A cozy cute story in a colorful setting with likable characters. This was the first I read by this author.Thanks for letting me read.

Really enjoyed this book & think the author will now be someone that I look out for.
Good story & likeable characters mixed with some drama & a bit of romance, who could ask for more?

A Year of New Adventures is one of those books that a reader picks up to read for an hours and suddenly, five hours later, the book is finished and all the jobs are still waiting to be started. It is a great story, one which leaves the reader laughing out loud, and has a great cast of characters, some which are liked and others that the reader wants to take by the shoulders and give them a good talking to. I really enjoyed the writers retreat, being a fly on the wall, and watching each writer as they observed how each other worked, plotted and planned.

The retreat was the start of Billie's year of new adventures and I really enjoyed following her 'journey'. I think that it is one of those books that makes a reader look at their own life and start a list of things to achieve in the year ahead, no matter how small or insignificant, we can all achieve!!

Billie is content in her life, she works at her uncle's bookshop and plans writer retreats with her best friend. While hosting another retreat for a group of writers, there's a best-selling author among them. Oliver is not as friendly and welcoming as others and challenges Billie, therefore Billie decides to write a list of things she hasn't done yet, but wants to. Billie is slowly fulfilling her list, but the mysterious Oliver keeps showing up.
It was my first book by the author, but after reading this book I know I'll read more, because I really enjoyed this story. It was humorous, relatable and sweet story.

I loved this modern, romantic story. It's filled with friendship and romance. The picturesque countryside is wonderful. I felt drawn into this story and loved every minute.

This was a great book it had me laughing out loud the banter between the characters really made me smile I really like Billie's she was a wonderful character this was a really well-written book and is just perfect for a lazy afternoon

It’s not often you finish a book and immediately feel the urge to pick up your phone and write a review. For this book I did, to the extent that I am a grown woman sitting in a bath tub writing a review. I loved this book, absolutely loved it.

I worried when I picked it up, sometimes the heroines in books where they need to change their lives come across as a bit wishy washy, but Billie was fabulous. The idea that she was comfortable and didnt even realise that she needed to do some changing, re thinking and have adventures was very relatable! I loved her. Oliver Forrest was suitably crush-able and I think I would like a handsome writer like him for my own! Helena was a good friend and her interactions with Billie were wonderful, especially as she fussed about her blossoming relationship with Nick and then became a pair within that relationship. I would have liked to of spoken to Billies sister and mother a little more, they seemed like fun.

All in all a fab, slightly meatier than a lot of chick-lit, Summery read, perfect for a long sunny afternoon and a (large) glass of gin and tonic!

A Year of New Adventures by Maddie Please is an enjoyable romantic comedy. Billie Summers helps her best friend with writer retreats and working in her uncle's bookstore. Billie is content with her life until she meets an annoying author that challenges her. I love the quirky people and situations in this book, and watching the characters grow. I found this book to be a quick read, and recommend it to all romance readers looking for a quick escape.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm afraid I'm not enjoying this book at all. I got to chapter 6 but can't read any more. I can't connect with it and I'm a little bored. I don't like Oliver's character, there's no need to be so rude.
I've read Maddie Day before so won't let this put me off reading her next one. Thank you for accepting my request but I cannot carry on with this book.

This is a fun hilarious romantic comedy your going to want to read with tea and cake.
Billie Summers has a boring life she's content, maybe a little too content with life. Time to shake things up a little now. Planning writers retreats and working at her Uncle's bookstore are now her thing. And you just never know which famous writers will turn up at those retreats. When bad boy Oliver Forest turns up at one of her retreats and she starts to lose her best friend to one of the writer's through flirtations is the friendship doomed? When she decides to make a to-do list to catch up on things she should have already done will these real life experiences make her a better person,more fun and entertaining to be around? Why does Oliver always seem to turn up though? Will here be a happily ever after for them ?
Pub Date 05 Feb 2018
I received a complimentary copy from Avon Books UK through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

After getting rid of her rubbish boyfriend Matt, whom still owes her money, Billie is running her next writing retreat with best friend Helena when Oliver a pseudonym hidden writer turns up. During a group chat getting to know each other, Oliver can't believe Billie's life doesn't contain adventure and so Billie sets about creating a list of adventurous things to see through completing.



