A Glasgow Kiss

Product Information

Joyce Ross, fundraiser at Beatson Cancer Charity, said: “We’re delighted to be supported by the team at Embargo and look forward to hearing from Sophie and finding out how she combines being a mum, nurse and writing a best-selling novel.” In relation to the side characters, honestly it just seemed like all her friends just enabling her incredibly toxic behaviour. Her best friend - shagging her ex and getting pissed off when the guy she cheated with moved on?! These were all around terrible people Heather Suttie, the Scottish events and PR specialist, was thrilled when she first read A Glasgow Kiss. “It just seemed to be what a lot of us had been waiting for,” she said. “I can’t remember laughing so much at a book – and crying too.

He is ever present in the book, but not in a romantic sense until almost the very end and you cannot help but be engrossed and feel like it is your best friend at the same time. It may well be that the term started becoming used more and more around that time, not just via Rab C but by virtue of the fact that the BBC had another show on TV not long after he hung up his vest which was also set in Glasgow - believe it or not called 'Glasgow Kiss'. I always love to discover a new author in one of my favourite genres, and a Scottish crime author is even better. Sadly, this book was just awful.

Toys

A group of us are all reading this at the moment as part of our newly formed and made up book club and honestly we couldn’t have chosen a better book to start with… this is serious belly laugh, snort out loud material… we can’t put it down!!! EVERY GIRL NEEDS TO READ THIS!!!’ This being The Herald, I’ve chosen the comparatively subdued aftermath of one of Zara’s bedtime rendezvous which she discusses with her friend, Ashley.

Thank you to Orion Publishing and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Add to this the horrific writing, one-dimensional characters and terrible plot development, and i am genuinely miffed as to how this book ever got published in the first place. The first main event of the story is when a 15-year-old schoolgirl accuses her Religious Education teacher, Eric Chalmers, of rape. Cue immediate witch-hunt by the media and determined rubbishing of the claims by nearly everyone associated with the school, teachers and pupils alike, which lasts for the rest of the novel. Days later, Julie Donaldson is found murdered in the wooded area of a park, and soon other bodies are found in similar circumstances. The race is on to catch the killer, or at least it should be, but no real sense of urgency ever develops in this book. Sophie explains this is a safety mechanism where her friends can electronically embed her location on their smartphones in case anything untoward unfolds. The thing I like the most about Sophie’s books are they are real. They are relatable. You don’t feel like you’re reading a novel, per se - which isn’t a bad thing! You feel as though you’re talking to, or listening to a friend and that, again, is a credit to the authors writing style.

Christmas Gifts

I use Scottish humour throughout the book and I think Glasgwegians in particular will relate to it.

You find yourself unconsciously casting A Glasgow Kiss even as you’re reading it, as it’s perfect for a six-part comedy drama. The second book in the series will be published in August and by then Sophie hopes to have found an agent. Glasgow Lives: Willie, Southside, bar operator and event producer and Josh, 29, Southside, head of drinks and experience at The Drink Cabinet

Diaries & Calendars

Rarely have I read a book about a more frustrating heroine than this one. Imagine every negative stereotype women have, cumulated into one character. She is insecure about everything concerning her body. The amount of comments about her body from herself and everyone around her were so annoying. She is a size 12 ffs!

My friend DNF’d it right at the beginning, but I pushed it through! And let me tell you, it was so bad. I couldn't stop laughing or cringing, because the book was so stupid and ridiculous. Eric Chalmers, the religious education teacher is handsome and an especially pleasant and well-liked man. But when Julie Donaldson thinks she is in love with him, and he rebuffs her advances she decides to get revenge and accuses him of rape. She then stays away from classes and goes into Glasgow to shop and play, and to flirt. She runs into Kyle Kerrigan with whom she had gone out briefly, and he accuses her lying, thereby getting them arguing on CCTV. So immediately there are two suspects when she is found dead.The healthcare worker turned novelist after blogging about her often bizarre dating experiences for 18 months. But when Dr Tom Adams, aka Sugar Daddy, shows interest, it's a game-changing moment. Zara has had a crush on Tom since her very first day at the aesthetics clinic she works at part-time. As things heat up between them, Zara can't help but wonder: is this it? Or is it another disaster waiting to happen? Also, the title itself is slightly misleading, as the characters spend in Dubai no more than three days and honestly, not that much happens there. I understand it with the plot development, but still. The best-selling Glaswegian author of one of last year’s most outrageously funny books is appearing at a literary event in the city next month. After a holiday, sharing wonky Tinder date stories among friends, joking that I should blog about them and breaking my hand, resulting in my being off work for weeks, with nothing to do, I started my anonymous blog, ‘Sex in the Glasgow City’. Immediately, people started sharing it - I studied performing arts and always remember the script writing coach telling us, ‘sex sells.’