graze Protein Bites – The Perfect Afternoon Snack

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graze have been the leaders in healthy and tasty snacking for some time now and their latest offering is possibly my favourite graze snack to date. With a focus on nutritional quality and value, graze are known for making snacks which are quirky and appealing as well as being nutritious and healthy and their new Protein Bites are perfect little oat squares of satiating goodness. Available in packs of four and in three delicious flavours to choose from, these little squares of joy are perfect for lunch boxes and on the go. Coming in at under 150 calories per bite, the brains behind graze have already made sure they are portion controlled, suitable for veggies and vegans and nutritionist approved which makes them completely guilt free. We tried out Cocoa and Vanilla and it’s hard to believe something so delicious can also be part of a healthy, balanced diet. Each bite contains 4.5g of protein and includes the mineral manganese which helps to generate energy from the body’s natural sources. So try this perfect to lift you out of a little afternoon slump or to give you a quick burst of protein post workout.

The range has three flavours to choose from, Cocoa and Vanilla, Honey and Seed and Banana.
graze Protein Bites are available from Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose priced from £2.50

Business of Books: Jane Cable writes from the Romantic Novelists’ Association Conference

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Business of Books: State of the Nation
Jane Cable writes from the Romantic Novelists’ Association ConferenceI’m conferenced out. There, I’ve said it now. Suffering from serious information overload but in a very good way. So many fascinating sessions, so many interesting new people to meet. And so much wine to drink – the organisers ordered a mere 600 bottles for the weekend. Not to mention the stocks in the fridges in our own kitchens. Yes, it was a little like rolling back the years and being a student again.The first session after the official conference opening was a state of the industry address and the key messages have interest for writers in every genre, not just romance. Major trends seem to be for shorter books – gone are the doorstops of yesteryear, despite the increase in audio and ebook meaning we don’t have to carry them around anymore. And genres are blurring too – thanks to the rise and rise of indie publishing, even the major houses are beginning to understand that readers are becoming more adventurous.But of particular interest to me was the advice each panellist gave to the assembled authors. Here’s who they were and what they said.

Isobel Dixon (Head of Books and Director of the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency):
Persevere – there is much more flexibility in the market in every way. And once your book is out there, be generous with your readers.

Sam Missingham (former digital project manager at Harper Collins who has just founded @lounge_books, which she describes as a home for book lovers)
Build your own audience platforms, whatever the stage of your career. You can’t waste your time on social media.

Broo Doherty (literary agent at DHH)
Don’t take rejection personally. Believe in yourself.

Rosie de Courcy (fiction publisher at Head of Zeus)
Try to create your own world, somewhere you can write the same but different year after year.

Emily Yau (commissioning editor on fiction lists at Ebury Publishing)
Read as much as you can – in and out of your genre. Understand where your book sits in the market and why it’s special.

Well that’s the words of wisdom – and my thanks goes to John Jackson, the RNA’s unofficial photographer, for the picture.

Now I’m off to plough through pages and pages of notes for more interesting blog content – and some wonderful new people to interview about the business of books.

EasyJet’s new initiative: the Flybrary campaign. by Milly Adams

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This welcome initiative follows new research that suggests that the number of children reading for pleasure is at an all-time low.

So how will the Flybrary work? This summer EasyJet will fly 750,000 families out of UK airports on their holidays. That means it has a unique opportunity to get kids hooked on a book while they’re on the plane.

 

Former Children’s Laureate Dame Jacqueline Wilson, who is supporting the Flybrary campaign designed to promote literacy and encourage kids to read, has selected a range of classic children’s books to be stocked on board that encompass the spirit of travel and adventure. Dame Jacqueline unveiled her selection at the official launch of the Book Club at Gatwick Airport.

