Reviews

These reviews of New Beginnings were all written in September 2019.

Goodreads

Claire rated it 3 stars

Tasha is a typical 30-something woman, who is in love with her boss. Who is married – a well-worn cliche.

Tasha’s story is written in a journal format, with entries reminiscent of my teenage self, full of my crush and when he so much as looked at me at school. Whilst I liked the concept of diary entries over the traditional chapters, I did find the writing akin to a 16 year old rather than a 30+ year old woman. At times I did find this a little irritating and grating.

The pace moved well and the ‘voice’ of Tasha was consistent, but don’t think this is a light and fluffy romance, it’s darker and full or moral dilemmas as Tasha traverses the scenarios she finds herself in.

This book is full of hope and strength, especially for the character of Jamie, Tasha’s boss, who is grieving the loss of his wife.

This review contains spoilers.

As part of the @cmpublishers Cranthorpe Millner Publishers Bookstagram tour, I want to thank them for giving me a chance to read this book from @johanna.nield and have recieved this book for free in exchange for promotion but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review.

The story follows around the main character Tasha and it’s written in journal/blog type in which her perspectives were incorporated. I like the format of it as it is somewhat new to the reader’s eyes. The issues in this book were dealt well as it has a great impression on how it had affect differently to people.

I enjoyed reading this book and the relationship building and growth throughout the story. It didn’t felt rushed as mostly other authors do, it was kinda of a smooth transition flow of the story. Every bits of dialogue is shown in different perspectives and the interaction from the other characters too. I do find this book with moral dilemmas and in well-handled manner as Tasha come across with situations which she pull off.

What stop me from giving it 5 s (as my highest rate) is that the first part of the book had a slow-paced which took me time to get into the book and I kind of expected the ending to be like it was but in a good point.

Overall, this book is full of morals, faith, hope and love which is a good main point for this kind of book. I enjoyed it and I hope this review will help others to understand what this book is all about.

Instagram

bookie_mama_bear rated it 3 stars

I received my copy of New Beginnings by Johanna Neild from Cranthorpe Millner Publishing as part of their blog tour. My copy was complimentary for an impartial and honest review. Thank you to @cmpublishers and @johanna.nield for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

The main character, Natasha (Tasha), frustrated me at times. I felt like the crush she had on her boss Jamie was altogether a little over the top. It was more like a teenager having a crush on a school teacher and I found it a little unrealistic.

Poor Jamie is the unluckiest bloke on earth and has a series of horrendous life events. This leads to changes in the relationship between him and Tasha, again, I felt this was a little unrealistic. I liked the lead characters well enough and they remained consistent throughout. I would have liked to know more about Gavin and the history there but that’s more curiosity than anything else!

Really nice writing style, language used was really good and appropriate given some of the content discussed in this book. It’s set out as a blog/diary, that is for Tasha’s eyes only, and it really is written as though someone has sat and had a good old brain dump at the end of some really stressful days – this was really refreshing. The format makes it a fast and pacy read with the blog entries working like very short chapters. I had to know what might happen between Jamie & Tasha and that tells me the storyline was engaging and thought provoking. Really nice cover, but I think it could lean more towards the story more, it’s a little generic.

I enjoyed New Beginnings, it’s not my usual go to genre but I still liked it. I’m giving it 3/5 the only reason it’s not higher is because I found the infatuation a little much given the circumstances in the book.

geraldinegatsby rated it 4 stars

We read this book through the blog of Natasha – a 30 something year old who is totally besotted with her co worker Jamie … the only problem is he’s married with a wife and child – so what will Natasha do?… Throughout the book o felt Natasha’s character come through as somebody a lot younger – almost teenage like, at times I felt it hard to believe she was an adult, but then again we are all different!The book has a lot going on – love- sex – death – loss – mourning – happiness … a lot to take in – but I was slightly disappointed that with every emotion we went through throughout the book that it ended really quickly … maybe there will be a second book? I would have loved to have an insight into Jamie’s character as he went through a lot in this book and it would have been great to experience and see how he felt – so much happened to him… again maybe that could be another book A fast paced novel.


Firstly, thank you to @cmpublishers and @johanna.nield for giving me the opportunity to review and be a part of the New Beginnings tour. This book was set out in a blog format which allowed for us to get the perspective from the main character Tasha. I liked the format as it is different style to read. The issues addressed in the book was good and it dealt with how grief can affect people differently. So, I really enjoyed that.I really liked the relationship that growed throughout the story and I felt that it didn’t get rushed like some authors do. I liked the little bits of dialog that was shown through the blog style as then there was still some perspective and interaction from the other characters.The only thing that stopped me giving 5 was the beginning was bit of a slow starter. It didn’t hook me straight away. Also, the ending didn’t leave me shocked or surprised and I like that in a book but that is just my personal preference.I would recommend this book it is good and I enjoyed reading it.


Tasha is a typical 30-something woman, who is in love with her boss. Who is married – a well-worn cliche.

Tasha’s story is written in a journal format, with entries reminiscent of my teenage self, full of my crush and when he so much as looked at me at school. Whilst I liked the concept of diary entries over the traditional chapters, I did find the writing akin to a 16 year old rather than a 30+ year old woman. At times I did find this a little irritating and grating.

The pace moved well and the ‘voice’ of Tasha was consistent, but don’t think this is a light and fluffy romance, it’s darker and full or moral dilemmas as Tasha traverses the scenarios she finds herself in.

This book is full of hope and strength, especially for the character of Jamie, Tasha’s boss, who is grieving the loss of his wife.

Thank you to @cmpublishers for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review, and for allowing me to be part of the tour.