This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
It's a double whammy! I appear to have missed last week's Hidden Gems feature so here we go with our next two books you may not have read yet, and probably should!
Hidden Gems #3 Playing James by Sarah Mason
I came across this book a couple of years ago (not sure how) and it has since become a firm favourite. It's reminiscent of Sophie Kinsella in its style. The protagonist is cute and funny, and it's full of zany escapades and originality.
The official blurb reads…
Holly Colshannon is a young journalist who thinks her career is about to take a terminal nosedive when she is moved from covering 'pet deaths' for her local Bristol paper and made Crime Correspondent – a poisoned chalice if ever there was one. However, a brilliant idea from the new police PR officer sees Holly shadowing a detective and writing a diary column about his working life. Detective James Sabine is bit of a sour puss – although he does have very nice green eyes – and he's furious that he has been landed with magnificently accident-prone Holly especially since her arrival comes six weeks before his wedding to faultless Fleur. Holly, however, has a career to think about and this infuriating man is not going to stand in her way. Meanwhile, her bosses at the newspaper realise that the column is proving extremely popular with the readers who are waiting for something romantic to happen between the handsome detective and the nice young reporter. With only days to go to the wedding Holly realises she's been waiting for the same thing…
HIDDEN GEMS #4 Snap Happy by Fiona Walker
This is the second Fiona Walker book I ever read and it's just brilliant. It's crammed full of Walker's trademark wit and dramatics, and if my memory serves me, it has some cracking sex scenes. If you haven't read any Fiona Walker stuff, then this is a good place to start. The protagonist, Juno is one of my stand out female fiction heroines. The fact that I remember her so vividly (given how much chick lit i've read) is testament to Fiona Walkers ability to produce characters you can really believe in.
The blurb reads…
A budding stand-up comic, Juno is voluptuous, hedonistic, funny and terminally untidy. On her thirtieth birthday, she decides to have a wild one-night-stand to mark the occasion. But seducing her new flatmate before he's had a chance to unpack his belongings is not a wise move.
Just over from New York, Jay Mulligan is intense, mysterious and, as Juno joyously discovers, far better than breakfast in bed. It's only when they both get out of that bed on the wrong side three days later that the problems start …
Have you read any of these books? Do you have your own suggestions for future Hidden Gems? Let us know (you don't have to, but it would be nice of you did!).