Advantages: Easy to follow, enjoyable story
Disadvantages: Simple plot means it's easy to guess what's going to happen next

...After crunching my way through two gruelling, in-depth, typically grotesque pieces of work by the masters of horror themselves, Stephen King and James Herbert, it was time to find something a little more light-hearted to read, just to remind myself that there is more to life than psychopathic murderers and poltergeist-possessed houses. With absolute perfect timing, "The Seven Year Itch" by Josie Lloyd & Emlyn Rees leapt out from a WH Smith bookshelf and battered me about the head until I gave in and agreed to read a book I would normally give to my wife for her birthday. I've never really read chick-lit before, other than when trying to seduce my wife, and hadn't heard of Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees, although I was assured that their previous novels, which include the euphemistically titled 'Come Together' and 'Come Again' along... Read review

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Advantages: Easy reading
Disadvantages: Some characters not as well developed as others

...Husband and wife authors Emlyn Rees and Josie Lloyd, as well as being published individually, have been writing together for a number of years. Love Lives is their fourth collaboration following on from Come Together, Come Again and The Boy Next Door. They have had two more books published since entitled We Are Family and The Three Day Rule. Their writing topics bring them under the genre of chick lit (or women's contemporary romantic fiction if you prefer!). Obviously a book entitled Love Lives is going to be about love but Lloyd and Rees also bring in relationships with family and friends to try and make the book different from a classic romance. Naturally, as with all good romantic fiction the path of true love does not run smooth and unfortunately this is quite a predictable romance as far as the ending is concerned... Read review

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Advantages: Well fleshed out characters
Disadvantages: Doesn't seem real

...Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. Or is it the other way around? I can never remember. The point is that we’ve been told so many times of late that men and women can’t ever hope to understand one another because we’re so different. That’s long seemed the case in literature as well. The images of men presented in chick lit have never seemed quite rounded enough to me. Bridget Jones’ men were either perfect or complete bastards. Or your father. Serena Mackesy’s men were all fantasy men. That’s as in “objects of fantasy”, rather than men from a fantasy novel, although if you want both, Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn did quite well. But it’s not just one-way traffic. Neither Nick Hornby nor Tony Parsons have shown that they completely understand women, either. So it was a breath of fresh air when Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees... Read review

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Advantages: An easy read, light-hearted
Disadvantages: Quite predictable

...'Come Together' is a novel written by both Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees centering around two characters - Jack Rossiter and Amy Crosbie. "He can't read her mind. She can't read his... You can read both" - is the tagline to the book. This intrigued me straight away, and immediately led me to believe that the story would be written from two characters perspectives... and I was right. The chapters within the book are alternately titled 'Jack' or 'Amy' - you've probably already sussed this, but the reason for this method of titling the chapters is that each chapter is written from the alternate character's perspective. The first two chapter's of the book are from Jack and Amy's perspectives respectively. The two chapters are similar in that they help to create the characters and give you the background information required to get... Read review

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Advantages: Well written, good characters, fun.
Disadvantages: The ending, some characters are a bit clueless at times.

.... Each character gets one chapter to describe and advance the story before giving the other one the chance to do so themselves. Do they get together? Can Amy get her man, or will Jack remain happy and single? (I am not suggesting that a relationship with a woman makes a man unhappy!) The book is co-written by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees, and because both sexes are involved in the writing, both sexes are portrayed in a realistic manner. At least I think they are, because I for one, cannot understand women at all and so Amy's chapters are complete gibberish to me! It's quite humorous to see Jack describe something in his simple bloke way, and then Amy will mention the same thing in her terms, with her point of view during her chapter which is obviously quite different to what Jack thought. I think the alternate chapter storytelling works... Read review

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Advantages: Decent plot, likeable characters.
Disadvantages: The ending is unsatisfactory.

...Following on from their best-selling "Come Together", Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees bring you another "he says, she says" tale featuring Jack and Amy or, to be more accurate, four of their friends. There is an element of continuity as Jack and Amy do appear from time to time, and two of the main characters featured in the original. Jack and Amy have just moved in together and are not too far away from their wedding day. During the run in to their big day, we get a peek into the lives of four of their closest friends. On Jack's side, we get to know Matt (he also appeared in the first book) and Greg Stringer. Matt is Jack's best man and it's up to him to arrange the stag weekend. On Amy's side, we're re-introduced to H (Helen, who also appeared in the first book) and Susie. In a style similar to the first book, each of the four main... Read review

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Advantages: absorbing story
Disadvantages: none

...'The Seven Year Itch' is written by the very successful husband and wife writing team of Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees. They first started writing together about seven years ago when they wrote a book called 'Join Together' which was about a couple of characters called Jack and Amy who were just about to get married. I remember really enjoying reading this book especially as I was just about to get married myself and I could see quite a lot of parallels between the story and my own circumstances. I was really pleased when I started to read 'The Seven Year Itch' that Jack and Amy were back again, this time seven years into their marriage, just like me, and once again, as I read it, I found myself identifying with much of what was happening in the characters lives. As I said, Jack and Amy have been married happily for seven years and now... Read review

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Advantages: different from authors other books
Disadvantages: you focus on one of the characters than the whole

...Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees' fourth novel is astoundingly different from all that have gone before. There are four main characters. Ned, an architect restoring Appleforth House, a place that itself is shrouded in secrets and misery, something like the man who works on it. Ellen, a filmmaker of a documentary dealing with peoples suffering, but doesn't feel it necessary to delve into her own emotions. Verity, whose parent own one of the local hotels, is a romantic desperate to fall in love and doesn't take off the rose coloured spectacles long enough to see who. But the most moving story is that of Jimmy. Jimmy is a teenager and one of the outsiders, living with his fathers girlfriend dealing some what unwanted emotions and trying to deal with the memory of a tragic death. I was a fan of the authors previous work, having read Come... Read review

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Advantages: Enjoyable
Disadvantages: Predictable

...The Boy Next Door is a paperback brought to us from bestselling authors Josie Lloyd and Emilyn Rees. Set in the English village of Rushton during the 80’s, Mickey Maloney and Fred Roper have been best friends their whole life and shared everything together from the day they were born, from their first cigarette to their first kiss. As children they were constantly up for the latest challenges set by one and another to bring fun into the sleepy village, which they both deemed as boring but one of those adventures resulted in Mickey saving Fred’s life. Fred seems easily led by Mickey and goes along with anything she suggests, he is an only child, his parents don’t seem happy together at all, in fact at a guess I would say they stay together because they need each other, his mother (Louisa) being totally against... Read review

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Advantages: Good story
Disadvantages: Too short!

...This is the third book by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees, both of their previous books, Come Together and Come Again were both highly successful making the top 10 best sellers list. “A moving story of childhood friendship and grown-up love…..you won’t be able to put it down” She magazine. THE STORY… The Boy Next Door follows the lives of Fred Roper and Mickey Maloney, next door neighbours for as long as they can remember in the quiet village of Rushton. There are tales of their childhood antics, buried treasure and an incident with farmer Jimmy Dughead’s bull. These two kids are inseparable and as they mature their friendship develops into a loving relationship. They see themselves together forever even when Fred’s father Miles sends him away to boarding school. The relationship... Read review

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