The Bed and Breakfast on the Beach by Kat French (Book Beginnings & Friday 56)

I have quite enjoyed Kat French's The Bed and Breakfast on the Beach , which really hasn't surprised me at all. See, Kat French = Kitty French and thanks to Melody Bittersweet she has quickly become one of my favorite chick lit authors. I hit the request button for this on NetGalley so hard I actually scared my cat a bit. 

This has so much of the same sense of fun and snark as my beloved Chapelwick Mysteries. There's a bit more romance which makes up for the lack of ghosts (although I was kind of hoping one would show up in the cellar), and I have to admit that some of the steamier scenes were almost skimmed over. Luckily there weren't too many and they weren't too long. (You know how I am about stuff like that in my books!)

All three of the main characters play off each other beautifully. The friendship between Winnie, Stella and Frankie was truly one of the highlights for me. It seemed that Winnie's individual story got a bit more attention than the others, but not so much to have me think of the other two as backup ... much. Maybe a little. I still quite enjoyed the book, though, and definitely wouldn't mind making another trip to Villa Valentina in the future!

Amazon Description

Winnie, Stella and Frankie have been best friends forever. When their lives unexpectedly unravel, they spontaneously decide to buy a gorgeous B&B on a remote Greek island.
Drenched in hot sun, Villa Valentina is the perfect escape from reality. But when Winnie meets Jesse, their brooding neighbour, she finds that Greece is full of its own complications – not least how attractive he is…
Meanwhile, Frankie and Stella are discovering that Villa Valentina has its own secrets – starting with the large supply of gin in the cellar and the arrival of a famous rock band. A band with one very good-looking member who just might distract Frankie from thoughts of her husband…

As always, Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice & Book Beginnings is at Rose City Reader.

Blog Tour! Mystery at Maplemead Castle by Kitty French

I have made absolutely no secret as to how much I adore Melody Bittersweet so when I was asked to participate in the blog tour for the second Chapelwick Mysteries book I jumped at the chance. The whole gang from the first book is back for another hauntingly hilarious tale that, once again, is as full of heartfelt "awwws" as it is belly laughs. It's always a joy to find a book that can make me laugh until I cry and then turn right around and break my heart. I honestly didn't think it would be possible to love this as much as I loved the first one. Truth of the matter is, I may have even loved it more!

Too many times a series can go on without much in the way of character development. Here, though, everyone has had a bit of a boost. (Well, except for Leo's maniacal fembots. I don't think they can get a boost without plastic surgery or Victoria's Secret being involved!) Artie is truly coming into his own even though he's still living at home with his mum; Marina is even more terrifying when she's in her defend-the-bestie mode; even the one-eared pug, Lestat, is becoming an actual part of the team! 

 
And then there's Melody. 

 
Dear, sweet, slightly messed up Melody. 

Melody Bittersweet, of course, is my BBGBFFL (best book ghostbusting friend for life). She's a geektastic spitfire full of spunk ... and pancakes ... and biscuits ... and cake ... and she has rather interesting taste in clothing and men. Of course, both her ex-boyfriend Leo AND her ... ummm ... well ... Fletch are back for this latest adventure. Her relationships with both go through quite a lot and it's really no surprise at all (to me, anyway) that a biscuit tin is almost at the ready. 

This time the three of them (plus respective teams) are at Maplemead Castle in order to assist the new owners with their not-so-little ghost problem that includes an all-too-lifelike (for those who can see it) lion. Yes, ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages .... the circus is in town! 

There are twists and turns galore -- of both the physical and metaphorical variety. It took a while to know what the real issue being investigated was and I totally did not guess the outcome until it was right in front of my face in all of its glory. I think maybe I was too delighted to just lose myself in the story to bother trying to get a step or two ahead of it. Or, maybe I was distracted by the latest love polygon to have put all of pieces together in the right spots. Or, just maybe, I was too busy expanding my vocabulary (I found myself calling someone a "hippocrocotwunt" the other day with great delight!).

Whatever. 

I am ever-so-grateful to Kitty French for writing such phenomenal stories, to Bookouture for being brilliant enough to publish them, and to NetGalley for existing so folks like me have an easier time getting our grubby little mitts on the awesomeness in advance. 

The world needs more awesomeness like all of them and, most of all, more Bittersweet! 

