Monday 3 March 2014

Review & Giveaway ~ Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn by Tilly Tennant.

Fiction Addiction Book Tours


Title: Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn.
Author: Tilly Tennant.
Genre: Chick Lit.
Release Date: January 30, 2014.

Purchase: Amazon UK ; Amazon

There’s only one man for Bonnie, and that’s Holden Finn.

The problem is that Holden Finn is a twenty-three-year-old pop megastar with his boy band, Every Which Way, and has no idea she exists. Not only that, but half the women in the world want to be Mrs Finn, including Bonnie’s teenage daughter, Paige. The real men in Bonnie’s life do nothing but let her down, but a man you can’t possibly have can never do that… right?

Then Paige wins a radio competition to meet Holden and the band, and Bonnie’s carefully-constructed world starts to unravel. She is about to find out that you should be very, very careful what you wish for …


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I loved this book. Tilly Tennant has an amazing gift for story-telling and I’m sure we’re going to see great things from her in the future. Holly Martin (author of The Guestbook and The Sentinel)

Charming, sweet, laugh-out-loud funny and absolutely unputdownable. Victoria Loves Books



Excerpt:

Bonnie lay in the bath, staring up at the ceiling. It needed painting, she thought vaguely, as she gazed at the bubbled plaster and clouds of mould that had gathered in the corner by the window. The walls weren’t much better. If she was completely honest, the whole room needed to be ripped out and started again, but that wasn’t going to happen any time soon on her budget. She had dropped massive hints to her mum that she needed a visit from the DIY SOS team, but Jeanie had stubbornly refused to notice. Paint was going to have to do, but even that would have to wait. With a school trip to Belgium to pay for and a list of bills that never seemed to be under control, it was just another promise to herself that would not be delivered.

True to her forecast, Paige had taken herself into her bedroom as soon as they walked back into the flat and had been in there for the two hours they had been home. Bonnie could hear the odd stifled giggle, and the low hum of conversation, but what was being discussed she could only guess at and, despite the fact that Paige would probably be unaware of it, eavesdropping didn’t seem right. With that in mind, she wasn’t rushing to get out of the bath only to sit in front of the TV alone and watch the endless stream of pointless drivel that counted for entertainment. It seemed like a long time ago since Paige had wanted to sit with her and chat in an evening.

Dear Holden,
Please rescue me.
Love, Bonnie.


Bonnie’s thoughts were interrupted by a hammering at the door.

‘Mum!’

‘What?’

‘The internet’s gone down again!’

Bonnie frowned. ‘What do you want me to do about it? I’m in the bath!’

‘I was in the middle of an important conversation with Annabel.’

‘And?’

‘Well, now I don’t know what she wanted to say.’

‘Have you turned off the router and started it up again?’

‘Yeah, that didn’t work.’

‘I don’t know what it is then. I’ll have to phone the cable company or something later.’

‘What about Annabel?’

‘What about her?’

‘I need to speak to her.’

‘Phone...’

Bonnie heard a loud, theatrical sigh and then Paige’s footsteps as she stomped away.

Wine was in order, lots and lots of wine. Tomorrow was Sunday and there wouldn’t be anything better for Bonnie to do than nurse a well-earned hangover.

Reaching for the towel, Bonnie hauled herself out of the bath. She ought to go and look at that router before Paige exploded with rage. Knowing her daughter’s volatile temper these days, it wasn’t completely unimaginable...

That was when she heard the high-pitched squeal.

Wrapping the towel around her dripping body, Bonnie rushed into Paige’s bedroom.

‘Mum!’ Paige shouted as Bonnie burst in the door. ‘What the hell’s the matter with you?’

‘I could ask you the same thing!’ Bonnie thundered as she saw that Paige was lounging on her bed with the phone, just ending a call and clearly not injured or in any sort of peril at all.

‘There’s nothing wrong with me.’

‘I said I would ring the cable company, but you could at least let me get out of the bath.’

‘Who cares about the stupid internet? Annabel phoned me when she couldn’t get through.’

‘What’s with the screaming then?’

