Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Have LOVED Rereading!

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. 

It took me a looooooong time to get into re-reading even thoguh I loved checking out the same audiobooks from the library when I was younger. I listened to those Ramona books over and over and over again-maybe that's why I loved Grease the movie so much!

Here are books I have loved re-reading and may just re-read again soon!

Review: The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore

Forbidden, passionate and all-encompassing, Margo and Richard’s love affair was the stuff of legend– but, ultimately, doomed.

When Richard walked out, Margo locked herself away, leaving her three daughters, Rachel, Imogen and Sasha, to run wild.

Years later, charismatic Margo entertains lovers and friends in her cottage on the Isle of Wight, refusing to ever speak of Richard and her painful past. But her silence is keeping each of the Garnett girls from finding true happiness.

Rachel is desperate to return to London, but is held hostage by responsibility for Sandcove, their beloved but crumbling family home.

Dreamy Imogen feels the pressure to marry her kind, considerate fiancé, even when life is taking an unexpected turn.

And wild, passionate Sasha, trapped between her fractured family and controlling husband, is weighed down by a secret that could shake the family to its core…

Review: This was a family saga of pretty grand proportions. There is drama, there is intrigue, there is glamour and there is self-reflection. The Garnett Girls are an eclectic bunch of women who make for some interesting reading and I enjoyed this glimpse into their lives. 

Margo was the person I connected with the most. She is the matriarch of the family but has always struggled with the idea of having it all. She is someone who realises your children can’t be your whole life and that she has to live for herself, but where does the line fall, what is too much and what is not enough? She has had to deal with this dilemma since her first daughter was born and then she had the added pressure of the girls not having the best support in the form of a father or a husband for her. 

Rachel, Sasha and Imogen seem to go on the biggest journey over the course of the book discovering each other, their mother and themselves in the process. I empathised with a lot of the struggles that they face because I think that we are at a similar position in our lives but their behaviour when they were around each other, as well as their behaviour when they were in their childhood home was sometimes a lot to handle. 

I listened to this on audiobook thanks to a review copy and I will say that sometimes I had trouble keeping track of which Garnett Girl was being focused on, where we were and what time period we were in. I think this is one of those books that would work better as a physical or an ebook or would pair well with a copy you could read at the same time as listening to the audio which was incredibly well-narrated.

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Guest Review: Gower: The Autobiography By David Gower

From the moment he hooked his first ball in Test cricket to the boundary, David Gower has been in a class of his own when it comes to style and panache. In 114 Test matches, he scored over 8000 runs at an average of 44 which ranks him with the post-war greats. His elegant play is always a joy to watch and certainly there hasn't been a better and more entertaining left-hander since Sir Garfield Sobers. Yet because of his natural gifts, he has often attracted criticism for his "laid back" approach and "lack of application". In the book, Gower answers these charges and sets out his side of the story about his two spells of captaincy for both club and country. He puts his man-management record on the line alongside those of fellow captains Mike Brearley, Bob Willis, Mike Gatting and Graham Gooch, and attacks the current mentality of Test selectors "where runs around the block seem to count for more than runs in the middle". There are also many light-hearted moments in the book: visiting casinos and nightclubs in the company of fellow "rogues" Ian Botham and Allan Lamb, dumping a hired car at the bottom of a lake in St Moritz, and "buzzing" Robin Smith from a Tiger Moth while he was batting on the 1991/92 Australian tour.

Review: David Gower was a cricketer who played in 117 Test Matches for England between 1978 and 1992. He also captained the side on 32 occasions. Following his retirement from playing, he turned to television commentating and writing columns for newspapers. This autobiography, written with the assistance of the journalist Martin Johnson, was published in 1992. It therefore does not include the last part of his playing career, although there is a brief reference to his recall to the England team in July 1992.

Often described as an elegant and stylish left-handed batsman, he made batting look easy when things were going well. However, he also had his detractors who often described his style as languid, and were infuriated when he got out to what appeared to be a casual stroke. His record stands up well to scrutiny, however, and he scored the fifth highest aggregate of runs in Test Matches for England players. He also had a sense of humour and adventure, that led to his being involved in a number of scrapes. Amongst those described in the book is the time when, after receiving a lecture from his captain on the appropriate dress code when staying in hotels during away matches, he turned up for breakfast wearing a dinner suit. Probably the most infamous incident occurred when he took a joyride in a biplane from an aerodrome adjacent to the ground where the England team were playing against a state side in Australia, and persuaded the pilot to “buzz” the ground whilst play was in progress.

