#Review! My Husband’s Wives by Faith Hogan (@GerHogan) @Aria_Fiction #AriaAddict

Blurb.

One man, three wives, too many secrets. A heart-warming story of love, loss, family and friendship.

Paul Starr, Ireland’s leading cardiologist dies in a car crash with a pregnant young woman by his side. United in their grief and the love of one man, four women are thrown together in an attempt to come to terms with life after Paul. They soon realise they never really knew him at all.

The love they shared for Paul in his life and which incensed a feeling of mistrust and dislike for each other, in his death turns into the very thing that bonds them and their children to each other, forever. As they begin to form unlikely friendships, Paul’s death proves to be the catalyst that enables them to become the people they always wanted to be.

What does TWG think?

How the wife do I even begin this review?! You’ll probably know by now that blurbs and I aren’t always on speaking terms; they usually go on the naughty step unread as I like to find everything out for myself! Faith Hogan’s book was no exception. The only hint of information I took was from the title. I pretty much assumed that a woman’s husband was wanting wives for a rainy day. That said, he could have been competing with Ross Gellar for the most amount of divorces!

The first chapter of the book was a bit like a stepping stone to the storyline, as you get to learn A LOT of information about the main man, Paul, and his love life. I did find it a little tricky to keep up at first, and sometimes I felt as though I was trudging through mud slowly, trying to digest every piece of information. However, the more of the book I read, the quicker the information was filed into its relevant places and things started to make a little more sense.

My first impression of Paul wasn’t exactly a positive one. The way he acted upon things from the moment he appeared in the storyline, got my back up. He came across as a rather possessive natured man, and very self-assured (in a negative way). Don’t get me wrong, it is good to have confidence in your own abilities, but when it turns pompous and up their own bootyshakalakalah that’s when it can become a flaw. I must be one of the few to think that as he wasn’t exactly short on lady friends!

Each one of the ladies involved, have completely different personalities to each other. There was the ‘level headed’ one, the ‘straight to the point, emotional’ one, the ‘glamorous, rich daddy’s girl’ one and lastly, the ‘new ‘kid’ on the block’. I’m not being judgemental, but without giving too much of the storyline away, I’m having to describe the characters differently. I also found that my opinions of the ladies (as above), helped me keep track of the storyline and each of the events.

My Husband’s Wives is certainly full of ‘what the….’ moments, as well as ‘omg! what a dic…tionary’ moments. The storyline is out to shock you, squeeze you for emotions, as well as making you wonder what else is going to crop up!

After my initial mud workout during the first chapter, I managed to go with the flow and found myself rather immersed in their Pandora boxes of life. My advice to you whilst reading Faith’s book though; ensure that you’re completely focused on what’re you’re reading otherwise you won’t pick up on little pieces of information that just may help hit the nail on the head.

A surprising, jam-packed, rollercoaster of a read, ‘My Husband’s Wives’ is a book that will keep you on your toes, as well as realising that people you thought you knew aren’t always as they seem.

Thank you Faith Hogan!

My Husband’s Wives by Faith Hogan, published by Aria Fiction, is available to buy now from Amazon UK | Amazon US

Author of My Husbands Wives Faith Hogan (@gerhogan), talks about winter reading! @aria_fiction

I am sure MANY of you have seen the above book cover, all over social media the past few months? Me too, which is why I squealed rather loudly when I received an e-mail from the lovely Faith Hogan, in regards to popping her TWG cherry! Faith has kindly written an insightful guest post about winter reading. Prepare to laugh and nod along in agreement, this is fabulous.

Winter Reading…

I know. I can hardly believe I’m writing those two words… WINTER READING!

For some, winter spells the end of all that is good of the year. It is the time when sensible animals hibernate and plants sneak back to prepare for next year’s sunshine. Leaves fall and everything is mulchie, we have storms, floods and snow – you can imagine how the barbecue junkies dread the months with not just an R, but with a big cold Brrr too!

Different story for us book lovers, though isn’t it?