More books... 

A TV series... 

A t-shirt line... 

Action figures... 

Cartoon knickers... ???

All of it!

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Buy from Amazon UK  http://amzn.to/2kQqows

Buy from Amazon US  http://amzn.to/2kd2Qjp

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Welcome to Chapelwick, a leafy English town in the hills of Shropshire, where chocolate pecan cookies come with a helping of sabotage.

Maplemead Castle is crawling with ghosts, and the new owners need them gone. When Melody Bittersweet and the Girls’ Ghostbusting Agency arrive on scene, they quickly identify the troublemakers swinging from the chandeliers… literally.

A century ago, stunning trapeze artist Britannia Lovell plunged to her death, and has done every night since. But did she really just fall, or was there something more to her demise?

Forced to work with Leo Dark, her scoundrel ex, and infuriating, irresistible reporter Fletcher Gunn, Melody’s investigative powers are under strain (i.e. lost in a pink mist of lust and confusion). She needs her team on top form, but best friend Marina’s cake pipeline goes AWOL, assistant Artie’s distracted by a giant sausage roll, and the pug is scared witless by a lion.

Somewhere, hidden in the castle, is a heart-breaking secret, but what will it take to find it? And is there a chance it could set Britannia free, or is she doomed to repeat her last fateful act forever?

An utterly hilarious, gripping, spooktastic read for fans of HY Hanna, MC Beaton, Gina LaManna and Jana DeLeon.

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Buy from Amazon UK  http://amzn.to/2kQqows

Buy from Amazon US  http://amzn.to/2kd2Qjp

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Be sure to visit the other tour stops, too!

The Skeletons of Scarborough House by Kitty French

In honor of the book makeover ... and next month's release of the second book ...

(the rambley stuff below is largely a reprint from my original review 

-- the book is retitled, but my thoughts remain the same!)

*************Rambley Stuff*************

I have to admit that I got a bit giddy when I saw this on NetGalley (well, first on Twitter to say it was on NetGalley) because omigosh that COVER! How freaking fun is THAT? Then, as per my norm, I did some Amazon-ing about Kitty French to see what else she may have written.

(February 2017 Note:  The new cover is cute ... but the first cover won my heart.)

Erotica.

Uh-oh.

If you've been around me for any significant length of time you'll know that I don't do steamy sexy stuff well. (Not written, anyway.) I didn't want to request a book because of its awesomesauce cover only to end up skimming it between my fingers as they mostly covered my eyes hoping for something positive and non-erotic to gently jump out at me.

After I was finished hyperventilating, I saw that Kitty French is also Kat French so Amazon-ed some more and felt a bit more optimistic since Kat writes romantic comedy/chick lits and has been compared to some authors I have come to adore.

So I hit the request button.

From the beginning I laughed so hard that I had to stop drinking my coffee for fear of spurting it all over my desk.

'He's not mum's date, her's mine. Or else, he was,' I mutter, and then I'm distracted as a beer-bellied pensioner in a soup-stained shirt slowly materialises through the ceiling, his flannel trousers not quite meeting his bony ankles. Stay with me; I see dead people, remember? As do my mother and grandmother, who also watch him descend with matching expressions of distaste. (3%)

Yep, Melody Bittersweet can see and converse with ghosts. Her mother and grandmother are focused on connecting the living and the dead. Melody, much to her mother's dismay, wants to help them move on. They constantly put a cramp on her social life and any attempt she makes at getting a non-ghost-related job. When she turns 27 she decides to do something worthwhile with her life and starts her own ghostbusting business with her best friend, Marina. They also take on the tall and timid Artie as a "trainee" as a favor to his father -- who happens to be dead. Oh, and we mustn't forget Babs -- 1973 Ford Transit.

The Bittersweets aren't the only act in town. Leo Dark, Melody's ex-boyfriend, is a bit of a celebrity ghost whisperer and when Melody and Marina see him on the television at the site of his latest case they decide (with the help of Melody's Magic 8 Ball) to try and nab the job for themselves.

