​In The Soup is the second book of Wilton's that I've read in this series. The first of these, Save Our Shop, first introduced me to Wilton's rather quirky and very British sense of humour. For me it was very reminiscent of the humour I grew up with; the Frankie Howard's and Benny Hill's of this world. I found it fun, enjoyable and a real break from the more weighty subjects that I was generally reading. 
While I remember belly-laughing at some of the antics in the first book, I found this less so, in the second. That doesn't mean to say I didn't enjoy In The Soup, I very much did, but some of the slapstick and caricatures seemed a little more over-the-top than in the first book. 
The second book continues the efforts of our hero, William to have his first book published and to find a satisfactory end to his unrequited love for Sally. No matter what William tries to do, he always seems to create a situation that Sally can misread and accuse him of philandering. 
This is a great book to while away a rainy afternoon and release some of the tensions of our everyday life. I would definitely recommend In The Soup if you need some light-hearted reading and, if you are a fan of that typically self-deprecating British humour, I know you will love it. 
An enjoyable read and a solid four stars, from me, for In The Soup 

I note on Amazon that Wilton is also a children's author. You can check out his work here:  

Water Into Whine, I guess is a marked departure for Kelly, from his usual genres, which tends toward comedic slapdash, as evidenced by his Damsels' series, with a bit of horror and mysticism thrown in for good measure, in some of his other offerings. 

Kelly made it clear in his introduction that the motivation for writing Water into Whine, was a challenge from a couple of his friends to write something "smutty". Well, Mr. Kelly, you answered that challenge in "spades"! Water into Whine, if nothing else, is a definitely one enormous pile of smut. Unlike the Damsels' series where the smut is implied through the use of ribald and euphemistic jokes, the grubbiness is laid out for all to see (and read) in Water into Whine. The concentration on the erotica (although pleasant to read) didn't take away from the quirky story being told, however. 

We are introduced to the Reverend Redders who, along with his wife Miriam has a very interesting philosophy on life, especially as it applies to sin. In a nutshell, the good Reverend believes we are all sinners and we are all forgiven our sins by Jesus' death at Calvary. It is, therefore, our bounden duty, as Christians, to sin well and to sin often, something they are quick to do.      

This is a funny, quirky, little story, with a whole heap of sex scenes. Do nit read this book if you are of the prudish mold, however, it is a fun story. If I had a couple of riders to my review, they would be as follows: The sex scenes did at times tend to become repetitive, although kudos to the author for varying the ways and means of the participants to reach their climaxes. I do realize, as an author, how hard it is to write fresh and inspiring erotica. I think Kelly did a pretty good job of handling all of this "smut". The second thing that disappointed me a little was the focus on the Reverend's sexual impropriety, to the detriment of his financial improprieties, which I felt could have been explored a little more. 

The good thing is, it appears the Reverend Redders and his seductive wife Miriam have been reassigned to a remote Scottish Isle and reappear in the next installment of this tale from Kelly, titled Vicars and Tarts. 

A good, satisfying and slightly heated Sunday afternoon read. If you like a bit of slap and tickle, a bit of a quirky little story, then Water into Whine is a definite yes, but only if you are broad-minded. I give this effort fro, Michael H Kelly a very solid four-star rating. Thanks for the fun read.

You can check put more of Michael H Kelly's work here: http://amzn.to/24tVoSV  

​I was fortunate enough to be offered this book by Lucinda Clarke for Beta Reading, prior to final editing and production. Having read Clarke's work in the past and realising this was a totally new genre for her, I was keen and excited to do so. 

This dip into the world of Grown Up Fairy Tales is one that I enjoyed greatly. What I find, especially with legacy published authors is that they get caught up in a genre, or a character series, that quickly becomes their sole focus. What was successful before, must be successful again and they spend their time churning out turgid, formulaic and often, frankly, boring books, year after year. That is why the vibrant Indie Author community is so important. These authors have nothing to lose, so they are prepared to push the boundaries and try different things - things that interest them and excite them. The benefits are apparent for the readers as the variety on offer is so great and so extensive. This is exactly what Lucinda Clarke has done. The author of two exceptional adventure, fiction novels set in Africa, she has also written several memoirs detailing humorous and fascinating parts of her career to date. Now, she has switched genre and focus completely, bringing us; Unhappily Ever After, and we, as readers, are richer for that.    

Unhappily Ever After is exactly what it says; a fairy tale for grown-ups. Clarke uses humor and  sarcasm, combined with a weird and wonderful cast of characters to expose base human traits, political correctness and stereotypes for what they really are; a joke! I love reading stories that use characters from my childhood and you will find many of these characters in Unhappily Ever After. We are presented with a variety of princesses that we first met as youngsters, Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and others, but their characters now are barely recognizable. These are lazy, indolent and arrogant people who look down their noses at us mere common folk and dismiss the riff-raff as just being grateful for whatever crumbs they are lucky enough to receive from their tables. I found myself often thinking of the similarity of these characters to those of the Shrek movie franchise, so if you liked Shrek, you'll probably enjoy Unhappily Ever After. 

Unhappily Ever After may not set you "belly-laughing", but the humor is subtle and clever and a credit to the author's wonderful imagination. If you want a break from the everyday fare available out there, I would recommend you escape into the fantasy world of Lucinda Clarke's mind. This is a book for grown-ups though as it pulls no punches in its political incorrectness. It is fun and harmless entertainment, at its very best. This is a clear five-star book in my mind. 

Check out all that Lucinda Clarke has to offer here: http://amzn.to/26iblh1