Saturday, 6 July 2013

Book Review: Hubble Bubble By Jane Lovering

Name: Hubble Bubble
Author: Jane Lovering
Publisher: Choc Lit Books

Summary:
Be careful what you wish for ...

Holly Grey joined the woman's group to keep her friend out of trouble - and now she's knee-deep in hassle, in the form of apocalyptic weather, armed men, midwifery - and a sarcastic Welsh journalist.
Kai has been drawn to darkest Yorkshire by his desire to find out who he really is. What he hadn't bargained on was getting caught up in amateur magic and dealing with a bunch of women who are trying really hard to make their dreams come true.
Together they realise that getting what you wish for is sometimes just a matter of knowing what it is you want ...

Review: Firstly, this is the second book I have devoured from Jane Lovering and yet again I am well and truly captivated. As you may remember when I read Vampire State Of Mind I was flitting from book to book and nothing was keeping my attention span until I started Jane's book. So when I was given the chance to read her latest offering I jumped right in with both feet. Almost instantly I was hooked by Holly's story, it's funny as I recently read a book about wishes, and this is what Hubble Bubble focuses on.
Hubble Bubble had me captivated from beginning to end. Jane has managed to not only be comical but she has also added a slightly sinister twist to the tale. If you are not hanging on each and every word by the twists in this story then I seriously don't know what's wrong with you.

A few of the twists are rather unexpected and full of such drama you'll be ooohing and awwwing as soon as they happen.
Holly is an independent self-assured woman on the outside but is she hiding a secret on the inside??? Well I am not about to spoil that.
Is magic real? Or is the belief and hope of wanting something so much the positive influence in changing your own fate and destiny. Holly is not the sort of woman who believes in magic, she goes along for the ride with her slightly crazy friend Megan but does Holly need change more than she knows.
At first I really didn't know what to make of Kai but by the end of it I was cheering him on and also finding myself loving him just a little.
It's funny people use the term 'Everything Happens For A Reason' a lot but we don't always know what that reason will be. Kai and Holly are so similar and that's where their bond is formed.
If you're looking for a comical read with a twist then I guarantee that Hubble Bubble is the best book for you.

So thank you again to the lovely Choc Lit for providing me with a fantastic read. I shall be purchasing a Kindle by the end of the month and I know there will be lots of Choc Lit on there.
As I said on Jane's Q&A she will be providing us with a treat inspired from Hubble Bubble so watch this space.
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Friday, 5 July 2013

The lovely Jane Lovering answers Hayley's Q&A

I asked Jane to answer some questions for us here at Dark Readers and here are the results. My Hubble Bubble review and another treat from Jane will follow shortly.

1. When did you know you wanted to be a writer and what inspired you?
I didn’t even know that writing was a job, not for a long time. I used to read books my dad brought home from the library, some of which I loved so much that I created stories in my head where I was ‘in’ the books I enjoyed. I’d write stories of my own, using the characters I read about (early Fan Fiction!), and then graduated to using my own ideas.  At that point I realised that this was a Real Thing, and other people did it too, and I knew I wanted to be one of those people.  So I was inspired by a mixture of story and writers who actually wrote. Plus, one trainee teacher at my primary school, who read something I’d written and told me ‘you could be a writer’. I was ten, and he was right.


2. What kind of books do you enjoy? Has your reading style changed over the years.
I enjoy almost every kind of book, although I don’t really read much suspense, life is scary enough already... I love ghosts and time slips and romance; romantic comedy I adore. I like paranormals and fantasy, sci fi and ...well, just about everything, really! Although recently I’ve gravitated to reading more non-fiction, I’ve no idea why. I think it’s because I’m reading on my Kindle a lot, and, for some weird and bizarre reason, non-fiction ‘sounds’ better on a Kindle. Yeah, I know. But I’m a writer, I’m allowed to be bonkers – it’s practically in my job description.