Leo doesn't answer straight away. He's too busy rearranging his features through a speedy cycle of 'hello ex-girlfriend who I dumped acrimoniously, oh shit you've got your vicious sidekick with you,' and 'don't come a step closer, this job has Leo Dark stamped all over it.' (14%)

Needless to say, Leo isn't thrilled when the owner of Scarborough House gives Melody a key to the house and declares that whichever one solves his ghost problem first will be the one who gets paid. On their first official visit to the house Melody encounters the ghosts in residence -- the elderly Isaac and Lloyd, and the young and handsome (and flirtatious) Douglas.

Have I mentioned yet that I have a super huge weakness for hunky ghosts? I blame it on watching movies like The Ghost & Mrs Muir and Topper almost religiously when I was young. Only thing better than a hunky ghost would probably be a hunky pirate ghost. You must know by now how I feel about pirates.

Anyway, the three brothers are cantankerous and hilarious and have been stuck in the house together for 45 years. There's a little question as to which of them actually killed Douglas way back in 1910 and, apparently, none of them are going anywhere until the case is solved.

Of course it won't be so easy as to just get one of them to fess up and *poof* they go. Don't forget there's also Leo butting around and local hot-shot reporter/supernatural-skeptic Fletcher Gunn is determined to prove that it's all just "a load of hokum bollocks."

I failed to mention that Leo and Fletch are also gorgeous and, of course, since Melody supposedly hates both of them you probably know where this is going:

Fasten your seatbelts, kids!
It's a ghostbusting murder mystery love triangle (oh wait -- Douglas. So a love square? rhombus?) romcom!

I'm ridiculously glad that I hit that request button. Along with the whole ghostbusting murder mystery love polygon romcom-ness, we also get Melody's obsession with sweets and superheros, plenty of references to Ghostbusters and Scooby Doo and other nerd-tastic delights, and the oh-so-amazeballs Grandma Dicey (who's still boinking Grandpa Duke even though he died 20 years ago). I seriously can't remember the last time I laughed this hard. The team even ends up getting a dog along the way -- Lestat, the one-eared pug from above. He's absofreakinglutely hilarious in his own right and, possibly, a little bit evil.

I bought new slippers yesterday, fancy knitted boots with fur inside, and I like them enough to sleep with them under my pillow. He knows it, of course. You don’t get to be a mafia boss without knowing everything that’s going down in your manor, and at 6.05 a.m. I feel one of the boots start to slowly slide out from beneath my head. It’s enough. It’s a direct threat. Get up, or the slipper’s history. I open my eyes and there he is, eyeballing me with the pompom of the boot locked firmly between his jaws.

I bare my teeth and growl at him, but he just sits there. I think he’s counting down in his head.(63%)

Now, it's not all a big huge laugh-fest. There are some incredibly emotional moments that had me reaching for my always-present tissue box. Having it not be non-stop hilarity or non-stop heartbreaking made it all that much better. A girl can take only just so much laughter and/or tears, after all. In fact, there really isn't anything I've found to complain about. Well, perhaps a lack of actual pirates (even/especially in ghost form) but it is the first in the series so maybe I'll luck out down the line.

Rambling, Book Beginnings & Friday 56 - Kitty French's Melody Bittersweet and the Girls' Ghostbusting Agency

Book Beginning & 56% Quote from Melody Bittersweet and the Girls' Ghostbusting Agency by Kitty French to be released by Bookouture on 14 July 2016. As always, Friday 56 (share from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice & Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader. e-ARC received from NetGalley & Bookouture. Rambley thoughts don't care that the book was free.

*************Rambley Stuff*************

I have to admit that I got a bit giddy when I saw this on NetGalley (well, first on Twitter to say it was on NetGalley) because omigosh that COVER! How freaking fun is THAT? Then, as per my norm, I did some Amazon-ing about Kitty French to see what else she may have written.

Erotica.

Uh-oh.

If you've been around me for any significant length of time you'll know that I don't do steamy sexy stuff well. (Not written, anyway.) I didn't want to request a book because of its awesomesauce cover only to end up skimming it between my fingers as they mostly covered my eyes hoping for something positive and non-erotic to gently jump out at me.

After I was finished hyperventilating, I saw that Kitty French is also Kat French so Amazon-ed some more and felt a bit more optimistic since Kat writes romantic comedy/chick lits and has been compared to some authors I have come to adore.

So I hit the request button.

From the beginning I laughed so hard that I had to stop drinking my coffee for fear of spurting it all over my desk.

