Joe Cawley & Nicola Quinn - Moving to Tenerife: All You Need To Know

Joe Cawley with Nicola Quinn - Moving to Tenerife: All You Need To Know  

2⭐

Genre: Travel,  Non-Fiction, Canary Islands 

Pages:  74

Format: Kindle 

Publisher: Self Published 

Date Published: 7th January 2013 

Book Blurb: 

Hands up if you’ve ever been to Tenerife on holiday and toyed with the idea of making your stay a more permanent one.
No surprise, really – grey skies versus blue, roads clogged with stressed commuters versus a walk to work in the sunshine, wet weekends indoors versus days on the beach or round the pool.
In fact, it’s quite a wonder why more people don’t bite the bullet and head for sunnier climes.
However, relocating can seem daunting – especially if you don’t know much about the place. Hopefully with the help of this book, deciding if a move to Tenerife is right for you, actually taking the plunge, and doing all the stuff that follows a move, should become a lot clearer.
Moving to Tenerife is a useful guide that will show you the easiest path so you can begin enjoying your brand new life in the sun as soon as possible.

My Review: 

I decided to read this book as I am fascinated by Tenerife and Canary Islands, as well as read a few others Joe Cawley books about Tenerife. I also read this book for research, whilst completing my dissertation on Tenerife. However, I was disappointed.

From a blurb it states that this book is a manual to help someone get all the information they need if they want to move to Tenerife, and different chapters include all the practical information that you need once you move there, to navigate the quite complicated bureaucracy of the island.

This book felt very biased and seems to be based on the experiences of a few people, rather than be written as a researched informational book about what to expect when you move to Tenerife. It also lacked basic information about the island, its weather, geography, population, and infrastructure, which I would consider very important points to know before moving your livelihood somewhere new. There are not many facts and references that would back up the author’s opinions and statements, in the book either, which was quite disappointing. I also felt that this book is way too short to put all the information that people need to know about Tenerife and what to expect when moving there. It just felt that so much important information was missing from these pages.

Overall: I definitely felt that there are better and more detailed manuals on Moving to Tenerife and Canary Islands, that I have read in the past, that are much more comprehensive with much more research and facts, as well as information and references. 

About the Author:

Joe Cawley is a travel writer and award-winning author published in many international newspapers and magazines such as The Times, New York Post and Taipei Times.

His first book, More Ketchup than Salsa was voted 'Best Travel Narrative' by the British Guild of Travel Writers and follows the disasters of a young couple seeking greener pastures abroad.

Joe currently lives in the hills of Tenerife with his family and an assortment of other wildlife. Although he loves his family dearly, he admits he gets the most sense out of the guinea pigs.

https://www.joecawley.co.uk/

Lucy Dickens - The Holiday Bookshop

Lucy Dickens - The Holiday Bookshop 

4⭐

Genre:  Romance, Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, Travel Reading, Women's Fiction

Pages:  416

Format: Paperback 

Publisher: Penguin Books 

Date Published: 21st July 2022 

Huge thank you to Penguin Books UK/ Cornerstone for sending me a copy of this book to read and review. 

Book Blurb: 

Role: Bookseller wanted! (3-month fixed-term contract)

Location: A luxury resort on the island of Bounty Cove Cay.

Skills required: The ideal candidate will have experience in a retail environment, preferably within the book industry.

Desired qualities: This role will appeal to a book lover with an adventurous streak who is looking for an escape from their everyday life.

What to expect: Sun, sea, and a bookshop that is far from thriving. No one said it would be smooth sailing.

Please note: You may fall in love with more than just our island along the way...

Looking for your next beach read? Look no further! Escape with The Holiday Bookshop, perfect for fans of Jo Thomas, Phillipa Ashley and Jenny Colgan.

My Review: 

I love stories that contain at least some of my favourite topics. The Holiday Bookshop had travelling, exotic settings and books! Yaay! It was also a very cute and relaxing summer read, that made me want to have a holiday in the Maldives instead of sitting in my back garden in a very gloomy England. Oh, and the dream to work in a bookshop just grew tenfold after reading this book, too.