Paige sat up, her face now glowing and her eyes suddenly alive with excitement.

‘Annabel’s just told me about an amazing competition.’

‘Competition?’ Bonnie asked with some exasperation, now aware that she was making quite a wet mess on the carpet.

‘Yeah! To meet Holden!’

Bonnie’s mouth fell open. Her gaze travelled to the poster above her daughter’s bed. She didn’t need to ask which Holden. Suddenly, her pulse seemed to run that little bit quicker. ‘Holden?’ she repeated.

‘Yeah, Holden Finn… from Every Which Way.

‘I know who you’re talking about,’ Bonnie said in a dazed voice.

‘I’m going to enter; it’s dead easy; all you have to do is text his middle name.’

‘Gabriel!’ Bonnie squeaked. As soon as she had, she felt the colour rush to her cheeks.

‘OOOH, get the oldie in the know.’

‘I’m not that old,’ Bonnie laughed awkwardly, relieved that her moment of embarrassment had gone unnoticed. But inside she was a whirlwind of emotions. She might be as close as a text message away from meeting Holden Finn. But then she saw something of her own excitement reflected in her daughter’s face and realisation came crashing in on her. Even in the incredibly unlikely event of her winning if she entered this competition, how could she not give her place to Paige? Paige, who would want her best friend, Annabel, to go with her, not her embarrassing, almost grey-haired mum.

‘Anyway, it costs, like, about two quid to text, that’s alright though, yeah?’ Paige rattled off, already tapping away on her phone without waiting for her mum’s reply.

‘I suppose,’ Bonnie said. ‘Maybe I should text too, from my number, double your chances and all that?’

Paige looked up in surprise. ‘Would you, Mum? That’d be epic.’

‘Hmmm, epic… I suppose it would be,’ Bonnie murmured to herself as she went to get dry.

Review:

Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn was a wonderfully entertaining book which brought me so much more than what I was expecting.

I loved the sound of this book – a celebrity crush is for me relatable and amusing, and I thought Tilly Tennant was sure to bring lots of humour into the story. Yet the book took a route which I wasn’t expecting and one which made this book provide so much more than just a quick laugh.

I liked how Bonnie and Paige meeting Holden Finn and the rest of the band didn’t feel ridiculous and unrealistic, and the relationship between Bonnie and her daughter made for great reading. At times Paige was frustratingly stroppy but it was just a typical mother-daughter relationship and was endearing to read.

The flow to this book was perfectly executed too, as well as the great characters. From Bonnie, Paige and Jeanie to Max, Linda and Holden, all generations and backgrounds were covered and each character was written with charm and strong personality. I was expecting to see more of Holden Finn in this book but still his character development, along with the others, did not disappoint.

I would recommend Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn for anyone looking for a light-hearted, entertaining read. With lots of depth and little twists, this book captures your attention and draws you in to Bonnie’s world of crushes, humour, teenage angst and romance. It was a brilliant book.

Rating:
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review also posted on Goodreads ; Amazon UK ; Amazon


About the Author:

Tilly Tennant was born in Dorset but now lives in Staffordshire with her slightly nutty family. Tilly is married to Mr Tennant (not that one, though a girl can dream). After years of dismal and disastrous jobs, including paper plate stacking, shop girl, newspaper promotions and waitressing (she never could carry a bowl of soup without spilling a bit), she decided to indulge her passion for the written word by enrolling on a degree in English and creative writing. She wrote her first novel in 2007 during her first summer break at university and has not stopped writing since. She also works as a freelance editor, and considers herself very lucky that this enables her to read many wonderful books while getting paid for it.

Connect with Tilly: Twitter ; Facebook ; Blog

Giveaway:

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Fiction Addiction Book Tours

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous3/3/14 16:53

    What an awesome review Sophie.

    Thank you for taking part in Tilly's tour.

    Shaz

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great review interesting excerpt I am thinking of picking the book up :)
    Rimsha@Ramblings of a Bookworm

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4/3/14 08:38

    Yay! I love the summary and review. Going to my TBR now ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for sharing an expert. New book to me so will have to farther check it out

    ReplyDelete

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