Friday, May 16, 2014

The Half-Life of Hannah & Other Halves by Nick Alexander Reviews, and Giveaway



Publishing: Paperback 8 May 2014
ISBN10: 1 84502 719 1
ISBN13: 978 1 84502 719 3
Extent: 256 pp
“If your first love came back to offer you everything you ever dreamed of, what would you do?”

Hannah is thirty-eight and the happily married mother of eleven-year old Luke, the diamond in her world. Her marriage is reassuringly stable, and after fifteen years she has managed to push the wild dreams of youth from her mind and concentrate on the everyday satisfactions of here and now. The first half of her life hasn’t been as exciting as she had hoped, but then, she reckons, whose has?

When she succeeds in convincing husband Cliff to rent a villa in the south of France for a summer holiday with her sister Jill and gay friend Tristan, she’s expecting little more than a pleasant few weeks with her family. But they each have their own baggage – their own secrets – ready to explode on this not-so-relaxing holiday in France.

When a phone call at the villa announces the imminent arrival of a ghost from her past, the ambiance is transformed into a raging sea of jealousy as Hannah is forced to question everything she thought she knew and believed.

But is she brave enough to take the life-changing decisions her future happiness requires?

Paperback publishing 5 June 2014
ISBN10: 1 84502 764 7
ISBN13: 978 1 84502 764 3
Extent: 256 pp
The synopsis for Other Halves has spoilers but if you wish to read the synopsis, you will find it on Black & White Publishing’s website here.



About the Author


I grew up in the seaside town of Margate England with four brothers including three on the web: Matthew AlexanderGreg AlexanderSteven Alexander who are all painters as was our father, Chris.

On leaving Margate, I moved to the Midlands and then Cambridge. In 1991, in need of adventure, I headed off with a backpack finally settling in Nice France where with the exception of a brief, exciting stint in New York, I have lived ever since.

After being refused by truly every publisher in the world, I self-published my first novel 50 Reasons to Say Goodbye in 2003. Encouraged by its success, I wrote and published four sequel novels: Sottopassaggio (2005), Good Thing/Bad Thing(2006), Better Than Easy(2009) and Sleight of Hand(2010) as well as a standalone novel, 13:55 Eastern Standard Time(2007).

My self published 2011 title The Case Of The Missing Boyfriend reached #1 in Amazon’s UK chart and gained me my first proper publishing contract with Corvus-Atlantic who also republished the entire 50 Reasons series and the sequel to The Case Of The Missing Boyfriend, The French House which sold more than 200,000 copies.

My 2012 novel The Half-Life Of Hannah, though mysteriously refused for publication by Corvus, again, once self published, reached number one and sold over 275,000 copies, and the paperback rights were subsequently purchased by
Black and White Publishing.  Black and White are also publishing the Hannah sequel entitled Other Halves in both ebook and paperback, so I seem, finally, to be on a bit of a roll. Long may it last!

I also edit and contribute to the gay lit website, 
BIGfib.com

I currently spend half my time in Nice, and the other half in a cabin in the French Alps where I get bored enough to actually concentrate on writing. But whenever I can, I jump on a plane or a train to London, my favourite city in the world.
Author Links


My Review:
The Half-Life of Hannah was a good book. It was a cross between the ten year itch and a mid life crisis. Hannah thought that she was going on a relaxing vacation, but she was really going on a drama filled trip. Her friends share, over share, and Hannah starts to think and rethink her life. She questions her marriage and by the end of the book I was definitely thinking about my what ifs. What if I went to a different college? Could I go back? Would I want to? These characters are realistic and have real life problems just like you and I. 
In Other Halves we get the continuation of Cliff and Hannah's story. We find out the status of their marriage and how it affects their child. I liked that the author gave Cliff more a voice and I was felt like I was going through their divorce with them. I definitely got to see both sides, and by the end of the book I was rooting for each of them, but for different reasons. The author wrote a lot of her emotions into these books and I felt them with the characters. I recommend these books! I really liked them. I would love to read a third book and more, on these characters! I am giving these books a 5/5 each. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.


The overall giveaway on tour is a paperback copy of both books and is open Internationally. 


1 comment:

  1. Fabulous reviews Vicky. So glad you enjoyed Nick's stories and thank you for your support on tour.

    Shaz

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