It’s time for my monthly fashion and lifestyle favourites and I have lots of great things to show you from October. There’s lots of fashion this month, as well as a drink i’ve been loving and a great thriller novel.

First up, I want to share with you my newest handbag. The Ilex London Brooklynn Bag (£250 from Ilex London) is made from buttery soft leather. I really needed a good quality cream/stone-coloured handbag and i’m really happy with my choice. You can dress it down by wearing it crossbody with the included strap, or you can keep it looking chic and sophisticated by hanging it over the crook of your arm. It has three main zipped compartments, as well as a little inner zip pocket and a mobile phone pocket.

Another fashion item i’ve been loving, now that the weather has got colder, is my new So Fabulous! Quilt Detail Faux Fur Hooded Parka in Khaki* (£50 from Very). Fashion shopping site Octer kindly paid for this for me after inviting me to try out their site. It’s a great place to learn about the current trends and shop hundreds of UK stores – both high street and designer – in one place, allowing you to easily compare prices and styles without having to trawl through multiple store’s websites. There are so many amazing brands on there, including Very, ASOS, Boden and Liberty London. I love that this coat has a black faux fur trim instead of the usual cream/brown-toned shades you usually get with khaki parkas.

Finally, fashion-wise, I’ve been loving the detailing on my new plus-size blouse. The Lovedrobe Pleated Back Shirt in Blue (£42 from Lovedrobe) has a beautiful pleated dip hem back that really makes this blouse more of a statement piece. The material is very sheer, but i’ve just been wearing a light strappy vest top underneath it.

Onto lifestyle, my favourite book of the month is the audiobook of Bone by Bone by Sanjida Kay (£14.99 or £7.99 per month from Audible). This is a psychological thriller novel about a primary school-aged girl who is being bullied by another pupil. It essentially looks at the issue of how far should a parent go to to protect their child? Things escalate quickly from simple incidents to an all out war and it’s scary how fast it progresses. This is a real edge-of-your-seat thriller and throughout it you’ll constantly be saying to yourself ‘for God’s sake, surely there must be a straightforward way to sort all this out?’, but then you think about it and you realise there isn’t, as everything has become so tangled and dangerously complicated.

Finally, i’ve really been enjoying the Aspire Health Drinks (£1.85 from Holland & Barrett) this month. These fizzy drinks contain zero calories and zero sugar, a host of multivitamins and also metabolism boosting Green Tea Extract. They come in interesting flavours too – Apple & Acai and Cranberry are really nice, but the Mango Lemonade one tastes very strange. If you spot these in your local Tesco or Holland & Barrett, I’d definitely recommend trying one instead of your usual fizzy drink.

This post contains press samples, but all opinions are my own.

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