Andrea from Love is said this about my novel, The Happy Endings Book Club:
*ARC courtesy of Momentum Books on Netgalley.*
I LOVED this book! Jane Tara pulled me in right away, with her amazingly different characters. I read it in less then a day, because I couldn’t put it down! I felt like you got to know some better then others, but I still felt connected to them all. Your still pulling for them all to get their happy ending. This book made me laugh out loud, (a few times) & really made me think. Which is something I don’t think you find in many books. I truly enjoyed it & will differently be reading more Jane Tara books in the future!
I’m not sure when I started disappearing. One minute I was clearly visible, with the confidence of a woman who knows that. The next… something had shifted. I felt invisible. More than that… I quickly expected that others wouldn’t see me either. They didn’t. Heads failed to turn. I was often overlooked in a queue. But it was more than that. Suddenly my quirky collection of vintage clothing seemed ridiculous. I would enter certain restaurants or bars and feel like a dinosaur. Women around me were getting work on their face. For some it is subtle, but others look ridiculous. Surely that isn’t the alternative to my wrinkles? It was an internal shift as well, not just physical. At a point in my life when I really knew myself, I wasn’t sure what to do with that hard earned wisdom. It wasn’t valued. Youth is celebrated, embraced, feted. Women my age often feel… invisible. Welcome to womanhood in the forties. Not everyone feels invisible, but many do. I know. I’ve discussed this with countless women: friends, acquaintances, and strangers at parties. It’s something I experienced myself, with mounting dismay, until earlier this year I was handed a gift:
Well now they’ve given Trouble Brewing 5 stars! Read the great review below, and click through to CUWAGB for other top reviews.
Love this book! Better than the first one in the series Forecast! I never like the second book better than the first but this one was an exception!
In Forecast the reader was introduced to the Shakespeare women that live in New York. In Trouble Brewing the reader gets lost in the mystical world of the Shakespeare women in London. Calypso Shakespeare is the young psychic who drifts all around world trying to help people through her magical brews. She is a special kind of bar tender that can make you a drink that will help solve all your problems!
Calypso thought she had loved and lost and would never love again until Taran Dee blew into her life! I was devouring this book so fast to learn what happen between Calypso and her first love. The connection that was revealed during the art show was mind blowing and awesome!!!
I highly recommend both Forecast and Trouble Brewing! I give this one 5 stars!
When I was a little girl and just starting to read chapter books I stumbled upon a series about a funny witch and all these years later I am a sucker for a book with witches and magic. Trouble Brewing did a great job blending magic, wit and love into one great story!Trouble Brewing is book #2 in the Shakespeare sisters series, and even though I haven’t read Forecast (book #1) yet and I was able to enjoy, and understand Trouble Brewing just fine as a stand alone book!
I loved reading about Calypso Her magic is in creating the perfect potions to help others let go of things and move on. She is funny, care-free (on the surface), loyal and easy to like. Calypso is different that your typical female lead in a story, she is independent, confident and satisfied with her lot in life. Her gypsy like ways of collecting friends (and lovers) all over the world was a nice change and made it more enjoyable to watch her fall for Taran.
Taran is a man that knows how to get the ladies and they usually flock to him until he decides it is time for them to go. Then he meets Calypso and everything changes. How can he not chase after the one woman he can’t forget?
I really enjoyed Trouble Brewing, it was a fun, light-hearted, emotionally charged story, with the perfect touch of magical whimsy. The secondary characters were very engaging and enjoyable to read that at times I wanted the story to expand and tell me more about them. (I can’t wait for Nell’s story). Jane Tara does a wonderful job creating a world where you believe in magic and destiny and all the wonderful (and crazy) things that go along with it.Trouble Brewing is a great book to get lost in for a few hours. This was my first Jane Tara book and I will be anxiously awaiting more from this author. If you like a bit of magic with your love stories then this is the perfect blend for you to 1-click away!
Go and check out the original review here… Love the GIFs. The whole review made me smile.
And my new novel, Trouble Brewing. Drink up!
I adored this book. The first time I noticed it was flipping through the pages of books available for request on Netgalley. I may be something of a cover snob and when I saw this one, it said “CANDACE! I AM MADE FOR YOU! PICK ME UP! LOOK – A PINK MARTINI! YOU LOOOOVE PINK MARTINIS!”
