Book Review - Christmas at Lock Keeper's Cottage by Lucy Coleman

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Title: Christmas at Lock Keeper's Cottage

Author: Lucy Coleman

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 3rd September 

Rating: 4 Stars

Join us for Christmas in the Cotswolds in this perfect festive escape, from the bestselling Lucy Coleman.

Imogen Tolliman never knew her mother. And when an accident robs Immi of her father too, she goes to live with her grandfather, Tollie, in his picturesque lock-keeper’s cottage by the Aysbury marina.

Tollie is the star of the Santa Ahoy Special each Christmas – a festive boat ride along the canal that enthralls both children and adults alike. And as Immi grows up, she starts to appreciate the magical community she is lucky enough to live in.

When Immi meets Gray Adams, she instantly realises he’s someone special. And as their relationship gets serious, they start to plan for the Christmas to beat all Christmases.

But as the day approaches, and the romantic snow showers turn into blizzards, their dream of a Christmas to remember, looks set to be one they’ll never forget - for all the wrong reasons. Can they salvage the festivities, or will old secrets that are finally uncovered turn Immi’s life upside down forever?

Let Lucy Coleman transport you away to a dreamy Cotswolds Christmas full of snowflakes and secrets, log fires, mistletoe, friends and much-loved traditions. Perfect for all fans of Trisha Ashley, Holly Martin and Sue Moorcroft.

What an eventful Christmas that was, well nothing is ever smooth running in fiction! And this really had all manner of drama, revelations and even had me gasping in shock right towards the end of the story. 

Yet I also feel there are possibly some loose ends, to the extent I wonder if there will be a sequel, as I would happily read more from Immie, Gray and everyone in Aysbury, which have become like my family over the last few days while I have been reading this.

I absolutely adore the the idea of the Santa Ahoy Cruises on the the canal, especially the ones featuring rather special Little Stars.  Tollie makes a fabulous Santa, and Immie is a rather great elf. 

Immie is such a lovely and kind hearted character, she is happy to put everyone else first, even if it does end up with her putting on Christmas dinner for perhaps more than would have been anticipated, and she does panic quite rightly. 

There is also an unlikely friendship struck up with Mrs Price, who is such a revelation as the story progresses. 

And then there is Gray, who clearly loves Immie, and although I didn't feel like you got to know him that well, when we did see him, I really did like him, and they are well suited. 

This is heartwarming, festive, and just an all around good story to read, with plenty going on both with regards Christmas, and also the sense of community, and friendships.  I'd certainly welcome a return to Aysbury in the future. 

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

Book Review - Summer in Provence by Lucy Coleman

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Title: Summer in Provence

Author: Lucy Coleman

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 7th April 2020

Rating:  5 Stars

Is a change as good as a rest?
When married couple Fern and Aiden have a windfall, their reactions could not be more different. While Fern is content to pay off their mortgage and build a nest egg before starting a family, her husband is set on traveling the world.

Fern’s not much of a back-packer so, before she knows it, the idea of a ‘marriage gap year’ takes shape. And, as Aiden heads off to the wilds of Australia, Fern chooses the more restful Provence for her year out.

Set amidst the glorious French scenery, Château de Vernon offers a retreat from the hustle and bustle of normal life, and Fern agrees to help out in return for painting lessons from the owner – renowned, but rather troubled, painter Nico.

As their year unfolds in very different ways, will the time apart transform their marriage, or will it drive Fern and Aiden even further apart…

Let Lucy Coleman whisk you off on a heart-warming, sun-drenched and magical French adventure.

Please can I move to Provence and live at The Haven? I'm utterly enchanted with the setting of this book, a Chateau in Provence which offers various retreats and a chance to learn new creative skills, or start a new hobby. It offers volunteer positions too, and everyone that lives and works there has a real community and family dynamic.   It sounded like a marvellous way of life. 

It was a brave decision that after having a decent lottery win that Aiden and Fern decide to take a year out of their regular lives.  Aiden has always wanted to travel and explore the world, where Fern is more of a homebody, happy worrying about her family and being there for them continually. 

