Josie LloydRecensioni

Los amigos, no se puede vivir sin ellos, pero casi peor es vivir con ellos amy y jack, la enrollada pareja de finalmente juntos, son el centro de un grupo algo desorientado Mientras Amy y Jack están como embobados preparando su boda, sus amigos se han quedado un tanto descolgados. Así es como MATT descubre que su inseparable colega va a casarse, dejándolo en la estacada. De un plumazo, se ha quedado sin amigo y compañero de piso, hasta que recuerda a HELEN, H para sus amigos, dedicada en cuerpo y alma a su carrera profesional, aunque está empezando a hartarse de tantos nervios y estrés. Y encima tiene a la pesada de Amy, su mejor amiga, hablando todo el día de su boda, cuyo catering ha encargado a STRINGER, el cual, famoso por su supuesta habilidad para ligar, tiene ahora la primera ocasión de demostrar que además es capaz de trabajar, aunque guarda un secreto que sólo podrá desvelar SUSIE, otra amiga de la novia, que a su vez ha borrado a los hombres de su horizonte, bueno, al menos hasta que se aclare las ideas, como, por ejemplo, si quiere seguir vendiendo sombreros antiguos en Portobello durante toda su vida... Igual que en el libro anterior, los cuatro protagonistas nos cuentan sus historias desde su propio punto de vista en capítulos alternos. Con un realismo impresionante, sin duda fruto de la propia experiencia, los autores de Finalmente juntos nos dan su original y divertida versión de la llegada de la dichosa madurez, esa tan temida como deseada etapa en la cual, nos guste o no, empezamos a plantearnos la vida desde otra perspectiva.

Ella no consigue adivinar sus pensamientos.
Él no tiene ni idea de lo que piensa ella.
Sólo tú lo sabrás todo sobre

AMY
«A veces, en mis momentos más bajos, he pensado en presentarme a uno de esos programas de la tele donde te buscan pareja. "¡De Londres, la maravillosa, la fantástica Amy Crosbie!" (Seguido de un delirio de silbidos y aplausos.) Aunque, en realidad, esta fantasía me preocupa un poco, porque sospecho que es la peculiar manera de decirme a mí misma que algo tiene que cambiar. Hace seis meses que no me acuesto con nadie. ¡Seis meses! Pero vamos a ver, tengo piso propio, sólo saco sobresalientes y...
¿dónde está el señor Ideal? Así por lo menos evitaría que mi madre me diera la lata.»

JACK
«Tengo veintisiete años, estoy soltero y vivo con Matt, mi mejor colega. Andamos juntos desde los ocho años, aunque entonces la vida era más sencilla. Me chiflaba la ropa de poliéster, y de mayor quería ser espía. Un día, cuando Matt me preguntó con quién me iba a casar, le dije que me enamoraría de una chica tan perfecta que ni siquiera podía imaginarme su nombre. Ahora, las cosas son un pelo más complicadas.
Sí, es cierto, me enamoré, pero la historia no funcionó.
Y además, estar soltero mola cantidad, es mucho más divertido.»

After her cancer diagnosis, Kiera finds community in a place she was not expecting to find it- a running club with other women who are also going through treatment. I thought the beginning was long, and it took me some time to keep the characters straight. I appreciated this book was honest in that Kiera found cancer affecting her personal and professional life and didn’t cover up cancer with a cheery ending.

Han pasado quince años y el encuentro casual, nada menos que en una juguetería, los deja un tanto descolocados. Fred es ahora ejecutivo de marketing en una moderna empresa de internet y está a punto de casarse. Por su parte, Mickey ha abierto una floristería, empeñada en empezar una nueva vida en la ciudad, y se ha instalado con su hijo de nueve años en un modesto apartamento.
Con su encuentro, a ambos les surge la duda, ¿por qué el otro dejó de escribir, por qué nunca volvieron a verse? Y lo más importante y peligroso, ese amor, ¿les habrá perseguido hasta el presente?

