Book Review: Revealing Her Nine-Month Secret by Natalie Anderson

Revealing Her Nine Month Secret is written by Natalie Anderson and is part of the Jet Set Billionaires Mills & Boon Modern mini series. 

Carrie Barrett and Massimo Donati-Wells enjoy one night in Auckland after she is stood up on a blond date. She realises her period is late and face times Massimo to tell him. The day after this she thinks she has miscarried the baby, so leaves a message for him not realising he is on a plane coming to see her and travels to Fiji to start her dream job. Several months later she sees Massimo in a market in Fiji, collapses and goes into labour. He takes her to hospital where she stays for the next three weeks. He only finds out he is a father/ there is a baby when a receptionist tells him that they are both stable. 

He whisks Carrie and baby Ana to his private Fijian island and they negotiate a contract marriage so Carrie can get Australian residency. Carrie is rather shocked as she didn’t know she was expecting a bay and Massimo is rather sceptical of this claim. Both Carrie and Massimo have been shaped by their childhood problems. Will they be able to overcome the lasting barriers created by these influences and create a forever family?

I enjoyed this novel. The backdrop of both Auckland and Fiji were both described in detail and provided a nice change from the traditional Venice/London/New York etc M&B location. It is also interesting to see the childhood factors that have shaped their adulthood choices: Carrie’s need to please due to feeling and being treated as inferior to the rest of her sporty family whilst Massimo’s aversion to a family is down to to his father abandoning him when he discovers he is not biologically his child. 

I would recommend this book and others by this author as they are all enjoyable to read. 

I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I was sent an advance copy by Natalie Anderson but this does not affect my review. 

Review: Wetbrush Charcoal Infused Paddle Detangler

I saw the WetBrush Charcoal Infused Paddle Detangler (£11.99), when ordering a new WetBrush Pro Paddle detangler. I decided to try it out as the charcoal infused bristles are supposed to  remove impurities, balance oil and increase the hair’s shine and smoothness. Excess sebum is removed whilst the hair shaft is deeply cleansed in order to let the hair strands breathe. The TPE strips are an eco friendly material which reduce static and frizz. The hairbrush is suitable for oily hair (me) as it brushes, detangles, refreshes and styles. The Intelliflex bristles prevent strands breaking, less tugging and pain when detangling and hair is quickly detangled. 

 This hairbrush is perfect for me - my hair does break easily and I did notice less breakage when using this WetBrush. I didn’t notice less pain - I normally use the WetBrush Pro range and I thought that the bristles on the charcoal version felt brisker on my scalp, leaving a cleaner more massaged feel to it. My hair didn’t seem to be de frizzed but did seem less oily, looked shinier and healthier. The brush isn’t particularly heavy and the handle is comfortable to hold - this is important if you have long hair and brushing can take quite a long time! 

I liked using the Charcoal infused WetBrush and I will use it in rotation with my Pro Paddle brush when I want a brisker brush and my scalp feels like it needs a cleanse. 

I purchased this item myself and the views expressed in my blog are my own. 

Review: Yes To Tomatoes Detoxifying Charcoal SnapMask Stick

The Yes To Tomatoes Detoxifying Charcoal Stick retails at £11.99 for 56g.  It is a cleansing and detoxifying mask stick, free from parabens, SLS and silicons. Leaping Bunny Certified the mask is suitable for all skin types and made from 96% natural ingredients. Enriched with a powerful combination of tomato extract, charcoal and salicylic acid, it is a 5 minute mask which claims to fight the toxins, impurities and excess oil which trigger spots. After use skin will be clear, refreshed, oils balanced resulting in health skin. 

My skin is greasy and stressed due to long term illnesses and medication. I am always willing to try new products which are reasonably priced to see if they can help my skin. I purchased my stick via Amazon when it was on offer for £7.99. 

 I like that I don’t have to touch the mask. I can just swipe it on. I would like the stick to be slightly smaller so it would fit in my nose areas more easily. It feels nice on the skin and I could feel it tightening as it dried. The smell is very faint tand it is a clean smell. The mask washed off very easily and looked slightly red for a few minutes. When the redness had gone my skin didn’t look as stressed and shiny but slightly healthier and glowing. It had drawn some impurities to the surface of the skin so I wouldn’t use it just before going out but I do recommend it and have continued to use and have seen fewer and fewer breakouts over the last few weeks. 

I purchased this item myself and the views expressed in my blog are my own: 

Book Review: The Sultan’s Wife by Jane Johnson

Set in 17 Century Morocco, the main characters are: Nus-Nus the African eunuch  is who is the Sultan’s scribe; Mouley Ismael the cruel and feared Sultan who has a mercurial temper, Alys Swan a Dutch-English lady who is one of his many wives. She was kidnapped on the way to meet her fiancé and given the choice of either going the Sultan’s harem or dying a painful death. Zidana is the Sultan’s main wife who is feared by everyone in the harem.

The novel is written from the viewpoint of Alys and Nus-Nus. It is beautifully descriptive and historically accurate, revealing how dangerous and fraught life in the Royal Court could be. The novel is full of murder, mystery and intrigue. There is a hint of romance between Nus-Nus and Alys but the main storyline focuses on depicting Nus-Nus life, the abuse that led him to becoming a eunuch and his life as a scribe negotiating both the Sultan’s rage and the backstabbing in the Harem. The Royal Court travels to visit Charles I in England and encounters the plague which adds to the historical interest in the novel. 

I was gifted this novel by Netgalley and House of Zeus in return for a honest review