaking diagnosis and journey that followed.

You can tell this book has been a form of therapy, you can feel the emotion outpouring in some of the chapters. The parts dealing with the ins and outs, how Lisa got through each day being there for her husband, keeping on top of the treatments, keeping upbeat, being supportive and dealing with the press. The newspapers and how some people invaded their lives, the crass and disgusting behavior and blatant lies told to sell newspapers. Think of the person you love, dying, trying to keep positive, going through day to day and reading horrific lies, death predictions splashed all over the news. I really do feel for celebrities at times and their families, it is like people forget their are human, nothing is sacred and I felt so bad for Patrick's family and wife, especially at one point his poor wee mum. You can't even imagine trying to deal with a diagnosis like that and keep positive when lies and death speculation is spread all over the papers. Now it would be worse with online so popular and easily accessible.

I hope if nothing else this book makes people think about how exploited people can be all in the name of flogging some newspapers. I loved watching Patrick Swayze movies growing up, I remember being shocked to find out he sang She's Like The Wind - he has such a beautiful voice. I learned more about him as a person in this book and as with anyone, reading about anyone going through cancer - it is an emotive read. If you have lost someone to cancer or had someone diagnoses with it I think you will find some parts of the book hard hitting, if you haven't I think you will still find it an emotive read. 4/5 for me this time, after finishing this I find myself re watching some of the old movies - he was a fabulous actor (in my opinion) and from reading this book he seemed like a genuinely nice human being. I hope writing this brought his wife some peace, your heart goes out to anyone losing someone to cancer and these days it seems most of us have.

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The Girls by Lori Lansens

The Girls by Lori Lansens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - dipped in over the course of 1 week

Pages - 368

Publisher - Back Bay Books

Source - Pound shop

Blurb from Goodreads

Meet Rose and Ruby: sisters, best friends, confidantes, and conjoined twins. Since their birth, Rose and Ruby Darlen have been known simply as "the girls." They make friends, fall in love, have jobs, love their parents, and follow their dreams. But the Darlens are special. Now nearing their 30th birthday, they are history's oldest craniopagus twins, joined at the head by a spot the size of a bread plate.

When Rose, the bookish sister, sets out to write her autobiography, it inevitably becomes the story of her short but extraordinary life with Ruby, the beautiful one. From their awkward first steps--Ruby's arm curled around Rose's neck, her foreshortened legs wrapped around Rose's hips-- to the friendships they gradually build for themselves in the small town of Leaford, this is the profoundly affecting chronicle of an incomparable life journey.

As Rose and Ruby's story builds to an unforgettable conclusion, Lansens aims at the heart of human experience--the hardship of loss and struggles for independence, and the fundamental joy of simply living a life. This is a breath taking novel, one that no reader will soon forget, a heartrending story of love between sisters.



My Review

Rose and Ruby are twins, conjoined craniopagus twins and this is their life story. We are introduced to the girls then how they girls came to be with their aunt Lovey and uncle Stash. Told through their words, particularly Rose as she writes their autobiography, Ruby has some entries too. The girls take us through their life, experiences growing up, working, relationships, ideas and dreams.

This is a moving story of family, strength, love, acceptance and an opportunity to learn more about a condition we don't see very often, well I haven't. I found myself putting the book down to google cases and looking up true life cases of craniopagus, symptoms, statistics.

The bond between these two sisters and their family is beautiful, Lovey is a great character, compassionate, loyal, fierce and understanding, everyone needs an aunt Lovey. Emotive in some places, shocking, beautiful, certainly a different story, 3.5/5 for me, this is my first time reading this author, it won't be my last.

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Allison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine Roux

Allison Hewitt Is Trapped by Madeleine Roux
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days on and off

Pages - 340

Publisher - St. Martin's Griffin

Source - Amazon

Blurb from Goodreads

One woman's story as she blogs - and fights back - the zombie apocalypse"

Allison Hewitt and her five colleagues at the Brooks and Peabody Bookstore are trapped together when the zombie outbreak hits. Allison reaches out for help through her blog, writing on her laptop and utilizing the military's emergency wireless network (SNET). It may also be her only chance to reach her mother. But as the reality of their situation sinks in, Allison's blog becomes a harrowing account of her edge-of-the-seat adventures (with some witty sarcasm thrown in) as she and her companions fight their way through ravenous zombies and sometimes even more dangerous humans.