'He's not mum's date, her's mine. Or else, he was,' I mutter, and then I'm distracted as a beer-bellied pensioner in a soup-stained shirt slowly materialises through the ceiling, his flannel trousers not quite meeting his bony ankles. Stay with me; I see dead people, remember? As do my mother and grandmother, who also watch him descend with matching expressions of distaste. (3%)

Yep, Melody Bittersweet can see and converse with ghosts. Her mother and grandmother are focused on connecting the living and the dead. Melody, much to her mother's dismay, wants to help them move on. They constantly put a cramp on her social life and any attempt she makes at getting a non-ghost-related job. When she turns 27 she decides to do something worthwhile with her life and starts her own ghostbusting business with her best friend, Marina. They also take on the tall and timid Artie as a "trainee" as a favor to his father -- who happens to be dead. Oh, and we mustn't forget Babs -- 1973 Ford Transit.

The Bittersweets aren't the only act in town. Leo Dark, Melody's ex-boyfriend, is a bit of a celebrity ghost whisperer and when Melody and Marina see him on the television at the site of his latest case they decide (with the help of Melody's Magic 8 Ball) to try and nab the job for themselves.

Leo doesn't answer straight away. He's too busy rearranging his features through a speedy cycle of 'hello ex-girlfriend who I dumped acrimoniously, oh shit you've got your vicious sidekick with you,' and 'don't come a step closer, this job has Leo Dark stamped all over it.' (14%)

Needless to say, Leo isn't thrilled when the owner of Scarborough House gives Melody a key to the house and declares that whichever one solves his ghost problem first will be the one who gets paid. On their first official visit to the house Melody encounters the ghosts in residence -- the elderly Isaac and Lloyd, and the young and handsome (and flirtatious) Douglas.

Have I mentioned yet that I have a super huge weakness for hunky ghosts? I blame it on watching movies like The Ghost & Mrs Muir and Topper almost religiously when I was young. Only thing better than a hunky ghost would probably be a hunky pirate ghost. You must know by now how I feel about pirates.

Anyway, the three brothers are cantankerous and hilarious and have been stuck in the house together for 45 years. There's a little question as to which of them actually killed Douglas way back in 1910 and, apparently, none of them are going anywhere until the case is solved.

Of course it won't be so easy as to just get one of them to fess up and *poof* they go. Don't forget there's also Leo butting around and local hot-shot reporter/supernatural-skeptic Fletcher Gunn is determined to prove that it's all just "a load of hokum bollocks."

I failed to mention that Leo and Fletch are also gorgeous and, of course, since Melody supposedly hates both of them you probably know where this is going:

Fasten your seatbelts, kids!
It's a ghostbusting murder mystery love triangle (oh wait -- Douglas. So a love square? rhombus?) romcom!

I'm ridiculously glad that I hit that request button. Along with the whole ghostbusting murder mystery love polygon romcom-ness, we also get Melody's obsession with sweets and superheros, plenty of references to Ghostbusters and Scooby Doo and other nerd-tastic delights, and the oh-so-amazeballs Grandma Dicey (who's still boinking Grandpa Duke even though he died 20 years ago). I seriously can't remember the last time I laughed this hard. The team even ends up getting a dog along the way -- Lestat, the one-eared pug from above. He's absofreakinglutely hilarious in his own right and, possibly, a little bit evil.

I bought new slippers yesterday, fancy knitted boots with fur inside, and I like them enough to sleep with them under my pillow. He knows it, of course. You don’t get to be a mafia boss without knowing everything that’s going down in your manor, and at 6.05 a.m. I feel one of the boots start to slowly slide out from beneath my head. It’s enough. It’s a direct threat. Get up, or the slipper’s history. I open my eyes and there he is, eyeballing me with the pompom of the boot locked firmly between his jaws.

I bare my teeth and growl at him, but he just sits there. I think he’s counting down in his head.(63%)

Now, it's not all a big huge laugh-fest. There are some incredibly emotional moments that had me reaching for my always-present tissue box. Having it not be non-stop hilarity or non-stop heartbreaking made it all that much better. A girl can take only just so much laughter and/or tears, after all. In fact, there really isn't anything I've found to complain about. Well, perhaps a lack of actual pirates (even/especially in ghost form) but it is the first in the series so maybe I'll luck out down the line.