Seven thousand copies of children’s classics including Peter Pan, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, The Wizard Of Oz, and The Railway Children will be made available on easyJet’s UK fleet of 147 aircraft as the new holiday reading campaign takes flight today across European destinations for free. Kids can start reading them on the flight and then when they land download free samples of other classics to try, plus a sample of Wilson’s latest bestseller, Wave Me Goodbye, from easyjet.com/bookclub. Children will leave the books on board for the next passenger to enjoy.

Frost is in favour of highlighting anything that encourages children back to books, so it sounds like a cracking idea over this long summer break.

Gatwick Airport’s Head of Terminals & Passenger Services Nikki Barton said: “We are right behind this brilliant summer initiative by easyJet and were honoured to welcome Dame Jacqueline to Gatwick to launch the Book Club and sign some of her books for our younger passengers. There’s nothing like a great book, and kids heading off to the many holiday destinations served by easyJet from Gatwick this summer will certainly have plenty to keep them amused on-board.”

 

 

New Coconut Waters Make A Splash

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Coldpress Launches Lighter, Fruity, Coconut Drinks

Stay hydrated this summer with two unique coconut waters that are blended with fruit juices – such as mandarin, elderberry and blood orange – for a lighter, refreshing and highly nutritious drink.

Created by the pioneering juice brand Coldpress, the two – Blood Orange Mandarin and Raspberry Lemon Apple – are free from any added sugar and also have 35% less natural sugar than regular fruit juice. That also means they’re low in calories – 76/250ml bottle and 88/250ml respectively.

And, thanks to them being cold pressed, as opposed to being subjected to the brutal heat of pasteurisation, they’re ‘nutritionally dense’ – retaining far more of the nutrients and electrolytes found in both the fruit juice and coconut water, especially potassium, calcium and magnesium.

Coldpress say these drinks are perfect for those who find ‘pure’ coconut water overpowering – and who’re looking for less natural sugar from a fruit juice (they actually have 21% less calories than the same size serving of orange juice).

−  Raspberry Lemon Apple is a fruity blend of coconut water, raspberry, lemon, apple and – unusually – elderberry. This flavoursome drink has 88 calories per bottle, which is 21% less calories that the same size serving of orange juice and no added sugar. It also has an impressive 89% of your RDA of Vitamin C.

−  Blood Orange Mandarin is a naturally refreshing combination of coconut water, blood orange, mandarin, apple and lemon. With only 76 calories per bottle, it has 32% less calories than the same size serving of orange juice and no added sugar. One bottle contains 80% of your RDA of Vitamin C.

 

RRP: £1.99 available at Boots,com. cold-press.com / @ColdpressJuices

 

Inner-Soul Roses and Lemons Daily Nourish Kit Review

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Inner-Soul’s Roses and Lemons Daily Nourish Kit Review

We love natural skin care so decided to review Inner–Soul‘s trio of 100% natural, certified organic products. We reviewed a trio of products:  Roses and Lemons Tender Cleanse Balm, Barefaced Beauty Natural Serum and Supreme Comfort Daytime Moisturiser. The cleanse balm removes make up well and leaves skin feeling super clean. It is gentle and smells great. The serum can be mixed with the moisturiser and also smells great. It has vitamin C in which is known to be great for skin. The moisturiser feels very nourishing. It doesn’t have an SPF in which would be my only complaint. All three of the products feel great on skin and smell good. They are 99%, 41% and 81% organic respectively. They have a good range of ingredients and are gentle while leaving skin looking great. The samples we were sent were not enough to use for a long length of time so we can’t say if the products make a good, long-term difference to skin, but we were impressed overall. Good stuff.