The book is about two best friends Jenny and Marianne, who open a bookshop in a small coastal town in North Cornwall. They both have completely different personalities, with Marianne being a risk taker and Jenny being someone who only takes very calculated and well-thought steps in life. They both complement each other, whisht running the bookshop, with Marianne being responsible for event organisation and the social aspect of running a bookshop, whereas Jenny is more behind the scenes with spreadsheets, orders and organisation. Jenny wants to be more adventurous like Marianne but she also can’t leave her only stable thing in life, her bookshop. That’s until one day she stumbles across this advert for a 3-month contract in the Maldives to open and run a bookshop. She reluctantly applies and….Next thing she knows she is jetting off to the Maldives! However, that doesn’t come without consequences. Will Jenny lose her friendship with Marianne and will she lose a person she loves the most if she leaves her small town in Cornwall or will she find a new purpose in life in the exotic Maldives? What follows next is dual timelines of both Jenny and Marianne exploring their new lives without each other in different parts of the world…

This book is very quirky, and I think it is because of the very relatable writing. For example, Dickens mentions Love Island, popular music, social media, basically all the things that we as readers can relate to on a day-to-day basis. Quirkiness aside, I loved the holiday atmosphere, especially Jenny’s timeline in the Maldives. I mean, who doesn’t like exotic destinations and loads of books? I didn’t like Marianne’s storyline in Vegas as much, as I felt that most of the time, she just took risks and then blame destiny for everything going wrong. I didn’t mind it the first few times but at times she was a rather annoying character.

Although marketed as more of a romance book, both storylines, Jenny’s and Marianne’s are much more than that. They both grew as characters, explored their lives without each other, discovered their different skills and strengths, as well as learned so much about themselves as individuals. Jenny and Marianne needed a break from the very close friendship that they had had since a young age. Also, they both needed a change of scenery from their business venture that both started together a few years ago. Foremost, they needed to learn how to live without each other. I liked this side of the story since as a reader you see that as the book progresses both Marianne and Jenny grow as individuals, whilst exploring their personalities and dreams, realising that they need to be less reliant on each other as they used to be before.

I do wish this book had more romance in it because the setting and the premise of the book were so perfect for some more romance. I mean there was some romance in Marianne’s storyline but I felt that Jenny deserved some romance in the Maldives, too. Oh, and the ending was abrupt when it came to Jenny’s storyline. I wished there was more on how she got on with her love interest during the last few weeks in the Maldives and then after the Maldives.

Overall: Very cute and quirky summer romance, with the scenery that just relaxes you and makes you want to go on an exotic holiday to the Maldives. I liked the writing too, as it was relatable and made the book flow very well, capturing the perspectives, changes and growth of both main characters. If you are searching for a great summer read or just want a relaxing read that would take you to some exotic shores, then this book is definitely it. I can’t wait to read more books by Lucy Dickens, as I am definitely putting her other books on my TBR list. 

About the Author:

Lucy Dickens is the pseudonym for Lisa Dickenson. Lisa lives by the Devon seaside with her husband and one incredibly boisterous Bernese Mountain dog. She spends her days writing the kind of hilarious women’s fiction that sets the world to rights.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/245417/lucy-dickens?tab=penguin-biography

Joe Cawley - Even More Ketchup than Salsa: The Final Dollop (More Ketchup than Salsa #2)

 

Joe Cawley - Even More Ketchup than Salsa: The Final Dollop (More Ketchup than Salsa #2)

 4 ⭐

Genre: Travel, Non-Fiction, True Story, Contemporary

Pages: 259

Format:  Kindle Book 

Favourite Quote: 'My 'freedom' also felt like it had been frozen in a perpetual state of monotony. Same thing everyday: feed the masses, smile like an idiot, then clean, sleep, rinse and repeat' (Page 16).

