Today: Blog-Tour: Sunset in Central Park by Sarah Morgan

Today is my turn on the fabulous blog-tour for Sarah Morgan’s Sunset in Central Park. Follow the Tour on Twitter with the #MorganinManhattan and @Mira_BooksUK @SarahMorgan_ and @HQStories

About the Author

Sarah Morgan writes warm contemporary women’s fiction with her trademark humour which has gained her fans across the globe. Sarah lives near London with her husband and children, and when she isn’t reading or writing she loves being outdoors, preferably on holiday so she can forget the house needs tidying.

You can visit Sarah online at her website: www.sarahmorgan.com on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorSarahMorgan or on Twitter @SarahMorgan_

About the book

In the chaos of New York, true love can be hard to find, even when it’s been right under your nose all along…

Love has never been a priority for garden designer Frankie Cole. After witnessing the fallout of her parents’ divorce, she’s seen the devastation an overload of emotion can cause. The only man she feels comfortable with is her friend Matt—but that’s strictly platonic. If only she found it easier to ignore the way he makes her heart race…

Matt Walker has loved Frankie for years but, sensing how fragile she is beneath her feisty exterior, has always played it cool. But then he uncovers new depths to the girl he’s known forever and doesn’t want to wait a moment longer. He knows Frankie has secrets and has buried them deep, but can Matt persuade her to trust him with her heart and kiss him under the Manhattan sunset?

Preorder/Buy Sunset in Central Park at Amazon UK or Amazon com

Review

There is one thing I can say consistently about any book by Sarah Morgan, and that is that while I am reading it I always know I am going to recommend it to someone. I’ll be thinking of people I know who will enjoy the story as much I have.

This isn’t always the case with every author or every book. Morgan does what she does really well. Her subtle combination of humour, friendship and love stories are also infused with a close sense of family. It is not uncommon for a tear-drop to fall or a snort of laughter to be heard whilst reading her stories.

Sunset in Central Park is the second part of the From Manhattan with Love series. The first is Sleepless in Manhattan and the third is Miracle on 5th Avenue (coming Nov 2016). The series focuses on the three friends Eva, Paige and Frankie, and they have a connection to Puffin Island, which is another popular series by Sarah Morgan.

In this book we follow the story of Frankie and Matt. Frankie lives her life based on the experiences she has had in her past and especially her childhood. She doesn’t believe in everlasting love or a happy ever after.She also doesn’t think she is pretty enough or good enough in the horizontal tango department.

At the same time she feels attracted to one of her best friends, but is scared of letting herself go and letting herself feel the love she knows she wants and needs. Matt wants to show her how much he cares. however he knows Frankie will bolt like a scared horse at the first sign of any romantic or flirtatious gesture.

To take the next step in her future Frankie has to get some closure about events in the past. The rocky relationships with her parents and the island she left behind her a long time ago.

In this book Morgan once again explores the difficult evolution of friends to lovers. Sometimes it is the perfect development of a relationship and other times it can be the absolute destruction of a friendship.

I have to admit there was a moment I got all misty eyed again, something I am becoming accustomed to when I read one of Morgan’s books. She just has a knack for  the written word and special moments.

As always it was a pleasure to read.

Buy Sunset in Central Park at AmazonUK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

You can visit Sarah online at her website: www.sarahmorgan.com on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorSarahMorgan or on Twitter @SarahMorgan_

Read The Christmas Sisters. Moonlight over Manhattan (From Manhattan with Love #6), Holiday in the Hamptons (From Manhattan with Love #5), New York Actually (From Manhattan wth Love #4) Miracle on 5th Avenue (From Manhattan With Love #3), Sleepless in Manhattan (From Manhattan with Love #1), Christmas Ever After, First Time in Forever, Maybe This Christmas, Sleighbells in the Snow, Suddenly Last Summer or The Notting Hill Diaries, all by Sarah Morgan.

Follow @SarahMorgan_, @HQStories and @HarperCollinsUK

Subject 375 (The Project #1) by Nikki Owen

I thought this book was a breath of fresh air with an innovative premise.

It highlights an important issue in our society, how our misconceptions about autism and  other syndromes on the spectrum still define the way we treat people who fall into those categories.

It was a bold move on Owen’s part, to create a character with Asperger’s, and weave this quite complex and fast paced psychological thriller around it. I enjoyed and was intrigued by the choice. Authors tend to stay away from awkward or characters ‘deemed’ different by society.

It not only gives an insight into the mind of a person with Asperger’s and in doing so may help others understand the difficulties they deal with on a daily basis. In this case the prison setting exacerbates the Asperger’s, which in itself is quite an interesting read.

I think the most fascinating parts of the story are the ones dealing with both the limitations and advantages of Maria’s Asperger’s. The moments when the reader gets a really vivid insight into the mindset, the decision process, the fears and the very distinct processes she applies to her surroundings and people.

Maria finds herself accused, convicted of and imprisoned for murder. She is convinced of her innocence and confused by all the events that have brought her to this point. Initially she is confined to solitary, a grave mistake on their part, especially in combination with her syndrome.

A cat and mouse game ensues between Maria, her mind and whoever is sitting in the interview/therapy room with her. Suddenly everyone is part of her ‘imagined’ conspiracy theories. She starts to doubt her innocence, perhaps she really is a brutal killer. Maybe everyone is right and she is losing touch with reality. Or are her theories not just figments of her imagination.

