The Cottage on Strawberry Sands – Holly Martin

I am back to visit Apple Hill Bay and see what some of the residents are up to. This time, the focus is on Roo Clarke who has returned after a protracted period of time away.

Life has very much changed for Roo, but she is back in a place she thinks of as home and has a new and exciting job to look forward to after spending a few unsuccessful years coasting.

Roo’s childhood best friend Theo Lucas has done alright for himself since Roo left for apstures new. However, what started as a bit of creative fun, became a successful business and he isn;t sure if his heart is in the commerical side of life anymore. But until something better cmes along it will have to do.

That is until he bumps into Roo again. Surely time is a healer? It seems not for this pair and as it becomes further complicated by Roo’s new job, it seems that neither of them can really settle until some big changes are made in both their lives.

Yet again, Holly Martin fills the book with romance and it sparkles off the page. However, she also manages to crowbar in with such ease, the continued topics of adoption, broken families, workplace bullying and relationships and the plight of rescued animals. The balance of it all really makes the characters three dimensional and it is refreshing to see that not all of life is perfect. But with some hard work and perhaps some Holly Martin luck you can overcome so much and make your perfect life in Apple Hill Bay.

Warm hearted and a simply joyful read. The perfect tonic when life becomes that bit stressful!

Thank you to the author for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Come Rain or Shine – Sarah Bennett

It might be the twenty first century, but an estate like Juniper Meadows could sometimes have the problems of a nineteenth century estate. Rhys Travers knows that one day Juniper Meadows will be his, and whilst it is certainly a family affair, the weight of it does lay heavy on his shoulders.

Whilst Rhys takes a hands on role where he can he does know he might need to perhaps share some of that workload out. Enter Tash who seems to bring a lot to the table and might be just what Juniper Meadows needs. However, is she there for the right reasons or has she got the job under false pretense’s.

Tash and Rhys immediately hit it off, and far from being the city life Tash is used to, she embraces the outdoors and countryside life. The Travers family embrace Tash to and can see the value she brings to the the estate as well as Rhys. Could Rhys have found the answer he has been avoiding all this time?

However it could be that Tash is not so innocent, or is she actually a pawn in a much bigger game? Events take a turn and it seem everything is up for grabs.

It is always lovely to go back to a place you have become familiar with and the characters based there. Of course those we have met from previous novels feature and ones that will no doubt get to know in the future. What also makes this a great series, is the setting and the place. The concept of Juniper Meadows, its farm, distillery, camping, Spa simply shine off the page and it is if you are visiting an exclusive place and just taking a peek at what is going on before, closing the doors and the pages of the book to get on with your own lives.

I cannot wait to go back and see what happens on my next visit. My bags are packed and ready to go…..

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Come Rain or Shine is out now.

Islands in the Blog

In a bid to reduce the list of books waiting to be reviewed and looking for links, tenuous or otherwise sometimes these things are simply staring you in the face.

So islands it is this time.

The first up is the latest novel from Katie Fforde whose writing has perhaps taken a different turn since her earlier novels. This one takes us to the Caribbean and Dominica, via a remote Scottish island.

Cass is an artist, not a photographer like her renowned father. It has been an issue all of her life, but now he has entrusted her with a special map, an old camera and a request to photograph some stone carvings. Surely she can fulfil this one thing for him? However when Dominica is hit by a devastating hurricane, Cass along with Ranaulph who has accompanied her finds her focus is on help and rebuilding this beautiful place. As she starts to embrace all of the changes in her life, can she perhaps see what is obvious to her and everyone around her.

This book is full of the laughter and romance you would accept but also, the mystery of the carvings, the impact and devastation of a natural disaster and the way anyone can rebuild from nothing to forge a life for themselves. If an island can do it, so can Cass and Ranaulph surely?

Another island, closer to home is Bird Island and it is there that Kitty Underhay, or Mrs Bryant as she is now known and her faithful servant and helper Alice find themselves.

Kitty and Alice go to see if the newest hotel is up to being included in the local Hoteliers Association. It all seems too good to be true, and when they are cut off by storms and a body turns up it seems the only answer is for Kitty and Alice to find out the truth.

In this the fifteenth novel in the series, this is very much a theme on the locked room murder mystery and with an overt nod to the great Agatha Christie and Burgh Island. With the clues and the red herrings, I was somewhat pleased with myself when I saw a vital clue and worked out the culprit. Sitting back to watch Kitty, Alice and with some help from Kitty’s husband Matt and the local police force, it was obvious that all was not what is seemed.

