#Review By Lou of The Holiday Bookshop #LucyDickens @PenguinRandom #SummerRead #BeachRead #TheHolidayBookshop

The Holiday Bookshop
By Lucy Dickens

A quick look at the blurb that reads like an ad for a job as a bookseller in a beautiful location and I am hooked. I also would like the job….

The Holiday Bookshop

Blurb

Are you looking to start a new chapter?
Role: Bookseller wanted! (3-month fixed-term contract) Location: A luxury resort on the island of Bounty Cove Cay.
Skills required: The ideal candidate will have experience in a retail environment, preferably within the book industry.
Desired qualities: This role will appeal to a book lover with an adventurous streak who is looking for an escape from their everyday life.
What to expect: Sun, sea, and a bookshop that is far from thriving. No one said it would be smooth sailing.
Please note: You may fall in love with more than just our island along the way…
Looking for your next beach read? Look no further! Escape with The Holiday Bookshop, perfect for fans of Jo Thomas, Phillipa Ashley and Jenny Colgan.

Review

Okay, so I would love the job and maybe I could be somehow spared for 3 months from normal life. I am just about all those things and I could easily get around not working in a bookshop before due to retail and other book experience.

Okay, I’m obviously not the candidate. Jen is the successful candidate and is off for a new life in the Maldives to run the bookshop.

Jen and Marianne were once best friends, but something happened that caused cracks, that becomes a bit of a rift. They ran and co-owned a bookshop called:
The Book Nook, so you really feel for them that things aren’t working out quite as well as they might and both end up leaving Marianne’s brother to run it. Jen, as said, goes off to the Maldives and Mari, along with her boyfriend, plan a trip of a lifetime.

The book is part adventure as it takes you from your cosy reading nook to various places by page. It’s adventure by location and life as, especially Jen, when she meets different people, discovers something quite special, but just needed a nudge to see it.

It’s a lovely read, just when it’s that time of year of planning holidays or lazing around on a beach for a day or even in the garden on a warm day. Even on a rainy day, this brings guaranteed sunshine and joy.

#BookReview By Lou of The Beach Party By Nikki Smith @Mrssmithmunday @EllieeHud @VikingBooksUK #TheBeachParty

The Beach Party
By Nikki Smith

The Beach Party kept me up all night. My fingers danced the night away as they turned page after page, until they reached the end!

Six friends.

The holiday of their dreams.

One night that changed it all . . .

1989: The tunes are loud and the clothes are louder when a group of friends arrives in Mallorca for a post-graduation holiday of decadence and debauchery at a luxury villa.

A beach party marks the pinnacle of their fun, until it isn’t fun any longer. Because amidst the wild partying, sand flying from dancing feet and revellers leaping from yachts, an accident happens. Suddenly, the night of a lifetime becomes a living nightmare.

Now: The truth about that summer has been collectively buried. But someone knows what happened that night.

And they want the friends to pay for what they did.

Review

The book caught my attention as soon as I saw it in its proof state. Finally, I’ve had the time to review it. Certain other life things took me away from my blog for a bit. The book is available now! Thanks Viking Books for an e-book copy.

Roll back the years to the 1980’s. Mallorca is one of the places to be to party hard with loud tunes and the brightest ever beachwear. Get ready to holiday with sun, sea and sand, with full-on nostalgia, “yuppies” and even some tech is in here with some early computer games.

The fun doesn’t last on this holiday. The party on a yacht is not only full tunes, but also fuelled by drugs and alcohol consumption. In short, sharp chapters, you see tragedy strike. What started off as a post-graduate party of excess and much debauchery becomes an intriguing, sit-on-the-edge-of-you-seat, psychological thriller. It turns out the place is quickly washed with secrets.

The book easily sweeps you away into its aura and mystique and takes you into some dark places.

#Review by Lou of An Italian Island Summer @SueMoorcroft @AvonBookUK @HarperCollinsUK @RachelsRandomResources #AnItalianIslandSummer #SummerRead #HolidayRead

An Italian Island Summer
By Sue Moorcroft

An Italian Island Summer is Sue Moorcroft’s latest book and there is a lot to it in a beautiful setting to warm your heart and take you deep into character’s, less uncomplicated lives. Find out more in the blurb and full review below as part of Rachel’s Random Resources blog tour for Avon Books, who I thank for a copy of the book.