However she return to her home and job in her uncle's bookshop to discover they've been flooded and her best friend becomes loved up with Nick her new boyfriend while Billie keeps thinking about Oliver and Pippa his PA, assuming there's something between them. But Oliver send for her to come work with him on his new book tour, as the bookshop is flooded, Billie agrees to go and help but doesn't realise it's an adventurous trip until she gets to the airport to board!



She comes to realise whom Pippa truly likes, meets along Gideon and explores where they're staying with Oliver but will they become anything, After all he has kissed her and she's seen him makes before!



Oliver was a prickly character I didn't grow find of at all unlike Billie and Helena whom I loved their easy chatter and antics. The writer's retreat was a nice idea and bought in the author's interests obviously as it aids their work and so was the ideal way to bring Oliver into the story. Though I didn't care for his character, it was great to see how he got Billie to be adventurous even if she hardly questioned what the trip entailed at first unlike I would! It was a fun, lighthearted read and is ideal for those of us whom love books and find out adventures through them!



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Review: Here is another new author for me. Maddie Please has created a really lovely story here a brilliant rom-com.

We follow Billie Summers who runs writing retreats, what I wouldn't do to go on one. Billie Summers has been stuck in a rut, something we can all relate to in life. However she meets Oliver who tells her she needs to have more adventures in life. So, that is what Billie sets out to do but I don't think she thought Oliver would be along for the ride too. 

This book really makes you think about your own life.

A really lovely easy read, great characters and well written, loved it!

A Year Of New Adventures is a light-hearted read and thoroughly enjoyable. Billie Summers, the main character, runs writing retreats with her best friend. On their latest retreat a grouchy writer called Oliver Forest, who tests Billie’s patience to the limit. He tells her that she hasn’t had much adventure in her life and this hits a raw nerve. Once the retreat is over Billie returns home determined to experience adventure. She starts a writer’s retreat at her home, which proves to be popular. But Oliver seems to be everywhere; he recommended her to her first client and soon he’s offering her a job. She accepts the job, mostly because she has an attraction to him. The job involves a stint in the USA, where she learns more about Oliver. Throughout the book Billie wrestles with her growing attraction to Oliver and this results in them sleeping together. Oliver seems to regret this immediately and Billie is mortified.

This book is cleverly written and a good read. The storyline was a little slow in the beginning but soon gathers pace and allows the reader to engage with the characters. Billie is funny and endearing, whereas Oliver is quite infuriating. Overall I think this book is worth a read and would recommend it.

Hooray! Not your usual chick lit. Wonderful story. You need new experiences. Isn’t that you hear and then think about doing something new but fall back into your same rut. What happens if someone gives you a push. Well meet Billie and Oliver. Definitely put on your reading list.

Overall this was a good book with some sweet characters and a plot which moved along nicely. I loved the idea of the writers retreat and Billie was a great character. I really loved her interactions with the other characters in the book and the journey we follow her on. Oliver was frustrating and irritating but I liked that aspect against Billie and seeing what happened between them.

I did feel the ending was a little bit of a let down but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book.

Overall a good 3.75 stars I think.

I really enjoyed the premise for this story and I loved going on this adventure with Billie as she spends a year trying various new things and hoping to get her life back on track. I loved the interactions between Billie and Oliver, it was so entertaining to see even if Billie ended up infuriated by Oliver. Billie was just so likeable, she was down to earth and I found myself nodding along with her as well as smiling away to myself.

The story moved along at a lovely pace and I found myself completely pulled into Billie's life, along with the way she picks herself up and begins her new career. This gave the book a fresh feel as we are introduced to a range of minor characters who all brought something to the story. Oliver was a bit of a mystery to start with and I did think to myself that there has to be more to this rude, blunt and brooding man. Well as the story progresses you get to see each layer of his personality revealed. Billie is a force of nature and I loved how she started to stand up for herself and take no prisoners. Romance does feature in the story but Billie's journey stands out, making me smile all the way through.

A wonderful story about taking chances, making a life for yourself by doing something that you enjoy and of course love!

Four stars from me!

With thanks to Sabah at Avon for my copy. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.

When I started reading A Year of New Adventures I thought I was absolutely going to love this story. Lets be honest it is about a aspiring writer who loves to cook. That kind of sounds right up my alley when we speak about things I like in contemporary romance. But while I was reading I soon discovered that this book was giving me some very mixed feelings. Some parts were quite brilliant and could have landed this book very high on my favorite contemporary list, but other parts made me cringe while reading. 