Absolutely fabulous. Funny, witty, uplifting. An honest look at what it means to be a cancer patient. I feel like I was one of (main character) Keira's friends and went through this with her. So inspiring how the (fictional) team of friends (literally) ran through their troubles arm in arm. Well worth a read!

I received a copy of this book from LibraryThing in exchange for a review.

This was a wonderful book about family, friendship and resilience. It made for a fascinating read how Josie Lloyd weaved so many plot lines, including a potential company takeover, into a delightful read. The book also provides an insight into the personal challenges that cancer patients. I truly enjoyed reading this book.

Five seemingly unrelated people from different parts of the world are each sent a silver key that, when plugged into a computer, grants them whatever they desire. A teacher, stockbroker, doctor, actress, and gamer each use the keys to select things that they think will make them happy. Some of the wishes are altruistic and some are depraved, but all of them get something by using the keys. The question remains; who has sent the keys and for what purpose. One of the five decides to search for answers, but what she finds is completely unexpected.

The Key to It All asks the question, what would you do if you could have whatever you want. None of the characters in the story is flawless, and all of them show signs of greed, but it is clear that they get what they deserve in the end. The plot weaves the mystery of the keys as it tells, chapter by chapter, the story of each character's journey. At times this method is jarring as the reader must jump back and forth between stories, and some of the plot points leave questions that go unanswered. Also, it is difficult to root for any of the characters because none of them seem completely worthy. Overall, The Key to It All is a somewhat depressing novel about greed and good intentions gone wrong.½

I received a copy of this book from LibraryThing in exchange for a review.

The strength of sisterhood and the commitment of a running group help Keira face her cancer diagnosis and overcome her struggles.

Poignant, touching, brave, and bold are words that describe both this book and the author. I am humbled by the strength and courage these women displayed as they faced their future head-on. Thank you for touching my heart and blessing my soul with this simple yet beautiful story.½

In The Bright Side Running Club, the main character Keira is diagnosed with breast cancer.  Like it would for anyone, this throws her for a loop.  A chance meeting while waiting outside her clinic leads to Keira joining 3 other ladies who have cancer in a running club. What results is a beautiful story of friendship through the thick and thin of her cancer journey.  What made this story even more authentic was the fact that the author is a cancer survivor and used her own experiences to write the book.  The story was definitely believable and well written.  I was inspired by how these women literally put one foot in front of the other each day.  It is just a lovely work of women's fiction. My sincere thanks to Alcove Press and Library Thing Early Reviewers for giving me the opportunity to read this book and give my unbiased opinion of it.  I will certainly recommend.  4/5 stars

A story of the power of friendships during the most difficult of times. A middle-aged woman who appears to have it all is diagnosed with breast cancer and finds her world turned upside down. The women she meets in her inpromptu running group are all such strong women who lift each other up though all the ups and downs of cancer treatment.

The idea of a breast cancer diagnosis is, of course, a scary one. But, in this story of Keira's diagnosis and treatment (and all of the people that are a part of the journey), Josie Lloyd manages to give a realistic, but heart-warming (and even sometimes humorous) look at the ups and down of managing such a scary diagnosis--while also managing a family and a business. It's about the medical and mental journey that Keira finds herself on...and the non-traditional support group she finds to help her on that journey.

The Bright Side Running Club is a book you don't want to put down until it's done. A great story about life's curves and twists and the struggles people have to adjust. The author does an amazing job at bringing real life into a fiction book that keeps you cheering on the underdog and hoping for the best outcomes possible. A story about cancer, relationships, family, work, and self reflection. It has it all.

The Bright Side Running CLub follows Kiera, a wife and business owner who has it all together. Until she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite trying to keep it together, she feels like she is losing control of her tidy life. Especially since she believes her business partner is trying to push her out of the shop and her husband is busy with a big case at work. But a chance meeting with Tamsin is the beginning of the Bright Side Running Club and unbreakable friendships are formed. Kiera learns to push herself to achieve goals and find the strength in a new beginning.
I loved this book from the very beginning! The writing style and character development had me hooked. The story was inspirational and the characters were likable. I didn't want the book to end.

