Witty, relatable chaos in the shape of newly single mum Annie. Absolutely hilarious, sweet and real. Perfect with a Tunnocks tea cake and an Aldi Earl Grey.

t’s Annie Beaton’s 50th birthday! But instead of getting roses and perfume, she gets sacked, her son, Ben, tells her she’s growing a beard and her husband Joe tells her he wants a divorce.

Moving to the countryside to stay in her eccentric aunt’s house, Annie must find her mojo again – and fast. So when she discovers a stack of self-help books, Annie vows to use their advice – from Chicken Soup for the Soul to The Secret – to get her life back on track. Never mind that her 9-going-on-19-year-old daughter, Izzy, is currently engaging Annie in psychological warfare and her adorable 6-year-old son, Ben, spends more time wetting the bed than making friends at his new school…

But now, armed with a load of affirmations/inspirational quotes/positive vibes, Annie’s determined to kick her Crappy Old Year to the curb and have a brilliantly Happy New Year. Just as soon as she’s had her chin waxed…

I enjoyed the book. It had such funny moments. I admit I did laugh out loud in public. You will love this.

Lovely eye-catching cover. Well written and executed story. Good characters, very engaging. An author I would read again, a book I'll be recommending.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for my arc. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book, but had a hard time with the book itself. I found Annie rather insufferable for the first 1/3 of the book, but eventually warmed to her. But it felt like the book bit off more than it could chew and was hastily and too conveniently wrapped up.

2.5 stars

You can read all of my reviews at https://www.NerdGirlLovesBooks.com.

Whew. This book was hard to get through. It was all a bit MUCH. The main character, Annie, turned 50 and promptly lost her job, her marriage, and her home. She moves to the country with her two young children and is determined to make it on her own and change her lifestyle.

Ok, great. A lot of people can relate to that. But the book was way too busy. Annie's inner dialog was exhausting. It was fine in the beginning because it's understandable that her mind would be racing. But it just never stopped. I kept waiting for something more to happen other than Annie talking to herself for 75% of the book, but it just never did.

I seem to be in the minority, so there will probably be a lot of people that will like this book. Maybe I'm not the right audience (although I can relate to someone in their 50's having a bit of a crisis and trying to find their way), but instead of finding inspiration, or even a sense of camaraderie, I just felt annoyed.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book started off interesting in how Annie wants to stay positive, but it becomes redundant and drawn out.

I thought that this one was ok but I was expecting a little bit more from kg based on the blurb. It was funny in parts and it did make me smile but the main storyline wasn’t really very riveting , I’ve read far better books.

I have mixed feelings about this book and its title character, and the more I thought about it, the more "meta" I became...

The book begins on the day that our girl Annie loses everything- her job, husband, and home- and it also happens to be her 50th birthday. She has no confidence, she seems rather ditzy, her kids are out of control, and her friends are useless. (The word "rubbish" just popped into my mind- this book is set in the UK and uses a lot of slang.)

Honestly, Annie doesn't experience much in the way of personal growth throughout the book. (There is a big disaster near the end of the book, and she manages to make a comeback from that event.) Furthermore, the author didn't tie things up neatly. Storylines were left unresolved. Main characters sort of disappeared. In that way, I think, this is truly the cross section of a one year period in our heroine's life.

But... having said all of that... I have been through a divorce myself and I feel a definite kinship with this character. My experience paralleled Annie's in that I, too, felt very much out of my depth and overwhelmed in the early days. I would also say that the first year included a lot of going through the motions until I reached the point of *suddenly* realizing that I had new confidence and that I had- somehow- managed to come into my own, sort of without realizing it- again, just like Annie.

So... I didn't love this book, but I did feel a connection to the main character, and I found myself strangely happy for her in the final pages. I am appreciative of the author and publisher who provided an ARC to me in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this feel-good read featuring Annie Beaton who finds her life changes dramatically on her fiftieth birthday.

Not only does she lose her job because she has fallen behind the times, her husband suddenly announces that he wants a divorce. She finds herself and her two young children living in a run-down country cottage owned by her aunt. Although the cottage is in need of some tender loving care, Annie finds that it does have one redeeming feature, and that is a plethora of self-help books!

As Annie begins to rebuild her life, she uses the content from the books to move forward in a positive way. For someone in Annie's position, a jobless single parent with aching knees and a craving for tea cakes, this is easier said than done! However, Annie is such a warm and endearing character who sees the funny side of everything and soon things look much better.

Annie's voice comes over really strongly in this humourous, warm and charming story. Many women will relate to her and the problems she faces, making the most of things and muddling through, doing the best she can!

This is the perfect read for January blues. If you have started the year full of good intentions but are faltering already, sit down with this book.