These, and other incidents, together with details of his playing career and the many characters he played with and against are described in the book, which is sprinkled liberally throughout with his wry sense of humour. I enjoyed reading it, despite the fact that it is now out of date. I would recommend it to all cricket lovers.

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Guest Review: A Gift of Poison by Bella Ellis

Haworth 1847 - Anne and Emily Brontë have had their books accepted for publication, while Charlotte's has been rejected everywhere, creating a strained atmosphere at the parsonage.

At the same time, a shocking court case has recently concluded, acquitting a workhouse master of murdering his wife by poison. Everyone thinks this famously odious and abusive man is guilty. However, he insists he is many bad things but not a murderer. When an attempt is made on his life, he believes it to be the same person who killed his wife and applies to the detecting sisters for their help.

Despite reservations, they decide that perhaps, as before, it is only they who can get to the truth and prove him innocent - or guilty - without a shadow of doubt.

Review: This is the fourth, and possibly last, book in the Brontë Mysteries series from this author. These historical crime stories feature the famous Brontë sisters who, while continuing with their writing careers, turn their hands to being amateur detectives, an activity they have kept well hidden from others, or so they thought.

This story, inspired by a true event, is set in 1847, when Charlotte’s book has been widely rejected, while Anne and Emily have had successes with their first novels. Charlotte is eagerly awaiting the arrival of her dear friend, Ellen Bussey, but instead the door is opened to Abner Lowood, the notorious and violent Haworth Strangler. Having been mysteriously cleared of his wife’s murder, he wishes the young ladies to use their detective skills to find the identity of the real murderer who he believes is trying to kill him also. Somehow he has discovered the Brontës’ secret and threatens to expose them if they do not take the case. The three, along with Ellen, embark on an investigation which leads them into the world of ghosts, supernatural beings and violence. They are determined to get to the bottom of the situation, whether it will clear the odious Lowood or prove his guilt, but at what danger to themselves?

This is a well written book, the thrilling adventure the sisters and friend experience mixed with an insight into their lives as authors and indeed their home life. It was a very scary story at times. It was amazing that in the midst of all the intrigue, Charlotte was filled with thoughts of Jane Eyre and took every opportunity to write what became a very successful novel. I found it heartbreaking to witness how hard the sisters and their father fought to rid their brother Branwell of his addictions, all to no avail. I can recommend this book to anyone interested in the lives of the Brontës or historical crime fiction.

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Movie Review: How Did Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania Land With Me?

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Guest Review: Black Gold: The History of how Coal Made Britain By Jeremy Paxman

From the best-selling historian and acclaimed broadcaster 

Coal is the commodity that made Britain. Dirty and polluting though it is, this black rock has acted as a midwife to genius. It drove industry, religion, politics, empire and trade. It powered the industrial revolution, turned Britain into the first urban nation and is the industry that made almost all others possible.

In this brilliant social history, Jeremy Paxman tells the story of coal mining in England, Scotland and Wales from Roman times, through the birth of steam power to war, nationalisation, pea-souper smogs, industrial strife and the picket lines of the Miner’s Strike.

Written in the captivating style of his best-selling book The English, Paxman ranges widely across Britain to explore stories of engineers and inventors, entrepreneurs and industrialists - but whilst coal inevitably helped the rich become richer, the story told by Black Gold is first and foremost a history of the working miners - the men, women and often children who toiled in appalling conditions down in the mines; the villages that were thrown up around the pit-head.

Almost all traces of coal-mining have vanished from Britain, but with this brilliant history, Black Gold demonstrates just how much we owe to the black stuff.

Review: Jeremy Paxman is a television journalist and presenter. He has also written a number of books on historical topics. This, his latest book, covers the history of coal, its extraction from the ground, the people who carried out the work, and the uses to which it was put.

Because Britain had large reserves of good quality coal, and this was used to power the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain became the first urban nation. The book traces the history of coal mining, examining the social history of: those who exploited the coal reserves; those who carried out the often back-breaking, dirty and dangerous work of mining it; and those who exploited its uses for generating heat, power and new chemical compounds.

