I absolutely adore Emily Stone’s writing (and not just because I’ve been a character in one of her books; One Last Gift) so receiving a surprise copy of Counting Down to You was such a treat. My huge thanks to Alara Delfosse at Headline for sending it to me. It’s my pleasure to share my review of Counting Down to You today.

You’ll find other posts featuring Emily here on Linda’s Book Bag. 

Counting Down to You was published by Headline on 8th October 2026 and is available for purchase through the publisher links here. 

Counting Down to You

A young woman travels to the Alps to complete her best friend’s last request – and finds a love that’s closer to home than she realises in this gorgeous festive romance from the author of Always, in December and Yours for the Season.

Ali has always loved Christmas. She and her best friend Robyn had a tradition to exchange advent calendars filled, not with chocolate, but with fun challenges to complete.

Only this year, there is no Robyn. Ali would rather skip December altogether, and the reminders it will bring.

But before she died, Robyn left Ali one last calendar.

The first challenge? Book a flight to Chatel, in the French Alps.

The second challenge? Post a selfie with an attractive man to make your ex jealous.

Determined to give Robyn’s calendar her all, Ali takes a position in a hotel in Chatel, nestled in the snowcapped mountains, and snaps a selfie with a gorgeous stranger on the way.

But when she arrives, Ali is shocked to realise the surly hotel manager is the man from her photo. And now everyone already thinks she’s dating the boss…

Suddenly the season looks a lot more complicated than she’d planned. But as the snow falls, will this be the Christmas to thaw Ali’s heart?

My Review of Counting Down to You

Ali has an advent calendar of challenges to fulfil.

What an utterly gorgeous read. I adored Counting Down to You. In her inimitable style, Emily Stone has created a beautifully romantic read that is simply packed with emotion, depth and the most perfect understanding of human nature. 

The structure of the novel is superb because the advent calendar of challenges gives a framework upon which events in the past are explained, the present action is driven and future possibilities are hinted at. The advent calendar also makes the reader want to create something equally special for those they love in real life. 

The French Alps setting is glorious. There’s enough description to make the reader feel they are there without overpowering the narrative. It feels both Christmassy and realistic. There’s an appeal to all the senses too so that reading Counting Down to You is both immersive and enchanting.

The characters feel so incredibly real. I loved the spark of attraction between Ali and Leo and the romantic aspect of Counting Down to You is absolutely gripping (and occasionally quite sexy!). There’s no cliched guarantee of a happy ending because Emily Stone has created flawed and believable people for whom life can be a challenge as well as a joy. You’ll need to read Counting Down to You to find out exactly what happens, but I found myself exclaiming aloud and giving Ali advice on several occasions. 

The setting, romance, characters and plot in Counting Down to You all make for a wonderful book, but it is the themes that elevate the story into such a mesmerising read. Emily Stone explores aspects like grief, family, ambition, self knowledge and forgiveness with such a skilful blend of depth and lightness of touch that there’s a real impact on the reader. I’d defy any reader not to find a lump in the throat or tear in their eye at some point. And I adored the ambiguity of ‘You’ in the title – it might refer to Leo or Robyn and equally, it might just be Ali herself as she discovers as much about herself in the story as she does about any of the others. 

I thought Counting Down to You was fantastic. I’ve been struggling to settle to reading a book recently but Emily Stone captivated me completely. She transported me into a visual, romantic and convincing narrative that gave me the most wonderful read. Just brilliant!

About Emily Stone

Emily Sone is the author of six festive romance novels , including Always, in December and One Last Gift. Her novels have been translated into eleven languages. Emily has lived in many places over the years, including London, Wales, Cornwall, Germany and Mozambique, before finally settling down in Bristol, where she spends most of her free time with her two rescue ponies.  

Emily Stone is a pseudonym – she also writes speculative romance under her real name, Becky Hunter, and is the co-author of fantasy romance Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter. 

For further information, find Emily on Instagram. 

My grateful thanks to Jakob de Villiers III for sending me a copy of The Stuff Nobody Tells You. It’s my pleasure to share my review today.

The Stuff Nobody Tells You is available for purchase here. 

The Stuff Nobody Tells You

Nobody sat you down and explained which drawer the washing powder goes in, what the tax code on your payslip means, or whether the black mould is yours to clean or your landlord’s to fix.

They just assumed you knew. So you nodded along, looked it up later, and hoped nobody noticed.

The Stuff Nobody Tells You is the no-judgement answer book for all of it. 75 short, dry, genuinely useful entries on everyday adult life in the UK. Open it anywhere. Each one takes about a minute.

