Anyone But Him by Ronali Collings~Blog Tour

 Publisher: Embla Books

Publication Date: 11th February 2025

Genre: Romance

Summary:

He's the one she shouldn't want . . .

Ingrid has spent her life being everything to everyone: the dependable daughter, the supportive wife, the one who never steps out of line. But when her husband returns from a sabbatical abroad with divorce papers in hand, her carefully planned life unravels.

Needing to reclaim control, she books a week's stay in the Lake District to escape it all. Though a muddy hiking mishap lands her straight into the arms of a charming stranger who reignites a spark she hasn't felt in years. A little holiday flirtation seems harmless enough - until she returns home and discovers Jacob is the new consultant on her work project.

Juggling a messy divorce, a demanding job, and her daughter's needs, Ingrid knows getting involved with Jacob is a bad idea. He's younger, her colleague, and everything she's been taught to avoid.

Will Ingrid dare to risk it all for love or retreat to the safety of the life she's always known?

Review:
Firstly thank you to Insta book tours, Embla books and Ronail Collings for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book.
I have to say i was really looking forward to diving into this book, it seemed like the perfect book to dive into between a couple of non-fictions i was reading. And i really love reading romances that aren't all young woman in their 20s , its nice to have a more mature woman finding romance. Ingrid felt so much more rounded and real to me because of all the things she was juggling whilst trying to sort her divorce and then happening to find romance on top of her jugging act, with all the additional stress and joy it brought with it. I found it a really well written book, the characters were all so well crafted that i think you could probably find people like them if you looked around you. The family dynamic i loved! The way the sisters supported each other and had code red made me smile. I hated Matt from the first moment he appeared on the page. He was such a self centred waste of space, and how he treated Ingrid was infuriating. I did often though get angry at Ingrid for not standing up for herself and i was cheering every time she took a step forward in doing that, it was really nice to see her growing in herself alongside her new relationship.
I loved the teasing banter between Jacob and Ingrid, it was lovely to read, as was him pushing her outside of her comfort zone but not forcing her out of it. The climbing activity is a really good example of this, he didn't push her when she expressed her fear he just stayed with her and put no pressure on her. I found the writing style easy to slip into, stepping into the book and walking alongside Ingrid was effortless and i enjoyed how it flowed.
I really enjoyed this book and i would happily pick up another book by Ronali Collings in the future.

Krystina xx

How to get on with anyone: Even the difficult ones by Catherine Stothart ~Blog Tour

 Publisher:  Pearson Business; 2nd edition 

Publication Date: 26th August 2024

Genre: Teaching/self improvement

Summary:

A practical guide to the knowledge, principles and skills you need to improve your personal and professional interactions, build your confidence and change your life.

Learn how to flex your style of interaction to get on better with other people – how to build rapport, reduce conflict, and develop collaborative relationships with positive outcomes for everyone.

• Relate more successfully to other people, both at work and at home
• Flex your style of interacting with others to suit the individual
• Increase your confidence as a communicator
• Develop your skills as a leader
• Get more out of virtual communication

This book will help anyone to be more confident in their relationships with people, both at work and outside work.

New to this edition

• New chapter: this new edition contains a brand new chapter on leadership
• Updated and refreshed: refreshed to include new material on getting on with people digitally/when working remotely, and on communicating inclusively and tackling unconscious bias
• Practical tools, techniques and activities: material to help you put your learning to use right away
• Free online content: new online workbook for readers to download, in addition to free supplementary templates, self-assessment quiz and videos

Review:
Firstly thank you to Literally PR, Pearson and Catherine Stothart for having me on this tour and sending me a copy of the book.
So i was really looking forward to getting stuck into this book, im currently having to deal with a difficult person so this seemed like the perfect book at the perfect time. I loved chapter one "your brain and you" and learning about emotional intelligence and the importance of perception with both how you look and how you sound and the effects it has. I found it really interesting and i think id like to do a little more reading around that. I came a little unstuck with finding out my style, i really struggle to fit myself into one of the four and found myself straddling two, even after asking friends and family i got an even amount for two different styles so i decided to read the relevant chapters for both as i was doing the dip in and out method that the author suggests in the introduction.
Its a really well written book, i found  it easy to follow and everything was explained really well so i didn't ever feel lost in the text and i came away having learnt a few things. I found the work sheets really useful in working through things and whilst i struggled to pinpoint my style i found everything that i read useful in some way.
I defiantly think this is aimed more at people in more corporate positions, i can see this being very helpful if you're leading a team of people with a variety of styles to work with but whilst i found it interesting and i learnt things I'm not sure i found it as useful as i could have.
But its defiantly a very interesting book and I'm glad that I've read it.

Krystina xx