But once she reluctantly agrees to let Aiden spread his wings, she decides to indulge in a forgotten love of drawing and thus goes to volunteer at this retreat.  What neither of them could have predicted is in what ways a year apart would change them both. 

From the moment Fern sets foot in the Chateau and we meet who she will be spending time with, I felt incredibly relaxed, very comfortable and was just happy to sit back and absorb myself within the pages. 

It is a fabulous cast of characters and the story lines were so engaging. I loved Nico and his backstory, I enjoyed seeing Kellie come out of her shell, I enjoyed seeing how Fern's relationship with her family changed the more time she spent in Provence. 

And the grounds, and sights even just around the Chateau were vividly described, as were some of Nico and Fern's paintings. I could picture the studio and some of the various canvases.   It felt as though there is something for everyone within this feel good story. 

I felt incredibly peaceful as I was reading,  was gutted when it ended as I was so enraptured, but the way Lucy Coleman finished it all off, was rather special and felt like we had almost bonus material from the DVD.. which will make more sense once you read it yourself! 

Another truly wonderful book from this author that always manages to make me smile. 

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily, 

Book Review - A Springtime to Remember by Lucy Coleman - #HolidayReading Mexico

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Title: A Springtime to Remember

Author: Lucy Coleman

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books 

Publication Date: 26th December 2019

Rating: 4 Stars

Let Lucy Coleman transport you to glorious, sun-drenched France, for the perfect feel-good read.Paris and the Palace of Versailles have always meant a lot to TV producer Lexie. Her grandma Viv spent a year there, but her adventures and memories were never discussed, and Lexie has long wondered why they were a family secret.

When work presents the perfect excuse to spend Springtime in Versailles, Lexie delves into Viv’s old diaries and scrapbooks, and with the help of handsome interpreter Ronan, she is soon learning more about the characters that tend to the magnificent gardens, now and in the past.

In amongst the beauty and splendour of the French countryside, a story of lost love, rivalry and tragedy unfolds. Can Lexie and Ronan right the wrongs of the past, and will France play its tricks on them both before Lexie has to go home? Will this truly be a Springtime to Remember…?

Let Lucy Coleman sweep you away with this perfect feel-good love story. Perfect for fans of Holly Martin, Sue Moorcroft and Heidi Swain.

It is clear from the detailed descriptions that the author has a clear affinity for The Palace of Versailles. 

Personally I'm not as keen on the building, or it's history, but I didn't let the sections that seemed to be dedicated to the Palace itself detract me from the story being told. 

And in fact everything to do with the gardens, I did find very interesting, which is lucky since Lexie is filming a series about the gardens and gardeners of Versailles. 

She is also determined to find out just what happened during her grandmother's year working there in the 60s, as it was never spoken about. 

Ronan is the chosen interpreter for this project but he also has a personal connection to the gardens, and its quite clear that there is a spark between him and Lexie very early on. 

I enjoyed the various plot points, and the writing, and although it's not my favourite book from the author, I still thought it was really good and entertaining. 

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily, 

Book Review - Magic Under The Mistletoe by Lucy Coleman - Blog Tour

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Title: Magic Under The Mistletoe

Author: Lucy Coleman

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Aria

Publication Date: 5th September 2019

Rating: 4 Stars 

Christmas and romance are in the air...
It's December 23rd and while everyone else is rushing home for the holidays, workaholic Leesa Oliver is dreading switching on her out-of-office for the festive season. And it seems her equally driven boss, Cary Anderson, isn't relishing spending Christmas at his family's country estate either.

So together, they draft an unexpected Christmas contract: They'll spend half of the holidays with each other's families, pretending to be a couple. Leesa knows the insufferably good-looking Cary will make her Christmas more bearable, but what happens after the last of the mince pies have been eaten...?

Leesa signed off on a sensible business agreement, but somewhere, amongst the fairy lights and carols something seems to have changed... It seems there might just be some magic under the mistletoe this Christmas!

A unique take on the fake date trope.  

