I must agree with the author's comments on her own book- Bestseller is the best how-to book on novel writing, and I've read lots of them. Her advice is practical, useful, and well explained; she's one of the few authors who actually illustrates how to create a mind map-giving you an example from one of her published novels- instead of simply suggesting that it's something to think about doing. Brayfield writes with intelligence and empathy for beginning, struggling, and even successful writers. A must read for anyone contemplating writing a novel, and for those of us who are wrestling with the process.

A detailed and entertaining dip into what it takes to become a successful novelist. You might find yourself tearing up your own previous attempts at writing greatness after reading this book, but the perspective is fresh, relevant and well supported by examples from many of the most successful writers of our age, so my feeling is you would profit from it in the end. Highly readable and illuminating.

This book grabs you up from the moment that you read it and keeps you trapped inside the walls of British royality throughout the book. You find yourself rooting for Jo, Harely, and Victoria as a possible match for the dashing Prince Richard. If you have ever been curious about how royality works when an outsider tries to enter in, this is the book for you. It is a must read for everyone that wishes for a happy ending for all.

I find the book a bit lenghty. It was practically dragging. I nearly felt asleep while reading it. The storyline was okay but the way Brayfield wrote the book was kinda boring!

The plot was predictable but still workable. I skipped over bits that seemed like waffle and not essential to the storyline, eg., towards the end of the book a minor character visits his parents and we learn a bit about his childhood and therefore his personality - but given that it was a short book with five main characters already, I was aksing myself, "why is this here?". I would have rather had learnt more about the main characters. Also, it was almost as if the author was trying to write well, instead of writing characters that we cared about and wanted to follow. The positive feedback is that I actually finished the book, instead of giving up, so it was obviously better than the book I attemped just before Heartswap, but I'm glad it was a borrowed book and I didn't waste money buying it. If you like this genre, try Marian Keyes or Fiona Walker before this one.

The premise of the book seemed a little strange at first - why would anyone want to trick their fiances like this?! Seemed kind of weird. But once the plans were put into action, the results seemed pretty predictable. However, it was fun reading, and moved pretty quickly, didn't drag. I liked it enough to read other books by Celia Brayfield!