Ok, ok, ya got me. I do. CLICK.
And THEN I read the blurb – it had me at “psychic” and “magical cocktails”. I clicked that REQUEST button hella fast.
So first, thank you to Momentum Books for the ARC!
Second, Trouble Brewing was every bit as charming as I thought it would be.
Calypso (fabulous name, btw) has this inherent need to be free to explore the world on a whim, never settling too long in one place, yet making friends and feeling at home wherever she goes. She serves up magical cocktails all around the world, easing broken hearts, giving reassurance to the insecure, motivation to the stuck, but most of all…bringing love to those who desire it.
Calypso had her chance at finding one true love, only to have it end suddenly, leaving her brokenhearted and resigned to the fact that she would never love again (Shakespeare women only have one true love in their lifetime). She loves ‘em and leaves ‘em until one persistent man from her past arrives out of the blue to try to change her mind, and her heart…
This is such an enchanting story. I’m a sucker for witches, potions, cocktails, fabulously quirky characters and traveling. I’ve been thinking about backpacking through Europe and damn if this wasn’t the perfect book to set the mood. Most of the book is set in London, Paris and Vienna. How’s that for a gorgeous backdrop?
Have you ever just liked the feel of a book? Do you know what I mean when I say that? Like you just want to jump through the pages and experience that world and live with the characters and for the hours spent reading, you really did.
Speaking of characters – fiery Calypso, intense Taran, hysterical Megan, adorable Simon, affable Alf, quietly strong Nell, larger than life Batty – I loved every one of these eccentric personalities. Though I have to say, stand-up comedian Megan stole the show every time she appeared. The girl can come tell me jokes all day every day.
A number of people in the audience laughed uncomfortably, unsure how the slip of a girl onstage would handle the large drunk.
“You’ve got no tits and look like a boy,” the drunk slurred.
Megan just nodded sympathetically and in a voice dripping with disdain said, “You’ve got no manners and look like a cockhead. Difference between us is that I can buy boobs and put on a dress. What the fuck can you do?”
And this one, which is the perfect example of how using your/you’re can completely change a sentence:
“Hey, did you hear about the two nuns who were driving through Transylvania?” Megan asked in a perfect Irish accent.
“Okay, give it to me,” said Calypso.
“Suddenly Dracula jumped onto the bonnet of the car and bared his fangs. The first nun turned to the other nun and said, ‘Quick, show him your cross.’ So the other nun rolled down the window and yelled, ‘Get off the fucking bonnet, you blood-sucking bastard!”
Please tell me you got that joke. Please. Go back and read it again. Get it now? Good.
Trouble Brewing focuses time on each member of the family, so you’re not only getting a great love story with Calypso & Taryn, you’re getting SEVERAL! Perfect for greedy readers like myself.
I loved this book and I can’t wait to go back and read the first in this series, as well as future Jane Tara novels. Strongly consider tapping that one-click button for this one! I know I am. 🙂
*This is the second book in the Shakespeare Sisters series, but don’t let that stop you from reading! I haven’t read book one yet, but apparently it focuses on the New York set of Shakespeare women, while Trouble Brewing is the story of the London women.*
A new review on Goodreads led me to the book review site for Sallyfromoz, where reviews for both my books have been posted. Sally is also taking part in the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2013, so supporting Aussie writers. Here’s the review. It’s made my day.
I scored an review copy of Jane Tara’s second book, Trouble Brewing, from Momentum Books and decided I had better get my hands on the first in the series – FORECAST. I am so glad I did – what a wonderful feel good romance it is. The hero is a bad boy – a love them and leave them type of guy – but ready to find ‘the one’, he is a scientist and deals with what is known to predict what could be. Rowie (Rowan) is also looking for ‘the one’ but she is not scientific, the elements tell her what is going to happen, so you just know these two are destined for each other. The fun part is finding out how Jane Tara is going to do it! There are lots of back-stories that all help to propel the main plot forward – ghosts, magic, new loves, past love, conniving wenches and a battle with cancer. Jane Tara captured the New Age world completely and was not afraid to include characters that think it is all bunkum. I also enjoyed the behind the scenes look at TV news and weather forecasting and how what you see may not be what is happening. Science versus magic, man versus woman FORECAST is a jam-packed funny story full of great characters. Looking forwards to reading the second in the series.