Wow there is a lot of story in this book, there are so many threads, characters, storylines, with more developing the whole time, that by the time I'm trying to write this review, I can't work out what was early enough in the book I dare comment on. 

Cary and Leesa start as colleagues and get to know each other a bit better on a long haul flight back from Sydney and then with some bad weather, Leesa ends up going to Cary's family home for the night. 

Neither of them are particularly relishing their Christmas this year,  Leesa it turns out for incredibly good reason. 

Even as we got to know Cary better, I still couldn't quite gel with him, I can't put my finger on it.  I liked him, I just didn't fall for him at all.  I loved his grandma though, Cressida was wonderful.   Actually I loved all of Cary's family more than Leesa's. 

There are all manner of secrets and surprises to be uncovered as you turn the pages, its certainly a book that keeps you on your toes.  Plenty going on in it, but equally really easy to follow. 

At times I wanted to slam Leesa and Cary's heads together, at others I wondered if we learnt a bit too much about their working lives.  I really felt for Leesa at times, and the rest I wasn't as sure.   I suspect that had I connected to characters a bit more, I would have enjoyed the book even more, than I did.  But that is more down to personal preference than anything particularly wrong with the book. 

It is a really enjoyable story, and where Christmas is involved it does feel festive, especially the finale.  

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

Please do follow along with the other blogs on this tour

Book Review - Summer on the Italian Lakes by Lucy Coleman

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Title: Summer on the Italian Lakes

Author: Lucy Coleman

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Aria

Publication Date: 5th February 2019

Rating: 5 Stars

Bestselling Brianna Middleton has won the hearts of millions of readers with her sweeping - and steamy - love stories. But the girl behind the typewriter is struggling... Not only does she have writer's block, but she's a world-famous romance author with zero romance in her own life.

So the opportunity to spend the summer teaching at a writer's retreat in an idyllic villa on the shores of Lake Garda - owned by superstar author Arran Jamieson - could this be just the thing to fire up Brie's writing - and romantic - mojo?

Brie's sun-drenched Italian summer could be the beginning of this writer's very own happy-ever-after...

This has to be a dream book for a book lover, or anyone with any sorts of writing aspirations, or those who love Italy, or sexy heroes, or just an all around fabulous story. 

I have no idea where to start in waxing lyrical about all aspects of this book,  I really don't think I could fault anything. 

I mean Brie is a romance writer that verges more towards the hot and steamy side of things, but her real life persona is a lot quieter, she is struggling after a rather high profile break up, to the extent her friends and family need to stage an intervention. 

Throughout the book we get to know a lot about her writing process, and how the characters come to life in her head. She is writing two  books at the same time, and gets involved in another one too, so that is a lot of Brie's fictional characters we get to know as she writes her books. 

Thankfully, unlike some books where authors are the main characters, there isn't a full book within a book style approach here, which I am grateful of, as I always find it confusing, and besides hearing about the creative process was far more interesting to me. 

The book really gets going when she takes over last minute as a teacher on a writing retreat for a month in Lake Garda, Italy.  Such a stunning inspirational location, and the Villa which is so central to the story is owned by the rather more academic author Arran, who is not at all like Brie was imagining. 

I loved getting to know the participants for the first week of the writing retreat, and also learning all about Arran too. Not to mention the gorgeous backdrop, interesting information about publishing from some of the workshops, plus Carrie - both Brie and Arran's agent,  the Italian food, the couple of planned excursions. 

And yet you may be thinking I'm portraying a rather simple book - but that couldn't be further from the truth as both Arran and Brie are complex characters, with all manner of things in their backgrounds that are influencing how they are. 

Plus Arran is instrumental to so many of they key story lines.   I couldn't get enough of our pair of authors, and was always eager to return, when real life dragged me away from the book. 

Words... or at least my words can not do this book justice. You really need go read it for yourself to fully enjoy its wonderfulness! 