Most of the readers I know are actively welcoming the darker months. That whole, spring, summer autumn thing – well, it’s a bit over rated actually, if you’re a book-worm. Most of us, will make an effort for those summer months, you know, dig out the white pants, paint a bit of colour on our milky cream legs and of course, pull on the biggest sunnies we can manage.

But winter? Well, winter is a whole other thing.

Personally, I’m with the Scandinavians. They certainly have it down. From Sarah Lund in her interesting jumper, to all those brooding landscapes that are perfect backdrops for crime or indeed romance – well, it’s every bibliophile’s dream And that’s before you even mention hygge. Hygge is that whole Danish notion of making the most of dark days and unfriendly weather. It legitimizes staying in, wrapping up, reading all day with cups of tea or a nice warming stew. Of course, for hyggee what could be more well-matched than a nice big book.

Oh, yes. Meteorologically, speaking, November is your month to button down the hatches, light the log fire, bury yourself in a woollen blanket and of course… Read!

For me the best winter books have three key ingredients.

First off, they need to be a decent length. There is simply no point settling down with something that you’re going to be finished in a day. Boxing day, is your day for this book. Read it while everyone around you is suffering chronic fatigue from the previous day’s festivities. Your actual winter books will take you a couple of days to get into and when you do, you’ll be so immersed in them that only occasionally will you hear the wind against your window panes, but when you do, it’s the most delicious sound in the world. An invitation, no it’s positively a mandate to snuggle further into the story and the duvet.

Second up, the story has to be set somewhere that is cold. It has to be bracingly cold, so you actually get the shivers when you think of placing yourself there. This is the only way to stack up how lovely and cosy you actually are and thereby increasing the whole winter book experience.

Third and this is probably the most important thing – it should have that extra Secret Seven ingredient. Am I talking about mystery islands, flash light adventures, light houses or naughty sheep dogs? Am I heck! I’m talking tuck food, comfort eating, building up those cold weather reserves. Your winter reading should be accompanied by hot chocolate at the least and then for added enjoyment, throw in a couple of cinnamon scones – go on, you know you want to!!

Now all I have to do is choose the actual book… So what are the best winter reads for cuddling up to? Well, that’s a post for another day, isn’t it?

How many of you will be following that on Boxing Day? Brilliant! Faith, I will be holding you to the next post with the best winter reads for cuddling and snuggling! If any of you have your own personal ‘winter reads’ favourites, let me know in the comments! Thank you to Faith Hogan for the genuine and hilarious guest post -hides the huge sunnies-.

Book blurb and links.

One man, three wives, too many secrets. A heart-warming story of love, loss, family and friendship. A compelling debut that fans of Freya North will love. Paul Starr, Ireland’s leading cardiologist dies in a car crash with a pregnant young woman by his side.

United in their grief and the love of one man, four women are thrown together in an attempt to come to terms with life after Paul. They soon realise they never really knew him at all.

The love they shared for Paul in his life and which incensed a feeling of mistrust and dislike for each other, in his death turns into the very thing that bonds them and their children to each other, forever.

As they begin to form unlikely friendships, Paul’s death proves to be the catalyst that enables them to become the people they always wanted to be.

Amazon UK | Amazon US

Author Bio.

Faith Hogan was born in Ireland. She gained an Honours Degree in English Literature and Psychology from Dublin City University and a Postgraduate Degree from University College, Galway. She has worked as a fashion model, an event’s organiser and in the intellectual disability and mental health sector. She was a winner in the 2014 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair – an international competition for emerging writers.

Her debut novel, ‘My Husband’s Wives,’ is a contemporary women’s fiction novel set in Dublin. It was published by Aria, (Head of Zeus) on 1 st of May 2016. She is currently working on her next novel.

Faith Hogan Contact:

Faith Hogan’s debut novel, ‘My Husband’s Wives,’ was published on 1st of May 2016 by Aria (Head of Zeus). It is available to order on Amazon and all good E-reading sites. She lives in the west of Ireland with her husband, children, a very fat cat called Norris and a selection of (until recently!) idle writerly mugs and cups. Follow Faith on Twitter at @gerhogan or like her on Facebook.comFaithhoganauthor/ or, if you’re really interested, you can catch up with her on http://www.faithhogan.com.