Annie is turning 50, she is married with children and for her birthday, her husband wants a divorce! At this stage of her life she thinks she should be sorted but what with her family and husband everything is turned on its head.

This book really made me laugh as Annie hits the self help books to try and turn her life around.

I think everyone cab take something from this book, it is a lovely read.

I really enjoyed this book and loved Annie! She’s a great real character (chin hairs and all) who goes through quite a few awful experiences resulting in moving her two kids to the country to start her new life as a single mum. I enjoyed how realistic the book seemed especially with the eating your feelings away! Not having any kids of my own, it was hard to relate to a lot of the book especially dealing with a 9 going on 39 year old. This book is definitely great for someone who feels like their life isn’t going well especially if they’re a newly DSM (divorced single mum)! And I think everyone will absolutely adore Annie and her hilarious antics.

I was unsure what when I first started this one. Annie is a hot mess, but honestly, she made me laugh. She definitely grew on me with time and I quite liked her at the end. She is a realistic disaster of a human being haha. She’s quite endearing, actually.
This was my first book by Mink Elliott and I do enjoy her writing style. The story flowed well, I like that she didn’t have a completely traditional format, and I love all things British so it was right up my alley.
I actually give this book 3.5 stars and would recommend it! It’s fun, quirky, makes you think a bit abut your own life, and the characters are eccentrically British!!

Annie Beaton has a really $hitty fiftieth birthday. She got fired from her job AND her husband dropped the divorce bomb. She finds herself moving to the country with her two children, Ben and Izzy, to try to pick up the pieces.

Annie doesn’t stop to wallow- she finds the kids a school, stumbles upon a job, and generally settles into life. She takes bits and pieces of self help advice from many of the books left in her rented home and tries to find more positives in her life. It all goes well until... well, it doesn’t.

Annie is forced to finally feel the feelings from her divorce and also apologize to her new friends for some missteps.

If I had to describe this book in five words they would be: Bridget Jones meets Golden Girls. This book has the silly antics of Bridget mixed with the trials of getting older (and parenting, to boot!) It’s a quick, feel-good read that left me wanting more. Can we get a sequel with a new love in Annie’s life?!

Annie Beaton's Year of Positive Thinking by Mink Elliott.

Annie Beaton’s 50th birthday should be about celebrations but instead she loses her job and her husband, Joe, in one day.
Annie’s Aunt Audrey offers Annie her country home, which she accepts in a jiffy, along with 9-year-old Izzy and 5-year-old Ben.

Learning how to be a solo Mum in a strange town is not what Annie bargained for. Izzy is a challenge, constantly rude to her mother, due no doubt to the strangeness and sadness she is experiencing from the upheaval caused by her father’s despicable action. Annie isn’t helped by the number of challenges she faces, which lead her to experiencing a sense of failure and self-blame from her marriage breakup, and uprooting her children.

When Annie discovers Aunt Audrey’s self-help books, they spark her into a year of positive thinking and acting. Annie looks for three positive things in every otherwise usually miserable day. The reader soon discovers that being 50 doesn’t by itself give one wisdom. Annie is constantly saying the wrong thing. Shea is not always being with the action and not ‘with’ what’s going on around her. Annie has enough life experience and maturity to believe that she will turn the corner. That things will improve. I had to admire Annie’s gumption; and kept reading to find out how things turned out for her.

In the middle of the Me-Too movement, it is refreshing to read about a middle-aged woman taking control of her life. To take being single by the horns and really own her achievements. I liked the positive ending, the underlying theme of a woman’s autonomy and self-reliance.

Annie Beaton's Year of Positive Thinking is a funny, uplifting book. It is Bridget Jones’ diary about an older protagonist, who however, is not self-pitying. The novel is well written, Annie’s character is aptly drawn by Mink Elliott, drawing you into the story until the end. The book is satisfying, the character relatable and worth rooting for. I recommend Mink Elliott’s Annie Beaton's Year Of Positive Thinking.

#AnnieBeatonsYearofPositiveThinking #NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley, Mink Elliott and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review.
This review also appears in Goodreads.com and https://thereadersvault.blogspot.com

Thinking back, it was one of those unusual summers when Emily and Alice were 12 and carefree – extremely warm, which in the UK is never guaranteed. This ultimately led to kids having water fights and adults socialising over BBQs and cold glasses of wine. That was until the night of August Bank Holiday; the night when Alice disappeared.

The parents of Pear Tree Close never thought something like that would happen on their street. It was a sleepy but safe, up and coming estate; a highly-sort-after estate in fact. When the adults wanted to socialise together, they didn’t worry about babysitters, there really was no need. They instead took it in turns to wander back to their own homes every hour or so to check on their little, sleeping cherubs. Back doors were never locked and everyone knew everyone so what harm was there?

