I’m excited to be on the blog tour for This Christmas in Paris by Sophie Claire.
Blurb
What could be more magical than Christmas in Paris?
When Carys is offered the chance to run a little French café, she leaps at the chance to discover an exciting city where she can dream big.
Meanwhile, struggling journalist Mat is living in the City of Love – but he’s never found romance himself.
Then, a chance encounter changes everything, and it feels like the start of something wonderful. But Carys and Mat are both keeping secrets . . .
Can they open their hearts to one another – and maybe even find love, just in time for Christmas?
My review
I was drawn into the story from the first page and didn’t want to put the book down.
I liked first meeting Carys in Willowbrook, her small hometown with a tight-knit community. It’s quickly clear why she feels she must escape to find herself. She jumps in at the deep end and takes a job in Paris running the Red Cat Café while the owners have a family emergency. She might not be qualified but she does a great job of it, until a bad review knocks her confidence.
Away from the café, Carys meets Mat and forms an instant connection with him. They know nothing of each others lives, but over the course of a few months they regularly meet and begin to fall in love. But there are secrets between them, which could get in the way of a relationship.
I have to admit there were several times I wanted to stop reading and beg the characters to make different choices. However, I ended up reading on avidly to see the twists and turns in their relationship play out.
I loved all the scenes in the café as Carys does her best to increase custom and challenges the chef to be more experimental. The food descriptions are mouth-watering, but I especially loved the evening talent shows she organises and the mix of customers we meet along the way.
Carys and Mat are great leading characters and deserve to find happiness. You’ll have to read it for yourself to see if they do find love together, or if the secrets tear them apart.
Note – I love the added extras at the end of the book, especially the recipe for ‘Cake aux Olives’ which I hope to try making very soon.
Don’t forget to check out the other reviewers taking part in the tour.
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC copy and to the author for writing another brilliant festive read. FYI – this is my honest review.
I’m back again. I missed a couple of reviews from my previous post today, which you can read here. I didn’t want to leave anyone out so please check out these links.
Paws.Read.Repeat said ‘The stories in the book are from a variety of genres, which I loved. The diversity was eclectic and kept me engaged from start to finish.’
ebookaddicts ‘I really enjoyed listening to this collection from Susanne Rogerson. The anthology is narrated by Sandie Keane and she did a wonderful job bringing these short stories life.‘
Girls who hike and read posted ‘I adore short stories and this collection of 10 beautifully written stories about love and loss completely met the brief for me…’
And that’s it, a full house of reviews for the tour which is brilliant. I’ve loved sharing my short story collection and reading such lovely reviews. Sandie did an excellent job narrating the book for me and I hope you get the chance to check it out.
Here’s a sample if you want to have a listen.
Thanks for reading and listening.
Next time I’ll be back with a reading and writing update.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic fantasy, heart-warming romance and short stories
I can’t believe how time has flown and I haven’t posted anything for a month and a half! Yesterday was the blog tour for my newest audiobook, Love, Loss and Life In Between – a short listen perfect for those who like to dip in and out of audiobooks.
Thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising the tour and of course thank you to all the bloggers who listened to the collection and have been posting their reviews over the last few weeks.
It’s great how everyone connects with different stories for different reasons and I just love to read their reviews. Of course I also like to share them with you, so here’s a round up with my review highlights. Here goes…
Lara Maynard gives listeners a taste of the stories in this collection in her post on Instagram. ‘The stories include “Garden Therapy” (to which gardeners like me will relate), “A Cat-Shaped Hole” (which might make pet lovers misty-eyed), a story around domestic abuse, and a second chance romance. Most of the stories are broadly in the domestic fiction realm, with flavours of romance or thriller, but a couple veer into the paranormal.’
The Bookish Hermit says ‘…a selection of very emotionally charged stories that have been written with care, respect and love. The audible version is narrated perfectly by Sandie Keane who does a fantastic job of bringing the author’s (Suzanne Rogerson) words to life.’
Just Katherine Blog says ‘…A quick-paced collection of wonderful little stories that are all so different and capture the difficult task of moving on after loss and tragedy. There’s a message that runs through them all: whatever happens, you have to do your best to move on and be strong…’
Bookworm86 shared mini reviews for each story. ‘A beautiful collection of 10 short stories filled with emotion from heartbreak to love, sadness to new beginnings… 📱 ‘The Phone Call’: This story is definitely my favourite one!! It is one of those stories that hit you straight in the gut and will stay witjh me for a long time!’