Mientras Amy y Jack están preparando su boda sus amigos, Matt, Helen, Stringer,Susie, han quedado un tanto descolgados. Libro anterior FINALMENTE JUNTOS

For all those parents that have had to read and read and read We're going on a bear hunt, this is for you.

The images are in the same vein, and the rhyme follows the same tempo, but it is about a parents night out san children on a pub crawl. Very amusing and a great parody of the original.

A good read that reminded me of Jeffrey Archer's earlier novels.

For complete review please click on the link or paste it to your browser.

http://onerightword.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/the-key-to-it-all.html

En bra fristående uppföljare till "Tillsammans" av samma författare. Det är intressant att få veta vad som händer sen, även om det på det stora hela känns som mer eller mindre samma sak igen, men det är väl så förhållanden fungerar, kanske...

/SysterSara

En väldigt bra chick-lit-bok. Det är väldigt intressant att man får historien både från Amys och Jacks perspektiv.

/SysterSara

I got this from the library because I had a vague memory of enjoying Come Together and Come Again seven years ago or so. Then I started reading, and remembered that I never managed to get through more than three chapters of The Boy Next Door. I was very close to putting this one down after about the same amount of pages, but I kept on going because I figured it had to get better.

It didn't.

There are quite a few characters in this story, and I usually like that. But to make it work the author have to know how to prioritize. You can't have fifteen characters and give them all the same amount of space. Unfortunately this is what Lloyd and Rees are trying to do, which leads to the fact that the characters become cardboard cut-outs with one, very stereotypical trait each. There's the Bastard Husband, the American Wife, the Spoiled Daughter, the Hysterical Sister-In-Law, the Oblivious Brother-In-Law, the Dead Child, the Naive Mistress, the Rugged Local Man and the Lovestruck Teenage Boy. The POV shifts between a few of them, but it doesn't help explaining their actions and motives. There are no reasons for anything! And I am completely indifferent to all of them. I couldn't care less what happened to them. The only one worthy of a little sympathy is the ten-year-old boy, and I usually can't stand kids in books, so that is an accomplishment, I guess.

Read one chapter, guess the ending, and I bet you'd be right. It's one of the most predictable plots I've ever come across.

But the most annoying thing about this book is that even though it only two years old, it already feels dated. This is because of the countless references to music and movies that might have been big in 2005, but are already mostly forgotten. Also, the just as countless uses of brand names makes me feel as if I'm reading a catalogue and not a novel.

I won't say that The Three Day Rule is boring, but it's just so pointless. Watch half an episode of any daytime soap, and you'll get pretty much the same experience, but you won't waste as much time.

I liked that each chapter revolved between the guy's and the girl's point of view.

I read this book rather quickly but I must say I preferred the parts that were set in the 1950ies to the story in the present time. I didn't warm to Laurie and thought the story was rather kitschy and sentimental. It was a nice and quick read though, so I'll still give it 7 points

I read two or three other books by the authors, all of which I liked better than this one. First of all I found several typos, which always annoys me to no end. Secondly, I thought it could do with a little editing. There s one scene where Ben gets out of the cold shower because there is no electricity and then wipes away the steam from the bathroom mirror. Somebody should have caught that.
And finally, I thought the setting to be promising, but the book didn't deliver on this promise. I didn't like *any* of the characters. The female main character is naive in fallign for a married guy. Then she just falls for the next guy without any reservation. I thought the romance between neither couple was very believable, and in fact, most characters were like caricatures of themselves. The kids were especially bad. It might be that 14 or 15 year olds feel the way described in the book, but I didn't like that every thought and every feeling had to be spelled out explicitly. Sometimes people, especially teenagers, are angry and just act without a good rationalisation or complicated explanation regarding the relationship with their parents handy.

I wanted to like this book, but I was actually quite disappointed.

Not the best Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees that's for sure.

Chick lit. Over een stel dat elkaar uit het ogen verliest, een eigen leven opbouwt en elkaar jaren later weer tegenkomt. Het einde hoef ik niet te vertellen, oude liefde roest immers niet.