#MarriedAtFirstSwipe @FabFrosty @simonschusteruk @teambatc #review

Delighted to be joining the blog tour for ‘Married at First Swipe’ by Claire Frost. As always, thank you to Becca and the team at Simon & Schuster for inviting me to take part and sending a copy my way.

Hannah lives life on the edge. Never one to pass up on a new adventure, she has truly been living her best life. But once the adrenaline wears off, she wishes she had someone to spend the quieter moments with too. Learning that her best friend’s online dating business has taken a hit, she comes up with an idea that just might solve both of their problems…
 
Jess has been with her husband for twenty years. They have a stable marriage, great kids and run their own businesses. But what looks like a perfect life from the outside has its own problems within, and with her business on the brink Jess can’t help but wonder where the spark has gone in her life, and whether settling down is all it’s cracked up to be.
 
When Hannah embarks upon her latest scheme: finding a man using Jess’s dating app and meeting him for the first time at the altar, both women start to realise the grass isn’t always greener. Can Hannah help her friend save her failing business or will Jess stop her from making what could be the biggest mistake of her life?
 
In the modern tech-fuelled world of dating, is it possible to find true love?

What does TWG think?

I’m all for girl power and females supporting others, which is very handy as if the Spice Girls needed two new members, I am sure Hannah and Jess would fit the bill tenfold! Plus, its handy because this novel is full of girl power and strong women! Strong females come in all shapes and sizes. Some find their strength by letting their tears out, whilst others share their strength by using various different coping mechanisms. Or, if you’re anything like Hannah, you’ll find ‘strength’ in asking your best friend of over 20 years to find you the man you’re going to marry….on the day you’re going to get married.  

No, you didn’t read that wrong, Hannah wasn’t going to see or meet her new man until the day of the wedding! I mean REALLY, does anyone really trust someone THAT much? I don’t think i could have done that at all. One, I’m far too nosey. Two, I don’t even know my own dream type, let alone someone else working it out. And three, I dont even want to get married!

Anyway, as completely bonkers as this story is, for the reasons mentioned above, I could NOT wait to find out the details, and whether Hannah actually made it down the aisle, or what happened in the future. It really was such a ‘rub your hands together with glee because you’re about to get some gossip’ type of read, and I was in my element.

Even though Hannah’s love life was the center of attention, Jess’ marriage ended up showing cracks, highlighting the fact that whilst marriage is a wonderful thing for those who want it, its always a work in progress, regardless of how long you’re with the other person for. Even I found Tom, her husband, infuriating because he was a lazy little sphincter. But then again, did Jess have her expectations to high?

Overall I really enjoyed delving into the lives of Hannah and Jess, and I especially love G-Ma – what an absolute character!! At times, however, I did find the character dialogue between the main characters to be a little stilted in the fluidty, and I felt that sometimes the dialogue didn’t have as much oomph in it as the rest of the story had. With that being said, I really did appreciate the distraction that Married At First Swipe gave me, and I throughly enjoyed how fun and totally out there the storyline was – I definitely recommend it for readers who like to know every little detail about someone, as well as readers who like their stories to be outside the box!

Buy ‘Married At First Swipe’ from Amazon.

Are you a dog owner who like spoiling your dog with yummy treats? Well, have I got a recommendation for you! Ever heard of #BonBonPooch? No? @BonBonPooch #doggiegifts #petlover #giftsfordogs

*Disclaimer: any opinions or thoughts written in this post are mine and are not affiliated with BonBonPooch in any way, nor is this review a result of being gifted any products by the company, and nor was I asked to write this blog post.

Before I became the owner of two, wild and completely bonkers dogs, I had absolutely no idea that there were companies out there catering for the tums of our four legged friends. I only thought that dog treats could be bought from the usual supermarkets or pet shops! Never in a million years did I think that people were making homemade goodies for dogs. I mean, really? Had I known beforehand, would I have thought those people were bonkers? Honestly? Probably. It’s a bit like when you become a parent and you’re quoted saying that you’ll never, ever, EVER give your child processed foods, Haribo, minging amounts of chocolate, and that you would only feed them countless fruit and vegetables and then wonder why they end up constipated…….but when you ACTUALLY become a parent, you find that your previous thoughts come back to bite you on the backside, literally. I reckon I would have been like that in regards to homemade dog treats!