Jessica’s reading room shared her review ‘Several of the stories deal with death and moving on. Rogerson did a great job with capturing the emotions of a story in just a few words!’
Lis Carey’s Library shared ‘”A Cat-Shaped Hole” is a sweet story of a cat who makes someone’s day brighter, while “Not Just For Christmas” is a story of a family grieving their departed dog deciding it’s time to welcome a new dog into their family. Both brightened my day.’
Niki Preston says ‘I found Suzanne’s writing style was wonderfully creative and really lent itself to this anthology. You really get drawn in and each story feels complete even though they are all short. She definitely gets to the heart of each one with a precision that makes you wonder how on earth she managed to create each differing story with such honesty. A great listen all round.’
Romance that’s out of this world also shared a review saying ‘An eclectic and delightful selection of short stories, which are perfect for listening to when you fancy a few minutes relaxation, or you just want to dip in and out. They range from the slightly eerie to the ‘feelgood’ and ‘cosy’ tale, so there is something for everyone…’
Juliereadzintherockies shared an Instagram post ‘The narrator was lovely as she read through these deep, dark, and passionate stories. I love thrillers but it’s nice to step away and sample something meaningful and touching once in a while.’
A review from MJ Porter says ‘Garden Therapy, with its slight otherworldliness was delightful, and A Mermaid’s Tale was a beautiful account of a young girl coming to terms with the loss of her mother, whereas Catalyst was quite edgy. Not Just for Christmas is a tale many pet owners with feel resonates with them.’
Books we’ve read and loved say ‘I really enjoyed each story. They were like little windows in to different worlds – whole stories in their right but that let you build a world for the characters all of your own. I found myself creating pasts or futures for the characters.’
Storied Conversation was impressed with the narration ‘Sandie Keane did a wonderful job of narrating these stories. I loved her voice and was able to get lost in the stories without having her voice over power them.’
The final review is from Seaside Book Nook. ‘Suzanne Rogerson did a great job pulling me into the story very quickly while telling very touching stories. The stories cover the three Ls: Life, Love, and Loss. After each story, I was able to reflect on the meaning of the story and how it was connected to one of the three Ls. ‘
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Wow, that was quite a list to go through. A big thank you to everyone who took part, I hope I haven’t missed anyone off.
If you’ve been inspired to check out the audiobook by these wonderful reviews, here’s the link for Audible. Also available on Amazon as ebook, paperback, audio and hardback.
I’m just sharing a quick update today. For any audiobook lovers / reviewers, there’s a new blog tour run by Rachel’s Random Resources. Sign ups for this 1 day tour are happening now. You can get the full info here Love, Loss and Life In Between audio blog tour.
The audiobook came out last month and I’m really excited to see what reviewers think. It’s a collection of short stories and has a run time of just over two hours, a perfect listen when you are pushed for time.
Please check out the page above for the full details, a sample and info on how to sign up. The blog tour date is 17th March 2023.
It’s been great seeing new reviews being shared of my latest short story collection, especially when the reviewers pick their favourite stories. It’s cool to see reviews being shared on other platform as well, including Instagram. Here are a few snippets and links to the reviewers Instagram posts;
Jen_loves_reading says ‘This is a very emotive and thought provoking collection of short stories that cover grief and finding love, as well as moving on and finding peace either with themselves or others. Some of the stories will stay with me longer than others, whilst there were a couple that just pulled at the heartstrings.’
Seduced with Literature says ‘This has to be the most emotional collection of short stories I’ve come across to date. Suzanne had really mastered capturing raw, painful emotions in very few words.’
Library of Louise says ‘If you are someone who enjoys short stories then you is one full of variety and solid writing, and perhaps one you may consider.’
InsomniacBookwormBookReviews says ‘Emotionally, heartwarming collection of short stories that are written beautifully.’
Pooled Ink says ‘Suzanne Rogerson has such an ability to explore a vast array of human experiences and threading them through with a breath of magic. These short stories were easy to read in a day, quick yet poignant.’
Tea leaves and book leaves says ‘Love loss and life between are short stories and all of them are written beautiful and very meaningful. I do like Suzanne Rogerson writing it is engaging and emotive and all the stories touched my heart.’
