Martinis and Memories

This is the story of Bel Hailstone; her memories, her failures and her dreams... She will have to face some very important decisions in just a few time; her business is not going as good as she would like, her mother has decided to "help" her, her "husband" has decided to return to her life after ten years, and her first love... So many fires open, but Bel is a strong woman and maybe with a few tears and difficult decisions she will do the best she can to continue living her dreams... Ready for a big Martini?
Let me say that this had been a sweet read, Bel is a strong woman but doesn't believe in herself or the love or friendship all her business workers have toward her. This is a book to teach us the importance of friendship and that even if we don't always believe it, there's always someone in our life that loves us and tries to take care of us.
I loved Bel's character, the way she step by step flourishes and discovers the importance of friendship in her life, all her co-workers make the book like a big family where everyone has their part in the business and in Bel life.
Of course while we enter to the story we will discover her past; her life with her mother (let me say "special" is a nice word), her husband and how their marriage was... and of course the first love... they say you never forget it... Will it be true too for Bel?
This book has left me with a smile on my face after reading it, of course Bel will not have the perfect dream she was hoping, but nothing is perfect and that makes life more interesting, don't you think?

I loved Prosecco and Promises, the second book in The Martini Club Trilogy, so when I had the chance to read this for the blog tour I couldn’t wait to get started.
Bel is such a fabulous character who I rooted for from the first page. I loved her gusty personality and admired her tenacity when faced with so many unexpected developments.
As I found out more about her past I liked her even more, even wanting to get on board helping her save ‘The Martini Club’ and sort things out in her personal life.
Once again I loved the way the author managed to transport me to London and make me care about what happened to her characters. By the time I finished reading this I felt like I knew them all so well and didn’t want to leave them at the end.
I definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a book with characters you can believe in and a plot to get involved with.

Bel has owned the Martini Club, a Soho burlesque club for 10 years and is a very strong woman who lives for the club..... but things are not going well, the club has financial problems and there is a developer knocking on the door...... can she turn things around and save her club and will her mother, ex husband and childhood friend be a help or a hindrance!

A great finale of the series, it was good to hear Bel's story and meet the new characters, I especially loved Sam.... I recommend the whole series

Rating 4.5/5

I’m so glad we finally get to properly meet Bel, she has been up to this point an enigmatic addition to the other stories so it was lovely to get under her skin.

She was a bit of a surprise, in the best way of course, whilst I knew that she probably put on a bit of a persona it was great to see the other dimension of her and find out what brought her to where she is. There is a lot of growth in this book for her character and it felt kind of fitting, since I believe this is the last book in this series, that it is left with this feeling of progress and hope.

It was great to revisit some characters that we’ve met before through the previous books, it does always feel like you’re checking in with good friends. On this occasion, it was also nice to get to know some new faces, in wonderful characters like Sam and Brodie, who were favourites of mine. Although it has to be said I did enjoy the cheeky chappy Euan for the tension he could bring to a scene.

There is a lot of delving into Bel’s past and I found that I was really interested in what came before The Martini Club and why she has felt the need to be so aloof. It made for an engrossing story, I managed to fly through this book and was really disappointed when I was getting closer to the end just because I didn’t want it to.

Martinis And Memories was a pleasure to read, Bel was a strong character but with enough vulnerability to keep you guessing and a cast of characters that felt like family, throw in an engaging storyline and an easy style of writing, what’s not to love! I will definitely be on the lookout for the next A.L Michael book.

Martinis and Memories is the third and last installment in A.L.Michael's Martini Club series. I really enjoyed the first two books and could not wait for this one. Anabella "Bel" Hailstone moved to London a decade ago to start again and found herself managing The Martini Club, a burlesque club in London's popular and thriving Soho area. She is a hard boss who secretly loves her work. She is a very strong, centred person who really values those who treat her right.

Life is interrupted for her when her ex Euan, then her mother and also a valued past love arrive throughout the story. These characters all have different effects on Bel and her mother is really annoying. She is critical, outspoken and self-centred which contrasts with Bel's personality. Will she and Bel ever be able to have a decent mother-daughter relationship?

Sam, Bel's American, ex-rockstar turned photographer landlord, resident in London for the past 20 years and Jacques are favourite characters of mine. I also really liked Aria, who has just arrived to work at the bar. Sam and Jacques are so approachable and caring, they are the kind of people I would like to know. I like Bel too.

There's another hiccup in Bel's life when the restaurant gets a bad review and Bel struggles to step back and see what other people see. She was struggling with the club's inner workings and the image she wanted it to portray and instead finds herself trying to fix things about herself in addiition to that.

