Eilidh Reads

  The Slowest Burn follows Ellie Wasserman a ghostwriter for cookbooks and is still dealing with the death of her husband from three years earlier and Kieran who has recently won a reality TV cooking show and has a high-paying cookbook deal but struggles with his complicated family dynamics and ADHD that means he struggles to plan ahead. When Ellie is asked to write for Kieran she happily agrees but when they first meet Ellie finds herself unimpressed with Kieran and Kieran finds Ellie bossy and uptight. However the more time they spend together they discover they are both more interested in each other than they should be.  I saw a couple of good reviews for this book that led to me picking this one up and seeing what I thought of it. It took me a while to be invested in the characters but once I was invested in the characters I wanted to keep reading and find out what was going to happen. I found this to be a really interesting story that had some interesting discussions thro...

  This is a book that I wish I had read sooner, I could not put it down at all. It was such a fun romance book that was super escapeable and had characters I quickly fell in love with.  Snowed Under follows Madeline who since losing her brother and taking in his two kids feels like she has lost who she is and Cooper who agrees to be interviewed by a family magazine to bring attention to his families ski-lodge but is missing a wife and kids. For Madeline whose Mum keeps nagging her to get a boyfriend and Cooper who needs a fake family they both have what the other needs but they find there is more to both of their stories and gradually their fake relationship blurs into something real.  As I already mentioned I could not put this book down, I wanted to see how Madeline and Cooper’s relationship would develop and just spend time with these characters who I was really starting to love.  These characters were so great to follow, Madeline and Cooper were really interestin...

  I have previously loved Holly Bourne books but found that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the one I read in 2024 so was a bit anxious going into It Only Happens in the Movies however I had no need for that anxiety because this book was exactly what I wanted and more.  It Only Happens in the Movies follows Audrey who is over romance after her parents divorce that has left her stuck in the middle, a tough break up and teenage friendship struggles. When she starts a new job and meets Harry, Audrey tries to stay away however she can’t help falling for him even if she knows she shouldn’t.  When I first started I was unsure about the book with the elements of romance however I was pleasantly surprised. Holly Bourne built up a character who I understood and felt relatable. The book had the expected message present in almost all Holly Bourne books which made the story more impactful and me wanting to keep reading to see how things worked out.  All the characters were well-deve...

  Cosy fantasy and romantasy has been a genre that I have been interested in reading for a while so when I heard about this book I knew it was a great book to try it with.  The Baby Dragon Cafe was a cosy and cute romantasy book that I found myself lost in and enjoyed reading. We follow Saphira who owns a cafe open to baby dragons but what she wasn’t expecting when she initially opened was for her to have to replace so much furniture after it being burnt which leads to her being unable to cover her costs. And Aiden who is a gardener whose mischievous baby dragon is causing him disruption at work so he decides to ask Saphira to help him train his dragon and pay her enough to cover the cafe’s costs. They both hold the answers to the others problems but also know they are the others complete opposites.  It took me a bit of time to be hooked by the story but once I was heavily invested in the story I just wanted to keep reading and just spend time with these characters. ...

  I knew as soon as Emma announced this book that I needed to try and read it this festive season. From what I heard her say I knew that I would love it and didn’t want to have to wait a year to read it even if that meant rejigging my festive TBR.  Christmas Eve follows Emma Smith follows Eve who feels like everyone is leaving her behind in life until Toby, her childhood crush, asks if she would like to be involved in a speed dating event for the elderly at Mistletoe Square, the home her Nanny lives at, offering her the ideal thing to set her mind to.  I knew from page 1 that I was going to have a great time with this book. I was invested in Eve as a character and really was just enjoying the story.  Eve was a character I felt that I could really understand. I could understand who she was and why she felt the way that she did with how everyone was acting. I really wanted the best possible outcome for her and for things overall to just feel that bit better.  I wo...

  I discovered Sarah Adams in early 2024 after it was recommended to me on Bookstagram and while she wasn’t originally an author I was sure about, however as I read more from her I fell in love with her books and she definitely became a favourite auto-buy author. My last traditionally published backlist series I had to read going into 2025 was It Happens in Nashville duology, the first book being The Off-Limits Rule.  The Off-Limits Rule follows Lucy who has moved her and her son back in with her brother who has made it clear that his best friend, Cooper, is off-limits to her however Lucy has gotten a different impression of Cooper to what Drew has told her about him and maybe it’s okay to break the rule sometimes, right? As soon as I started this book I was reminded of exactly why I love Sarah Adams books so much. I was invested in Lucy’s character and hooked by the story. I enjoyed all of the characters and found it to be a book that I could not put down.  The romance w...

  Emma Smith is a UKYA author I have started reading in 2024 and have quickly discovered that I want to read more from and luckily for me she has a decent sized backlist for me to work my way through.  Tinsel Tears is the first book I picked up from Emma’s backlist with it being December and Tinsel Tears being a festive story set at the North Pole. It was also the first I’ve physically read which was a really positive experience. Tinsel Tears is set across two different periods of time, first off when Abe is 20, first meeting and falling in love with Patrick. And 30 years later after they have grown apart and Abe receives life changing news that makes him wonder if it’s too late to fix his mistakes.  I was invested in Abe and Patrick’s story from early on and really liked getting to see them across the two time periods. This story in many ways was both heartbreaking and heartwarming proving to me just how much Emma can do with her writing.  I loved both our two main ...