Blurb

Will one summer in Sicily change her life for ever?

After her marriage falls apart, Ursula Quinn is offered the chance to spend the summer working at a hotel on a beautiful island off the coast of Sicily, Italy. Excited by a new adventure, she sets off at once.

At Residenza dei Tringali, Ursula receives a warm welcome from everyone except Alfio, son of the Tringali family. He gave up his life in Barcelona to help his mother Agata with the ailing business, and is frustrated with Ursula’s interference – and she in turn is less than impressed with his attitude. As they spend more time together, though, they begin to see each other in a different light.

But what with Ursula’s ex-husband on her tail, family secrets surfacing and an unexpected offer that makes Alfio question his whole life, there’s plenty to distract them from one another. Can she face her past and he his future, and together make the most of their Sicilian summer?

Review

A failed relationship, physical and psychological issues are in the offering for Sue Moorcroft’s latest book. Fear not, there is plenty of opportunity to basque in the sun on An Italian Island Summer, even through the trials and tribulations that life throws at the characters.

An Italian Summer takes readers deep into the lives. Ursula’s life is changing. She is going through a breakup from her husband and the tattoo parlour where she works is closing down, although in heart of hearts, there is a little relief there. She makes some huge decisions and makes the move to an Italian island.
A hotel is found, but isn’t doing very well. It’s ran by Agata and her daughter. Her son had been in Spain and now has had to return, so his life is also in a period of change, except the jobs he thought he was required to be returning to are taken already. Cue some tensions.
It doesn’t all go swimmingly for Ursula either, with that and her ex-husband not being the type to let go so easily.

Complicated lives in a beautiful setting of small hotels, marinas, eateries makes for good reading. The book draws you into all the atmosphere and sites the picturesque island has to provide, as well as the people on it and arriving on it.

It is a lovely book to sit in the great outdoors to read and enjoy summer sun giving heat to your body as the book warms your heart.

#BookReview by Lou An Endless Cornish Summer by Phillipa Ashley @PhillipaAshley @AvonBooksUK #Summer #SummerRead #Fiction

An Endless Cornish Summer By Phillipa Ashley ★★★★★
Rating: 5 out of 5.

An Endless Cornish Summer is a great summer read that will take you on a heartrendering mission to find a donor. It’s quite a story that has some heartache, but an overriding warmth and escapism with some romance. It’s a great book for on the beach. Find out more in my blurb and check out the rest of my review too. I thank Avon Books for allowing me to review and gifting me the book.

Blurb

Escape to the seaside with this gorgeous new series from the Sunday Times bestselling author – perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley and Heidi Swain. Rose Vernon is headed to a quiet Cornish village – to find the man who saved her life. For Rose, every day is a gift. She narrowly survived a life-threatening illness and owes everything to her anonymous donor. Determined to thank him, Rose follows a trail of clues that lead her to the little Cornish fishing village of Falford. But things become complicated when Rose is drawn into local life, becoming involved in the legendary Falford Regatta and meeting the handsome Morvah brothers – one of whom might just be the man she’s looking for. But which one? Can Rose find the answer she’s searching for, or will she lose her heart before the summer is over?

Review

This has a great summer feel and a great story. Rose has had a life-threatening illness and has been in hospital in an isolation ward, where even stem-cell treatment crops up. Fast forward 4 years later and things are much better, but sad events still occur in her life, but it is heartwarming that Marge lleaves a powerful, beautiful letter, which persuades her to start to hunt for her donor. It’s quite a story that has heartache, is heartrendering and affairs of the heart. Rose meets Finn Morvah and he and his family own Morvah Marine, but business is complicated on the backdrop of gorgeous scenery, boats and boatyards, that make the area colourful and come to life, along with the other characters she meets. There’s even the potential for a spot of romance and it keeps you guessing whether she will fall for Finn or Joey or neither of them. They also have to work her out too, whether she will be interested in either of them, or so dedicated to her job as an archeologist that she doesn’t have time for that sort of thing. It also brings some light humour to what starts out as quite a heartbreaking situation and moves to being heartwarming, romantic in a way that is great for lounging in the sun with. It is all such a joy to escape to Cornwall and its coastal scenery. It really does make you wish summer would never end. It has that sunshine glow written all over it that makes it a great summer read!