Then the unimaginable happened: one of them literally disappeared without a trace and Pear Tree Close would never ever be the same again.

Will anyone ever find out what happened to Alice, or is it destined to remain a mystery forever?

Alice’s best friend, Emily, hasn’t been back to the street for more than 20 years. Shortly after Alice went missing her parents moved the family away and she made the choice never to return.

But now something has happened. Another child has gone missing and Alice’s magazine editor is sending her back to try and get the scoop of the year, but whether this is a wise decision is unclear.

Emily gets in touch with Helen, Alice’s mum, hoping to gain the opportunity to sit down with her to discuss that awful night in more detail but never expected that she would insist that she stay with her, in her missing best friend’s house. Will it help both Emily and Helen or bring back too many heartbreaking memories?

Emily’s editor also wants Helen’s thoughts on what is going on with the latest abduction. Are the 2 cases, even though 25 years apart, linked in some way?

When Emily starts to dig further into the past though, it seems that it’s not just Alice and another little girl that have gone missing. Five years ago, Alice’s dad walked out on Helen, never to be seen again, where is he now and does he have anything to do with his daughter’s disappearance?

This time, Emily is determined to finally find out what has happened to her childhood friend and if she stumbles upon answers for the other disappearances along the way then her boss will be happy as well.

It soon becomes clear that she is upsetting some people however when one evening, the house is broken into and her laptop and childhood diary are taken. Someone wants the secrets to remain deeply buried and they appear to be willing to go to any length to achieve it.

Slightly uncomfortable and uneasy with everything that is going on, Emily enlisted the help of her brother Adam, but can she find out the truth without ending up dead herself? Will uncovering the answers to this big mystery really help her move on with her own life?

Damaged by Dan Scottow,a crime thriller book review via @tbookjunkie
Damaged by Dan Scottow

My Thoughts on Damaged
Dan Scottow’s narrative is in places frighteningly close to other true new stories of the past few years. As soon as I opened the pages of this novel I wondered whether it was in part based on the Madeline McCann mystery but I think the similarities only really go as far as the children being left alone while the parents socialise in the evening over a glass of wine and a nice meal. What I do however believe is that this story is loosely based on several different abduction cases that have happened over the years, giving it a very authentic feel.

At times the plot of Damaged is quite distressing to read, perhaps because there is a real implication to it. We read about how not just a family, but a whole community fall apart following the disappearance of a young child, and I can only imagine that the feelings explored here and the guilt felt is actually very real for those going through something similar.

It is not a story that will appeal to everyone because of the nature of the content, but if you enjoy crime thrillers and can cope with the subject matter, this is a tense, dark and dramatic novel with occasional horrific descriptions of what a cruel psychopath is capable of. It is an unsettling read that you will struggle to put down.

I’m thrilled to be here on the first day of the blog tour for this funny and uplifting book by Mink Elliot!

Annie Beaton is turning 50 – it’s a momentous day! She doesn’t realise just how significant it’s going to be, because by the end of it, she’s been fired from her job and her husband Joe has asked for a divorce! Quite how someone asks their partner for a divorce after making them a lovely birthday dinner that they’ve shared with their two young children, I’m not sure, but that’s exactly what Joe does … rather flippantly too, if you ask me!

And so Annie Beaton is forced onto an entirely different path to the one she expected she’d be taking at this stage of her life. And we, the readers, get to take it with her! Her Aunt Audrey is off travelling and offers Annie her ramshackle house in the countryside. So she and 9-year-old Izzy and 5-year-old Ben move in, and attempt to make the best of things. It’s not easy! She has no idea when her aunt last took a feather duster to her house, and it’s quite clear that a ‘handyman’ has never crossed its threshold!

But what she does have is loads and loads of self-help books, and Annie’s determined to use these to transform herself from the miserable, useless, snivelling heap that she’s become, into a semi- functional human being again. She aims to find three positive things in each day regardless of how awful she feels her life has become, and believe me, there are some truly terrible times in store – many of her own making. For Annie is quite the bumbling, clumsy individual, and she has two children on standby to laugh and point at every tiny mishap she has.

In the beginning, I struggled to like Annie. Although I did feel extremely sorry for the way her 50th had turned out (NOBODY should have that happen to them on their birthday!!), she was just so bloody helpless! But then I quickly started cheering her on as she shifting things up a notch or two and realised that she needed to get everything ship shape if she wanted to get on with any sort of decent new life for her and her kids.

