Month: March 2021

Christmas in March: A Surprise Christmas Wedding by Phillipa Ashley #booklovers #BookBloggers #Christmas

A Surprise Christmas Wedding by Phillipa Ashley book cover

GIFTED / I know, I know. It’s March and I am reviewing a Christmas book. Well, it is a book that I have recently read, and since I am two years behind with my reviews, there will be Christmas stories reviewed on Book Dust Magic during whole year. I don’t mind it really (because Christmas stories are my favourite), and I hope neither are you.

I received this book via Netgalley, and I want to say thank you to the publisher, Avon Books UK.
A Surprise Christmas Wedding was published on November 26th 2020 and it has 400 pages.

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About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / It’s been a year since Lottie’s fiancé walked out, leaving her heartbroken. But things start to look up when she lands her dream job at a beautiful Lake District estate, with a handsome groundskeeper for a neighbour.
 
So when Lottie is asked to organise a last minute Christmas wedding at Firholme, she can’t wait to get started. Until she meets the couple, and discovers that Connor, the man who broke her heart, is the groom-to-be.
 
As snow falls on the hills, can Lottie put aside her past to organise the perfect winter wedding? And will there be any festive magic left to bring Lottie the perfect Christmas she deserves?

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Review:

Guys… This book was such a ride! The author didn’t shy away when it comes to put our main character, Lottie, in a difficult situation.

Just imagine working in a wedding residency, having to organize the wedding of an ex who’s cuts still hurt? Yeah, that is the fire Phillipa Ashley had put our Lottie in.

Apart from having to suffer along with her, I also had a lovely time reading about the place and of course, all the other characters, and witnessing love development between her and her (new) love interest, in this heartwarming story.

However, this is not just a light read, because it makes you think. It challenges you to consider how would you act, what would you say, what could you forgive, and what would you choose to forget, if you were in the character’s shoes.

The writing style was good and easy to follow, and it is obvious how the character has numeorus number of books written previously.

All the Christmas elements present in the story make it appropriate festive read (but if you’re like me, you can enyoj it any time of the year).

Overall, a really good book that I would deffinitely recommend.

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Why I Disappeared and Getting Back to Blogging #blogging #books #MentalHealth

girl in nature, thinking

It feels like it has been ages since the last time I posted anything here on Book Dust Magic. It was never my intention to disappear. I guess life had other plans for me, and as much as I wanted to keep up with the same lifestyle I had before 2020, I couldn’t.

As I feel like I am ready to at least try to get back to blogging, before I do, I feel like I need to explain why I disappeared over night from the blogosphere.

Some of you may know that in 2020 I became a mother for the first time. I was really looking forward to a new chapter of my life. I had so much plans, including telling you about my experience as a first time mother here on my blog too.
However, each day after giving a birth was harder and harder, I fell into postpartum depression when I felt like I had no right to be in that state of mind, because I had no one except my fiance to help me with the baby. I felt like I had no luxury to have some rest, to be sad, or to just be myself, when all I had to do was taking care of my son. I really wished for my mother to help me, or to have a friend who would just look after him for couple of hours, just so I could sleep or rest, but wishes don’t always get granted.

I missed reading so much, but I didn’t have time or energy to do it, and I honestly felt like the old me was slipping away, until her final disappearance.

I was already in a bad shape, and then to make more room for the baby I had to give up on so many (un)read books. I sent them to my parents with plan to get them back when we move to a bigger apartment that we plan to purchase in next 10 years (we want to buy an apartment without mortgage), and then my father placed them in my late granny’s house and guess what? Dump ruined them.

And then I had to say goodbye to my cat GiGi (my father took him) because of his aggressive side, so our baby wouldn’t be in danger while he was newborn, and to be honest, saying goodbye to GiGi was a nail to a coffin of a person I used to be.
From then on, I felt like I was trapped in someone else’s body, living someone else’s life and not being able to live a life that was mine.

And then the earthquake happened (and another one), and cut the strings I still held onto with tips of my fingers.
I still have ptsd and I don’t think it will ever go away.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know why I wasn’t around, I practically stopped being part of this community not only because I simply didn’t have time, but because it was hard for me to look at everyone reading more books then ever. If I’m being honest, I was envy, and it was healthier for me to stay away from twitter and blogs.

Now when my son is 13 months old, I feel better and more rested as he started to sleep during night, and I started reading again.
It is still not as much as I would like to, and I will probably have to make piece with the fact that maybe I won’t read as many books as I’d like to for next few years.

My English suffered too, I find it hard to express myself as good as I used to, but I am working on it.

So… I decided to try to get back to blogging. One post at time. I won’t have a schedule because I can’t obligate myself to one.
I will cross post some reviews I have already written on Goodreads, and write new ones as I read, with hope that with time I will be able to write discussions and touch other subjects too.
And I hope someone will read them.

Winter photo created by jcomp – www.freepik.com