An unusual friendship blossoms between Maria and an inmate. Unusual because her social filters and skills usually make such a connection difficult.

Maria’s biggest battle is with herself, there is no doubt about that. She can’t trust her instincts, her perceptions or any interactions she has with any person. Any one else would probably go completely insane, so I guess there must be something really special about Maria, right? I’ll leave you to find that out for yourself.

Buy Subject 375 (The Project #1) at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Read The Killing Files (The Project #2)

Read the original Blog-Tour for Subject 375 formerly known as The Spider in the Corner of the Room.

Sleepless in Manhattan by Sarah Morgan

This is the first part of Sarah Morgan’s new trilogy From Manhattan with Love featuring the friends Paige, Skylar and Frankie. If you have read the Puffin Island books you may recognise some of the characters or places mentioned in Sleepless in Manhattan.

This story is about Jake and Paige, and their love-hate-squabble relationship. Jake has been trying to avoid his attraction to Paige for years. Her brother is his best friend, so technically she is off-limits. The fact that Jake is a known lothario doesn’t help matters much. He is a different woman every type of guy, so not exactly someone you would want as a son-law or boyfriend.

At first Paige sees Jake as more of an annoyance, a friend with good intentions, but with a terrible way of delivering advice. It isn’t until they are unintentionally thrown together in an awkward situation that Paige understands just how much she is attracted to him.

The focal point is the friendships between the girls and their love lives or lack of. You can already see where the next potential book in the trilogy will be headed. The story is also about Paige and the way she and her family deal with her past medical issues. They are reluctant to let her out of the cocoon they have built around her, which makes it difficult for Paige to live her life as an adult.

Sarah Morgan knows how to create the perfect trifecta of love, sexual tension and desire. The combination readers look for in a romantic read. Her characters are always well developed and make the reader want to return to them to find out how they are doing. Her name is always on the tip of my tongue when I am asked for recommendations in this particular genre.

Buy Sleepless in Manhattan at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

You can connect with Sarah online at her website: www.sarahmorgan.com on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorSarahMorgan or on Twitter @SarahMorgan_

Read The Christmas Sisters, Moonlight over Manhattan (From Manhattan with Love #6),  Holiday in the Hamptons (From ManHattan with Love #5), New York Actually (From Manhattan with Love #4), Miracle on 5th Avenue (From Manhattan With Love #3), Sunset in Central Park (From Manhattan with Love #2), Christmas Ever After, First Time in Forever, Maybe This Christmas, Sleighbells in the Snow, Suddenly Last Summer or The Notting Hill Diaries, all by Sarah Morgan.

Follow @SarahMorgan_, @HQStories and @HarperCollinsUK

Picture Perfect by Kate Forster

This most certainly has shades of Lace by Shirley Conran, a book turned into a TV mini series ( not sure if anyone knows or remembers it, because it aired in 1984). Picture Perfect has the same kind of Hollywood flare that Lace had, and that one would expect from a Jackie Collins novel.

The reader follows the story of two best friends, who are drawn to each other in an attempt to find some sort of comfort and support. They are both children in dysfunctional family situations, suffering abuse and neglect, and with no obvious way out. One of them winds up pregnant, and that sets a series of events in motion, which will have an impact on both of them in the future.

In the midst of this brassy, emotional and glitzy story there is also an intricate look at the relationship between birth mother, adoptive mother and child.

Adopted children, who don’t know anything about their birth parents, often feel as if something is missing. There is this need to know and need for closure. This is how and why Shay’s daughter ends up looking for her birth mother. Kept in the dark by her adoptive parents, she is on a mission to find the woman who couldn’t keep her.

I liked the way Forster handled the whole ‘coming back for you’ aspect of the story. Instead of adults filled with selfishness and interested in their own gratification, Forster has created characters, who choose in the best interest of the child.

Simultaneously the reader is treated to a whirlwind combination of relationships and romances. The thrill of young love, the complicated love between a loner and a player, and the erratic romance between a widower and a hardcore cynic.
P.S: I have to admit to getting a little teary-eyed about the dog, it was such an endearing sub-plot.

Buy Picture Perfect at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Read The Last Will and Testament of Daphne Le Marche by Kate Forster.

The Girl from Cobb Street by Merryn Allingham

Allingham gives the reader and interesting insight into the strict and oppressive rules amongst the British military in India. The unwritten rules of society and class structure. The wives must always bow down to the will of the wife, who is married to the higher ranking soldier.

Any slight, insult or offence committed by any wife can have a knock-on effect on the husband and his career. Then there are the rules about associating with the natives or the Indian officers, even the so-called Anglo-Indians are off-limits for the British officers and wives. A very racist and biased environment, which probably also played a role in the revolt of the native population.

The women are expected to be waited on hand and foot by servants, regardless of whether they can do or are used to doing certain work themselves. Everything is about image and perception.

Daisy finds it hard to deal with doing nothing at all and refuses to tow the line like the other women. She starts finding herself in precarious situations and odd accidents start to happen. Until she suspects that the accidents aren’t just coincidences. Daisy finds herself mixed up in an unexpected and dangerous situation with no salvation in sight.

At the end of this first book in the Daisy’s War series I think it is fair to say that as a reader I would like to delve more deeply into the story of Daisy’s parentage. Her story seems to infer a connection to India, one that would explain her less than English rose complexion perhaps.
I received a copy of this book courtesy of Harlequin UK and Harlequin MIRA.