Martinis and Memories is a tale of friendship, secrets lies priorities forgiveness and finding your true road to happiness. As with all A.L. Michael's books, this one has a pace that sucked me in all the way through and feels just like real life so much so that I almost forgot it was a book. A.L. Michael goes so deep into the characters' lives, hopes fears and insecurities that you can't help but not identify with, and feel for, them. I was rooting for them all but especially Bel. I was so glad she had Sam to confide in after work was done for the day.

I cannot praise this book, or the series, enough. The writing, characters and pace are exquisite. I had thought that this book could be a standalone as there are references to past events and people, but if you want all the ins and outs of the goings on at the Martini Club and the people involved in the series, start at the beginning. I love this series so much that I could just go right back through it over and over. There are some especially powerful memories between Brodie and Bel, who were best friends as a teenager.

A huge thanks to A.L. Michael and Canelo for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I'm honoured to take part in the blog tour for this title. I'm sad the series has ended and it, as well as the entire Martini Club series, is one of the best in its genre in my opinion.

WOW! I devoured this in less than a day! You will be routing for the Martini Club, her owner and staff from page one!!! Just when you think all is lost...well...NO SPOILERS...read the book!!!

If you haven't read the first 2 books in the series...get a wiggle on!

I loved the first book in this series, Cocktails and Dreams, so eagerly anticipated reading this third in series sequel which features Bel Hailstone, the owner of the Martini Club. This is a story which explores her past, present and dreams of the possible future . . . .

Bel’s pride and joy is the Martini Club but it is now under threat from falling turnover, threatening developers and the arrival of people from the past she thought she’d left behind. There’s her super controlling Mum who tried to make Bel live her own dreams of becoming a renowned dancer, her first love and her almost ex-husband all coming back into her life at possibly the worst time - or is it? Bel is a feisty, highly independent lady, acting as a strict, firm but fair boss who stands no nonsense but she’ll need help to keep the Martini Club running and successful - but will she accept it? There are surprises, disaster and more in this story of life, relationships and dreams . . . sometimes it takes time to discover the silver linings in life struggles and finding them can make the struggles feel worth it in the end.

The story does include characters from the previous books but still works well as a standalone. Get ready to enter the colourful world of burlesque, cocktails and dreams when you read this enticing story which has a delightful, happy ending - eventually!

I requested and was given a copy of this book, via NetGalley. This is my honest review of the book after choosing to read it.

This was my first book by A.L. Michael and it won't be my last.

The story of Bel and the Martini Club is powerful! There's intrigue, romance, comedy, alcohol, burlesque and plenty of drama. What's not to love?!

Arabella Hailstone is a powerhouse of a woman who has worked so hard to get where she is, the owner of MC and a woman not to be messed with. She enjoys the finer things in life and she tells it like it is. But something is missing and a week full of coincidences helps her to see past the fierce exterior she has created for herself and begin to see what's missing and learn who she really is.

When reading this book I did nit realise that it was the third book in the Martini Cub Series but it did not matter as the book stands alone.
A fabulous story of one women’s determination to fulfil her dreams and hearts desire regardless of what obstacles stand in her way.
It is a book about love and courage to become your own person whatever the cost.
Just loved it .

This is the third book in this enjoyable series and I have been looking forward to Bel's story.

Bel owns the Martini Club, and is known as quite a strict, take no nonsense sort of boss, which really hides that the club is her whole life. The club is struggling financially though, and then gets a bad review and struggles even more, so a change is due.

Adding to Bel's issues are an ex-husband, an old love and her Mum, who she hasn't seen for a number of years and escaped from as soon as she was old enough as she couldn't live up to her perfectionist views. I really found her Mum irritating and even though she was trying to build bridges with Bel it still didn't let her off from the way she'd treated Bel when she was younger. But saying that by the end of the book she had definitely mellowed and was a much nicer person, mostly due to Sam, Bel's fabulous laid back, ex-rockstar turned photographer landlord.

Bel was lying to a lot of people initially, changing her name when she moved to London and lying about who she was and the financial status of the club. She'd been sending her Mum money each month (I'm not entirely sure why her Mum couldn't have got off her behind and looked after herself!) and had told her Mum she had a job in the city, not that she owned a burlesque club.

The bad review and a businessman trying to buy Bel out and knock down her club kind of spurred her into action, along with the reappearance of her old love, Brodie, and softened her edges and made her let go a little bit and let people help her. Then just when it looked like things may be looking up a big unexpected disaster happens. But as with some things it was a blessing in disguise, even though it definitely didn't feel like it at the time.

I must admit I did struggle with Bel's character initially, but as the book went on and we got to know more about her and her life she became much more 'real' and you realised she was just a person trying her very best to hang on to what she thought she wanted and doing the best for everyone around her who were relying on her, when in actual fact when she was forced to let go just a little bit her life was so much fuller and richer.

Very enjoyable story, with the reappearance of characters from the previous two books, and a really lovely, happy ending.