 

Give your skin the treatment it deserves every day with Inner–Soul‘s trio of 100% natural, certified organic products to cleanse, nourish and moisturise. Presented in a beautiful organic silk drawstring pouch and includes 55ml Cleanse Balm and Moisturiser and 15ml Serum. £59.00

Emma believes that a daily skincare routine including massage equals happier, healthier skin and this kit makes it simple for you to achieve this. Roses and Lemons Tender Cleanse Balm, award-winning Barefaced Beauty Natural Serum and Supreme Comfort Daytime Moisturiser have been designed to balance dry, sensitive and mature skin types with antioxidant-rich fruit and flower extracts leaving you nourished, soft and glowing.
TIP: Become your own skincare expert by simply mixing as much or as little of the face serum with the moisturiser in your hand before applying and see how your skin responds.
Inner–Soul is all about boosting inner confidence through treatment of the skin holistically to nourish, balance and enhance.
Inner–Soul’s Founder Emma Coleman is a qualified Aesthetic Nurse, Clinical Aromatherapist and Skin Nutritionist and offers clients a comprehensive range of bespoke skincare treatments and solutions through a combination of science and nature with natural & organic skincare, facials, rejuvenating treatments and aesthetic injectables.

 

 

Three Top Books

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hilaryboydaperfecthusband

A Perfect Husband by Hilary Boyd

Hardback, 13th July 2017, £16.99

We really loved this. The characters are so vivid and it is so well written. A great book that you will not be able to put down.

 What would it take for you to give up on the man you love, the man you thought was the perfect husband – until you discovered just how much he was hiding from you? 

Lily and Freddy have a wonderful relationship: passionate and fun. Freddy taught her to love again after the death of her first husband. But then Freddy becomes tense, snappy and distracted. Is he having an affair? The truth turns out to be much worse…

Freddy is addicted to gambling. He owes hundreds of thousands of pounds to loan companies; he’s been helping himself to money from his own company, which has now gone bust; and worst of all, his wife’s money – given to him to invest – is gone. Devastated, Lily leaves him, and moves to stay with her sister in Oxford. There, among the dreaming spires, she will clear her head of Freddy and try to figure out how to move on.

 But being away from Freddy is far harder than she’d thought. He promises to get help, but can he really ever be cured of his addiction? How can Lily trust him again – surely, after the heartache he’s caused her, she would be far better off walking away and starting again? The truth is, she is as addicted to Freddy as he is to gambling – and she’s not sure she even wants to be free.

A Perfect Husband is available here.

theupstairsroom
The Upstairs Room by Kate Murray-Browne

Published hardback 27th July

This is a brilliant, atmospheric thriller. Engaging until the very last page. Brilliant.

Eleanor, Richard and their two young daughters recently stretched themselves to the limit to buy their dream home, a four-bedroom Victorian townhouse in East London. But the cracks are already starting to show. Eleanor is unnerved by the eerie atmosphere in the house and becomes convinced it is making her ill. Whilst Richard remains preoccupied with Zoe, their mercurial twenty-seven-year-old lodger, Eleanor becomes determined to unravel the mystery of the house’s previous owners – including Emily, whose name is written hundreds of times on the walls of the upstairs room.

The Upstairs Room is available here.

 

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An Almond For a Parrot by Wray Delaney

Published on 13th July

A bawdy and exciting historical read. Fun, naughty and full of intrigue.

‘I would like to make myself the heroine of this story – an innocent victim led astray. But alas sir, I would be lying…’

London, 1756: In Newgate prison, Tully Truegood awaits trial. Her fate hanging in the balance, she tells her life-story. It’s a tale that takes her from skivvy in the back streets of London, to conjuror’s assistant, to celebrated courtesan at her stepmother’s Fairy House, the notorious house of ill-repute where decadent excess is a must…

Tully was once the talk of the town. Now, with the best seats at Newgate already sold in anticipation of her execution, her only chance of survival is to get her story to the one person who can help her avoid the gallows.

She is Tully Truegood.

Orphan, whore, magician’s apprentice.

Murderer? Written by Sally Gardner writing as Wray Delaney

An Almond For a Parrot is available here.

 

Half a Sixpence by Evie Grace Book Review

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Frost is always excited to discover a new author and our excitement was huge upon the discovery of Evie Grace. Her debut novel Half a Sixpence is a dazzling debut that remined me of the Catherine Cookson books I have loved so much. Brilliant historical fiction that draws you in and does not let you go. Even better, this is the first book in a trilogy. We can’t wait until the next instalment.

