Book Review - What Happens in Cornwall by T A Williams - Cornish Week

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Title:  What Happens in Cornwall

Author: T. A. Williams

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Carina

Publication Date: 20th July 2015

Rating: 4 Stars

For a very British summer holiday…

When archaeologist Sam realises her relationship is as dead as the skeletons she’s exhuming, she knows it’s time to make a change. But with bills to pay her options are limited…until a discovery on Rock Island in Cornwall gives her a reason to escape…

Head to the Cornish coast!

In Cornwall, questions are thrown up at every turn: who is the glamorous owner of Rock Island that the paparazzi are so interested in? How has the irresistible, but impossibly arrogant, history professor James Courtney managed to get so far under Sam’s skin? And will it ever stop raining so Sam can lose the cagoule and sip a cool drink in the sun? One thing’s for sure: there’s never been a holiday quite like this one!

Enjoy a summer of surprises and romance with What Happens in Cornwall…, the perfect retreat for fans of Fern Britton

Sam is coming to the realisation that her relationship with Neil may be over, and it feels like her job is a bit unexciting too, so she is delighted when she has the opportunity of a weekend in Cornwall. When in Cornwall she goes off kayaking one morning, and when the whether turns, what was a pleasant time, turns into a terrifying experience. 

She ends up on the mysterious Rock Island, a small historical island off the coast of Cornwall. It is there she meets the incredibly private owner, and they get talking. After some persuasion, and the find of a bone by a dog, it is agreed that Sam and her team can do an archaeological dig on the island.  

The archaeologists aren't the only one interested in Rock Island this summer, the paparazzi have had a tip off about the new owner of the island and they have been ordered get "top-e-less" pictures of who they think the owner is.  

There are chapters from the paparazzi's point of view and the initial reaction and stereotypes the Italian paparazzi have of Cornwall, and England in general are hilarious. In fact most of the chapters involving Giancarlo are incredibly funny. 

Add in the new professors to the university where Sam is studying, both of which are hiding something, and the incredibly down to earth person who owns Rock Island, and you have some budding romances on the Cornish coast. 

T.A. Williams manages to get the scenery and changeability of the weather for Cornwall spot on. I had a really good idea of what Rock Island was looking light, as well as the dig site once they start. 

I found this book started a bit slow but then was progressively more interesting as it proceeded. By the end I was completely loving it, and was fully engaged.  I'm sorry to say this wasn't my favourite T.A. Williams book, I still really loved it though. 

Overall I think What Happens in Cornwall is an entertaining summery romance book, with some brilliant parts to it. 

Thanks so much to Carina and Netgalley for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

Guest Post & Giveaway - T.A. Williams on What does Cornwall Means to Me? - Cornish Week

I am delighted to welcome T.A. Williams to Rachel's Random Reads today, as part of my Cornish Week. He has decided to tell us what Cornwall means to him.

Photo credit: Visit Cornwall, Matt Jessop

I consider myself very fortunate to have been born and brought up in England’s Westcountry. I now live just outside Exeter and, for me, Cornwall is less than an hour’s drive from here. As a little boy, growing up, we used to go for family holidays to the north Cornish coast, and it was there that I developed a love of surfing and a love for the county of Cornwall. 

   A little bit of history: when the Romans invaded England 2000 years ago, they fought their way westwards and got as far down as the Cornish border and there they stopped, faced with the barren wilderness of Bodmin Moor and the ferocious defence put up by the Celtic tribes living there. Then five centuries later, after the Romans had left, the Saxons invaded, but they, too, stopped when the going got tough. The main problem nowadays is another invasion: this time from people snapping up properties to use as second homes, raising house prices to an unaffordable level for many locals. Cornwall and the Cornish remain a fiercely independent people, proud of their heritage. They still have a language although, let’s be honest, it’s not exactly being spoken by a load of people. In the 2011 census 557 people claimed it as their main language (but that may have been as a result of too much St Austell ale). Still, it is a symbol of the pride that the Cornish feel for their land. 

   So, what is their land? The north Cornish coast is rough and rugged with ferocious reefs, imposing granite cliffs and immaculate sandy beaches.

Photo Credit: Visit Cornwall, Adam Gibbard

    The south coast, while still rocky, is softer and more welcoming, with fishing villages and harbours.

Photo Credit: Visit Cornwall, Adam Gibbard

When I was looking for a setting for my latest book, What Happens in Cornwall…, I chose the south coast and I located an island there. Rock Island doesn’t exist in reality, but is a composite of St Michael’s Mount, Burgh Island and King Arthur’s Castle at Tintagel. On the island is a luxury millionaire’s residence, housing a camera-shy celebrity. On the mainland, in Tregossick, the paparazzi are lurking, struggling to handle full English breakfasts every morning and six pints of Old Bastard every evening in the Smugglers Arms. This little village is also invented, but it draws upon a number of little seaside villages along the south Cornwall coast. The muddle of little cottages and a pub are squeezed onto a strip of shore between the beach and the cliffs and in front of them, 500 yards out, is the island.

The book is all about Sam(antha). She’s 30; brainy, beautiful, but unhappy. Alongside her is her best friend, Becky, whose search for a man (preferably a millionaire with an awesome body) is getting ever more desperate. Together, they travel to Rock Island to search for treasure. As the book progresses, Sam finds herself suffering the unwelcome attentions of one handsome professor, while the other handsome man in her life remains cold and aloof. It isn’t easy, even if the scenery is gorgeous, the cider cool, the seafood delightful and the (inevitable in my books) black Labrador on the island adorable.  

I had a lot of fun writing What Happens in Cornwall… and I hope anybody who happens upon it enjoys reading it as much as I did writing it.

Author Bio:

My name is Trevor Williams and I'm a man. I thought I'd better point that out as my books are designated by my publisher variously as "Women's Fiction" or "Chicklit". I write under the androgynous name of T A Williams in the hope that prospective readers won't be put off by the fact that I am in reality a bald old man. I have been writing for many years, but it's only in the last couple of years that I have found my niche, writing romantic comedy. I live in a little Devon village with my Italian artist wife. When I can tear myself away from the computer, I ride my bike or spend time in the garden, principally removing fox poo in summer and feeding the pheasants in winter. 



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Giveaway to win an e-copy of What Happens in Cornwall (open internationally)

T.A. Williams and Carina  have kindly offered readers of Rachel's Random Reads a chance to win an e-copy of What Happens in Cornwall, his latest book. 

Giveaway open to everyone, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 26/8/2015. 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.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you very much Trevor for the giveaway and very interesting post, and for getting my Cornish Week off to such a great start.

My review of What Happens in Cornwall will be posted shortly.