✪ SCARS & SILVER LININGS ✪ Kelsey Kingsley ✪

 © ✰ Bianca ✰ 

• 26 February 2021
• standalone dramance
• Daisies & Devin Spin-Off

★★★★
4.25 Stars

  
Two little, pink lines should have been a good thing, but for Kendall Wright, it felt like the end of the world. Especially when her career as a successful romance novelist had only just begun to take off.

 

But with the acceptance of her flaky boyfriend, and the help of a friendly bartender, she begins to see how those two little, pink lines could actually be a blessing.

 

Except pregnancy isn’t always what it’s cut out to be, and sometimes, things can take a turn for the worst when you least expect it. And after an emergency C-section, the premature birth of her son, and the loss of that flaky boyfriend, Kendall begins the hard, rewarding, and oftentimes traumatic life of NICU parenthood alone.

 

But soon, she realizes that, where there is darkness, there is usually light.

 

And there are always friendly—and very attractive—bartenders.

Kendall is 35 years old and lives in a little apartment in New York City.
She's finally able to halfway live from the money she makes being a romance author. For the last three years she has been dating Brendan - on and off .

And now we're suddenly pregnant.

Brendan is not really on board with the whole thing.

But maybe Goose will be.

The sexy barkeeper Kendall met the day she found out she was pregnant.

But he's dating this hot blonde. And it's not his kid, plus Brendan is still around...

What will happen with Kendall, Goose and the baby??
We'll see ....

Let the fun and not so fun times begin ...

Okay. Let's get the weird stuff out of the way.

I hate feet. Like really hate them. Same with noses, but there's no nose on the cover here. And yes, I know, that's a cute baby foot. But still. I can't look at feet. Ew. Sorry.

Kelsey's covers are always beautiful - except the last one - I hate red too. LOL! But usually her covers are just absolutely amazing.

So I'm just going to not look at this cover. Or the Currently Reading graphic that was sent to us bloggers - there are TWO feet on that thing. Wrinkly little thingies that look like they belong to a 80 year old - not to a baby. 

Okay - foot rant over.

The story.

I was a bit afraid to read this.

No one who picks up a romance wants sad and heartbreaking things to happen to the people in the book. And the blurb already tells us that there will be lots of fights to fight through.

And yes - there's a lot of sad and heartbreaking baby stuff in here. But it's also a very cute and sexy and funny love story!
The baby-in-the-hospital part was hard, but it was also beautiful and full of hope. Of course we're scared of everything that can go wrong, but we just hope that everything will end up okay. And the hospital part is not the whole book. Not at all. We also find time to get our happily ever after with Goose. I loved Goose. He's a great guy. But I just didn't love-love the falling for each other part. I didn't get any relationship vibes from Goose and Kenny. They're just good friends and then suddenly they're in love. I didn't feel it. I also didn't really love their ages! Kenny seems to immature and she's nowhere near a place in life where a mid-thirties person should be. If someone would tell me that Kenny was 23 or 27 I would totally believe it.

But I still loved reading it. The story was cute and sweet and hard and scary.

 

SCARS & SILVER LININGS was a beautiful, funny, sweet + heartbreaking love story.
Run to your nearest amazon for your own Goose - he'll be sold out in no time!

↓ LiNKS TO THE BOOK & AUTHOR ↓

 

Vinnie & Andy

 

Greyson's book

Greyson's dad's book

  

Daisies & Devin

  

Holly Freakin' Hughes

  

When I was a wee lassie, I was told by my preschool teachers that I was a natural at storytelling. When I was just a little older than that, an old friend's mother said to me, "Kelsey, one day your books are going to be on the shelves at the library." 

Well, Diane, I don't know if my books are ever going to be on the shelves of libraries, but I'm sure as hell going to try. 

When I'm not writing stories destined to be bestsellers, I enjoy devouring TV shows, listening to every type of music there is and going to concerts, reading pretty much anything (with a soft spot for romance and certain books located in 18th century Scotland), obsessing over makeup, and pretending to workout. 

I also have a fondness for cats, my family, tattoos, and a really good French fry.

✪ The Codebreakers ✪ Alli Sinclair ✪

 

 Release date: 3rd March 2021

 

 They will dedicate their lives to their country, but no one will ever know...

A compelling story about tenacity and friendship, inspired by the real codebreaking women of Australia's top-secret Central Bureau in WWII. For readers who love Judy Nunn and Kate Quinn.

1943, Brisbane: The war continues to devastate and the battle for the Pacific threatens Australian shores. For Ellie O'Sullivan, helping the war effort means utilising her engineering skills for Qantas as they evacuate civilians and deliver supplies to armed forces overseas. Her exceptional logic and integrity attract the attention of the Central Bureau-an intelligence organisation working with England's Bletchley Park codebreakers. But joining the Central Bureau means signing a lifetime secrecy contract. Breaking it is treason.

With her country's freedom at risk, Ellie works with a group of elite women who enter a world of volatile secrets; deciphering enemy communications to change the course of the war. Working under immense pressure, they form a close bond-yet there could be a traitor in their midst. Can the women uncover the culprit before it's too late?

As Ellie struggles with the magnitude of the promise she's made to her country, a wedge grows between her and those she holds dear. When the man she loves asks questions she's forbidden to answer, how will she prevent the double life she's leading from unravelling?

 

 

  

Copy received from Harper Collins Australia for an honest review

Thank you , thank you, thank you Miss Sinclair for giving us another beautiful and insightful story about the wonderful women who did so much for Australia and her allies during WW2.

 

I knew a little about the women working as codebreakers in Australia, but it is definitely something we all need to learn more about

It is shameful that so much of what these amazing women did was hidden from us for so many years, whilst their male counterparts were showered with accolades. Every time I learn another story like this, it makes me so sad, and so mad for these pioneering women.

 

Ellie is dead set amazing.  She is one of those women who paved the road for the women of today - and there were plenty of women out there like her.  Strong, fiesty and with a heart of gold that sees the best in everyone, she takes us from WW2 to post war Australia and what it was like for the women who filled all those "manly positions".

 

We also follow the relationships throughout that period, and your heart will hurt at times as the story unfolds.

 

This is such a beautifully constructed tale that I did not want to put the book down when it was way past my bedtime on a worknight lol.

 

Ms Sinclair weaves a heartfelt, interesting and endearing story, and I can't wait to read more of her work in the future.

     

Alli Sinclair, an adventurer at heart, has won multiple awards for her writing. She is Australian and has lived in Argentina, Peru and Canada, and has climbed some of the world's highest mountains, worked as a tour guide in South and Central America and has travelled the globe. She enjoys immersing herself in exotic destinations, cultures and languages but Australia has always been close to Alli's heart. Alli hosts retreats for writers and presents writing workshops around Australia, as well as working in film on international projects. She's a volunteer role model with Books in Homes and is an ambassador for the Fiji Book Drive. Alli's books explore history, culture, love and grief, and relationships between family, friends and lovers. She captures the romance and thrill of discovering old and new worlds, and loves taking readers on a journey of discovery.

Alli's website is. www.allisinclair.com.