 

Set in Kent in the 1830s, Half a Sixpence by Evie Grace is the first in the Maids of Kent trilogy, published on 13th July. Described as Catherine Cookson meets The Darling Buds of May, Half a Sixpence marks the change in rural life on Rook Farm as the mechanisation of the industrial revolution sweeps across the countryside and changes the fate of families forever.

HALF A SIXPENCE

by

EVIE GRACE

Published by Arrow

Paperback

13th July 2017

Priced £5.99

True love sometimes comes at a price

East Kent, 1830

Catherine Rook takes her peaceful life for granted. Her days are spent at the village school and lending a hand on her family’s farm. Life is run by the seasons, and there’s little time for worry.

But rural unrest begins sweeping through Kent, and when Pa Rook buys a threshing machine it brings turbulence and tragedy to Wanstall Farm. With the Rooks’ fortunes forever changed, Catherine must struggle to hold her family together.

She turns to her childhood companion, Matty Carter, for comfort, and finds more than friendship in his loving arms. But Matty has his own family to protect, and almost as quickly as their love blossomed their future begins to unravel.

With the threat of destitution nipping at her heels, Catherine must forge a way out of ruin . . .

Evie Grace was born in Kent, and one of her earliest memories is of picking cherries with her grandfather who managed a fruit farm near Selling. Holidays spent in the Kent countryside and the stories passed down through her family inspired her to write Half a Sixpence.

She loves researching the history of the nineteenth century and is very grateful for the invention of the washing machine, having discovered how the Victorians struggled to do their laundry.

Half a Sixpence is Evie’s first novel in her Maids of Kent trilogy. Half a Heart and Half a Chance will follow.

 

 

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old reviewed by Milly Adams

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I have just visited an older friend who has moved into an assisted living complex. I stayed in the guest room for the weekend – and swam amongst the community, each with their own apartments, but with a restaurant, and lounges. There are also clubs run by the ‘inmates’ as my friend calls them within the complex which is in the centre of town. (She is an artist and runs an art group for them.)

Each day we trotted across the road for breakfast in one of the many enormously reasonable cafes in the town – and find lunch and dinner too , or had it within the complex. We never had a dull moment. I was exhausted, played out with the joy of it all. My friend keeps me in hysterics with her tales of life as an old ‘un because after a settling in period she is thriving. She lets me know when another has dropped off her perch. Too much riotous living I think as they live, live, live, though not expensively.

What’s more, she’s not used her cooker yet.

So yes, I couldn’t wait to read The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old

Be still my beating heart – what a belter, what a joy, or is it just me who loves quirky, funny, moving stories.

Dear old Hendrik keeps a diary as the days go by in his old folks home, noting on page one a plate of buns placed for a moment on a chair, a plate which is sat upon by the bearer of an over large bottom, said buns then decorate said bottom when it rises – not necessarily fetchingly, but certainly impressively , and so it goes on. He thinks it amusing, others do not. Eager to please he grovels.

However steadily the worm turns.

He sets up the anarchic Old-But-Not -Dead-Club, and lives up to the name… pursuing the lost love of his life, who turns up at the same home. Will he, won’t he live life to the full, with her?

Set in Amsterdam, it is becomes clear that Hendrik locates a whiff of Dylan Thomas about himself, and has no intention of going  gentle into that dark night, but will rage, rage at the dying of the light. But he doesn’t rage, he reports, he lives, worries, loves, shows us glorious characters and their behaviour, and generally, increasingly finds himself, and makes things happen.

I strongly advise you to laugh, weep a little, recognise yourself or others – we all know his fellow ‘inmates’ – take a glass of something deeply alcoholic, and join in the romp because with luck we’ll all be 83¼ one day and should use this as our guide.

You will love it.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Goren 83¼ Years Old:  pub by in pb Penguin. £7.99 and ebook.

Author? Anonymous – how intriguing.