Not Your Knight in Shining Armour by Kate Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh my word, I loved this book.
Scarlet is a plus sized heroine (she’d say ‘fat’). She’s been a rock and roll brat and done that. Now she’s relauching a career as her new, sober, self.
Tom is a mess. He’s suffering from PTSD, tends to drink too much and is often depressed. He has tried just about every treatment money could buy (and he’s a Prince, so he has the money to buy just about everything!) but it’s not helping.
He meets Scarlet by chance and is kind to her. He falls in love with her voice first and then the rest of her. He doesn’t care that she’s fat. He loves her love of food. She loves that he’s kind. They end up having a clandestine relationship where they are mindful of each other’s problems. Being with Scarlet makes Tom WANT to give up alcohol… which helps with everything else.
There were some genuinely funny moments (at least one was a period joke). I liked that Tom wasn’t miraculously ‘cured’ and that Scarlet didn’t feel the need to get thinner – even though the media kept going on about her weight.
I’ve read the whole series of ‘Not Your’ Royal weddings books. I think this one and Not Your Cinderella are my favourites.
Usual disclaimer- I know the author. I bought a copy of this book on preorder because I expected it would be good… which it is!
B
romantic comedy
Count down to launch #ReleaseMe
The early reviews for Please Release Me are in now and so far they’ve all been 4 and 5 stars. It won’t be live on Amazon until the 10th of Sept, so there are no reviews there yet, but if you want to see what people are saying about it, check of the reviews on Goodreads and on Netgalley.
Please Release Me is a rom com, but it’s actually about grief and depression. When I submitted the book to Choc Lit for consideration, I wondered if it would be rejected because of this. For all our complaining about the frothiness of Chick Lit, do romance readers really want to read a book about sad things? Turns out they do (phew – I would have hated to be wrong). One reviewer said it had an ‘almost perfect portrayal of grief’, which is a wonderful description. Someone else said she laughed at the scene when Sally comes out of her coma. It’s not the traditional place for a joke, but the scene made me laugh when I wrote it. Good old Sally.
It’s usual to do some jumping up and down and cheering when a book comes out, so (apologies) I’m going to be doing just that on Thursday. More importantly, some lovely friends have agreed to join me. They’re all going to post something on their blogs based on the theme of being stuck (and wanting to be released). I will be sharing their links with you as they come on line.
They all used the same prompts – I’m intrigued to see what different answers show up!
If you’re on Twitter or Facebook, follow the #ReleaseMe tag on the 10th to join in the fun!
There’s a long time between writing The End and publication; Looking back at Please Release Me
About two years ago, I wrote a post about the character Sally and Grace, who were mere doodles at the time. Now they are finally ready to be released into the real world. PLEASE RELEASE ME will be published by Choc Lit next month and is available to preorder now.
Look, isn’t it lovely!
What if you could only watch as your bright future slipped away from you?
Sally Cummings has had it tougher than most but, if nothing else, it’s taught her to grab opportunity with both hands. And, when she stands looking into the eyes of her new husband Peter on her perfect wedding day, it seems her life is finally on the up.
That is until the car crash that puts her in a coma and throws her entire future into question.
In the following months, a small part of Sally’s consciousness begins to return, allowing her to listen in on the world around her – although she has no way to communicate.
But Sally was never going to let a little thing like a coma get in the way of her happily ever after …
I’ve just gone back and read my old post from September 2013. The scene I posted there is still pretty much the same, apart from the swearing, which has been removed. I cleaned up Sally’s language a lot during edits.
I will be donating 50% of my royalties from this book to Martin House Children’s Hospice. Why? Because I was blown away by the amazing work they do.
Rhoda Baxter 