Interview with Carole Matthews - Author of With Love at Christmas

I'm delighted to welcome Carole Matthews to the blog today...

Please tell us a little about 'With Love at Christmas'

It’s a story about a chaotic family Christmas - we’ve all had them! The mum, Juliet Joyce, is a Christmas addict and can’t wait for it to come round every year. But this time she has a lot on her plate, her son is unemployed and living back at home as is her daughter, Chloe. She’s pregnant with her second child and has just left her partner. Juliet’s mum, at best eccentric, is behaving ever more erratically and her father is recovering from a heartbreak of his own. She’s doing her very best to hold it all together, but when she discovers texts from a mystery woman on her husband’s phone, she wonders if she’s been neglecting him too much. All she wants is her family to be happy and her home to be filled With Love at Christmas.

 Which character did you most enjoy writing about in the novel?

I think Juliet. She’s the linchpin of the family and always tries to do the right thing while all hell is breaking loose around her. The only constant in Juliet’s life is her dog, Buster! He doesn’t give her any trouble. The whole family were features in an earlier book called That Loving Feeling and I enjoyed that all so much that when it came to do this year’s Christmas book, I thought they would be the perfect people to revisit.

 With Love at Christmas is set around the traditions of the Joyce family. Do you have any specific traditions at Christmas?

My Christmas is full of little rituals that I always look forward to. Like Juliet in With Love at Christmas, I always have a glass of wine and a mince pie when I’m putting up my tree. We’ve also got into the habit of going into our next door neighbour’s house on Christmas morning, which we love. We start the day with a few glasses of fizz and a chat and then I go back to cook my Christmas dinner in a very happy state. We always watch The Muppet Christmas in the run up to the big day too. Once we see Kermit, that’s when Christmas really starts!
 

 What is your favourite thing about Christmas?

The food! Mince pies are my weakness and now that I write Christmassy books, I have the perfect excuse for eating them from July onwards. Thankfully, the shops are happy to oblige. I do take shortcuts with my Christmas day meal though. No one should spend Christmas morning peeling veg, so I buy everything pre-prepared from Marks and Spencers. A bit more expensive, but so worth it. I also love putting up my tree - so much so that this year we’re going mad and having two trees. I can’t wait.
 

 What are you working on now?

I’m currently writing my novel for summer 2014. My next book - A Cottage by the Sea - is already delivered and is out at the beginning of the new year. So not long to wait! There’ll also be a Christmas book for next year to keep my readers happy. 

Thanks Carole. Scroll down to read our review of With Love at Christmas.

Review of With Love at Christmas by Carole Matthews

With Love at Christmas is a heartwarming novel from one of my favourite authors - Carole Matthews.

It follows the life of Juliet Joyce as she prepares for Christmas. Juliet’s family life is anything but straightforward and seems to be getting more complicated as Christmas draws closer. Her mother’s behaviour is becoming stranger and more erratic by the day. Her father has his own tragedy to deal with and her daughter, Chloe, is expecting her second baby but has moved home without her partner. When Juliet’s husband Rick starts acting strangely she wonders if he has some secrets of his own.

I loved all of the descriptions of getting ready for Christmas and the preparation of buying presents and food. Matthews really brings the Joyce family to life and there are lots of storylines woven into the plot that make an addictive read.

This is another lovely novel from Carole Matthews. There are lots of hilarious moments, but also quite a few heartbreaking ones too. The perfect book to get you in the mood for Christmas!

Thank you to Sphere for sending me a copy to review.

Review of A Merry Little Christmas by Julia Williams

Set in the village of Hope Christmas, the novel opens as the festive season comes to a close.

Cat, Pippa and Marianne are friends living very different lives. Cat is a cook and tv personality who is trying to juggle her work/life commitments whilst writing a Christmas cookbook. Things take a turn for the worse when her teenage daughter Mel starts acting differently and her mother becomes very ill with alzheimers.
Pippa is a busy mother and farmer's wife with a disabled daughter and two young sons. She finds her life changing dramatically when her husband Dan has a serious accident.
Marianne is mother to young twins and stepmother to Steven. Dealing with family life, Steven's difficult mother Eve and her job as a teacher at the local primary school begins to become very stressful. How will life pan out for these three in the run up to the next Christmas?

A Merry Little Christmas is a thought provoking story focussing on the importance of family and friends. I was completely absorbed from the very first page and I loved the way that Williams gives each of the main characters an equal space in the book. It made me feel that I could really get to know each character.

This is a lovely read with a stunning cover.HIghly recommended, especially in the run up to Christmas.

Thank you to Avon for sending me a copy to review.

Review of Stop the Clock by Alison Mercer

Stop the Clock opens on New Years Eve 1999. As three friends Lucy, Natalie and Tina pose for a photo on the beach they cannot imagine how much their lives will changes over the next decade.

Tina is determined to work her way up the career ladder, Lucy craves a stable family life and Natalie would like to settle down and be happily married with children. How will their lives really turn out ten years later?

