Book Review - A Summer Reunion by Fanny Blake

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Title: A Summer Reunion

Author: Fanny Blake

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 13th June 2019 

Rating: 5 Stars

One perfect villa, four old friends, and a holiday that will change everything...

Amy, Linda, Kate and Jane were best friends at school. Now, years later, they have grown apart. When Amy discovers her husband has been stealing from her successful interiors business, and with a milestone birthday looming, she decides it is the time to reach out to her old friends once again.

So, she decides to invite the other three to her beautiful villa in Mallorca for a reunion weekend. As the four friends gather, secrets are unearthed, old scores settled and new friendships forged. Will this holiday bring them together or tear them apart? And will each of them grasp their second chance for happiness...?

After the first four chapters, one for each of the main characters, you could tell instantly that they all had secrets, and had an inkling they were all remembering the school year they were last together, aged 17, in a different light to each other. 

We get hints along the way, about Amy's side of things but she is keen in light of recent events to finally see if she could set the record straight about that incident, in order to help her accept her latest blows in her life. 

The ladies haven't been reunited until Amy invites them all out to her villa in Mallorca, and its clear early on that tensions run high, through these ladies in their sixties.  All of them have accepted the invitation more because they need an escape from a decision in their own lives, than any real desire to reconnect as a group. 

So it is rather interesting to see everything, from all the points of view, and get to know about Amy, Linda, Kate and Jane's lives.  It was rather hard to have any empathy at all for Jane, but the other ladies were all wonderful and I really did enjoy seeing their stories develop over the long weekend in Mallorca. 

Having worked two summer seasons in Mallorca, I feel I know the bare bones of the island at least, and although I don't know the area near Soller other than by name, nor the other areas mentioned just by name, everything did feel incredibly authentic and and very much Mallorcan.  

There are plenty of secrets in this book, and I couldn't get enough of our leading ladies.  I loved their differences and even Jane who I really wasn't keen on, did have some admirable qualities, and is probably more misguided in her actions than truly malicious! 

I'm not sure I'd want to spend a long weekend abroad with anyone that I went to school with, but it is a book that makes you think what you would do in that sort of situation.  

This is a book about 4 strong women, facing their next steps in life at an advanced age, and seeing just how they can cope with the challenges thrown at them, while trying to get resolution on their childhood at long last. 

I loved every moment of A Summer Reunion, and to me its easily one of Fanny Blake's most enjoyable and best books. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - An Italian Summer by Fanny Blake - #HolidayReading Book 1

Book 1 of 28 read on my holiday to Cyprus in June 2018.

The Amazon Purchase link below is an Amazon Affiliate link.

Amazon UK

Title: An Italian Summer

Author: Fanny Blake

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 26th July 2018 

Rating: 4.5 Stars

A compelling novel about friendship, family secrets and second chances, set against the backdrop of southern Italy.

Sandy is in her fifties, and at a crossroads in her life: she's a teacher and respected by her pupils, but she feels she is being sidelined in favour of younger colleagues. So when her mother dies, leaving her a sealed envelope addressed to an unknown woman living in Naples, Sandy decides to head to Italy to resolve the mystery by delivering the letter herself.

She books herself on to a small sightseeing trip from Rome to Naples and the Amalfi Coast, hoping to meet some like-minded people along the way. Who is the mysterious woman she is searching for? And will Sandy find friendship, or even love, along the way...?

What better way to spend a plane ride to Cyprus, than with Fanny Blake's newest book, and a virtual trip to Italy, Rome and Naples to be precise.

I enjoyed spending time with everyone on this group tour around two of Italy's top cities and tourist destinations and really thought the characters experiences got a feel for where they were, the food, culture, and everything Italian. 

What also interested me were the group dynamics, and the different reasons for being on the trip.

Sandy is at the heart of this story and she has a mystery to solve while in Naples, and we also get snippets of journals from a similar trip her mum made in the 50's. 

Was interesting to see some parallels, and also how Sandy was coping with a difficult few years.

Between rivalries, secrets, sunshine, some fabulous storytelling, and look at Italy, this was an absorbing book which kept me very entertained from start to finish of my 4+ hour flight! 

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Our Summer Together by Fanny Blake - #HolidayReading 17

Book 17 of 30 that I read on my holiday to Fuerteventura in December 2017

Amazon UK

Title: Our Summer Together

Author: Fanny Blake

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 13th July 2017 

Rating: 4 Stars

Caro knows how to be a mother - advising her grown-up daughters on career and relationship worries. She knows how to be a grandmother - enjoying the hectic energy of her three-year-old grandson. She knows how to be a daughter - helping her aging mother retain her independence.

She thought she knew everything about being a wife, but when her husband suddenly leaves her for another woman, everything is thrown in the air. So, when a chance meeting introduces her to Damir - younger, intriguing and attentive - she realises that opening up to a man so different from everyone else in her life, might also mean getting to know who she really is...

Great story about finding love in your later years of your life, whether it will last forever or just one summer. 

Really enjoyed this story, which was well written, and evidently really well researched given the background for Damir. 