As may be expected, the most recent history of coal mining, from the 20th century onwards, is covered in greater depth. This encompasses: the year 1913, just prior to the First World War, when a record amount of coal was extracted from mines; the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947; its subsequent privatisation in 1994; and the closure of the last deep coal mine in 2015. Also featured in the book is the effect of labour organisation in the mines, with the General Strike of 1926 and the year long miners’ strike of 1984-1985 being given prominence.

The author, Jeremy Paxman, has a reputation for being a formidable interviewer and not suffering fools gladly, and this comes across in the book. Some of his comments about certain individuals are quite scathing. Overall, I found this this to be an interesting book about an industry, and way of life, that appears to have run its course. I would recommend it to all with an interest in social and industrial history.

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Review: This Could Be Everything By Eva Rice

 It’s 1990. The Happy Mondays are in the charts, a 15-year-old called Kate Moss is on the cover of the Face magazine, and Julia Roberts wears thigh-boots for the poster for a new movie called Pretty Woman. 

 

February Kingdom is nineteen years old when she is knocked sideways by family tragedy. Then one evening in May she finds an escaped canary in her kitchen and it sparks a glimmer of hope in her. With the help of the bird called Yellow, Feb starts to feel her way out of her own private darkness, just as her aunt embarks on a passionate and all-consuming affair with a married American drama teacher.   

 

THIS COULD BE EVERYTHING is a coming-of-age story with its roots under the pavements of a pre-Richard Curtis-era Notting Hill that has all but vanished. It’s about what happens when you start looking after something more important than you, and the hope a yellow bird can bring… 

Review: This was very definitely a coming of age story. It is intense and sweet and nostalgic all at the same time. We spend the book with February which is intimate almost to the point of claustrophobic because February doesn’t like to leave the house an awful lot. February has seen a lot of tragedy in her life but we don’t know the full extent of the tragedy at the beginning of the book. Her life story unveils itself throughout the novel at an achingly slow pace. 

I actually really enjoyed the slow pace of the book. Normally I prefer a novel that keeps me turning the pages because of the fact that I can’t wait to find out what will happen because of a revelation that has just occurred but in this case, I kept turning the pages because it was a gentle read but so intriguing at the same time. It was a great rainy Saturday on the sofa read. 

The cast list of this novel is fairly small and so you might think the fact that all of the other characters are somewhat prickly could be a tun off but actually I enjoyed the fact that I didn't particularly warm to the other because it meant that I really sided with February the whole way through. I loved the time set for this novel. The fact that she listens to the charts on the radio and goes down to Our Price to satisfy her love of music. It was giving me Caitlin Moran How to Build a Girl vibes but quieter and a bit posher. I really enjoyed this slow burn coming of age novel. It was definitely outside my comfort zone but February’s story stuck with me for a long time.

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Book Vs Movie: The People We Hate At The Wedding

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Guest Review: The Best Days of Our Lives by Lucy Diamond

When 35-year-old Leni McKenzie is knocked off her bike, her family's world is turned upside down.

Leni and her sister Alice were best friends as well as siblings. But did they know each other as well as Alice thought? In the hope of coming to terms with her grief, she tries to piece together Leni's last weeks - but her discoveries only lead to more questions. And that's before the surprise reappearance of someone from the past. Life is certainly getting very complicated ...

Meanwhile, the rest of the family seem to be falling apart. Belinda, Alice's mum, has developed an unhealthy obsession with a clairvoyant, and Tony, her dad, is stressed about becoming a father all over again, what with three failed marriages stacking up behind him.

As for Will, the youngest McKenzie, he's in denial, having hopped onto a plane to Thailand days after the funeral. Secretly, he's tormented by the part he played in Leni's death ... and the thing about secrets is, they always come out eventually ...

Review: I am a great fan of Lucy Diamond’s books. Like this one, they tend to be full of family drama, populated by many interesting characters. This story was a little different, and I have to confess to finding it a little difficult to get into, but once I did it held my interest right to the end. Not surprisingly given the subject, many tissues were required during the reading.