Set in the 1930s, these characters and all the stories have a charm about them that you cannot help but enjoy as you wonder exactly how many dead bodies they can keep stumbling across. As the books have progressed, of course so have the main characters lives and it is always nice to see the back stories fleshed out more. Time of course waits for no man and the inevitably about what is happening in this period, is surely bound to start featuring in the books.

Perfect for fans of historical cosy mysteries.

Thank you to the publishers via netgalley for the opportunity to read these books.

All of them are available now in various formats.

The Secrets of Blythswood Square – Sara Sheridan

Who knows what goes on behind closed doors. But what if the closed doors you are behind are the ones you have always known and yet you still don’t know what is going on.

Charlotte Nicholl, is left to deal wit the estate of her father. Unmarried and with a house in Mid Victorian Glasgow, it is not considered seemly to be living alone and with a fortune to consider. Expect the fortune has come from some rather interesting images, hidden behind a closed door in Charlotte’s home. A home that is now all hers.

Ellory Mann, is at the beginning of her life but rather down on her luck in society. But she is skilled and is in at the beginning of something which will change everything. Photography.

When Charlotte and Ellory meet, it seems that they can be a force for good for each other and they can help survive the societal norms and the ever changing presence of women in a man’s world.

The settings of both Edinburgh and Glasgow are fascinating and the author as she always does, brings everything to life. The colour of the mid 1800s is thoroughly researched and jumps off the page. You can imagine the scandal, the gossip about everything mentioned and all the things that are not in this book. The added bonus of real life people such as Frederick Douglass who shows a different plight but one similar to our main female protagonists. All of it added together makes for an interesting and fascinating novel.

If you want good historical fiction with strong female protagonists then you cannot go wrong with this or any of Sara Sheridan’s work. Excellent and I learnt so much as well as being transported away with the story.

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The Secrets of Blythswood Square is out now.

March Roundup

Not a bad reading month in all, a good variety of books and I want to say I perhaps made a dent in the reviewing – but as quick as a flash the list grows yet again, but at least I have caught up with reviews with the books I read in 2023!

So where did I go in March? Murder seems to have started me off with this debut novel C.L. Miller – The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder. A new series of books with antiques as its backdrop and murder at its core. Interesting and a good way to start and find out about the main players, in this modern cosy mystery.

More familiar terrority when I picked up Helena Dixon – Murder at the Island Hotel, the latest in Kitty and Matts adventures. Very much a homage to the Christie novel and Burgh Island. It worked wonderfully well and really set the scene, I spotted the clue that led me to the culprit and was so pleased with myself. The next book takes us abroad and I will be part of the blog tour. So do come back for that.

Sticking with islands, I went with Katie Fforde – Island in the Sun. Her latest novel and whilst a departure perhaps in some of her previous themes. We are taken to Dominica, via the Shetland Isles and the wonderful descriptions of scenery and landscape and the impact of weather is delightful and draws you very much into the story. I learnt a lot which perhaps made up for the perhaps weaker in parts plot.

The weather is always predominant in lots of books as it so often sets the scene for the plot and the characters. That was the case in Sarah Bennett – Come Rain or Shine, the latest in the Juniper Meadows series. This series goes from strength to strength, the characters, the romance, the setting reminds me of a modern day Downton Abbey – save the estate and all those who work there, including the family. Simply Glorious whatever the weather.

Another author I enjoy reading, and always lucky enough to get advanced copies is Holly Martin – The Cottage on Strawberry Sands. Again this is the next book in the series and we are back watching romance blossom amongst young professionals, who are looking for something in life. the answer it seems has always been home.

I tend to read similar types of books and there is nothing wrong with that. I believe in reading what you enjoy the most, it is not punishment for anything! However thanks to netgalley and social media, I do step out of the comfort zones of such things which is how I come to read Kate Storey – The Memory Library. It features, books at its core, so it is always going to be a winner for me. This book moved me tears and looks at the relationship between mothers and daughters and all that is unsaid.

My other passion is historical fiction, in its many forms and intrigued by Lizzie Pook – Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge it took me to London in the mid 19th century and to places further afield – The Artic. Fascinating tale of travel and ships and of the weird and wonderful fascinations the Victorians had.