Speaking of which … her daughter Izzy must be the worst girl-child every written into creation. She is the brattiest brat of note! I couldn’t bear her. She was just too horrible for words! And the more Annie justified her behaviour, the more annoyed I got. She’s a really dark little cloud in Annie’s attempts at positivity.

But other than that, this is such a delightful read. I felt it was like a gentle shake of the shoulders, reminding us to pull ourselves towards ourselves when things go haywire. It’s up to us to get it together. Nobody’s going to do it for us. They might help, offer advice, and do what they can to be there for us, but they can’t actually do what needs to be done. Only we can do that for ourselves. And Annie does that admirably.

This is a lovely 4-star read. Thoroughly enjoyable.

A light and easy read. At first I was eager to join Annie on her on her new journey, as she turns 50 and finds herself fleeing to the country with her children after her husband declares he wants a divorce. There were some laugh out loud moments, and the short chapters and almost diary like writing style makes for an easy read. But by the end I found myself more frustrated with Annie and her behaviour, her children come across as nothing but annoying. The end felt a little rushed, and open ended, I would have preferred a more satisfying conclusion. One thing this book will give you is cravings for tunnocks tea cakes!
Thanks to netgalley for an advance ebook in return for my honest review.

A thoroughly enjoyable laugh out loud read that is sheer fun from start to finish, I raced through Mink Elliott’s fabulous new novel Annie Beaton’s Year of Positive Thinking.

Whoever said that life begins at fifty has clearly never met Annie Beaton. Rather than flowers and chocolate, poor Annie gets the sack, a divorce and a son who charmingly points out that she is growing a beard. Her self-confidence has been getting one heck of a battering lately and a move to her eccentric aunt’s house in the countryside could very well be just what she needs. Annie is looking forward to some much needed rest and recuperation and she is sure that her aunt’s house will be just the ticket for her to lick her wounds and figure out what she is going to do next. But little does Annie realise that help is about to come from the most unexpected of sources…

The discovery of a stack of self-help books makes Annie realise that she might just have found the tools she needs to stop wallowing in the past and start to become the mistress of her own destiny. Who needs therapy when she’s got Chicken Soup for the Soul and The Secret to set her on the right path to happiness and get her life back on track? Annie is going to take every single word of wisdom her books impart to heart and emerge a completely different woman who is secure and successful – it’s just a shame that she’s got a daughter with a PhD in backchatting and a six year old son to worry about!

Annie is determined to have a great year regardless of what life decides to throw her way. But will all the positive thinking in the world lead her to finding the happiness and fulfilment which she is desperately seeking? Or is she setting herself up to take yet another fall?

Mink Elliott is an absolute comic genius who will have you roaring with laughter on almost every page with her hilarious page-turner Annie Beaton’s Year of Positive Thinking. A riotous romp it is impossible not to love, Annie Beaton’s Year of Positive Thinking is a book that should come with a warning not to read in public as you will be chuckling so much that you will end up getting plenty of funny looks!

Annie Beaton is a fantastic heroine who is brilliant, relatable and someone you can imagine have a long gossip with over a couple of drinks. A mix between Bridget Jones and Miranda Hart, Annie Beaton is a fun character readers are going to absolutely love.

A fabulous read guaranteed to brighten up your day, if you’re looking for a fun and feel-good tale, look no further than Mink Elliott’s Annie Beaton’s Year of Positive Thinking.

4☆ A Fun, Light Hearted, Humorous Women's Fiction.

Annie Beaton's Year Of Positive Thinking is a heart warming story which had me giggling out loud and turning the pages.

Poor Annie thought she had it all. The signs were there but she never expected that turning fifty would mean the end to her marriage and the start of a new chapter!
But dusting herself off She moves to the countryside with her two children. Who don't always respect her or give her an easy time despite what she's going through!

Annie doesn't always have the best of luck And she certainly gets herself into situations without thinking which is what makes her so relatable.
I admired Annie as she didn't let what happened to her pull her down, her positive thinking and strength shone through.

Annie Beaton's Year Of Positive Thinking is a light hearted, fun, women's fiction about moving on, positive thinking, family life, ups and downs of single parenthood, starting over and making the most out of life.
It had me giggling, sighing and at times wanting to shake Annie but I thoroughly enjoyed being privy to her inner thoughts and personal journey.
I really enjoyed the conversational style writing style, it flowed along nicely and definitely had me giggling at Annie's opinions.
This is my first book by Mink Elliott and I'm excited to read more!

Thank you to Book On The Bright Side Tours and Hera books for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I could not finish this book. I started it and got a few chapters in, but the main protagonist came across as a bit of a complainer and this just was not the book for me. Perhaps I should have read the back cover a bit more closely before purchasing, but I regrettably did not finish this book. Thank you for the copy in exchange for my honest review!