The story centres on Leni McKenzie, although the reader meets her in person only briefly since she is knocked over while riding her bicycle and killed before chapter one. Her already broken family are struggling with coming to terms with her death, each dealing with it in their own way. Her younger sister, Alice, is trying to piece together Leni’s last few weeks with the aid of her sister’s diary and recollections from her friends. Her mother, Belinda, is spending a fortune on the phone to a clairvoyant who claims to be channeling Leni’s thoughts. Trying to hide from his feeling of guilt, Leni’s brother, Will, has taken himself off to Thailand, where he is struggling to make a living. Then there’s estranged father Tony who has different guilty feelings and the stress of his new family and a baby on the way.

I didn’t find this undoubtedly well-written book the easiest to read. Death is a difficult subject to write about I’m sure, but the author found what I considered an interesting angle from which to approach it. The reader is privy to the thoughts of the different family members, each of whom has their own way of dealing with their loss. Although Leni’s fate is central to the story, each family member is continuing with their own life, details of which lent extra interest to the book. Even though I met Leni only fleetingly, I really got to know and like her as the story progressed. I wasn’t sure how I felt about some of the other characters to start with, but they too grew on me with time. This is definitely a book which could be classed as a weepy, but there is a message of hope there too.

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January 2023 Reading Wrap up: How Did I Manage To Read eBooks, Paperbacks and Audio All At Once?

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Review: The Usual Suspect by Louise Candlish

 Wrong time. Wrong place. Wrong man.

 

Alex lives a comfortable life with his wife Beth in the leafy suburb of Silver Vale. Fine, so he’s not the most sociable guy on the street, he prefers to keep himself to himself, but he’s a good husband and an easy-going neighbour.

 

That’s until Beth announces the creation of a nature trail on a local site that’s been disused for decades and suddenly Alex is a changed man. Now he’s always watching. Questioning. Struggling to hide his dread . . .

 

As the landscapers get to work, a secret threatens to surface from years ago, back in Alex’s twenties when he got entangled with a seductive young woman called Marina, who threw both their lives into turmoil.

 

And who sparked a police hunt for a murder suspect that was never quite what it seemed. It still isn’t.

 

No one else could have done it. Could they?

Review: This book was definitely a slow burn for me. The book takes place across 2 timelines and often I find that easier to read in physical or ebook form and so I started off reading the ebook but then when I switched to the audiobook, that was when I gelled with our protagonists and couldn’t stop listening until I got to the end. 

The dual narrative timeline aspect of the book was definitely one of my favourite things about it. The 1995 timeline felt so retro and some of the london i recognised from going there to visit as a teenager. Smoking indoors in particular lent a whole other level to that time and place. Rick takes the lead in 1995 with the beautiful Marina, who is like a siren in that she seems to be able to get Rick to do and say whatever she wants. Then we have Alex in the present day timeline. This timeline is definitely where the key bits of information are slowly given to you tiny nuggets by tiny nuggets before you're thrown back to 1995 and have to rethink the plot all over again. 

As usual with a Louise Candlish novel, there were moments where I gasped out loud. One moment in particular was such a juicy reveal that I had quite a lot to say about it whilst hoovering with my headphones on and my husband had to come upstairs to see if I was OK. So if that’s the kind of thing you’re looking for in your reading life then this book is definitely for you!

If we’re comparing this book to previous Louise Candlish novels, I would say that I think this one is a little less dark just because it is such a slow burn of a book but it plays with your mind in ways that I didn’t even think possible. It gets under your skin and into your head and you just don’t know who is double crossing who or if there’s anyone you can trust! I really enjoyed it and highly recommend the audiobook!

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Movie Review: Did The Whale Deserve Three Oscar Nominations?

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Guest Review: Big Ron: A Different Ball Game By Ron Atkinson

Ron Atkinson is one of English football’s most recognisable and popular characters, having been involved in management for a quarter of a century.

He remains the only Englishman to have won major trophies with three different clubs: Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa. At West Bromwich Albion, he was one of the first managers to promote black footballers, including Laurie Cunning- ham, who went to Real Madrid, Cyrille Regis, who became an England international, and Brendon Batson MBE.

After retiring from management, Ron evolved into one of the most familiar and forthright commentators on football. Yet that career came to an end in April 2004 with a single, unguarded comment about the Chelsea defender, Marcel Desailly. Atkinson was labelled a racist and driven from the game he loves.

Review: This is the autobiography, published in 1998, of the former footballer and football manager Ron Atkinson, a larger then life character universally known as “Big Ron”.