What’s inside

• The machines that beep at you: the washing machine drawer, what the label symbols mean, the right fridge temperature
• Not poisoning anyone: use by vs best before, reheated rice, defrosting a chicken safely
• The great bin mystery: what actually goes in the recycling, and that greasy pizza box
• Your home: finding the stopcock, bleeding a radiator, resetting a tripped switch, tenancy deposits, black mould
• The car: the 20p tyre test, and which dashboard lights mean stop now
• Money and work: tax codes, gross vs net, notice periods, holiday pay, Direct Debit refunds, sick notes
• Your body: fevers, burns, nosebleeds, paracetamol or ibuprofen, what to do if someone has passed out
• Tech and the outside world: scam texts, passwords and 2FA, tipping, passports, your rights when something breaks

Written for Britain and checked against gov.uk, the NHS, HMRC, the Food Standards Agency and your council’s own guidance. Dry enough to enjoy, correct enough to trust, small enough to keep by the kettle.

Buying it for someone? It makes a good present for anyone leaving home, starting university, moving into a first flat, or quietly bluffing their way through being a grown-up. A school leaver gift, housewarming present, Secret Santa or stocking filler.

You’re not stupid. You were just never told.

My Review of The Stuff Nobody Tells You

A handy book of the basics in life.

It’s actually quite hard to review The Stuff Nobody Tells You without merely repeating the blurb as this is a book that truly does what it says on the tin. It is designed for the UK. 

It is packed with information that each and every one of us will need at some point. Jakob de Villiers III covers everything from storing food in the fridge through tax codes to things lost in the post. 

I loved the way the content is presented. There are 10 well defined chapters, but what works particularly well is that the tone is helpful and witty without being condescending or patronising, and the information is presented with plenty of white space and some supporting illustrations so that what we’re being told never feels overwhelming.

I thought The Stuff Nobody Tells You was a cracking little book. It’s a great stocking filler or Secret Santa gift. The contents have been checked against UK law and Government sources. Of course the author has the caveat that different authorities may alter rules (particularly when recycling for example) and things might change over time, but this does not detract from a really useful volume. I also loved the request to readers to ask any question that might not have been covered so that future books will be even better!

My advice; get a copy of The Stuff Nobody Tells You for any young adult starting out in life, whether that’s in their first home or their first year at college or university. And get a copy for your own home. Put The Stuff Nobody Tells You in that drawer in the kitchen for stuff nobody knows where to put. Next time you have an emergency or want to know something practical, you’ll know exactly where the answer is. 

About Jakob de Villiers III

Jakob de Villiers III is the third generation of a family that has never quite known how to do anything practical. His grandfather could not change a fuse. His father could not change his grandfather’s mind about this. Jakob, breaking with tradition, learned how to do roughly forty household things, then characteristically wrote them all down rather than help anyone in person.

He writes useful but funny reference books, the kind people keep by the kettle and quote at dinner parties without crediting him. He believes most of adult life is just a list of things everyone else seems to have been told in a room he wasn’t invited to. The Stuff Nobody Tells You is his attempt to forward you the memo. 

For further information, visit Jakob’s website or find him on Instagram. 

My enormous thanks to Isabelle Wilson for sending me a copy of The Coastal Almanac by Jess Lea-Wilson in return for an honest review. It’s my pleasure to share my review of The Coastal Almanac today.

Published by OH, an imprint of Headline, on 17th September 2026, The Coastal Almanac is available for purchase through the publisher links here. 

The Coastal Almanac

‘I will never again walk by the sea without taking this book with me … it is an essential coastal companion.’ Kate Humble

DEEPEN YOUR CONNECTION TO THE COAST

Whether it’s the warmth of the sun on sandy skin, the sharpness of a cold-sea swim or a rare glimpse of a bright blue kingfisher, each month of the year brings new experiences, weather and wildlife to the coastline.

From renowned sea-salt producers Halen Môn, The Coastal Almanac charts the seasons with insights on flora and fauna, recipes, spotters’ guides, and plenty more. Halen Môn salt has become a favourite of chefs worldwide, and now they bring their coastal expertise to help you get the most from the seaside, all year round.

Rooted in the Welsh coast, this beautiful book is illustrated with stunning photography and bespoke illustrations. Perfect to be packed in a jacket pocket or bag for a trip to the beach, or simply enjoyed in an armchair at home, The Coastal Almanac is essential for every lover of the sea.

My Review of The Coastal Alamac

An insight into the Welsh coast of Anglesey.

What a glorious celebration of coastal life. I admit I was slightly taken aback initially by the first person approach to the writing, having expected a rather impartial account (mostly) of Ynys Môn or Anglesey, but in fact, this personal approach by Jess Lea-Wilson makes The Coastal Almanac feel more intimate and conversational, giving an insight into the author as well as the coast and providing a layer of interest I hadn’t anticipated.

