Magical Romantic Comedies

I love a rom com with a magical twist, whether it's a birthday wish come true or a bit of time-travel, and I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you (plus I've cheekily added my own to the list).

What if you could go back in time and fix the biggest mistake of your life?

Two years ago, Maisie’s best friend walked out of her life and she hasn’t heard from him since. When she wakes up in 1994, she naturally assumes she’s dreaming. But when she finds herself in the past again the next night and her actions in the dream alter her present-day life, she begins to wonder if she’s somehow hopping back in time. And if she is time-travelling, can she save her friendship with Jonas?

When Maisie is forced to relive Christmases of the past, will she face up to her mistakes, or make them all over again?

The 12 Christmases of You & Me is a magical tale of friendship, first loves, and learning to live in the present.

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Two choices. One destiny. A love story you’ll never forget…

December 2005. On a cold winter’s night, nineteen-year-old Ben is having the time of his life at university. He’s about to fall in love for the very first time…but will it be with new girl Daphne, or his best mate Alice?

December 2020. Life hasn’t quite turned out how Ben had planned and he’s stuck in a rut. He can’t help but think back to that fateful night fifteen years earlier, and wonder what might have been…

He never imagines he will get to find out – but when Ben is gifted with a second chance to make the biggest decision of his life, will he finally find the courage to follow his heart?

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Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They've been together for almost a decade, and are just about to get married. But then, on Lydia's 27th birthday, Freddie dies in a tragic accident.

Then something unbelievable happens. Lydia gets another chance at her old life with Freddie.

But what if there's someone in her new life who wants her to stay?

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‘I wish I could live your life. I’d happily swap lives with you.’

’Tis the season to be jolly but for Calvin and Judy the usual festive bickering has already begun! Judy’s convinced that her husband has it easy – no glittery wrapping paper, no playground gossip and absolutely no Christmas baking.

Calvin wishes he could trade in his obnoxious boss and dull nine-to-five job to spend more time kicking back with his kids – how hard can Judy’s life really be?

But after a magical mince pie mix-up, one thing’s for certain – by Christmas Day, life for Judy and Calvin will never be the same again. Perhaps the grass isn’t always greener after all…

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Am I dead? I don't feel dead...' Sophie cannot leave the people she loves. Her husband, Ollie - a man who once watered a houseplant for a year before realising it was plastic - is lost without her. Their son Freddie is so little. And her friend Jenny? There's something she desperately needs to know before it's too late. Some love stories never end.

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Izzy Harris should have it all – but her boyfriend has been ignoring her for months, she’s been overlooked for a promotion, and the owner of her local coffee shop pervs on her every time she has a craving for a salted caramel muffin.

Then an unexpected turn of events gives her the boost she needed.

Suddenly Izzy has the confidence to do all the things she’s never dared: dump her oblivious boyfriend, turn the tables on catcallers, and put herself forward for a big pitch at work. Having to work closely with gorgeous colleague Alex is just an added perk…

But then her best friend has her heart broken, the pitch is way more complicated than expected, and Alex is keeping secrets. Does Izzy have what it takes to help her friend, save her career and get the guy?

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Be careful what you wish for...

Ally Richmond is dreading turning thirty and bidding farewell to her youth. And when her husband says he wants to start a family, she begins to panic.

Is this all that life has to offer from now on? Popping out babies and growing old gracefully? She wants a life crammed with glamour and spontaneous adventure, not one full of dirty nappies and night feeds.

When Ally makes a silly birthday wish for a new, exciting life, her wish is granted.

But when Ally is presented with the freedom and opportunities she craves, she soon realises this new life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and that there really is no place like home. But can she find her way back - or is she stuck in this new reality forever?

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A hilarious story of love, dancing, fashion and a very unlikely friendship.

If you suddenly had a friend that only you could see or hear, what would you do?

You could worry that your stressful life has tipped you over the edge and you have lost the plot, big time . . . you could hide under your duvet, hoping that they would go away . . .

Or

You could have some fun . . .

