Tuesday 1 April 2014

Review ~ If You Only Knew by Zanna Mackenzie.

Fiction Addiction Book Tours


Title: If You Only Knew.
Author: Zanna Mackenzie.
Genre: Chick Lit.
Release Date: February 7, 2014.
Source: Review copy.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Purchase: Amazon UK ; Amazon

Faith owns The Coffee Pot in the outdoor adventure sports mecca of Derbyshire’s Peak District. She hasn’t had a man in her life for a while, as she’s been too busy serving cakes to weary rock climbers and mountain bikers to find time for the complications of a relationship with the male of the species.

At least, that’s what she tells herself. The truth is that since she got her heart broken she’s had problems trusting men.

When she meets Zane, one of the new owners at the Carrdale Extreme Sports Centre, Faith finds herself enjoying his company even though part of her can’t help wondering why he’s so reluctant to talk about himself.

Then the past comes back to haunt her in the shape of Zane’s business partner Matt, who just happens to be the guy who broke Faith’s heart all those years ago.

With Matt out to cause trouble and Zane keeping secrets Faith’s life is about to get very complicated indeed…




Excerpt:

This couldn’t be happening.

Zane had said his business partner was called Matt. She was sure of it. Yes, he’d definitely just introduced him as Matt. But the man standing before her wasn’t Matt.

It was Aaron.

Faith wiped her hands on a tea–towel. She wanted to speak, but couldn’t get her brain into gear enough to make her mouth form the words.

She’d thought Aaron was gone from her life.

It looked as though she was wrong.

She took a step back, wrapping her arms around herself. Suddenly she felt cold and shaky. Aaron was back? This was impossible.

Yet here he was, standing in her kitchen. She felt dizzy and light-headed.

How should she react? Should she admit they knew each other? Why had Aaron changed his name to Matt anyway? Would he prefer it if the fact they knew each other was kept quiet?

But she knew she couldn’t keep something like that from Zane.

As she debated what to say and do next, the room remained awkwardly silent. Zane was looking at her questioningly.

What should she say?

Come on, think, woman. Think.

Too late. Aaron spoke first.

“Faith, it’s amazing to see you again after all these years.”

OK. So he didn’t want to keep it a secret that they already knew each other.

“Aaron,” she managed to say. “This is a bit of a shock.”

“That’s an understatement,” Matt said, stepping forward to pull her into a hug.

“Hang on a second,” Zane said, pushing into the room. “Aaron? That’s your proper name isn’t it?” He raised enquiring eyebrows at Matt. “What’s going on? You two already know each other?”


Review:

If You Only Knew was a sweet love story with fab characters. It really put a smile on my face and had a lovely enjoyable story which gave me some great afternoon reading entertainment.

The story wasn’t that fast, it was more slow and well built up. I’m a fussy reader in the way that I want wonderfully developed characters and plot but at a fast pace. I guess I only got half of that wish with If You Only Knew but the development was great. It just took me a little longer to get into the story than I had hoped.

I loved Faith – she was a brilliant main character. She was lovely, hard-working and caring, just the kind of person you’d like to know in real life. Zane and Matt were great characters too; I was definitely torn between them. But regardless of which hunk I preferred, I just had to celebrate the fab characters Zanna wrote. I could connect with them all and these were some of my favourite book characters ever, because they felt real and believable.

The whole book, in fact, felt real. The Coffee Pot – I just wanted to be there. The sports center – I could picture it and I felt like I was being transported there whilst reading the book on a nice sunny afternoon. I love that – when an author manages to make you feel like you’re part of the story, I know they’re extremely talented.

If You Only Knew was just the kind of book I was looking for – easy, light reading with great characters and a setting you could just picture yourself in. Zanna Mackenzie has written a fab book and I can’t wait to read more from this author.

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:

Zanna Mackenzie lives on the Derbyshire/Leicestershire border with her husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch that’s home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read.

Being a freelance writer and editor of business publications is her ‘day job’ but, at every opportunity, she can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel she’s working on. She loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original plot!

If You Only Knew is Zanna’s third novel; her previous books The Love Programme, and How Do You Spell Love? were both published in 2013.

Connect with Zanna: Blog ; Twitter ; Facebook ; Goodreads ; Amazon



Fun, Flirty Facts With The Guys

Do you prefer your book heroes to be mean and moody or sensitive and vulnerable? Zanna Mackenzie’s new book, If You Only Knew, has both, with bad boy Matt and emotionally wounded Zane….

Facts for Zane:

*Celebrity you've been told you look like: Apparently the actor Kieren Hutchison, though I think I’m probably taller.

*Naughty food you like to indulge in: Triple choc muffins. Especially the ones from Faith’s coffee shop in the village. She makes the best muffins going.

*What you wear to bed: It varies, sometimes a t-shirt, sometimes nothing.

*How many people you've said "I love you" to: Only one. Until I arrived in Carleton I honestly thought I’d never say those words again. Now I’ve met Faith and our relationship is taking me way outside my emotional comfort zone and I’m started to wonder…

*Relationship deal-breaker: A woman who is unfaithful. When I’m involved with someone I am one hundred per cent committed to that relationship; I need the woman I’m involved with to feel the same way.

*Your first kiss - How old were you? Did you instigate it? I think I was about thirteen or fourteen. It was on one of those joint Boy Scouts and Girl Guides camping trips. Her name was Anna, we went off into the woods. I was planning how to make a move when she pushed me up against a tree and kissed me. She was quite a forthright girl!

Facts for Matt:

*Celebrity you've been told you look like: Ryan Gosling but I’m better looking.

*Naughty food you like to indulge in: Cakes, pizza and a fried breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausages. I’m an active guy; I run an outdoor extreme sports centre so I burn off all those calories anyway.

*What you wear to bed: Nothing!

*How many people you've said "I love you" to: Do you mean said it to, or said it to and actually meant it? If it’s the latter, then the answer is two.

*Relationship deal-breaker: A woman who cheats on me.

*Your first kiss - How old were you? Did you instigate it? I was thirteen. Yes, of course, I instigated it. Her name was Kathy and it was at the school disco. We had a fun time.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous1/4/14 19:54

    Enjoyed reading your review Sophie. It's fabulous :)

    Thank you for taking part in Zanna's tour.

    Shaz

    ReplyDelete

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