A Date With A Book *AD Gifted

Walker Books sent me a free review copy of The Hand, The Eye & The Heart by Zoë Marriott.

Zoë Marriott is one of my auto-buy authors. She writes it, I buy it, I read it, I love it. The Hand, The Eye & The Heart has been on my TBR since it was announced, so when it came to reading it I had plans.

My plan? To date the book.

What does this entail? Me devoting myself to the book for a while.

And when it's as amazing as The Hand, The Eye & The Heart, that's an easy thing to do.

Step One: Introduce Yourself

This is it. It's happening. You're meeting for the first time.

Examine the cover, read the blurb, peek at the praise, let your imagination run wild with your expectations. Move the book from side to side so the gorgeous turquoise foil catches the light, because you're a book magpie and it's shiny.

Step Two: Get to Know Them

This is where you dive right in. Grab yourself a cuppa and a snack, get comfortable, because it's going to get intense. This is where you start your journey.

Sip your dragon pearl green tea and gasp at the intensity of the first chapter. Feel your heart racing and your mind whirring because this is the most awesome start and obviously the sign of good things to come.

Step Three: Figure It Out

Or try to. Because you're addicted to stories and the characters, this book in front of you. You mull over the story so far and what you want to happen next and what could happen. You start to maybe catch a feel, and you know you might get hurt. But it's exciting and new and you need to go on.

Step Four: Get Lost

Or, you know, get so caught up in the story that you forget everything else. Your tea goes cold, your snack is uneaten, you can't put the book down. But it's amazing, and you're so invested. You love the rich setting, the intricacies of the world, the visual writing. The characters feel almost like your friends, and you need to know what's going to happen to Zhi.

Step Five: Reflect

I don't know about you, but I had an excellent time. Definitely going to do that again. The whole date was a success and now I need to think, because this review will not write itself.

Time to completely unwind with a bath...

Relaxing Bath Soak

What you need:

• A small gauze bag or disposable tea bag
• 1 tablespoon oats
• 1 tablespoon Himalayan pink salt
• 1 tablespoon dried lavender

Instructions:

Put it all of the ingredients in the bag, secure the top tightly. Draw a hot bath and drop the bag in, move it around every so often to help the salts dissolve and the oils in the lavender diffuse.

Aaaand... Relax.