You could make a fool of yourself many times over . . .

You could save your business . . .

You could dance with a gorgeous man who just can't resist you . . .

You could solve the mystery of the dragonfly necklace . . .

And you could just discover the best friend you ever had.

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Do you like your rom com with a dash of magic? If you do, feel free to share your favourites in the comments below :)

Do You Re-Read Books?

There are some films I'll watch over and over again - 13 Going 30, You've Got Mail, Bridget Jones' Diary and Picture Perfect to name a few - and I'm the same when it comes to books. 

If I've loved a book so much it's like losing a friend (or a whole bunch) when the last page is turned, why not pick it up again and rediscover the story and the characters all over again? I find re-reading books comforting. I already know the characters and I know what the outcome is going to be, so I can really settle in and simply enjoy the journey. I have a handful of books I've enjoyed time and time again and never tire of re-treading the journey with the characters:

Kiss Him Goodbye (Victoria Routledge)

One-Hit Wonder and Thirty-Nothing (Lisa Jewell)

Babyville and Bookends (Jane Green)

These books have been with me for a long time as I first read them during the early 2000s. They're a bit battered after so many re-reads but I love them as much now as the first time I opened them and they have pride of place on the top shelf of my bookcase.

Sometimes a book has a follow-up and, just like I'm rewatching the first series of ITV's The Bay at the moment as a refresher for series 2, I'll sometimes need a re-read of the original, especially if it's been a while between books. This is the case with Dorothy Koomson's All My Lies Are True, which is a follow-up of The Ice Cream Girls. I read (and loved) The Ice Cream Girls around 2012, so I'm definitely going to need a refresher re-read before I dive into the next book!

And then there are the classics you've been reading since childhood. In my case, it's The Animals of Farthing Wood, which I've been re-reading since 1993. My copy is so battered and fragile after being read and carried around in backpacks and handbags over the years that I've bought myself a new copy. I still love my original, but it's having a rest on my shelf so it won't fall to pieces during its next outing.

What about you? Are there any books you read again and again?

My Bookish Year: 2020

2020 is coming to a close (hurrah!) so I thought I'd end the year on a high by looking back at all the lovely bookish things that have happened during the shittiest of years.

2020 started off with a re-read. As I stated in my first Instagram post of the year, I was in the mood for a really good rom com and as I'd already read The Best Thing That Never Happened To Me by Laura Tait & Jimmy Rice before, I knew it would deliver. 

I love re-reading books and I'm going to start off 2020 with another read of Jane Green's Jemima J. It's been a few years since I read it (again) so I'm looking forward to rediscovering the story.

Do you re-read books? Which book are you planning to start the new year with?

Reading for me was a bit different at times, as over the spring and summer I got into the habit of taking my current read along to the supermarket with me to read during the 'car park shuffle'. It was a bit weird queueing to get into Asda at first, but even weirder was how quickly it became the norm, and standing on the outskirts of the car park while reading my book no longer felt out of the ordinary.

I read some fantastic books during 2020, and five of my favourites are:

Our Stop (Laura Jane Williams)

The Garden of Lost and Found (Harriet Evans)

The Mother-in-Law (Sally Hepworth)

The Lake House (Kate Morton)

All I Want For Christmas (Joanna Bolouri)

(I've listed the books in the order I read them, because choosing five was hard enough)

What have been your favourite reads this year?

At the beginning of the year, I was editing Book 11 - which became known as The 12 Christmases of You & Me and was published in October.

As well as finishing The 12 Christmases of You & Me, I also wrote the first drafts of Books 12 and 13 and published the paperback edition of Everything Changes But You. So it's been a very busy year, writing-wise!

I'm going to continue working on Books 12 and 13 during 2021 and hopefully start a whole new book towards the end of the year as I'm aiming to take part in Nanowrimo again. I wrote almost 70,000 words of Book 13 during November and I'm looking forward to jumping back in again to see if I can be just as successful next time round. I'm also looking forward to reading some more fantastic books, starting with Jemima J...