My Review

Azombie apocalypse with internet and blog entries capturing Allison Hewitt's struggle to survive and all the issues she faces. Working in a bookstore you are very limited in your options when a zombie apocalypse kicks off, that is what happens to Allison. However we follow her journey, with a handful of other survivors as they slowly adapt and try to stay alive. As living conditions worsening, time is dragging on, it is clear they need to move on to stay alive.

I really liked the kick off for this, the blog aspect was new for me, as you know have read more than a few zombie books. We go through many avenues of emotional reactions, meltdowns, personal growth and all updated with her blog and some comments from other survivors and their plights. We see how different folk react, the dangerous interactions with not just the zombies but other survivors. Love, loss, bravery, humanity both the good and bad and the strength of humans to prevail and keep going.

Whilst I did enjoy this I didn't like the abruptness of the end. As I was nearing the last few chapters I got a bit nervy of how it would wrap up. I am sure some loved it but I felt it should have been a good bit longer and more closure. There is another book after this one, I don't think it is any of the same characters though. I will buy it because I do love a zombie book and I did enjoy the authors writing style plus blog entries and a new spin on this genre, for me anyway. I just wish there had been more, sure they say a good author always leaves their audience wanting more, I would have just liked more closure, 3.5 stars out of 5 for me this time.

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Mary's The Name by Ross Sayers - Blog Tour

Welcoming Ross Sayers to So Many Books, So Little Time and today is my turn on the blog tour, apologises the post isn't as early as I had hoped, we ran into some internet gremlins but we are cooking with gas now. You can find my review for this lovely wee book HERE.






Ross very kindly took some time out to answer some questions about his new debut novel, Mary's The Name.

What made you pick Mary specifically as the protagonist, her age, being a girl etc?

I had been experimenting a lot with child narrators, working out what makes them believable. I wrote a lot of stories about young boys, so to get out my comfort zone, I chose a girl for the story I had in my mind at the time. Turned out the story had legs! I was quite nervous to show my early drafts to female readers, but thankfully, I seem to have picked a winner in Mary. Making her eight years old is helpful from a story point of view; she understands a good amount but isn’t quite clever enough to work out what’s really happening in some situations.

Why Scotland?

The more Scottish stories the better! They say write what you know, so I started the book in my hometown of Stirling. When it came to finding a more remote location for the rest of the book, I knew I wanted one of the islands. It really was a bit of a random pick, but I loved visiting Portree and hope to get back very soon.

How did the idea come about?

It was a case of the story coming to me bit by bit. Once I had Mary, I wanted a unique relationship for her, so her Granpa came into the story. Then I wanted an unlikely place for her to go, so I chose to have Granpa work at a bookies, where she goes to help. Once I decided on a robbery happening at the bookies, the rest of the story came from there…(no spoilers here!)

It was very well constructed, is this the first novel you have written?

That’s very kind, thank you! It is indeed. I have a story structure I like to use, to ensure the story is complete and satisfying. However, if an idea comes to me which disrupts the structure a little bit, I’m happy to go off-track and wing it!

Tinder, we have to talk about that, what made you come up with that idea?

So, having used Tinder before, I knew just how many people are on it, and how easily you can have your profile pop up on their phone. I hadn’t heard of anyone doing it before, so I set up my profile as the book’s cover, as well as a bio about how I would only talk about Mary’s the Name if I matched with them! Most girls thought it was funny and I had lots of fun chatting to them. I was a bit embarrassed, to be fair, but knowing I would get a good story and blog post out of it made it easier. There was a great reaction online, thankfully!

What is next for Ross?

I’m currently planning out novel number two! It’s looking likely it’ll be set around where I live, more specifically in the Bannockburn area of Stirling. It’ll feature some high school pupils getting into trouble with the law when they should be in class!

What is your favourite book of all time?

I don’t know if I have a definite number one? It’s too hard to choose! But given how much I love humour in books, I’ll give a special mention to two which made me genuinely laugh out loud: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, and True Grit by Charles Portis.

What are you reading?

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon. I’m really enjoying it so far, and the little girls in the story remind me of Mary!