Happy Publication Day for The Lucky Escape by Laura Jane Williams @laurajaneauthor @AvonBooks @ElliePilcher95

The Lucky Escape
By Laura Jane Williams

Happy Publication Day to Laura Jane Williams for her book The Lucky Escape. It is available in paperback, e-book and audio book. Discover more in the blurb below and you can purchase this feel-good summer read from today. Thanks to Ellie Pilcher at Avon Books for giving me the opportunity to share this with you all.

Blurb

The wedding? Cancelled.
The bride? Heartbroken.
The honeymoon? Try and stop her…

The Lucky Escape by Laura Jane Williams is OUT TODAY in ebook, paperback and audiobook. Escape to Australia this summer in this hilarious feel-good read!

Purchase Link – Waterstones

#Review by Lou – Three Weddings and a Proposal by Sheila O’Flanagan @sheilaoflanagan @headlinepg @RandomTTours #ThreeWeddingsandaProposal #RomanticFiction #ContemporaryFiction #SummerRead

Three Weddings and a Proposal
By Sheila O’Flanagan

A gripping summer read that draws you in, with antiques, romance, twists right to the end. Thanks to Random Things Tours for inviting me to the blog tour and to Headline for gifting me the book.
Find out more about this gripping summer read below in the blurb, the graphics and my review. Then why not discover a bit more about the author…

Blurb

An empowering new novel from the author of number one bestsellers The Women Who Ran Away, Her Husband’s Mistake and The Missing Wife.

Delphine is at a wedding when the shocking news comes. Suddenly her life changes forever.

Delphine has worked hard for her success and she knows she’s got everything she wants. But not everyone agrees. Her opinionated family aren’t convinced that living alone with no plans to ‘settle down’ could possibly make her truly happy, and no one appreciates it when she drops everything, day or night, whenever her boss Conrad calls. Yet Delphine wouldn’t change a thing. And when C onrad makes her a surprise offer, it’s clear that her hard work is going to pay off.
A few short days later, Delphine’s life is unrecognisable. The man who once broke her heart has suddenly reappeared, and a shocking tragedy turns her world on its head.
Delphine must rethink everything that matters to her, and to those around her, and decide, once and for all, if love, family and a little compromise should come before career, security and independence… and if she’s
prepared to make that choice.

Review

It all begins at an auction, which is all a bit of “how the other half live” as an antique bracelet is bought for an eye-watering amount of money.

Delphie’s brother – Andre is getting married and there’s some mystery surrounding who Delphie’s plus one will be or if she will indeed have one… Until Ed Miller arrives on the scene.
She has fallen to the fate of so many single women – being asked those dreaded questions about her own marital status and if she will ever “tie the knot”. There’s much there that single women will be able to relate to, including those who are looking for or hoping for a man in their lives.
There are other points of pure reality made here and there, such as the job market and how hard it and competitive it can be, especially nearing that 40 years old mark, and much more… It is a good strong, point it makes about an age group that isn’t talked about much when it comes to seeking employment. So, even if there are readers who perhaps don’t relate to some of the lifestyles, there will be many that can to this.

The book is full of sumptious items when it comes to weddings, that as a reader, I looked on and admired. It is rich in both the materialistic items and in love.

As thoughts turn to work, there is a memory that floods in about a tragedy that brings some twists and complications to people’s lives, amongst all the frivolity and fun. There’s also friendship and the cosyness of niceness around the harder times that life presents to the characters. It’s a pretty gripping summer read that draws you in.

The last page is amazing and wonderful and perhaps not in the way you might expect!

About the Author

Sheila O’Flanagan is the author of nearly 30 bestselling chart-toppers, including The Women Who
Ran Away, Her Husband’s Mistake, The Hideaway, What Happened That Night, The Missing Wife and
All For You (winner of the Irish Independent Popular Fiction Book of the Year Award). After working in
banking and finance for a number of years, Sheila’s love for writing blossomed into curating stories
about relationships in all their many forms.