I'd love to hear about your bookish year. Let us know what you've been reading and/or writing in the comments below :)

The Babysitters Club

 

Did you read The Babysitters Club when you were younger? I loved them, along with the Sweet Valley Twins and High series (there wasn't much else in the teen section of our local library, so it's lucky I enjoyed them). As well as the copies I borrowed from the library, I also owned a few, which I kept hold of and passed onto my oldest daughter, who then passed them onto her younger sister. My daughters both loved the series too, so when we heard that Netflix had made its own adaptation, we had to watch it.

Adaptations don't always live up to the books, but I thought the series was great and it definitely delivered the hit of nostalgia I was hoping for, plus I liked the tweaks they'd made to characters and story lines to bring it up to date. My only teeny, tiny niggle was the horror of seeing Alicia Silverstone playing one of the mums *insert screamy-face emoji*

To me, Alicia Silverstone is Cher from Clueless, who is fifteen (sixteen by the final scene, but whatever), not a mum. And especially not a mum to a teenager. It doesn't matter that I'm a mum to a teenager now as well - it was still a slap in the face and a reminder that I'm no longer the kid reading about Kristy and the gang during the long summer holidays.

Seriously though, Netflix has produced a brilliant series that I hope will have another generation picking up the books and devouring them.

Have you watched the series? What did you think?

My Bookish Year

2019 is coming to a close, so I've been thinking about all the lovely bookish things that have happened over the past year.

2019 started with my first ever Agatha Christie novel. I'd never watched an episode of Poirot on the TV either, so when I saw there was going to be an adaptation of The ABC Murders on TV over Christmas 2018, I decided to pick the book up and read it before watching - and I enjoyed both!

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My first read of 2019 is The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. Confession: I’ve never read an Agatha Christie novel before, or even watched an adaptation, but I thought I’d give The ABC Murders a go when I saw it listed in the Christmas TV guide. So when I saw the book in Tesco, I decided to read it first! What’s your first read of the year?

A post shared by Jennifer Joyce (@writer_jenn) on Jan 1, 2019 at 6:53am PST

I've read some fantastic books this year. Five of my favourites* are:

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary &

Snowflakes at The Little Christmas Tree Farm by Jaimie Admans

*The books are listed in the order I read them because choosing five was difficult enough

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Hello Monday! Youngest is back to school today, so my writing break is officially over. Time to get back to Book 10 😊😊

A post shared by Jennifer Joyce (@writer_jenn) on Jan 7, 2019 at 1:31am PST

At the beginning of the year, I was working on my tenth book (now known as The Accidental Life Swap). The ebook was released in September, followed by the paperback and audio in October.

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Happy Publication Day to me! The Accidental Life Swap is out today in ebook (paperback to follow on 31st Oct) and I’m so excited to share Rebecca’s story 🎉🎉

A post shared by Jennifer Joyce (@writer_jenn) on Sep 1, 2019 at 4:34am PDT

Although The Accidental Life Swap is my tenth book, it was only my second book to be released as a paperback and my first with an audio version, so it was VERY EXCITING.

You can read the diary I kept while writing the book here or see the 'Book Extras' here

I'm now working on Book 11, which will hopefully be published towards the end of 2020.

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I’m determined to finish this first draft before the school/college crimbo holidays start. There’s one week left and I’m almost there 💪

A post shared by Jennifer Joyce (@writer_jenn) on Dec 13, 2019 at 1:25am PST

50,000 words of the first draft was written during November as I took part in Nanowrimo for the first time (you can see my posts about it here) and I joined a local writing group, which really helped to motivate me.

Now I'm looking forward to seeing what 2020 will bring!

A Books & Writing Catch Up

It's been a while since I last posted on the blog - I had a little break after finishing the edits on The Accidental Life Swap, and I'm also pushed for time with it being the school summer holidays - so I thought it was time to have a quick catch up!