3. Where do you get your inspiration for your stories? I've read both Hubble Bubble and Vampire State Of Mind and they are so different yet both awesome.
I’m a big fan of ‘what if?’ What if vampires were real?  If they were, you can bet that there would be a hell of a lot of paperwork, and someone would have to do it... Hubble Bubble was the ‘what if you could make a wish?’ So I start from that concept and also characters. I get people traipsing into my head and hanging around, making a nuisance of themselves until I finally notice them and say ‘okay, who are you and what is your story?’. And from that, I get a book. Or sectioned.

4. You often mention going back to the day job on Twitter when you're not writing where do you work?
I’m a Biology Resource Technician in a local secondary school. It basically means I sort out lungs and eyeballs. Oh, and photocopying, there is a phenomenal amount of photocopying...


5. So you now have four books. What's been your favourite one to write and why?
Actually, I’ve got six books (there are two ‘stealth’ books, published by Samhain which...ssssh...no one seems to know about, even though they’re perfectly good books). Of them all, I always think that the most recent is my favourite, although it’s as hard to have a favourite book as it is to have a favourite child – I love them all, just in different ways! But, yep, I think Hubble Bubble is my current favourite, because writing it was a breeze, as though the story was just hanging there in the air, waiting for me to pluck it and set it on the page. Plus it’s very typically ‘Yorkshire’, the terrible weather and the mud...

6. What can we expect next?
There’s the book I’m just wrapping up, which is about an astrophysicist, a heroine with a horse called Stan and some suspect lights in the sky, and then I’m starting a new book, which will hopefully be called ‘I Don’t Want To Talk About It’, which is about a woman who writes books about graveyards, her identical twin sister, and an old mill in the throes of restoration.

7. What can we expect from the follow up to Vampire StateOf Mind? I cannot wait!!!
Now, this is in the nature of an exclusive, but I just signed the contract for the sequel!  Yep, just today I put the contract in the post! The book is called Falling Apart, it’s hopefully out in June next year (2014, for forgetful people out there), and it features quite a lot of zombies. Oh, the vamps are there too, but Sil has got himself into serious trouble, and Jess has to come to terms with a lot of stuff. Zan is his usual self, and Liam is...well, he’s still Jess’s sidekick. And the zombies? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out where they fit in... (shesaid, teasingly).

8. Do you read paperbacks or ebooks or both?
I read both.  Whatever is lying around, really.

9. Are any of your characters based on you?
All my heroines have a huge slice of me about them, but they are all prettier, taller, have better hair and are much faster with the funny lines than I am.

10. Tell us something we wouldn't already know about you?
Given the way I gab, there’s very little that people don’t know about me already. Honestly, I’ve probably even told half the people at work what colour my knickers are today, I just cannot shut up about anything! So...ummm... the best I can offer is that my eyes are two slightly different colours. One is grey and the other one is a greenish colour, it’s most noticeable in dim light, and if you ever want to freak me out just say quietly to me ‘your eyes are different colours again today’. Drives me MAD!









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Tuesday, 2 July 2013

Hayley needs some Kindle advice??

Helloooo Hayley here,

I aim to be back here more often. I know I know I said this last time. But I do mean it.
Last night I finished the awesome Hubble Bubble by Jane Lovering, she just so happens to be the author of Vampire State Of Mind the last review I posted for you guys. Yet again very impressed....my review should be up any day now, I just hope I can do her book justice. SOOO GOOD.

Anyway the point of this post is I need some help, I'm reading more and more on my phone and now I think it's time to get a Kindle. Now I am pretty certain that I will get the standard Kindle although originally I wanted the Kindle Fire but I have now realised I need a book reading device not a tablet.
Anyway I am a bit of a novice with all things Kindle so if you can help me out that would be awesome. I am hoping to purchase it by the end of July heeee.

I am also hoping to get a few Q&A's up for you guys with Jane Lovering and Alyson Noel.
For anyone that knows me from this blog I am a huge fan of Alyson's and I truly cannot wait for Thursday as that is the day Mystic is released the third book in the truly mind blowing Soul Seekers series and I am sooo excited. I have wanted this book since November when I finished Echo.
The last bit of news from me is I shall be undertaking a week's work experience with the lovely lot at Pan Macmillan at the end of this month. So I was thinking I would document my time for you guys like a diary from my week. How does that sound????

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