I finished the month with a book I had been dipping in and out of for a couple of months. Peter Kay – T.V. Big Adventures on the Small Screen has the beauty of transporting you back to a time when you got up to change the channel, that you needed two tv magazines to know what was going to be on the television and the world stopped to watch shows that certainly would not be made today. A great look back at someone’s personal history through the medium of television.

So that was March, some real crackers in amongst there and I will endeavour to get reviews up. I am still ambling along and deciding what I want to do when it comes to reviews. It feels a bit too much like work and not enjoyment still, so therefore please bear with me.

How was your March reading? Anything tempt you? What are your plans for April?

The Mystery Guest – Nita Prose

We met Molly the Maid at the Regency Grand Hotel. Her order and structure kept her in the background, but very much a useful asset when events take a turn for the worse at the hotel.

Now Head Maid, a badge Molly wears with pride and determined to help newer maids reach the opportune pinnacle of what being a maid should be, we are back for another visit to the Regency Grand.

A famous mystery writer, drops dead in one of the tea rooms, whilst there to reveal something about his latest work. Molly was there, she observed so much and as soon as the police arrive they recognise Molly and think there is something definitely going on if Molly is involved.

Trouble is when a mystery writer dies, everyone wants to solve the mystery and it is going to take some skill from Molly to work this one out. Especially when it is actually perhaps a bit too close to home.

Here in the second book, we learn a bit more about Molly’s past, especially her mother and grandmother and those difficult and fractious relationships which have made Molly the person she is today. And Molly is involved with the dead mystery writer as she had met him as a child and so she needs to solve this mystery before the police get to find out about it or anyone innocent is caught up in the latest mystery.

However, just like in the first novel we don’t really know much about where the hotel is, what Molly looks like, these missing elements to the novel, strip it back to only knowing what is necessary but are they actually building the characters more/ Only time can tell, if we get further books about Molly the Maid.

Can be read as a standalone but worth reading the first novel, to get the setting and the characters right in your mind. For fans of murder mystery without the graphic and gruesome!

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The Mystery Guest is out now.

Queuing for the Queen – Sweta Rana

The Queue of 2022. A strained relationship between mother and daughter as they join that queue, the 24 hours of being awake, the hunger, the loss, the pain, the cameraderie of those in aroudn them.

The final destination, to walk past the coffin of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Also the destination of how a mother and daughter learn about each others lives and the choices they made.

Alongside them is a young boy in a cardboard crown, with a mother who has forgone much to get her son to the queue. His knowledge of what is happening is second to none. The elderly lady who worries she might not make the end. The couple who keep the queue entertained. The sheer volume of people there for so many different reasons.

However it is the main protagonists, Rani and Tania, mother and daughter, that the book focuses on. There is a lot of differences with their own upbringings reflected through the book when it takes us back to India. However it is the conversations had with the other people in the queue that barriers are broken down and for the first time, perhaps they can see each others point of view.

This is one of those gentle quiet books which goes along at an odd pace. Similar to the queue in some ways, and I know as I was one of the two hundred and fifty thousand that did it. All the way along and through, you have time to reflect and I did as did the characters in this book.

A book to remember a time we thought would never come but inevitably knew it would. Perfectly handled and worth a read.

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Queueing for the Queen is out now.

Food, Glorious Food

A lot of the women’s fiction I read puts food at its core. It can be the coming together of people to share the love of food, the process of growing, the process of cooking and the escapism it can give so many. Therefore it transpires that I am going to take you on a short food journey.

Bachelor Robert leaving with just his cat in a village in Devon, has made a hit with the ladies of the gardening club. Not just for his suave good looks but for his Victoria Sponge and his scones. Of course the age old debate starts with the scones, is it the Devon or Cornwall way.

Thinking that this is the most excitement he is going to face, his two sisters descend on the sleepy little village too. Hattie finds herself unexpectedly single when her husband leaves her for a younger woman. Then there is Bunty who initially arrives at Hattie’s house with a plumber, a man she is having an affair with for less time that it takes for a cake to cook! Is it going to be a recipe for disasters or will these mature siblings find the perfect recipe at a crossroads in all of their lives?

Great to see mature characters being dominant and the youngsters taking more of a back seat. Full of humour, mad pets and delicious sounding food, the perfect read.