Writing-wise, I'm now plotting Book 11. I love this stage of the writing process, although it can be a bit daunting as I'm always worried the idea in my head won't transfer well onto the page, especially if the idea has been brewing for a while. Once my ideas are down on paper (or screen) I need to put together a synopsis for my editor, which is my least favourite part of the writing process. It doesn't matter how times I write a synopsis, they never get any easier. I would much rather write a whole 80-90k novel than a page or two of a synopsis!

I'm also gearing myself up for the publication of The Accidental Life Swap, which is now less than three weeks away. I've planned some book extras, which I'll put up here on the blog once the book is out, and I'll also be sending out a newsletter on publication day. As well as the usual book news and recommendations, there'll be a publication day giveaway, plus you'll get the chance to have your name used as a character name in my next book. I did this with The Accidental Life Swap and I'd love to do it again. Only newsletter subscribers will get the chance to take part, so make sure you've signed up before 1st September! If you haven't subscribed yet and would like to, click here to fill in the quick and easy form.

Each of my newsletters comes with a book recommendation (or two, sometimes even three) but I thought I'd shout about a couple of fantastic reads I've read recently here too. If you have any book recommendations of your own, let us know in the comments below this post :)

A God In Ruins is my favourite read of the year so far. I'd read a proof copy of its companion book, Life After Life a few years ago and loved it so when I saw A God In Ruins on a book-sharing shelf, I knew I had to borrow it.

The book follows Teddy Todd and his family as war breaks out and he becomes a fighter pilot, moving through the decades to see how his life - and those around him - turns out over the twentieth century. It was such a heartwarming (and sometimes heartbreaking) book that I didn't want it to end. And when it did, I didn't want to relinquish it. But I had only borrowed the book, so I dutifully returned it to its shelf - and then bought my own copy, along with Life After Life, which I should have bought myself a long time ago!

Last year, I read my first Kate Morton book, The House at Riverton, which was one of my favourite reads of 2018. I knew I had to catch up on her other books, so a couple of weeks ago I read The Forgotten Garden - and loved it just as much!

Like A God In Ruins, The Forgotten Garden sweeps across the decades to tell the story of a little girl who was found abandoned on an Australian dock after travelling across from England during the lead up to the First World War. I love Kate Morton's writing and the way it draws you into the mystery, and I'll definitely read more of her books in the future!

So, that's my books and writing catch up. Remember to share any recommendations in the comments below :)

My Favourite Reads 2018

It's that time of year where I look back on all the brilliant books I've read during the year and pick a few favourites to share.

I adored each of these books for different reasons and they are in no particular order as picking just five favourites was difficult enough! Some of these books aren't 2018 releases but I read them this year. So, here goes...

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I'd heard so many great things about Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype - BUT IT DID. I adored Eleanor and I loved getting to know her, She's quirky and funny but there's also a heartbreaking tale buried beneath her routines.

I can't wait for the film release!

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I read The Chateau of Happily Ever Afters during the summer and I loved every single page of it. The chemistry and humour between Wendy and Julian was brilliant and I so wanted them to get together! Jaimie Admans' writing style is light and full of fun, so you can relax into it and enjoy the story as it unfolds.

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The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society has been out for a while but I only got round to reading this year just before the film was released. I have to admit that it took me a little while to get into the book, but once I did I was completely hooked and was so bereft when it ended as I just wanted to continue reading the letters between Juliet, her publisher and her new set of friends. I haven't got round to watching the film yet but I really need to watch it!

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This is the first Kate Morton book I've read, but it definitely won't be the last! The House at Riverton isn't the paciest of reads but I thought it was such an enjoyable read. The descriptions were vivid and the story was intriguing. I'm looking forward to reading more from Kate Morton in 2019!

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I've read a few Rowan Coleman books and enjoyed them, so I was confident I was going to find a great read in We Are All Made of Stars - and I was right to be. We Are All Made of Stars is heartbreaking at times as letters are passed onto the loved ones of patients who have passed away, but it was also uplifting too. You may need a tissue or two!

So, those are my 2018 favourites - but what have you been reading this year that you'd like to shout about? Let us know in the comments below :)