Book Blurb: 

The first six months of running the Smugglers Tavern had been a baptism of fire. The subsequent years were about as much fun as bobbing for apples in a vat of acid. Having swapped the tin roof of a cold British fish market for the sunny skies of Tenerife, one of Spain's holiday islands, Joe and Joy succeeded in thwarting the first wave of attacks from bungling bureaucrats, bewildered holidaymakers and their own spectacular ineptitude. What they didn’t realise was that their enemies were regrouping. Not only that, but those enemies had made camp a lot closer to home, enemies that would make their encounters with exploding gas bottles, East European squatters and big-time Charlies seem like chapters from a children's picture book.

My Review: 

Having read the first instalment of this book, I found this to be a quick, delightful, little read. It was even better than the first one! I felt engrossed in how Smugglers Tavern was doing over the years and trust me, it did not disappoint. 

I loved how the author portrays Tenerife without sugar coating the reality of running a business there. This book really shows how hard is to run a business abroad in an ever-expanding and growing holiday destination. I just loved reading the insights into the author's and Joy's experiences...The many ups and downs, the cracks and upsets...So many different emotions throughout this book! 

I also really liked that this book had less humour than the first one and was a bit darker in its mood. It very well contrasted with the first instalment, where Joe and Joy were both excited to run a bar in Tenerife. This second book, however, portrayed how the excitement turned into struggles and hard labour to keep the bar open, which also took a toll on their relationship and ambitions. 

Overall: I loved this book, even more so than the first one. Definitely recommend it to anyone who wants/ needs an easy summer read or wants a break from fiction. 

Although, before reading this book, I recommend reading the first instalment, so that you really meet the characters, get to know them and follow their story from the very beginning. It would also help to see the changing moods between the books, which really adds to the overall story of Joe and Joy in Tenerife. 

Joe Cawley - More Ketchup than Salsa: Confessions of a Tenerife Barman (More Ketchup than Salsa #1)

 

Joe Cawley - More Ketchup than Salsa: Confessions of a Tenerife Barman (More Ketchup than Salsa #1)

 3.5 ⭐

Genre: Travel, Non-Fiction, True Story, Contemporary

Pages: 282

Format:  Kindle Book 

Favourite Quote: 'The downside of being a chameleon is that it soon becomes hard to remember your original colour. Personalities get lost, engulfed in a wave of adopted guises worn to please other people' (Page 185).

Book Blurb: 

Childhood sweethearts, Joe and Joy are broke and bored. They’re also tired of smelling of fish. When offered the chance to escape from the dreary market stalls of England to run a bar on a sub-tropical island, they recklessly jump at the opportunity - despite their spectacular lack of experience. In Tenerife, dreams of a better life overseas are soon crushed by mini-mafias, East European prostitutes and biblical-grade cockroach infestations. Joe and Joy's foreign fantasy turns into a nightmare as they find themselves trapped with a failing bar in a foreign land, pandering to a bar full of oddball expats while trying to stop their relationship crashing into the rocks. Can they save their business, their dreams, and their relationship before it's too late...

My Review: 

I kept seeing this book in the travel book section for a few years now and I finally decided to give it a go...Firstly, because I am fascinated by the Canary Islands and Tenerife, and secondly because it was my first read on Tenerife that wasn't related to my dissertation on volcanic hazards in Tenerife. 

Did I like this book? Yes, but not until the part where the author is actually in Tenerife. The beginning of the book for me was really slow and I even had to put the book down a few times. However, I read it through and it definitely got funnier. At times, hilarious and witty, exactly how I know British humour to be. Although, there were times when the author did try too much with jokes, including too many of them or forcing some when it was better left without one. 

I liked the story, the plot did not jump and it was very timeline like, so it felt like a diary to me, which was a fresh take on a book. 

There were some parts where one story abruptly ends and another one starts, so at the end, I did have a few questions on some of the characters in the book. 

This book definitely proved to me that what I thought about Brits abroad/on holiday is true, which made me interested to read more, thus I will read the next two instalments, too. 

Overall: I really liked this book, it was an easy travel read (after a slow beginning). The 3.5 stars for me is definitely for the slow beginning. Nevertheless, I learned a lot about Tenerife and business owners there by reading this story. 

I recommend this book to someone who wants a quick read about a life in a warm climate, who is interested in living abroad and who just wants a little bit of British humour.