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

Book Review - Snowflakes Over Holly Cove by Lucy Coleman - Blog Tour

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Title: Snowflakes Over Holly Cove

Author: Lucy Coleman

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Publisher supplied copy

Publisher: Aria

Publication Date: 18th September 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

As the snowflakes start to fall, Holly Cove welcomes a new tenant to the beautiful old cottage on the beach...

For lifestyle magazine journalist Tia Armstrong, relationships, as well as Christmas, have lost all their magic. Yet Tia is up against a Christmas deadline for her latest article 'Love is, actually, all around'...

So Tia heads to Holly Cove where the restorative sea air, and rugged stranger Nic, slowly but surely start mending her broken heart.

Tia didn't expect a white Christmas, and she certainly never dared dream that all her Christmas wishes might just come true...

Set in Caswell Bay on the stunningly rugged Gower Coast, the cottage nestles amid the limestone cliffs and the woodlands; the emotions run as turbulently as the wind-swept sea.

What a charming story,  which kept me entertained from start to finish. 

I loved getting to discover the Gower Coast an in particular Holly Cove which sounded lovely.  I enjoyed getting to know the locals to the area, especially Max and Nic. 

I especially was interested in both Tia's friendships between Max and also Nic, and she was gaining different things from both men. 

Tia is still coming to terms with the loss of her mother, but through it there is a silver lining, she is back in touch with her brother, and may start getting to know her estranged niece.  

This whole book had a lovely heartwarming feel to it, and although its predominately set throughout the year, it does a bit of a festive slant to it, with Tia writing articles for the November, December and January issues of the magazine she writes for in the early summer.   The various couples she interviews are all interesting and I liked how Tia was able to draw people into her, and get them chatting. 

This does mean the book doesn't need to be saved for when you are doing your Christmas reading and can easily be enjoyed year round. 

There were plenty of unexpected moments in the book which kept me wondering whether I had missed any vital clues.  Plenty of secrets to uncover and there is a scene of high drama that me on the edge of my seat. 

It is a very enjoyable read and I look forward to more from Lucy Coleman in the future. 

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

Book Review - The French Adventure by Lucy Coleman - Bookish World Cup - France

Amazon UK

Title: The French Adventure

Author: Lucy Coleman

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Aria

Publication Date: 1st February 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Suddenly unemployed and single, Anna escapes to her parents' beautiful house in France for a much needed recharge – and to work out what she wants to do next with her life now her carefully mapped out plan has gone out the window.

Anna gives herself 6 months to recuperate, all the while helping renovate her parents' adjoining gites into picturesque B&Bs. But working alongside the ruggedly handsome Sam on the renovation project, she didn't expect for life to take an unexpected, if not unwelcome, twist...

Being a big fan of Linn B Halton, I was delighted to discover that she was Lucy Coleman too, as I figure it means just more of her books to read! The French Adventure did feel a bit different to her other books, possibly as its quite a bit longer, and there is was nothing in that made me have to ignore my disbelief of strange happenings! 

Now The French Adventure was great, from the first few chapters I was interested in Anna and her relationship with Karl, and her feelings towards him, I was also curious about the title and when this adventure would begin. 

Well didn't take too long for the openings to sort itself out and wow what a despicable excuse for a human being Karl turns out to be, but I will leave it to you to read to discover why I disliked him so much. 

Anna decides the only thing for it is to have a 6 month working holiday in France, helping to renovate the gites at her parents new B&B.  I loved seeing the interactions between her and builder Sam, as we learn far more about pointing than I have ever understood before. 

There is a bit of an unexpected discovery in the first gite which leads to a rather interesting sub plot which I thoroughly enjoyed, and also lead to us getting to know quite a few of the other villagers in the area, as well as road trips to other near by towns and villages, so getting to see more of France which I enjoyed. 

This is a sedate book in terms of the romantic coupling you may be expecting from early on but there is plenty of other storylines and characters to keep you entertained, and i loved learning all about Sam and Anna's pasts as well as their present. 

This was an lovely story to read out in my garden on a hot May Bank Holiday weekend,  and I think the unusual heat I was experiencing helped add to the atmosphere of what I was reading.   I am looking forward to seeing what Lucy Coleman releases next. 

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