Book nineteen in my Goodreads Reading Challenge is Wallbanger by Alice Clayton.  The synopsis is as follows;

‘Caroline Reynolds has a fantastic new apartment in San Francisco, a Kitchen Aid mixer to die for, and no O (and we’re not talking Oprah here, folks). She has a flourishing design career, an office overlooking the bay, a killer zucchini bread recipe, and no O. She has Clive (the best cat ever), great friends, a great rack, and no O. Adding insult to O-less, she also has an oversexed neighbour with the loudest late-night wallbanging she’s ever heard. Every moan, spank, and-was that a meow?-punctuates the fact that not only is she losing sleep, she still has-yep, you guessed it-no O. Enter Simon Parker. When the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts her heard-but-never-seen neighbour. Their late-night hallway encounter has…well…mixed results. Because with walls this thin, the tension’s gonna be thick. A delicious mix of silly and steamy, this is an irresistible tale of exasperation at first sight.’ (Thanks to Amazon!)

So, as you can tell, this is not a book to read if you don’t like a bit of naughtiness!  The title and the novel’s front cover are a bit of a giveaway!  It’s not the sort of book I choose to read regularly but I don’t mind a bit of sauciness now and then.   I enjoyed this book for what it was – a bit of light reading with a love story thrown in for good measure.  It is a little sex-obsessed if I’m honest – the entire story revolves around Caroline losing her ‘O’ which at times got a little much for me.  However, I enjoyed reading about Caroline and Simon’s ‘dislike to love’ story – in fact all the characters were likeable, and whilst the story was a little sex-crazed there was a plot to follow.  There are moments in this story that will make you laugh out loud, whilst others will make you cringe.  There are no hidden twists here, what you see is what you get, however sometimes a predictable read is just what you need.  If you enjoy naughty books about hot neighbours, then this is the novel for you!

Rating: 2 and a half out of 5 stars

For book number seventeen I have finally read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.  All I can say is – better late than never!  This has been on my ‘to be read’ list for quite some time and i’m sad to say that I saw the film first, which is a pet hate of mine!  Here’s the synopsis for those of you who have not yet read it;

‘Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.’ (Courtesy of Amazon)

I think it is fair to say that in 99% of examples, the book is better than the film.  This is one of those books.  Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the film and probably more so than if I had read the book first.  The actors chosen were perfect for their roles.  However, it wasn’t until I started reading this novel that I discovered just how much was missing from the film; details that really helped to shape Will and Lou, our main characters.  It is a mistake to believe that this novel is about Will Traynor, a strong man who loses everything in one single moment.  This novel is also about Lou and her journey away from her pain filled past, something she seeks to hide from with her strong (and sometimes questionable ) fashion sense!

This is a beautiful, albeit sometimes gut-wrenching story of how two people from two very different walks of life come together to save each other.  Together, they are able to find some joy once more out of the depths of their own private miseries to change their future paths forever.

There really is very little I can say about this book, except prepare yourself to laugh and cry.  Read this book!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars