I’m always asked by students what my favourite book is, and I always stress I read voraciously and widely, so the answer takes a bit of time, and varies. Having just been asked this question 18 million times in World Book Week, I thought I’d share my last holiday reading pile.

The Man who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club #2) by Richard Osman. I just love this series. Am reading them all out of order as I was given a copy of book 3 first. I passed this on to an elderly relative called Joyce (coincidence – how many book characters are there called Joyce?) who lives in a retirement village (double coincidence). I’m pretty sure that copy will do the rounds until it falls apart!

Night Music by JoJo Moyes. This is on audio and the narration is great, but I haven’t finished it yet so no plot spoilers. Listening to it at 1.2x speed. Does anyone else always listen to a slightly faster narration?

Barefoot Britain by Anna McNuff. I’ve heard Anna speak at an Adventure Queens book club event and she’s a bit bonkers which makes for a fun, slightly chaotic trip. I’m officially adopting the phrase “adventure pace” to describe my own sloooow running – it sounds so much more fun than just being ridiculously slow.

Coffee First, Then The World by Jenny Tough. Tough by name, tough by nature. Crikey this woman is impressive! Also an audio book – narrated by Jenny herself which I always find adds an extra connection to the story for me, particularly for non fiction.

Kevin the Vampire by Matt Brown. I’m writing a funny vampire story for kids so this was sort of for research purposes – I wanted to see how “vampiry” chapter books got. I’m not talking blood-sucking monsters, but I wondered if other authors incorporated just a touch of scare. The answer, in this case, is no.

And finally, A Fresh Start at Wagging Tails Dogs’ Home by Sarah Hope. I’m reading this as part of a book tour. I know I normally review kids books, but this is perfect light holiday reading, plus it has dogs, and rescue dogs at that. What more could I want? There is a bit of drama putting the future of the centre in jeopardy and, of course, a romance with a touch of conflict, but for me the absolute stars of the show were the dogs: they were all such big characters, and I felt they were based on real dogs. Then I got to the end of the book and discovered the author’s connection to a rescue centre, so now I’m sure all their back stories are true. Which makes it all the more heartwarming. Then I realised this is Book 3 in a series (it totally stands on its own) so now I’m off to read books 1 and 2. And now I realise I seem to be making a habit out of starting with book 3!

Since this is a tour, I’m going to include a bit more info than the other books above, also, the author is less well known and deserves a bit more recognition!

Blurb

There’s no place like home… Although dog trainer Sally is relatively new to Wagging Tails, the team she works with have quickly become her family and the dogs her friends. But when Andy, the one that got away, turns up for a brief respite from the city, she is at a crossroads. As tempting as a life with him is, she loves her home of West Par, and anyway, she has responsibilities here. Number one on that list is ensuring the dogs’ home stays in business. A developer has been sniffing around wanting to buy the land, and the team is worried. Sally will do anything to save her home and her friends’ livelihoods but the lure of reuniting with her lost love is strong. Is there a way for her to have both?

About the author

Sarah has been dreaming up stories ever since she was a child. She remembers many a family stroll when she’d daydream up her next story adventure.

As an adult, she prefers to write romance novels and novellas with a Happy Ever After ending. She has two main romance series, the Escape To… series that focuses on single mums taking a chance and fulfilling their career dreams as well as finding love, and The Cornish Bakery series, that follows a busy bakery in a beautiful fictional bay in Cornwall.

Sarah Hope lives in Central England with her two children and an array of pets and enjoys escaping to the seaside at any opportunity.