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Today it’s the turn of Friday Review Share in order to support Indie authors. Please leave a link to a review you’ve written on Amazon or Goodreads for an Indie book which is not your own. Just a link to the review is enough and the review itself if you like, because let’s face it, if people are interested in the book it’ll be easy to seek it out!
I’ll start the ball rolling with my review of Sally Cronin’s ‘Just an Odd Job Girl‘, which I found quite delightfully entertaining, with many laugh-out-loud moments.
Amazon Blurb:
At 50 Imogen had been married for over 20 years, and was living in a big house, with money to spare. Suddenly she is traded-in for a younger model, a Fast-Tracker.
Devastated, she hides away and indulges in binge eating. But then, when hope is almost gone, she meets a new friend and makes a journey to her past that helps her move on to her future.
My 5 Star Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3153121273?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Imogen, having turned down a career in nursing to please Peter, the love of her life, wonders how to re-build her life after he deserts her in middle age for a younger woman.
After comfort eating and moping about, Imogen decides she wants to be gainfully employed again after many years of being a wife and mother. She’d had experience of many jobs in her youth, and nervously approaches an employment agency. She is asked by Andrew Jenkins at the agency to talk him through the list of jobs she’d worked at in the past so that he could place her in the most suitable post.
Imogen reminisces about the times she spent working in a seaside kiosk, in a large department store, in a hotel, and as a dental assistant and a receptionist at a funeral home to name but a few. I think Mrs Cronin may have worked at some (or all?) of these jobs herself, as she writes with great expertise about them. There are some laugh-out-loud moments too. I particularly liked the 1970s disco scene and Imogen’s night out wearing her new wig, and then there were the strange female customers who frequented the cosmetic department of Huntley’s Store, and the few dodgy clients who wanted to place adverts when Imogen worked at telesales…
As Imogen looks back in time at all the experiences she has had, she re-gains her self esteem and realises she is not ready to be thrown out just like yesterday’s newspaper.
Recommended for fans of light reading / humorous women’s fiction.
Stevie Turner 
Great review, Stevie. I love Sally’s books and blog, and this one is a particular favourite of mine.
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This was the first book of Sally’s that I read, and I just loved it. So positive and funny and kind. Great review, Stevie.
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Thanks!
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Here is a link to my review of The Brevity of Roses by Linda Cassidy Lewis: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R52ROHZ8CLINE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B004UMGFUS
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Thanks Christa.
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Great review of Sally’s book. I really enjoyed reading it – the book, I mean – well, and your review, too 🙂
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Thanks Mary.
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Oh this is a nice idea! And a great review of Sally’s book too.
I normally read and review sci-fi books, but it just so happens that I reviewed an awesome murder mystery a couple of days ago. I think it probably falls into the category of ‘cosy mystery’?
Anyway, here’s the link to my blog post where you can find the link to the book on Amazon:
https://acflory.wordpress.com/2020/01/23/when-a-foodie-needs-some-time-out/
And here’s my review of ‘The Quiche and the Dead’.
I read lighthearted mysteries when I’m feeling down and need a pick-me-up. Well, The Quiche and the Dead did more than just lift my mood, it left me in awe of the author’s imagination, writing skills, sense of humour and…cooking ability!
I mean, really! A murder mystery that actually makes some [subtle] social commentary? has realistic dialogue? has main characters who are instantly recognizable and come across as real people? has secondary characters who aren’t 2 dimensional plot devices? is well written and edited? and does all this whilst making you want to try one, or all, of the pies featured in the story? Oh, and has a tight plot and excellent pacing?
Frankly, I was going to give The Quiche and the Dead 5 stars even before I reached the final page, but then I finished the story and discovered that the author really did know how to cook and had provided recipes for all the pies in the story!
Apologies if that was a spoiler, but I’m a foodie and intend to try those recipes in my own kitchen. In fact, I intend to buy more of the Pie Town series in case there are more goodies at the end. And for the story, of course. 🙂
Would I recommend The Quiche and the Dead…you bet, with bells on!
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What a great review! Thanks very much.