Where can fans contact you?

You can find me on Twitter (@Sayers33), Instagram (Sayers33), and I have a Facebook author page too. There’s also rosssayers.co.uk, where I blog about my experiences as a writer, and you can find the Tinder blog there!

Anything else you would like to add?

Just to say thank you so much for having me, Lainy! I’m really glad you enjoyed Mary’s the Name, and I hope your readers will too! 



And if all of this wasn't enough for you lucky lucky people, I have one paperback copy to giveaway, as always use the Rafflecopter below to enter.



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Review - Night Music by Jojo Moyes

Night Music by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - <4 hours

Pages - 416

Blurb from Goodreads

The Spanish House is known to locals as an architectural folly, and it is now nearly derelict to boot. When its reclusive owner dies intestate the Spanish House is left to his city-dwelling niece. For the recently-widowed Isabel, the house is a potential lifeline. For her neighbour Matt McCarthy, the house is revenge.


My Review

Matt McCarthy and his wife, Laura, have pampered to their neighbour, taking him meals, cleaning his sheets, looking after him and putting up with his crude comments. All for the deeds of his house when he passes on, which should be soon they think, as he has no family. As it is, it passes to his niece and children, Isabel, Kitty, and Thierry, struggling with the death of her husband and their new financial issues they move to the country and learn a new way of life. However Matt isn't about to let his dream go and soon puts his plan into action, with consequences that change the lives of everyone.

I love Jojo Moyes, her books are always really different from each other and her style is so easy to follow, it is like getting into your comfy slippers. I normally take to one or more of her characters, especially the main players, however, I didn't find this the case in this story. Whilst Matt is deplorable and his wife a willing accomplice, Isabel isn't a great character either. Still wrapped up in the grief of losing her husband, her children have clearly suffered, she makes poor choices that impacts them and seems to take an age to come together. I did like the wee shop keepers right enough and the grumpy handyman had some redeeming quality's as the tale goes on.

As it is a country book there is some animal hunting which, whilst it doesn't go into minute detail it did still make me uneasy to read it. The story has some ups and downs, personal growth, a little bit of sex, manipulation, lies, family secrets and problems just to name a few of the themes within the book.

I got through it in 4 hours so it is a good story, it just isn't her strongest although still a good tale. 3/5 for me this time, I will definitely read more by Jojo Moyes, I have read most of them already and look forward to her next.

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Review - Hot Flush by Helen Fitzgerald

Hot Flush by Helen Fitzgerald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 hour

Pages - 97

Publisher - Barrington Stoke

Blurb From Goodreads

Menopausal probation officer Eileen McDonald has lived an ordinary life, without taking any risks, unlike Jim Bain, a car-thieving probationer she's responsible for. When she finally cracks during a hot flush in a changing room, it's him she turns to for help, and he accompanies her on a journey she will never forget.


My Review

What a short sharp wee blast of a read. Weighing in at only 97 pages, you could get through this in half an hour. Our two main characters are Eileen McDonald, probation officer and hitting the menopause. Next up is Jim Bain, young, cocky and has a wrap sheet that has only the crimes he has been caught for. Jim and Eileen are forced together in group, Jim to complete the program or face jail and Eileen by choice, it is the profession she has chosen. When Eileen's boring, set routine life is turned upside down by a rash decision, she finds that instead of reporting boy wonder for his fresh mouth, she needs his help, for the skills he knows best. Together they embark on a journey that changes life as they know it, for both of them.

I thought this was going to be a unexpected romance, don't ask why I got that idea, however it isn't. This is a tale about a woman who follows rules and routines, every day of her life, until one snap decision and quickly has to deal with the fall out from it. Jim has an attitude, in trouble with the law, young, set in his ways, quickly realizes he needs to help someone to save his own bacon.

The whole event is spread out over one day, although both have glimpses into their past that explains or gives more detail to the person they are now. It is fairly easy to read, some sexual content is in the tale although nothing excessive and the chapters are small which also contributes to it being a quick read. The tale is set in Glasgow, which, it is always nice to read somewhere you know. This is the third story I have read by this author, all of them very different from the last, she certainly holds your attention. 3/5 for me this time and I will buy up more of her work.

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