4.5 Stars – Elite Hall Publishing House

January 7, 2020

THE TWO LIVES OF LYDIA BIRD by JOSIE SILVER

‘That’s the deal we make when we love someone, isn’t it? Somewhere along the path, one person is always going to have to find a way to carry on without the other.’

Anyone who has experienced a loss will connect to Lydia’s story and share in her desperation to keep the memory alive of her first and only love, Freddie Hunter, a man who entered her life in a whirlwind when they were only 14. A love that began at innocent and clumsy adolescence to present time when they’re on the cusp of marriage, ready to spend the rest of their lives together, sharing a true and unwavering love; when it’s all cruelly ripped away.

Josie Silver is such a gifted and beautiful storyteller, and her way of infusing so much feeling into her stories have thus far, held us captivated as we once again fell under her talented spell. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is a powerfully reflective story and it’s one that will make you smile, ache, laugh and cry as you champion for Lydia to find the will to find herself in the face of crippling grief.

January 5, 2020

RELEASE by ALY MARTINEZ

‘To explain how I fell in love with Thea Hull, I’d need to go back to the beginning. Fair warning, this is not a story of hearts, flowers, and romance. That would call come later. But in the beginning, my love for Thea was born out of death, broken hearts, and desperation.’

Release by Aly Martinez is an achingly beautiful and tragic love story about two young lovers whose lives would be forever altered in one tragic night. It is an emotional standalone that tells a story of childhood friends to lovers, sacrifice and second chances.

YOU WERE THERE TOO by COLLEEN OAKLEY

'I think of the banal platitude: Love isn’t supposed to hurt. But really, if you’re doing it right, love hurts all the time.’

You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley is our first book by this Author, and what an impact she’s left on our hearts! We were intrigued by the synopsis, however, the story is so much more than what is hinted at. In fact, the synopsis really doesn’t touch the depth of the lives of Mia and Harrison. The emotional psychology and human behaviour in the face of tragedy was brilliantly written. It felt raw and painful to bear witness too. It left us heartbroken at times, yet it showcased strength, resilience, compassion and ultimately healing through love.

Read more here:
YOU WERE THERE TOO by COLLEEN OAKLEY

November 27, 2019

THE ONE NIGHT STAND BEFORE CHRISTMAS (Reindeer Falls #3) by JANA ASTON

We hereby petition Jana Aston to write Christmas stories every year, because …swoon…. This series is Christmas crack at its best!

The One Night Stand Before Christmas is Noel’s turn to find love at Christmas in this, the last book in the Reindeer Falls series by Jana Aston. We’ve already had Holly and Ginger’s stories, Noel’s wonderfully eccentric and hysterically adorable sisters. To say this series has got us one hundred percent ready for Christmas is an understatement! Christmas novellas are everything to us at this time of year, and Jana Aston has written three of our favourites. We are gutted that it’s over now and wish she’d write more.

“That’s quite the package you’ve got there, Santa.”
“Did you just make a dirty Santa joke?”
‘We move things to my bedroom after I ask Teddy if I can see his North Pole. Honestly, I’m not sure why he hasn’t run out the door yet either, but you do what you gotta do to get laid, I suppose.’

We LOVED Noel and Teddy!!! What a wonderful series this has been, we enjoyed every single Christmassy minute spent with the gorgeous peeps of Reindeer Falls.

November 27, 2019

THE ONE NIGHT STAND BEFORE CHRISTMAS (Reindeer Falls #3) by JANA ASTON

We hereby petition Jana Aston to write Christmas stories every year, because …swoon…. This series is Christmas crack at its best!

We LOVED Noel and Teddy!!! What a wonderful series this has been, we enjoyed every single Christmassy minute spent with the gorgeous peeps of Reindeer Falls.

November 23, 2019

THE FAKE (Smart Jocks #4) by REBECCA JENSHAK

‘I don’t want to be the guy who saved her, I want to be the guy she chooses.’

There’s nothing better than becoming so attached to a series and watching the characters grow through each of their standalone books, and every book in the Smart Jocks Series by Rebecca Jenshak has made us just as eager for her next release, and The Fake, again reminded us why we love this series so much.

Brimming with friendship, loyalty, camaraderie, sweetness, heat and just enough drama to make us catch our breaths, not overpowering the story, the characters and the romance we love so dearly. Rebecca Jenshak really has hit a slam dunk with this series. We’ve loved every book and every couple so far, and Chloe and Nathan certainly charmed themselves into our hearts.

November 7, 2019

THE BOSS WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS (Reindeer Falls Series #1) by JANA ASTON

‘I want him to kiss me. Badly. Desperately. More than anything in the entire world. I need to know what kissing Nick Saint-Croix would feel like.’

The Boss who stole Christmas by Jana Aston is the most perfect sweet, funny and sexy hit of Christmas spice you could want. It should come with a warning of a Hallmark Christmas romance causing sporadic knickers meltdown. To be fair, unless you love Christmas as much as we do this book isn’t for you, but then again our advice would be for you to go get that Christmas hating syndrome checked out because….CHRISTMAS, and a sexy one at that! Gah…we LOVED it! Reindeer Falls is currently in our top search on Google because we need to go live there. This must be done!

October 31, 2019

DEVASTATED (Anger Management #1) by R.L. MATHEWSON

‘Over the past several months he’d become her best friend. He made her laugh, teased her, tormented her, made her feel protected; and those times when she struggled, he was there holding her and letting her know she was safe. For the first time in her life, she felt…Whole.’

Devastated by R.L Mathewson has shot itself right into our top reads by this Author. We absolutely loved it. Having been huge fans since 2011, we found Devastated to have the trademark humour of RL Mathewson which we love so much, but with a brand new mature and emotional twist to her writing. There’s no question that whilst easily recognisable as a Mathewson story, Devastated shows a new side to her. There is something very special about a slow burn romance where the characters start off as enemies, become friends and eventually fall for each other. It was pure emotional angst peppered with humour and raw vulnerability.

October 27, 2019

JUST TEN SECONDS by JEANNINE COLETTE

‘Time stops when you’re in love. There is no hourglass spilling the seconds. The looks are long; heartbeats are quick. A touch is a lifetime. …’

Just Ten Seconds was a slow burn meticulous story which uncovered some unexpected twists along the way. A story of love, healing, friendship, redemption, grief and hope. It’s also a story about believing in yourself and confronting your flaws and opening your heart to second chances.

Read more here:
JUST TEN SECONDS by JEANNINE COLETTE

October 17, 2019

BEFORE YOU by MARNI MANN

‘Some stories had the power to change lives forever. This story changed an entire town.’

Marni Mann wowed us again with the dark emotional romance Before You, absolutely blindsiding us with a compelling and thrilling story-line that had us guessing until the very end. It was oh so very clever and packed an incredible emotional punch. We urge you to go into this story blind so we will not be telling you anything about the actual story in this review, we’d rather tell you about how we felt on this brilliant reading journey.

We cannot explain how much we loved this story, how it was written and the way in which the story developed and played out. It was literally riveting to the point that both of us read it from start to finish, in one sitting. We loved the characters so much that we wholeheartedly felt their every emotion, their pain, their devastation, their hope and their love.

Read more here:
BEFORE YOU by MARNI MANN