The Coastal Almanac is a beautifully produced book. The artwork is simply glorious, with photographs, watercolour images and line drawings. It would make a lovely gift book – though I do dispute the concept of slipping it into a pocket for a beach walk as it is pretty weighty being so robustly and luxuriously produced in hardback. This does mean. however, that it will withstand being shoved into a backpack and used in situ!

Divided into monthly chapters, the nature-loving reader will find flora and fauna, activities and advice from gardening to cooking with recipes frequently featuring Halen Môn sea salt. There are crafts and poems and I especially enjoyed the nautical idioms. Each chapter begins with a monthly introduction including typical weather, moon phases, flora and fauna, food, specific birds and key dates so that this makes a lovely book for those not able to get out to the places described. It is possible to live life by the sea vicariously with The Coastal Almanac and those who, like me, live about as far from the coast as it’s possible to get can still be beguiled and entertained. Prior to reading The Coastal Almanac, for example, it would never have crossed my mind to create ice lollies using cucumbers!

I think what I enjoyed most about reading The Coastal Almanac was the author’s passion for the sea. Jess Lea-Wilson encourages readers to engage with the environment on several levels and I thought it an excellent idea to include a call to arms to protect what we have in our coastal areas as well as to enjoy observing them. 

The Coastal Almanac is wonderfully illustrated and filled with an eclectic mix of information so that there is something for everyone to enjoy. It would make a smashing gift book.

About Jess Lea-Wilson

Photo Credit: Jim Marsden

Jess Lea-Wilson is the brand director of Halen Môn, a renowned salt company with fans including Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay and even Barack Obama. It has been served at the London 2012 Olympics, political summits and royal weddings and is a vital ingredient in Green & Blacks chocolate and Piper’s Crisps. They have featured in a dizzying array of media, and have established themselves as a premier British brand, stocked in Waitrose, Ocado, and numerous other stockists. Their range has now expanded to include a wide range of food products and skincare, alongside experiences (such as seaweed baths) at their HQ.

Jess lives in Anglesey, Wales.

For further information about Halen Môn, visit their website and find Jess on Instagram or visit her website. 

My grateful thanks to Maddie at Luath Press for offering me a copy of Daughterhood by Alison Irvine and to Gavin for ensuring I received it. I’m delighted to share my review of Daughterhood today.

Published by Luath on 30th September 2026, Daughterhood is available for purchase through the publisher links here. 

Daughterhood

Now, aged 46, with the menopause pestering her like a clanking door in a gale, she wasn’t sure how to proceed.

Nina Polmont’s life is changing.

The on-off ex is gone, her sister is back from New Zealand and her step-daughter has come home. At the same time her parents’ marriage is falling apart, her niece has estranged herself and the music teacher who broke her heart thirty years ago suddenly wants to see her. Add hormones. Add night sweats. Add desire. And add the sinking feeling that she has made a catastrophic mess of her life. Is it ever too late to start again?

As past desires clash with new obligations and a midlife surge of rebellion and regret takes over, Nina tries to work out who has betrayed her more – her sister or her own heart.

My Review of Daughterhood

Nina feels her life is in disarray.

I thought Daughterhood was a wonderful book. I didn’t especially like Nina and I thought her sister Kate was truly awful much of the time, but my goodness Alison Irvine hooked me into their lives and showed me their personalities in their rawest state so that I couldn’t tear myself away. Daughterhood is a superb insight into how real women feel as they age, reflect and, frequently, regret.

In many ways, the plot is relatively prosaic, and therein lies its strength. Alison Irvine explores familial relationships, duty, jealousy and all the permutations of real life with such dexterity that the narrative is utterly mesmerising. Her prose works brilliantly because often the most important effects are created by the simplest of sentences and her direct speech is so skilled that, not only did I feel like I was eavesdropping conversations, I felt the sucker punch of emotion the characters were feeling too. 

What is so affecting in Daughterhood is the complete understanding that love and hate are frequently two sides of the same coin. We can despise someone even as we love them. The dynamic between Nina and Kate in particular crackles with tension, passion and an unrecognised understanding of one another that borders the obsessive. I loved the depiction of marriage exemplified through Reenie and Russ too and the way Nina and Kate’s relationship with their parents has been inverted as so many of us find as we mature. 

The more Daughterhood progressed, the more my heart ached for Nina. Her wasted years, her imperfect acknowledgement of herself, and her grief made me wish I could have climbed into the book to provide the kind of solace she attempts to give to others. Nina is a flawed, brittle, human, and utterly believable woman in the middle with recalcitrant parents and demanding youngsters, none of whom fully comprehend what Nina has endured. Not even Nina herself really understands what she wants.