He played for a number of years for Oxford United, as they rose from non-league status up to the old Second Division of the English Football League. Following his playing career, he move into management with non-league Kettering Town and lower league Cambridge United, before managing a number of high-profile clubs such as Manchester United and Atletico Madrid. As a manager, he achieved the feat of winning three major trophies with three different clubs: the FA Cup twice with Manchester United, and the League Cup once each with Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa. Towards the end of his management career he spent some time as a TV pundit.

Throughout his career “Big Ron” was always a flamboyant and outspoken character, and this comes across in this book. There are numerous colourful stories about various characters on the field, in management and in the boardroom. These range from tales of a transfer deal in his Kettering Town days when a player was swapped for a lawnmower, to multi-million pound deals for players in the Premier League. His frankness comes across in the book, when he criticises certain players for their attitude, and there is a whole chapter devoted to certain individuals with whom he would not go on holiday.

Overall, this is an interesting insight into the world of football provided by a fascinating, if controversial, character and will appeal to all followers of the beautiful game.

To order your copy now, just click here!

Guest Review: The Northern Lights Lodge by Julie Caplin

Escape to the cosiest little lodge in Iceland for love, log fires and the Northern Lights…

With a shattered heart and her career completely in tatters, Lucy needs to get away from her life in the UK. But, when she takes a job as hotel manager of the Northern Lights Lodge, she doesn’t quite expect to find herself in a land of bubbling hot springs and snowflake-dusted glaciers – and in the company of gorgeous Scottish barman, Alex.

Determined to turn her life around, Lucy sets about making the lodge the number one romantic destination in Iceland – even though romance is the last thing she wants. However, as Alex and Lucy grow closer under the dancing lights of the aurora, Lucy might just learn how to fall in love again…

Review: This is book 4 in the highly entertaining Romantic Escapes Series by this author. The books are all set in stunning locations around the world, many featuring food or beverage preparation within their storyline. Although they are all standalone stories, readers will often be pleased to come across characters that have played a role in an earlier book in the series. The present title, as the name and cover suggest, is set in Iceland.

The central female character is Lucy, who has lost her job as general manager of a large hotel and, at the same time, her boyfriend. Desperate to find another post, she accepts a position running the Northern Lights Lodge in Iceland on a three months’ probationary basis. She has no idea what to expect, but is a little dismayed by the state of the hotel when she arrives. However, she is determined to turn things around in the hope of making her post permanent. She finds support in the unlikely form of the Scottish barman, Alex. There are many hilarious incidents while Lucy gets to grip with the sometimes temperamental staff and local customs, but all the while she and Alex become closer, in spite of the fact that she is trying hard to remain professional. Both of them are hiding secrets, afraid of how the other will react when they inevitably come to light.

I can thoroughly recommend this book, and indeed the whole of this series. I have now read them all and am eagerly awaiting publication of the next book. As well as being romantic stories, they are also filled with humour and a fair amount of drama. In this story, Lucy is having quite a battle recovering from a difficult incident in her past, but is helped tremendously by the loveable staff at the Northern Lights Lodge, especially barman Alex. After a bumpy start, he is always on hand to back Lucy up whenever she needs it. Alex comes across as a thoroughly lovely, considerate person, but I was concerned about what would happen when his secret came to light. Throughout the story, the reader is presented with an insight into what life must be like for inhabitants of the island through the excellent descriptive writing and the voices of the hotel staff.

To order your copy now, just click here!

Top Ten Tuesday: 2023 Debut Books I'm Excited About

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. 

This one is quite difficult for me this week. I'm aware of a few debuts I know I want to read but other books on my radar are all from favourite authors so please do let me know in comments other debut books I'm missing out on. 

January 2023 Reading Wrap Up

 January was actually a better reading month than I thought it would be. I did the Bout of Books readathon at the start of the month and also did a buddy read with the lovely Hayley which obviously contributed to my reading this month. But it was also back to school, incredibly busy and I was really ill for 2 weeks so not the best for being productive!

Nevertheless I enjoyed most of the things that I read and will break them down into how I read them for you. Now just to write all of the reviews...

Ebooks

Physical Books

Audiobooks

Movie Review: The Fablemans-A Movie About a Movie Director, By a Movie Director. Perfect on Paper...