Lets star of with the main character Billie! She is a very enjoyable character, a little bit of a mother figure, trying to take care of everybody in her life and sometimes forgetting about herself altogether. She is a sweet, compassionate woman who is still searching for her place in the world. She had a very distinctive sense of humor, that sometimes is spot on, but sometimes made me roll my eyes while reading. I really disliked the inner dialogues she had with herself. I know they were added as a funny note to the story, but for me they made it a bit juvenile. And that's quite a shame, because Billie had a brilliant sense of humor when she wasn't talking to herself.
Then there is the romance... because well A Year of New Adventures has of course a romantic story. A romantic story that really got up to speed in the last 50 pages or so. I didn't like the way the romance was handled in this story. There should have been more romance or not any at all. I understand that the focus of the story was about Billie finding herself and that only a sub-plot was about the romance. But now it just felt rushed, like she wanted to give the reader something at the very last part of her story. Really it is 350 pages of exploring who you are, cursing that bloody awful men with his dreamy body and than suddenly 50 pages of passion, attraction and emotions flying around. And don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved those 50 pages. That's why I think as a reader I was cheated out on some wonderful romance that could have enveloped the whole book. On the other hand I absolutely loved that Billie didn't need a man to find her true happiness. 

I loved the ending! I can't say to much about it, because spoilers honey. But I could really appreciate that Maddie Please choose to make Billie an independent woman who chooses and works for her own happiness, without choosing the easy way out.  Another lovely asset to the story is Not-My-Cat, Billies pet. Well not her pet. I love it when animals start to feel like a character in a story all on their own. And Not-My-Cat really added a little extra spice to the story. 

All in all A Year of New Adventures was a decent read. Nothing outstanding, but overall fun and enjoyable. Ideal to spend a rainy day with a light book full of small delightful adventures.

What a brilliant book. this is my first book by Maddie and I am pleasantly surprised especially after reading some poorly written ones recently....
This is well written and the characters are so good, Billie is an aspiring author trying to make a book amount historical....... Anyway she goes on a retreat in the hope she will NOT be cooking for everyone.... But Oliver pops up and they are so unalike and he is arrogant and very rude to her and she doesn't know what to do for the best so she goes back home... A while later, Billie gets a call from Oliver's PA asking her to do the cook for another retreat and she goes thinking its in Wales,,,, never assume!!! She is sent to America..... On coming home she decides to open her room up for aspiring writers to write in peace and quiet.... Does she do it? Read the hook
Brilliantly wrote, fabulous characters and very fun. I am happy to have gotten this by Netgalley, thank you

The Blurb :
Billie Summers has always been quite content in her little cottage in the Cotswolds. Sure, half the house hasn’t been renovated, but what’s the point when it’s only her? Working part-time at her uncle’s bookshop and planning writer retreats with her best friend allows her to pay the bills. What more could anyone want?
That is until Oliver Forest, the bad boy of the book world, turns up to one of her retreats and points out that Billie hasn’t done anything very adventurous. Couple that with her best friend falling head over heels and beginning to drift away from their Friday night wine and dinner plans, Billie is starting to wonder if it isn’t time she took control of her life.
So she starts a list: get fitted (properly) for a bra, fix up rest of house, find a ‘career’ and well, get a tattoo … Her life might just get the makeover it needs, too bad irritating and far-too-attractive for his own good, Oliver keeps showing up …

My Thoughts :
Billie Summers has recently split with her boyfriend and isnt really enjoying life. When her best friend Helena suggests they organise a writing retreat, Billie is looking forward to it as she has a keen interest in writing herself.
When Oliver Forest, a famous Author arrives and seems rude and hostille everytime Billie speaks to him she trys to hold her tongue as she seems to have some kind of feelings towards him.
When Billie goes back home she gets a phone call from olivers PA asking her if she would like to cook for an Authors retreat group. Billie thinks its in Wales but infact she is off to America. She thinks Oliver may have changed but when she sees him she realises he may of not changed atall. Learning also that Oliver has shared her name and contact with his Author friends, Billie may now have more on her plate than she imagined.
I connected well with these charactors and really enjoyed the story as it wnet along, it was a lot of fun and has a few laugh out loud moments. I am looking forward to Maddie Please’s next book.