I enjoyed the way that Mercer has successfully divided the narrative, so that each of the three main characters have an equal part. It made me feel that I knew each one well and allows the reader to form strong opinions of each person. The characters are so well formed that I think that readers will find one that they feel they can relate to their own lives or circumstances. The storyline is really addictive to read and I did not want to put it down. I would love to read a sequel to this novel to find out what will happen to their lives further into the future.

This is such an amazing debut novel – I can’t wait to read more from Alison Mercer.

Thank you to Transworld for sending me a copy to review

Review of How do you Voodoo? by Janice Horton

Synopsis

Loveless fashion model Nola Nichols thinks being beautiful is a curse; that is until she is cursed and her looks begin to fade just a week before the most important photo shoot of her career.

Nola rejects all rational explanation on what might be causing her lost looks and decides she has to find a way to get uncursed. This imaginative quest takes her from the Caribbean to Glasgow’s own City of the Dead. Along the way, she finds herself taking part in a rather unconventional funeral, involved in a voodoo ritual, reveals one or two unrests in her own past and falls madly in love with a doctor. Erm, that would be a witch doctor, right…?

Review

Last year I really enjoyed reading 'Reaching for the Stars' by Janice Horton, so I was looking forward to reading her latest novella 'How do you Voodoo?'.

Nola Nichols is a beautiful model who is determined to forget her upbringing and family in Glasgow. However, when she loses her temper on a flight from the Caribbean to the UK a lady from Haiti puts a curse on her. Other passengers and even the flight attendants look scared and think that Nola has been cursed. However, Nola believes this is nonsense and the woman is crazy. That is until she wakes up the next morning and doesn't look or feel the same. Is Nola cursed and, if so, is there a way to become un-cursed?

This is a funny story with a nail biting plot and a strong heroine. A perfect read to get you in the mood for Halloween.

Thank you Janice for sending me a copy to review.

How do you Voodo? is available to buy now: http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Do-You-Voodoo-ebook/dp/B009KO9JH2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351415917&sr=8-1

Find out more about Janice Horton and her novels:

Author Blog: http://www.janicehortonwriter.blogspot.co.uk
Follow her on Twitter: @JaniceHorton
Like her Author Facebook Page
Featured Author & Associate Editor at: Loveahappyending.com

 Janice Horton lives in Scotland and writes contemporary romance with humour. Her novels ‘Bagpipes & Bullshot’ and ‘Reaching for the Stars’ are both Kindle bestsellers. Her latest title is out now on Amazon for Kindle. It’s a romantic novella entitled ‘How Do You Voodoo?

Review of The Star Child by Stephanie Keyes

The Star Child is the first novel from debut author Stephanie Keyes.

The novel follows seventeen year old Kellen St James as he graduates from Yale. Kellen has an estranged relationship with his father who doesn’t attend his graduation and as he is waiting on the podium to receive his degree, he is suddenly transported back to a childhood holiday to his Grandmother’s home in Ireland. In Ireland he meets a beautiful young girl called Calienta, but he is not able to follow her to where she is going.

Suddenly back on the podium Kellen realizes that he must go to Ireland where he will learn the truth about his mother’s death. Whilst in Ireland, Calienta visits again and this time for real. What Calienta tells Kellen changes his life more than he could ever have imagined and he is suddenly pulled into a strange world of faeries and demons where he is a key figure.

Keyes’ writing pulls you straight into this story and will leave you on the edge of your seat desperate to know what will happen next. I loved the characters of Kellen and Calienta and found myself worrying about their journey.

This is a fantastic debut novel and I really enjoyed reading it. I don’t usually read a lot of fantasy books, but enjoyed this one so much that I think I will look out for more. Highly recommended.

The Star Child is available to buy now:

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Star-Child-Stephanie-Keyes/dp/0985656247/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351148477&sr=8-1

Review of The Last Caesar by Henry Venmore-Rowland

Summary from Goodreads

AD 68. The tyrant emperor Nero has no son and no heir.

Suddenly there's the very real possibility that Rome might become a republic once more. But the ambitions of a few are about to bring corruption, chaos and untold bloodshed to the many.

Among them is a hero of the campaign against Boudicca, Aulus Caecina Severus. Caught up in a conspiracy to overthrow Caesar's dynasty, he commits treason, raises a rebellion, faces torture and intrigue - all supposedly for the good of Rome. The boundary between the good of Rome and self preservation is far from clear, and keeping to the dangerous path he's chosen requires all Severus' skills as a cunning soldier and increasingly deft politician.

And so Severus looks back on the dark and dangerous time history knows as the Year of the Four Emperors, and the part he played - for good or ill - in plunging the mighty Roman empire into anarchy and civil war...

Review

The Last Caesar is an impressive novel from debut author Henry Venmore-Rowland. It is set in AD68-69, which was a remarkable period of time in Roman history as in AD69 four Emperors ruled Rome. It has become known as the Year of Four Emperors.

This is the first novel set in this time period that I have read and I really enjoyed it. Venmore-Rowland’s writing is addictive to read and keeps you turning the pages to find out what will happen next.

Venmore-Rowland is certainly an author to look out for. I am looking forward to reading future work from this author.

I read this as part of the Transworld Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.