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Guest Review: Miles Away By N J Edmunds

What you know can kill you - or make you kill.

Set in 1970s Scotland, Miles Away is the story of Dacre, whose early life has been disturbed by phobias which now threaten his first relationship.

Dacre searches for the cause of his phobias, but the loss of a friend who found it all too much makes him understand the risks he is taking by exploring his subconscious. Shocking family secrets are exhumed, amongst them his own repressed memories of gruesome murders - crimes that remain unsolved and apparently unconnected.

Review: This is the debut novel of the author and is a psychological crime thriller set in 1970s Scotland. It follows the main protagonist Gordon Dacre as he leaves school and settles into his first few years at Aberdeen University, although there are flashbacks to his childhood and early schooldays.

The author is a retired doctor with an interest in psychology. Hence, there is a strong emphasis in the book on Gordon’s phobias and the use of hypnotherapy. The story moves at a fast pace as he tries to come to terms with his phobias and find explanations for his strange dreams involving a series of apparently unrelated murders. However, I did find the ending a little rushed as the various strands came together.

The settings, mainly Aberdeen and Edinburgh, were well described, and being familiar with several of them, I could picture myself in the middle of the action. The problems of communication between the different Police Force areas in Scotland in the 1970s, prior to the general adoption of a national computerised record system, are also well set out. I should add a care warning that some of the descriptions of the murders are very gruesome. Overall, I found this an interesting crime thriller with many twists that kept me guessing as to the final outcome.

To order your copy now, just click here!

Guest Review: The Hidden Secrets of Bumblebee Cottage by Christie Barlow

A new start…

When Jinny Birdwhistle is pushed over the edge one time too many times and quits her job as a tabloid journalist, an impromptu – and rather unconventional – job search leads her to a new house, car, and career making honey and chutney in the small Scottish village of Heartcross. And with handsome beekeeper Gabe Warner to help her learn the ropes, she’s ready to embrace ‘country girl life’ and leave the past behind her.

…uncovers an old secret

Yet there’s more to strong and silent Gabe than meets the eye and though Jinny planned to leave her journalistic instincts in London, she can’t help doing a little digging. Now, as she uncovers a mystery that links to her own history, Jinny realises that you can’t outrun the truth and the only way to move forward is to face the past. But now that she’s at home in Heartcross, she won’t have to do it alone…

Review: This book is number 10 in the Love Heart Lane series from this author. The stories are set in the little Scottish highland village of Heartcross, a handy map of which is included at the beginning of this book. I have been following the series since book 1, and have enjoyed reconnecting with local residents in each new book, as well as meeting up with newcomers. Since everybody in the village says that once you arrive in Heartcross you never want to leave, there is an ever growing cast of characters in these books, but each can still be read as a standalone. 

The central character in this story is Jinny, a tabloid journalist who has been working for her father since leaving school. Having become increasingly disenamoured with the nature of her job, she works up courage to confront her father and walk out, leaving behind her luxury London apartment and top of the range car. An advert for a job in the Scottish village of Heartcross with a business producing chutney and honey that comes with the lovely Bumblebee Cottage has her making the long journey by train and bus for an interview. Having secured the position, she is delighted by everything and everyone in the village, and feels particularly lucky to have handsome and patient beekeeper Gabe by her side as she learns the job. As she gets closer to Gabe, she can’t help feeling that there is a mystery surrounding him that the journalist in her simply has to explore. However, how will what she discovers affect the growing attraction between them?

As a big fan of this series of books, I expected to enjoy this one, but it even surpassed my expectations and is my favourite one yet. Not only did I love meeting a few of the residents of Heartcross again, there was an interesting newcomer to the area, a whiff of romance and a mystery to untangle as an added bonus. I really liked the main characters, Jinny and Gabe, both hiding secrets of their own. She was so brave to strike out for a new life in a new environment, while he was amazingly calm and considerate whilst all the while dealing with memories from the past. I really envied Jinny for being able to stay in the beautiful Bumblebee Cottage, with its thatched roof, comfortable rooms and wonderful far-stretching gardens. I can recommend this book, and indeed all of the books in this series. Although they can be read as standalone stories, I would recommend reading them in order to get a good picture of the village and its inhabitants. I am already looking forward to and have preordered the next book in the series.  

To order your copy now, just click here!