Tizi’s Book Review says ‘…reading each story put me on a rollercoaster of emotions. There were sweet stories in it, heart – warming ones, heart – breaking ones, hopeful stories. But there was also one story that gave me the creeps…’
Tomes and Tales says ‘I loved each of the stories. Rogerson writes beautifully, and her style is warm and concise. The mixed genres make every story different and interesting in its own way. Her way of writing about human emotions and commonplace issues strikes a chord.’
Bound4Escape says ‘These short stories feature several genres. Many of them are sweet, many are about grief and the first steps of moving on, and one I would even categorize as horror.’
I have some more reviews and spotlight posts to share during the blog blitz for my latest release. Here are a few stand out lines from the reviews.
Reviews in Heels – ‘…If you’re looking for some fantasy to jump into, these bite-sized stories will give you a good taste of something new – and if you’ve read these books already, these will give you some backstory of your favourite characters.’
Pooled Ink Reviews – ‘…Quick paced, flowing prose, it was a delightful dip into these characters’ stories…’
Thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for arranging this one day blog blitz. Throughout the day bloggers will be sharing reviews and posts about my latest publication – three stories set in the fantasy worlds of my books.
I will be sharing links to websites. Here are a few that have posted so far. Click the links to see the post in full.
Mai’s Musings ‘…Suzanne is a master world builder, and this collection of short stories featuring fascinating insights into much loved characters made me want to go back and read her entire back catalogue again…’
M J Porter Author ‘…If you enjoy fantasy with a touch of magic, and some really intriguing storylines, I would highly recommend this collection of short stories.’
The Strawberry Post ‘… such a brilliant compilation of short stories which can be enjoyed whether you’ve read the author’s previous work or not!’
Bibliophileverse ‘…My favorite one is The Guardian, found the plot very interesting.’
If you’re ready for stories about an assassin killing off wizards, a mystic on the run, or a soldier struggling with the unexpected aftermath of war, you can find out more on the Amazon and Goodreads book page for Fantasy Short Stories.
As promised here’s part two of the blog tour blitz with a few more review snippets. First though, I would like to thank everyone who has taken part and of course Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising everything.
‘…the story is well told, and the characters are an interesting lot, with vivid descriptions of the people and scenery…’ Colin Garrow
‘…The narrator was very good, his changes in tone really gave the characters individuality and personality. it’s very poetic in places…’ Rosie Writes
‘…The author has done a great job at world building. It was interesting learning about Kalaya and its people…’ Bound4Escape
‘Fans of classic “sword and sorcery” will find a lot to love about Rogerson’s work. What is particularly delightful is that she manages to put a fresh spin on a classic genre. Her imaginative storytelling and creative world building combine to put a unique spin on the comfortingly familiar quest formula. I enjoyed getting lost in this immersive listening experience.’ Rev Rebecca Writes
If these review snippets have you eager to learn more you can listen to Silent Sea Chronicles book 1 and 2 on Audible UKAudible US, Amazon and iTunes. And book 3 with be out very soon.
Thanks for joining me on the blog blitz, I hope you enjoy visiting the other blogs. There may be a couple more reviews coming in and if so I will share them very soon.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy
Today I am excited to say the The Lost Sentinel Audiobook is being shown some love on the one day blog blitz arranged by Rachel’s Random Resources.
Some great reviews have already come in, here are some snippets.
‘…George Ellington as narrator for The Lost Sentinel is absolutely wonderful. His narration brings the authors writing to life and immerses listeners in the story…’ Lamon Reviews
‘…I found Rogerson to be adept at taking the reader along different character arcs without causing confusion, as each made an impression on me. I savoured my journey to the island of Kalaya as the rich description had me visualising the scenes with ease…’ Booky Charm
‘…The plot for this book was interesting and well thought out. It was well written and reminded me why I love underrated fantasy novels so much. There is some great world building…’ The Pufflekitteh Reads
‘…I love the concept of a Sentinel and Confidant pairing, and that these people are so important in keeping their magical home alive. I love the idea that mystics who die in battle can choose to stay in the astral in-between and continue to defend their island home, as several characters end up doing throughout the story…’ Westveil Publishing
Please click on the links to read the full reviews and check out the reviewers blogs.
I’ll be back with the rest later, but for now I’d just like to thank everyone who has read / listened to my books and reviewed them. It really means a lot that people enjoy my books.
Suzanne Rogerson Fantasy Author 