Across to Europe and the Amalfi coast, so not only are we going to be dropped right into some delightful descriptions of Italian food we are going to feel the warmth of the sun on our backs too.

Lia Bathurst finds herself looking for her father. A father she didn’t even know she needed to look for and one that is rather famous. But first she has to penetrate the ring of protection around him, including siblings she knew nothing about and the dark and brooding Raph who is convicned she is a gold digger.

The one person who welcome her is Aurelia, her fathers wife and she wins her over with the most delicious pasta, fresh ingredients and aperol spritz. Coupled with the landscape around which inspires Lia’s creativity in her role as aa textile artists, it seems that this escape is going to be the best thin for Lia and maybe even Raph.

Another excellent book to add to this series of books which take you all over the world, to experience all the food without leaving the comfort of your own home.

Books are a great form of escapism, and sometimes you do not need to go far to experience the tastes of abroad. Polly after some unfortunate work events and an accident finds herself not that far from home but also in the warmth of an Italian family.

That Italian family runs a restaurant, but it is threatened by changes from a much larger well known company and it seems that Polly has the skills to sort this out. Enter Sabrina. Sabrina escaped her previous life, drudgery at home, belittled at work and can help this restaurant thrive. She has the skills.

However, it is all very complicated as Polly and Sabrina are one in the same person and that needs to resolve itself before the happy ever after we are promised by the title. On the way though, we can taste the fresh pasta, enjoy the cold ice cream and imagine the family enveloping us with love and food. Milly Johnson’s books are like a new recipe ever year in joy, escapism and happiness.

Thank you to the publishers via netgalley for the opportunity to read these books.

All of them are available now in various formats.

I do hope that these short round up posts of reviews are working, it seems this is a good way to get through the netgalley list of reviews that teeters over ten books most weeks and that also it still sort of keeps me in the blogging sphere whilst I really decide where my reading might take me next.

The List of Suspicious Things – Jennie Godfrey

This is a book you will hear a lot about in 2024 and beyond. A debut coming of age novel set in the backdrop of Yorkshire in the late seventies, early eighties and very much a reflection of what was going on at the time.

Our main character, Miv thinks she can catch the Yorkshire Ripper. Why not, the police haven’t been very successful so why shouldn’t she have a go. It might also mean that she won’t have to move away from Yorkshire and everything she has even known. Along with her reluctant friend, Sharon she makes a list of suspicious things that is going on around the area.

Whether that be suspicious characters, suspicious behaviour or suspicious places, it all goes on Miv’s list. But what is it that Miv discovers?

Miv discovers that the behaviours of others is disturbing and Jennie Godfrey does not shy away from the horrors and acts of racism, alcoholism and abuse in different forms. Whilst Miv’s innocnece when it is broken is heartbreaking you can see the strong charcater that comes through it all and that perhaps she has been finding hte anserts to the problems at home by looking outwards and not inwards.

As Miv and Sharon, move through that difficult time of adolescence in the backdrop of fear and change. Their friendship inevitably changes as they learn about themselves, each other and what the future might hold as they choose their paths in life.

Excellent debut novel, is worthy of a second read, and will be on a lot of books of the year list. The subject and tone of the book could be considered dark, but it has as much light and humour in it that you feel that you have been enveloped in one of the best reads for years.

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The List of Suspicious Things is out now.

Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year – Joanna Nell

What a good idea for married G.Ps. Heather and Alan Winterbottom decide to retire together. Heather dreams of long holidays, warm sun and sandy beaches. Alan dreams of vegetables and greenhouses and not going far from the end of the road.

Alan is not listening to Heather, but Heather can clearly hear Alan and she decides that she will do what she wants, to her timetable and sets off to the Greek Isles…… on her own. Although she does sneak the strangest companion with her, someone to keep her accountable.

In the vein of Shirley Valentine, Heather sets out to discover Greece and much more about herself, as we see her embark on differing adventures with some interesting outcomes. As time goes on and her family seem to need her, Heather is faced with some decisions, but then so is Alan.

Full of wit, this book made me laugh out loud but it also made me look round at all the choices that people make when they get to that important stage in their life. Retirement means many things, to different people, including Heather and Alan’s family and it seems they are all adjusting to it.

This authors ability to be able to write about all ages, all types of characters makes her books a joy to read and they are the perfect tonic. Just what the doctor ordered!

Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Mrs. Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year is out now.