What’s that got to do with buying things for your dog, right? Well, I was said person whose quote came back to bite them on the backside before I had my child, and I am now the proud dog owner who feeds their dogs homemade doggie treats and gets excited (and somewhat jealous) by the shapes and sizes those treats come in! It was around Halloween 2020 when my dogs received a box in the post. Yes, you read that correctly – my dogs. Seriously, I had to look twice at the ‘Barney and Nahla Holloway’ on the sticker. How the heck do my dogs get fun parcels and all I get is not so fun white letters telling me that my rent is about to go up?! Anyway, I digress. Thanks to a lovely friend (hi Mandie!) who chose to gift my dogs some goodies, I would never have heard of BonBonPooch. I Google some rather weird and wonderful things, don’t get me wrong, but I had never Googled doggie bakeries. Until now.

Inside the box they received were halloween themed yummies, dog treat lollies, skeleton shaped treats. Honestly, the attention to detail on them were brilliant. If I hadn’t known any better I would have thought that they were suitable for humans. Well, either that or I’m greedy, who knows. Christmas 2020 saw Barney and Nahla receive another box of yummies, this time all Christmas themed. For example, there was a Christmas pudding type crispie cake, snowmen and Christmas tree lollies, just to name a few. It really was fun to see what goodies the box contained.

Before I continue, I’ll give you a little backstory of one of my dogs, Nahla. I rescued her in March 2020 from Spain, saving her from the heartless hands of the Spanish authorities and the way that Podenco’s/Galgo’s are treated out there. I won’t go into detail here, but it’s definitely worth educating yourself about. Anyway, Nahla has a sensitive tummy. A fussy one at that. I’ve been used to having a greedy dog who would eat absolutely every and anything, so having a pooch that literally turned her nose up at certain foods, was a challenge in itself. She ate her main meals, don’t get me wrong, but if the size was too small, she got annoyed. When she was given her first BonBonPooch treat, I was a little bit apprehensive because I honestly thought that she was going to take one look at it and be all ‘thanks, but no thanks’. In the end, it was the complete opposite! I have never see her inhale food as quickly as she did the skeleton skull. She even finished before greedy guts Barney, AND she came back for more! They both did! To say that I was over the moon was an understatement! Although, that was another thing that came back to bite me on the backside because it didn’t take long for either of them to know what the BonBonPooch box looked like and show off their trampolining skills in the kitchen when they spotted it…..

The picture above is just one of the many items which can be found on the BonBonPooch website and, if you’re a stingy one like me – IT’S ALSO FREE DELIVERY!!!!!!. I found the price of the items to be pretty respectable given the fact that they’re all hand made and individually wrapped. Also, the treats are well looked after with bubble wrap in the box too. Not that the dogs would mind if their yummies ended up broken, but for me it’s the attention to detail which just keeps BonBonPooch at the top of my most looked at website.

There is a product of theirs which I just think is absolute GENIUS, and it’s the Yours and Paws Graze Box. Yes, you read that properly – YOURS and PAWS! So basically it’s a box that has treats for humans on one side, and doggy treats on the other side so you can share with your beloved pooch…or pooches…..or even children. I’m guessing children get the human side…right?

See what I mean? How fun is that?! Here is the description of the Yours and Paws Graze Box, taken from the website:

‘A share box for you and your pooch!
Sent through the letterbox and stuffed with treats.
Hooman Sweets and Pooches Treats.
6 month shelf life and Free Delivery‘

Not a bad bargain for a tenner!

I genuinely think that this site is a winner for both their products and customer service, and I really do recommend that you check out their products and treat your four legged friends. Just be aware that deliveries are slightly delayed just now due to Covid, and I know that that goes without saying but I just wanted to put it here anyway.

If you want to follow BonBonPooch on Instagram you can do so here.
Also, if you wish to give the BonBonPooch Facebook page a helpful like, you can do that here.

For future reference, their website is www.BonBonPooch.com.

If you do end up buying their goodies, let me know! I want to be nosy and get excited with you!!