Book Review: My Husband Next Door by Catherine Alliott

When Ella married the handsome, celebrated artist Sebastian Montclair at just nineteen she was madly in love. Now, those blissful years of marriage have turned into the very definition of an unconventional set-up. Separated in every way but distance, Sebastian resides in an outhouse across the lawn from Ella's ramshackle farmhouse.

With an ex-husband living under her nose and a home crowded by hostile teenaged children, gender-confused chickens - not to mention her hyper critical mother whose own marriage slips spectacularly off the rails - Ella finds comfort in the company of the very charming gardener, Ludo.

Then out of the blue Sebastian decides to move on, catching Ella horribly unawares. How much longer can she hide from what really destroyed her marriage . . . and the secret she continues to keep?

Copy of book received from publisher - Thank you.

I am ashamed to admit this is the first Catherine Alliott book that I have read. I have heard many great things about her books and was very excited to read it but unfortunately I found this one quite disappointing.

Ella plays the main character in the book, a middle aged mother of two who fell in love at 19 to her handsome Sebastian. After years of marriage Ella and Sebastian are now separated and live apart...but on the same farm - intriguing hey? That’s exactly what I thought!

The book is very much centered on Ella and how she is dealing with this peculiar situation. One of the main reasons I think I struggled to get into the book was because I didn't feel I could connect to Ella and this was a little off putting. I thought she was very self-absorbed and feeling sorry for herself all the time, I got a little bored of her if I'm honest.

The storyline was very family orientated  I did like the way that it explored relationships between husband and wife, Mother and Father, parent and child and siblings rather than just sticking to the more common sex and shopping story lines (which I have to say are my usual fave!)

I did also really like the humour Alliott included in her book. Many parts had me laughing out loud which is always a good sign and I did like the way that you really feel like you get to know the characters very well, even if you are not fond of them! 

Overall I rate this book as a 4/10 in the Novel Cafe. It was a warm, light, easy read which was amusing at times but to me it did seem a bit on the long slow side. I found I was always waiting for something 'big' to happen or a twist but one never came along. I’m sure many of you would enjoy, especially if you are a fan of Alliott's, it was just not for me.

Book Review: 
The Power Trip by Jackie Collins 

A Russian billionaire and his state of the art yacht. His beautiful and sexy supermodel girlfriend. And five dynamic, powerful and famous couples invited on the yacht's maiden voyage. A senator and his lovely but unhappy wife. A very attractive movie star and his needy ex-waitress girlfriend. A famous black footballer and his interior designer wife. A male Latin singing sensation and his older English boyfriend. And a maverick writer with his Asian journalist female friend. Could this be the trip of a lifetime? Or a trip from hell? Whatever happens on the high seas doesn't necessarily stay there. The Power Trip - take it if you dare.

My mum has always been a huge fan of Jackie Collins and has been telling me to read one of her books for years, so I thought I would bite the bullet and go for it. 

The first section of the book 'The Invitation' introduces the 12 main characters in the book. The Russian Billionaire, Aleksandr Kasianenko, his supermodel girlfriend Bianca and the 5 couples about to board the trip of a lifetime. When I started to read I must say I got rather confused, all these different characters, their life stories, I was in such a muddle. How was I going to remember who was who?! Having to keep recapping what I had already read to remind myself was getting a bit tedious but I knew I had to stick with it and I was right, it soon became very easy to get to know all the individuals and the secrets among them. The second section of the book 'The Trip' is when the adventure gets underway. The ship sets sail with all its guests but none of them know what’s waiting for them just around the corner....and I don't want to spoil it for you so I shall stop there!

I am glad that I read the book but it isn't one of my favourites. Maybe because it wasn't the typical 'Chick Lit' I usually enjoy reading and it didn't contain any humour. The characters were all too 'much' for me. I like to relate to the characters I am reading about or at least like them, this didn't happen for me when reading this book. I just found myself getting annoyed by how selfish and self-centered they all were. I also found the story was quite long drawn in the middle; it seemed to take a while to get to the action. Having said that, the last part of the story I did find very gripping and at this point had to keep reading until the end.

Overall I would rate the book as a 6/10, a Jam Doughnut in the Novel Cafe. I enjoyed it but it was nothing special.