Book Review - The Book-Lovers' Retreat by Heidi Swain

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Title: The Book-Lovers' Retreat

Author: Heidi Swain

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 13th April 2023

Rating: 5 Stars

One long summer. One perfect setting. Can fiction inspire real life…?

 

Sometimes a book grabs you by the heart and grows to mean everything to you. That’s what Hope Falls is to friends Emily, Rachel and Tori. So, when they get the chance to spend a whole summer at the cottage in Lakeside where the film adaptation was located, they know it is going to be the holiday of a lifetime.

Spending six weeks away will give them a chance to re-evaluate their life choices. For Emily to decide which way her career will go – the safe route, or the more risky creative option? And for Rachel to decide whether to move in with her partner Jeremy. Then Tori has to drop out at the last moment, and her space is offered to another Hope Falls afficionado, Alex. 

But when Alex turns out not to be who they expected, the holiday takes an unforeseen turn. And as the summer develops, so does their friendship. Could this be where they uncover their future selves, find love in all its forms and where their lives will change course forever…?

What a wonderful pair of stories Heidi Swain has created.  For not only has she written this book, because it is set around the love of a book called Hope Falls that was also a movie, she has had to have at least a pretty good knowledge of this whole other fictional book. 

As I started reading I thought I was missing out on never having heard of Hope Falls and thus not really getting some of the references, but then I slowly came to the realisation (after checking google etc..) that it was clearly fictional, and that the author is a genius! 

By the end of this I felt I had a pretty good idea about the plot of Hope Falls and how it mirrors what our actual main characters are going through 

And it really is a summer retreat for the book lovers, well of this book, and set in a picturesque Lake District setting, it was simply gorgeous. 

I loved getting to know Em, Rachel, Alex, and Tori over the course of this book, as well as all the lovely locations.   Everyone has things to figure out in their lives, and are using the summer to make big decisions - be it in their personal or professional lives. 

I was enchanted by this story and didn't want it to end, it was so incredibly enjoyable.  And I would have loved to have spent time with the friends in their cottage for the summer - although some of their activities I would have perhaps been far more keen to pass on.  

Utterly lovely how an obsession over a film or book can lead to having a perfectly themed summer holiday. Just fabulous. 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.