Intelligent, intense and intimate, Daughterhood is the book for every woman entering the middle phase of her life, regardless of her circumstances. And those outside those parameters would find it enlightening, educational and engaging too! Daughterhood is real life, beautifully written and exposed on the page. I loved it. 

About Alison Irvine

Alison Irvine was born in London to antipodean parents. She was brought up in London and Essex and moved to Glasgow in 2005 to study an MLitt in Creative Writing at Glasgow University. She graduated with distinction in 2006 and since then her writing has been published in The Celtic View and in an anthology of Glasgow writing, Outside of a Dog. In 2007 she was awarded a Scottish Arts Council New Writer’s Bursary to support the writing of her novel about emigration from Glasgow to the Antipodes. Alison works as an actress and drama workshop facilitator. She lives in Glasgow. 

For further information, visit Alison’s website and find her on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. 

My huge thanks to Chloe Davies at Pan Macmillan for sending me a copy of The Lord of Stariel by A.J. Lancaster in return for an honest review. It’s my pleasure to share my review today.

The Lord of Stariel will be published in the UK by Pan Macmillan imprint Tor on 19th November 2026 and is available for purchase through the publisher links here. 

The Lord of Stariel

The Lord of Stariel is the first book in the Stariel Quartet, a romantic cozy fantasy series about fae, magical estates and complicated families, for fans of Sarah Beth Durst and Rebecca Thorne.

A sentient estate faces a succession crisis. But who will become the estate’s new Lord?

Everyone knows who the magical estate will choose for its next ruler. Or do they? Will it be the Lord’s eldest son, whom he despised? His favourite nephew, with the strongest magical land-sense? Or his scandalous daughter, who ran away from home years ago to study illusion

Hetta knows it won’t be her, and she’s glad of it. Returning home for her father’s funeral, all Hetta must do is survive the inevitable family drama – and avoid entanglements with irritatingly attractive locals – until the Choosing. Then she can leave.

But whoever the Stariel Estate chooses will have bigger problems than eccentric relatives. Winged, beautifully deadly problems. For the first time in centuries, the fae are returning to the Mortal Realm, and only the Lord of Stariel can keep the estate safe. 

My Review of The Lord of Stariel

After Hetta’s father dies, it’s time for the Choosing ceremony to elect a new Lord of Stariel.

I am absolutely not the usual target audience for The Lord of Stariel. I don’t read fantasy and there’s a young adult feel to the narrative. And I thought it was smashing. I really, really enjoyed it.

The Lord of Stariel sets up the series brilliantly because A.J. Lancaster creates potential for future events whilst providing an interesting, accessible and absorbing story. I found I was thoroughly entertained throughout. The plot is smashing. There’s an excellent balance of the prosaic and the dramatic and the authorial style is simply perfect for the genre. As someone somewhat resistant to anything with the fae, magic or fantasy, I found myself totally beguiled and completely converted to the genre. 

I loved meeting Hetta. Despite her magical talents, she’s a modern and relatable woman, torn between duty and personal preference. Her challenging relationships with some members of her family that arise out of her refusal to comply with unreasonable demands, her desire to do her best, and her attraction to both Wyn and Lord Angus Penharrow, all feel absolutely believable, making her a true heroine.

I adored Wyn. As The Lord of Stariel unfolds, so does Wyn’s personality. He truly is multi-layered and so appealing. I don’t wish to spoil the story, but there is so much more to Hetta’s family butler than might be at first apparent.

The setting of Stariel estate feels sweeping and cinematic. I think The Lord of Stariel would make the most fabulous television series as a result. Beautiful descriptions of nature plunge the reader into the environment in the most authentic manner.

Alongside a cracking plot, a touch of romance and rather more magic in The Lord of Stariel than I was expecting, there is intrigue and a wonderful exploration of theme. Certainly familial duty plays its part, but honour, societal expectation, identity, and humanity all swirl beneath the surface making for a textured and satisfying story. 

I thought The Lord of Stariel was brilliant. I have a feeling A.J. Lancaster has just introduced me to a whole new genre that I might become obsessed with. I certainly can’t wait for the next book in this series and I recommend The Lord of Stariel most highly!

About A.J. Lancaster

A.J. Lancaster grew up on a farm in rural Aotearoa New Zealand, and her first job was finding lost people in a corn maze. Since leaving the farm, A. J.’s activities have included a geography degree, environmental planning and editing maths exams. Now, she lives in the Manawatu and writes romantic, whimsical fantasy books while investigating how many plants you can fit in one house. Results so far suggest that the limit does not exist.

In 2021, A. J. Lancaster received the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent, New Zealand’s preeminent awards for science fiction, fantasy and horror. She is best known for the Stariel novels, a series about a country estate that chooses its own ruler, beginning with The Lord of Stariel. 

For further information, visit A.J.’s website and find her on Facebook or Instagram.