I wasn't too keen on the rather selfish grown up daughters, but could understand why they were behaving like they were, 

This is just a really sweet story that I wish I had read when I wasn't feeling very ill, and thus may have enjoyed even more. 

Thank you to Orion and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review & Giveaway - House of Dreams by Fanny Blake - Blog Tour

Amazon UK

Title: House of Dreams

Author: Fanny Blake

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Publisher supplied review copy

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 5th November 2015 

Rating: 5 Stars

Only a weekend in Spain - what could possibly go wrong?

At their family hilltop villa, Lucy awaits the arrival of her brother and sister for their mother's annual birthday party. Although this time, their mother won't be there.

Struggling at Malaga airport with her fractious four year old, Jo has already lost her case and is dreading arriving without its precious contents.

For Tom, returning to Casa de Sueños stirs up all sorts of memories - then a beautiful face from his past appears . . .

Over one long, hot weekend, past secrets will spill out as three siblings discover more about their family and each other in this gorgeous, warm and witty new novel from Fanny Blake.

House of Dreams was one of those books that called to me repeatedly until I picked it up to start reading it. The cover is gorgeous, and the setting of the Casa de Sueños is warm and lovely. 

This is all about siblings Tom, Jo and Lucy, who have recently lost their mother, Hope. She was aware she was dieing, and made various plans for events after her death. The main one, which the book focuses on, is the party being held at the house, on her birthday, despite no longer being alive enough to attend. 

What we soon discover is that all three of the siblings, have secrets in their pasts, some of which are more obviously revealed than others at first. Although the first half of the book is really good, I found the second half, from the pre-party dinner the night before, until the end to be incredibly gripping and compulsive reading. 

I wanted to know what would happen next, and by the time some of the secrets start coming out, I really didn't want to stop reading at all. 

I found I felt a whole range of emotions reading House of Dreams, from sadness, to laughing at some of the situations the extended family find themselves in, to adrenalin pumping at various points, when they feel their kids may have been in danger. 

Fanny Blake shows herself to have a great sense of humour in House of Dreams, as there are some fabulous comedic moments, starting from Malaga airport and the loss of Jo's case (which was almost a complete disaster), to the stickering of possessions, to the dinner party in the restaurant and those are just some that stood out. 

During the four days in the lead up to, and aftermath of the birthday party, all 3 of the siblings feel they are starting to understand Hope a lot better, and its great to see how their attitudes change towards her, throughout the book. 

There is a great cast of secondary characters in addition to the siblings, with Daphne and Maria being ones to watch out for. 

The House of Dreams is a heart warming and loving story, and brings Fanny Blake back to her best. 

Thank you so much to Elaine Egan at Orion for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

Giveaway to win a paperback copy of House of Dreams (UK Only)

If  you like the sound of this book, then this is the giveaway for you. I am giving the readers of Rachel's Random Reads a chance to win their own copy of  House of Dreams in paperback. 

Giveaway open residents of the UK only, due to postage costs (I will do more international giveaways soon), all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 15/11/2015. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

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Book Review - The Secrets Women Keep by Fanny Blake

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Title: The Secrets Women Keep

Author: Fanny Blake

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 31st July 2014

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Rose waits for her family to arrive at their villa in Tuscany when a casual glance at her husband's phone tips her world upside down. The text reads simply: 'Miss you. Love you. Come back soon.'

Daniel has always been popular with women, she knows that. But until this moment she has had no cause for worry. Has something shifted within their marriage without her realising?

As the family gathers for the summer break, Rose's faith in Daniel is shaken. How well does she really know him? She fears that, after decades of marriage and children, the man who lies beside her at night is lying in other ways too. Then events take a tragic turn.

I had high hopes for this new book by Fanny Blake, having previously enjoyed 2 of her other books. However I felt that this wasn't quite as good as those, and a bit of a slow burner. Once I was into the story, about half way through, I realised I was enjoying it, and that the first 200 pages were mainly setting everything up.

The Secrets Women Keep features quite a large family, since the main characters Rose and Eve are slightly more mature women. They both have grown up children, and in Rose's case a grandchild already.  To start with I was very confused with how the characters were connected, so I'm going to try and simplify it.

Rose is married to Daniel Rose's brother is Terry who is married to Eve. Daniel and Eve have past romantic history. Jess is married to Adam, and they have a child called Dylan. Jess and Anna are Rose and Daniel's children. Eve has children but they aren't key to the plot. 

Rose throughout the story is riddled with secrets. Not just her own, but those of Eve, and Terry too. Rose proves herself to be a valuable confidant to her family around her, despite her own life starting to crash around her.

I found at first Anna and Jess to be selfish and not really likeable, but as the story grows, you start to feel a lot more sympathy for them. To be completely honest, I'm not sure how many characters I felt a proper emotional bond with.

The Secrets Women Keep is split into five separate parts to show the passing of time, so you kept getting a new snapshot of how life in the family was progressing. 

I really hope that this book was just a blip for Fanny Blake and that her next ones are back to original very high quality.