Prague | Suzanne Rogerson Fantasy Author

I recently spent a wonderful few days in Prague enjoying the sights, the food and the drink. But the real highlights of the trip was seeing my translated book – Zarua Ztracene Mesto (Visions of Zarua) in the bookstores and visiting my publisher, Albatros Media. I signed some books for competition prizes while I was there and found out the story behind how they discovered my book too!

The holiday to Prague was months in planning and ran into its fair share of problems. I was supposed to go with my daughter and husband, but we didn’t have anyone to leave the puppy with so I transferred the flights to my parents and they came with me instead. We had various issues doing the transfer and I experienced a lot of frustration trying to get hold of the airline on the phone, but I finally got everything sorted a few days before we were due to fly.

The morning of the flight didn’t get off to a good start either when my alarm didn’t go off! My phone had decided to switch off and I woke up at 4.25am with only 5 minutes to get dressed and brush my teeth before the taxi arrived. We got to the airport on time, but my phone refused to switch back on and was heating up. It’s a closed unit so I had not option of removing the battery and I feared it wouldn’t be allowed on the plane. Thankfully a lovely man at the Dixon store showed me how to get it to switch on and it started to cool down almost instantly. The phone had hardly any charge left, but the pressure was off and I could finally relax and enjoy the start of my holiday. So much stress and it was still only 6.30am!

We arrived at our grand hotel and spent four days exploring the sights, having first got to grips with the transport system, which I must say is cheap and very simple to use once you understand it. The weather was beautiful and warm on the first day and we only needed a cardigan as we started our first adventure into Prague.

The remaining days the temperature dropped and we needed coats, scarves and gloves! We decided to take a bus tour through Prague, which included a walking tour of Prague Castle, a traditional lunch and a boat trip under Charles Bridge. The guide was very knowledgeable and we had a lot of fun despite the cold.

I would love to share some more pictures but I will save them for another post. I’ll end by saying that Prague is a great place to spend a few days exploring on foot or jumping on and off the many trams that run through the city. There are beautiful buildings everywhere you look, and don’t forget to look up or you’ll miss some great architecture. The eagle-eyed might also spot a few of these cute little guys in the River Vltava (Coypu).

Until next time…

***

Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy

You can follow me on

Twitter Goodreads BookBub Amazon Facebook Instagram

This is my first book review for a long time. I’m a bit out of practice, but here goes…

I won a paperback copy of A Year and a Day in a Rafflecopter giveaway run by Brizzlelass. I was instantly drawn to the idea of a book set in Prague as it’s a bucket list destination for me. After reading this, Prague has moved even higher up on my list!

But before I get to what I think, let’s start with the beautiful book cover and the blurb…

Welcome to a city where wishes are everywhere

For Megan, a winter escape to Prague with her friend Ollie is a chance to find some inspiration for her upcoming photography exhibition. But she’s determined to keep their friendship from becoming anything more. Because if Megan lets Ollie find out about her past, she risks losing everything – and she won’t let that happen again . . .

For Hope, the trip is a surprise treat from Charlie, her new partner. But she’s struggling to enjoy the beauty of the city when she knows how angry her daughter is back home. And that it’s all her fault . . .

For Sophie, the city has always been a magical place. This time she can’t stop counting down the moments until her boyfriend Robin joins her. But in historic Prague you can never escape the past . . .

Three different women.

Three intertwining love stories.

One unforgettable, timeless city.

My Review

This is an addictive read. The way each chapter alternates between the three viewpoint characters – Megan, Hope and Sophie, draws you in completely. I spent a few late nights unable to put it down.

The characters are all likeable and each story thread is compelling and believable. It’s great how each character has their own chapter, but are often with or bumping into the others characters once they all meet in Prague. Megan is the main character of the three, and Ollie (her friend / potential love interest) is definitely my favourite character. I connected with Megan the most perhaps because she is obsessed with photography (I also love taking photos), although I found her reasoning a little nuts and infuriating at times.

There are plenty of heart-warming moments in A Year and a Day, and plenty of times when it reduced me to tears.

Prague really comes alive; you can almost feel as if you are there in the freezing, magical city.

I did guess where much of the plot was going, but that didn’t stop my enjoyment of the story, rather it’s good to be proved right.

In all, A Year and a Day is a brilliantly entertaining novel that I recommend to anyone who enjoys romantic fiction. I will be looking out for more books by Isabelle Broom and look forward to escaping into other parts of the world in her stories.

I rate it 4.5 stars (5 on amazon / goodreads).