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Welcome! And thanks for the opportunity to tell more people.
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Fab review for Sal’s book, which happens to be my favorite of hers 🙂 Today I’ll share my review for Carol Balawyder’s new psychological thriller – Warning Signs https://dgkayewriter.com/sunday-book-review-warning-signs-thriller-carol-balawyder/
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Thanks Debby ♥
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Thanks Debby.
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My Review of While the Bombs Fell, by Robbie Cheadle & Elsie Eaton
While the Bombs Fell, written by Robbie Cheadle and her mother Elsie Hancy Eaton, is a fictionalized account of Eaton’s life as a young child growing up in rural Suffolk, England during World War II. I was initially drawn to the book because I have a long-standing interest in the history of daily life in the twentieth-century, in particular the daily lives of everyday people during times of war and other national and global events.
The opening of While the Bombs Fell skillfully establishes its intended audience as middle-grade readers:
“In June of 1942, as World War II raged, a little girl grew up in one of a row of small cottages on a street called “back lane” in a town called Bungay in East Anglia, England.”
“Britain had been at war with Nazi Germany since 1 September 1939, and the little girl could not remember a time when the distribution of food, coal, and clothing had not been controlled. She listened for the sound of bomber planes and air raid sirens without even realizing it and even possessed her own gas mask.”
This opening brought to mind the cinematic technique of starting with an extreme long shot that brings us to the door of the cottage where one little girl lives with her family; then the door slowly opens to reveal the family inside. I could also envisage the opening as a conduit from a present-day child’s history textbook into the living, breathing past as seen through the eyes of another child.
For an adult, While the Bombs Fell reads as creative nonfiction, with each short chapter a fictionalized account of a particular event in Elsie’s life supplemented by accurate historical research. The chapters include “Swimming and fishing”; “An introduction to school”; “A war-time Christmas”; “Goodbye Jean and the Bungay Buckaroos”; and “Illness in the house and D-Day.”
The deprivations of life in wartime are deftly woven into the fabric of each narrative, as can be seen from the following examples:
“The pantry had a meat safe on the floor. Shelves, empty except for some bread, lined the walls.”
“The Sunday dinner usually comprised of a tiny shriveled piece of beef, cabbage, cooked dried peas, and a batter pudding.”
“People ate herrings and other fish as a treat to supplement their bland and unfulfilling diets. Elsie would feel happy that Father had something more substantial than bread and jam to eat after a hard day of work on the farm.”
For me, the highlight of While the Bombs Fell is its authorship: a mother relating memories of her childhood to her daughter, who uses her talents as an author to mark the importance of these memories and share them with readers to ensure that they will not be lost.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3107034156
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Thanks Liz. I enjoyed this book too.
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🙂
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Reblogged this on Smorgasbord Blog Magazine and commented:
Just an Odd Job Girl gets the royal treatment over at Stevie Turner as part of the Friday Review Share and if you have read and reviewed a book recently you can share in the comments.. a great place to showcase them… thanks again Stevie.
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Thanks for re-blogging. x
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No thank you Stevie.. so grateful xx
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Thank you so much Stevie.. sorry I missed yesterday.. I am so pleased you enjoyed and delighted that you had some laugh aloud moments.. and I will hold my hand up to the jobs and some of the antics in between… very grateful thanks again. hugsxx
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The wig (lol)?
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Absolutely and then meeting him a week later as the doctor for my Royal Naval nursing examination. Mortifying…x
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Lol!
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Thanks Darlene, I was beginning to wonder if anybody had read any books recently, lol.
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My review of Fire in the Vineyard by Christa Polkinhorn
A wonderful story about a family of wine producers and merchants. The story comes with interesting characters and complicated family relationships. When things start to go wrong in the vineyard, everybody is a suspect, including family members. The author makes clever use of dialogue as things heat up and suspicions turn nasty. The vivid descriptions of the California wine-producing landscape make you want to visit this part of America. Woven into the narrative is the complicated process of producing a bottle of wine. A great read for those who love a glass of wine and even for those who don’t!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42778124-fire-in-the-vineyard
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