Spellbindingly Fun Blog Party

To celebrate the launch of Janice Horton's new novella, How do you Voodoo, I am taking part in the Spellbindingly Fun Blog Party. The idea is to choose your ingredients from a list on Janice's blog, then make up a spell for your heart's desire.

So here's my spell recipe for inspiration

sprig of Scottish heather
pixie dust
three wild rose petals
pink candle

Oh hear me please you powers that be
Send inspiration to wash over me
With NaNoWriMo drawing near
Fill my mind with ideas clear

As I dwell on characters and plots
Please keep me from getting in knots
And when the panic starts to mount
Keep me focussed on wordcount
With harm to none, so mote it be

To find out what Janice and other bloggers and tweeters are cooking up, pop over to janicehortonwriter.blogspot.co.uk or follow the hashtag #voodoo on Twitter.

Book Review: Reaching for the Stars

Reaching for the Stars
by Janice Horton
Published: December 2011
Format: ebook
ASIN: B006ICFIZG

Summary

Scottish celebrity chef Finn McDuff is media stalked and disillusioned after winning his third star and losing his third wife. He decides he’s had enough of all the food campaigns, the TV cookery shows, the constant frenzy surrounding his private life and, after giving up all his accolades and closing down his restaurant, he disappears.

With the enfant terrible of the kitchen missing, two rival newspapers, having lost their media meal ticket, compete against each other to whip up further public curiosity in the missing chef. Love him or hate him, everyone is out looking for Chef McDuff. Who will find him first and whose side will you be on...?

Review
Right from the first page, this book had me hooked. Celebrity chef McDuff seemingly has it all, but faster than a soufflé can sink he loses it. His third wife has just walked out on him. That's a wife he's lost for each Golden Star. He is at the pinnacle of his career but willing to give up his coveted 3 stars to save his marriage.

Rival journalists, Raine and Ross, pursue poor Finn, each trying to out-scoop the other. Raine struggles to maintain her integrity, but Ross will do whatever it takes to get ahead. Then there is the fragile Anna, who has her own issues with Finn.

Finn is a real hero and I absolutely loved him. He reminded me of my favourite Scottish chef, the adorable Tom Kitchin. Finn is a gentleman and will go to enormous lengths not to let the people he cares about down. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be adding Ms Horton's other novels to my TBR list.

Rating
I loved this book and give it 5 out of 5. It made me smile and left me with that satisfying 'aaah' feeling at the end.

A big thank you to Ms Horton for sending me this book to review.