A Summer at Sea by Katie Fforde- YAY now published in the U.S!!!

Emily has decided to take a sabbatical from her job as a midwife after having a run-in with a local OB at a home birth. The unit she works for is on shaky ground due to opposition from the local Dr's. When Emily is offered the chance to spend the time off in Scotland working as a cook on a puffer (steamboat) she accepts the offer. Her old friend Rebecca owns the boat with her husband and Rebecca's pregnancy is making her unable to keep up with the kitchen on the boat. So, off Emily goes to help out.
All is not perfect on the puffer. Emily has to share a tiny space with sulky coworker Billie. Rebecca seems to be trying to fix up Emily with her brother in law, Alasdair, a slightly dour Scotsman who turns out to be the local GP. A widower, Alasdair has a young daughter who takes a liking to Emily much to Alasdair's dismay. As the time goes by, the two find more common ground and develop a bit of a romance. Still, Emily plans to go back home and Alasdair doesn't want to disappoint his daughter.

I really enjoyed this story. There was a nice blend of medical, romance, travel, even knitting themes throughout the book. I loved the way that Emily and Alasdair slowly find their way towards each other. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the places the puffer travels to as well as the whole idea of traveling by steamboat. As an American, this British vacation style just seems so interesting! Emily's need for a break makes perfect sense and her final decision about her future stays true to her personality. I'm so happy that Katie's books are becoming more available in the US so more readers can enjoy this wonderful author!

Summer of Love by Katie Fforde

I have loved Katie Fforde's books ever since I read The Second Thyme Around (now called Thyme Out) in 2000. Summer of Love is a wonderful story about Sian, a city girl who moves to the country with her young son. She is settling into village life and meets her neighbor Fiona with whom she develops a strong friendship. When Fiona's son Gus comes home from exploring, Sian realizes he is the one night stand that resulted in her much loved son. 
The results of this news affect Sian's relationships with her new friend and Gus. Fiona is also sorting out her feelings about a man she has met and who she is very attracted to. I enjoyed all of the angst and craziness that ensues while these couples sort out their lives. As always, Ms. Fforde does a great job with her characters even when they aren't behaving their best. 
I'm also excited that American readers can get these great books without having to order from overseas sellers as I have had to do to get the books.

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen. As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!

Well, perfect except that the phone’s owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn’t agree. He wants his phone back and doesn’t appreciate Poppy reading his messages and wading into his personal life.

What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other’s lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls, and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents . . . she soon realizes that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life.(Synopsis from B&N.com)

Hardcover, Random House, 448 pages

Poppy Wyatt’s day is really going badly.  She has lost the antique betrothal ring her fiancé Magnus gave her and her phone has been stolen.  She thinks her luck has changed when she finds a perfectly good phone stuck in the waste bin and so she confiscates it.  The phone rings, she answers it pretending to be an automated reply, listens to a cryptic message, and writes it down on an old Lion King program.

The phone belongs to Sam Roxton ( or his PA) and he lets Poppy know that he wants the phone back but she refuses.  She agrees that she will forward all of his messages until she no longer needs the phone.  Thus begins a relationship that is quirky to say the least.  As Poppy gets more and more into Sam’s life via his phone, she starts meddling with good, and sometimes bad, results. In the meantime, Poppy is dealing with the lost ring, her not so happy future in-laws, and a bridal planner from h*ll.

Sam helps with the ring debacle and little by little Poppy becomes part of his life. Sam has some heavy stuff going on at his workplace which Poppy may be able to help him with. There are some interesting twists towards the end of the book.

This is a lovely story of two people literally falling into love.  There is sweetness to the relationship which makes the story easy to read. Both characters are likeable (maybe not Sam at first) and they find themselves leaning on each other for support with their problems. The secondary characters are fleshed out and add a lot to the book.  I especially liked the little footnotes on the bottom of the pages.

This is my favorite Kinsella book since Can You Keep a Secret.

Some Thoughts on Being a Book Addict

I am listening to a book on CD called  The Perfect Proposal by an English author named Katie Fforde.  I started reading her books in 2000, beginning with a book titled Thyme Out ( Second Thyme Around in the UK) and I was hooked.  I now own all 17 of her books in hardcover and have most of them in audio as well.

When my daughter was student teaching in London, and I had a chance to visit her, I don't know if I was more excited to see her or get to a book store for my first audiobook of Ms. Fforde's. Just kidding ..... As it turned out, I did get one book there but I was able to get most of her older audiobooks from area libraries.  Who knew!  I even found some of the really old ones on Ebay on tape which I converted to CD with my computer.  I just ordered her new book from Amazon UK because it will take a year to get here to the US and I can't wait that long.

Katie Fforde is one of my book addictions- I still check Ebay daily for the audio version of two of her books that I haven't been able to get. I stayed up one night until 3AM to beat out another bidder on an auction from the UK that closed at that awful hour.  The really bad thing is that when I went over there to see my daughter, I emailed Ms. Fforde to see if she was doing a book talk anywhere in the London area during the dates I was there.  She was very nice and responded back that, alas, she was not going to be in the area during that time.  She was probably thinking- "dodged that crazy American stalker". Oh well, there is always next time.
Just a note,on the back of the CD it says: "the author asserts their moral rights", which is the UK version of a copyright statement.  Gotta love those Brits!