The Matchmaker - A Book Review

I absolutely love the idea of matchmaking. I also love Fred from ‘First Dates,’ I mean who can resist a smart man with a gorgeous French accent? Honestly, I could quite happily listen to him chat away in French or English, all day long. Anyway, as usual I have digressed, but  there is a point to my slight aside, since I have been very fortunate to be gifted a copy of The Matchmaker to read in exchange for an honest and unbiased review; and given that it is inspired by the aforementioned show, I was suitably excited and extremely happy to have the opportunity to do so.

Since Innes works for Cosmopolitan as their Features Director, I had very high hopes for the standard of writing and story construction (back in the day, I was a huge Cosmo fan) and I can say hand on heart, I was not disappointed. From the very first paragraph, she draws you into the story, endearing you to the central character, Caitlin Carter, who disillusioned with her career in PR, sets up her own business as a Matchmaker. She is inspired to follow this path having met and married the love of her love Harry, and having a natural ability to know, just who will click with whom. These two things make Catlin very successful and her business, goes from strength to strength, with people eager to sign up and an Instagram account aspiring bloggers would give their right arm for! However, as we read on, it becomes clear, all is not as it seems to be.

I really enjoyed this book. Actually, I enjoyed it so much, I really didn't want to finish it and found myself missing Caitlin, her friends and her story; which makes writing a review horrendously difficult. What I want to do is blurt out the entire story to you, but obviously I can’t do that because that would completely ruin it for you. What I can do, is tell you that this is a well written book; the story flows effortlessly, the characters are well thought out and are easy to relate to (worryingly, I found I related most to Caitlin during a visit to the zoo - you'll need to read the book to find out what I mean). I particularly loved the way Innes cleverly drops breadcrumbs, letting the reader know that something is off, giving clues the further into the story we go, but without ruining the twist once it is finally revealed in full.

This isn’t the rom com I thought it was going to be, this is a journey of self discovery, friendship, support, family and change. There are highs and lows, laughter and tears, and holding it all together is love in all it's forms. If you are looking for a story to inspire you and remind you that even in the darkest times, hope's light still shines, then this is for you. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

The Matchmaker is now available in paperback RRP £8.99.

National Poetry Day 2019

Since today is National Poetry Day, I think it's time I came out with it and admitted to being something of a closet poetry fan. I have a collection of three or four poetry books which I dig out from time to time. I would provide photographic proof, but they are currently nestled in a packing box ready to move to a new home. I thought I was being super organised packing away things that aren't used every day, until I realised that today is NPD day and it would have been nice to take a picture of my books to share with you. I shall endeavour to put that right next year, and perhaps add to my collection.

Anyway, as usual, I have gone somewhat off topic again (no surprise there), but I must say a huge thank you to Channel 4's Sunday Brunch for flagging this day up for me when they had the fabulous Gyles Brandreth on. I confess, I am a something of a 'Gyles' fan. He's so intelligent, funny and just has a way of brightening your day with his colourful character. He's also passionate about poetry and during his interview was sharing the benefits of learning poetry by heart (remember those days at school?). Apparently, doing this can help prevent dementia, which has to be a good reason to give it a go.

Kenya, A Mountain to Climb - Book Review

As many of you who read this blog regularly will know, I suffer with mental illness. I have a diagnosis of depression and anxiety, which was first made almost ten years ago. Unlike some people, I know my diagnosis is a 'forever' condition. My father suffers and so does my youngest daughter. For some of us, there is an hereditary element. In some ways, I'd rather that, it makes it easier for me to manage. I'm able to identify my triggers and let those close to me know my triggers, enabling myself, and others, to rein me in when necessary and practise some self care. I'm lucky, to have a fabulous next door neighbour, an amazing fiance and two wonderful daughters, who tell me to take a break when they can see I'm taking on too much.

I also have some awesome friends on Twitter, people who got me through my darkest days and to the place I am now in; which is a place where I work my wee butt off to raise awareness of mental illness and try to help people living with a diagnosis, or caring for someone, to cope and seek help. Hence, when I saw that Rod Wood was looking for people to review his latest book, I jumped at the chance.