Book Review - Finding Hope at Hillside Farm by Rachael Lucas

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Amazon UK

Title: Finding Hope at Hillside Farm

Author: Rachael Lucas

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Publication Date: 7th February 2019

Rating: 5 Stars

Finding Hope at Hillside Farm is a heartwarming tale of loss, love and new beginnings by Rachael Lucas.

Hillside Farm, nestled in the rolling hills of the Welsh countryside, is a safe haven for Ella. Working with her aunt Bron, she runs her own business, sharing her love of horses to help those in emotional need. Living on the remote farm, and with just the horses and her aunt for company, Ella thinks she has finally found a place where she can forget her own past and find peace.

But the arrival of a small girl called Hope and her father Harry changes everything. As Ella helps the pair come to terms with their loss, she realizes she too deserves happiness. But is it too late to find it?

It has been ages since there has been a new Rachael Lucas book (well I haven't read the YA ones, I'm afraid), and its such a joy to be able to read another wonderful story from this author. 

Previously before this book I had heard of animal therapy and apart from dogs, I hadn't really thought about any other animals with therapeutic qualities.  But seeing how Ella works with the horses and the people that come to her for equine therapy, I'm sold on the thought that horses can do a lot more for a person, than just be ridden. 

I loved Hillside Farm and what Ella is achieving with these horses. I loved seeing how she was moving out of her comfort zone to build the business while her aunt Bron is in Australia.  

In the small Welsh village that Ella lives in, Jenny and Leo are renting a cottage with their 8 year old granddaughter Hope. 

Hope is horse mad, has been through a tough time, and although Ella previously hadn't been working with children, she can't disappoint Hope and starts to work with her.  However nothing is as simple as it seems and Hope's father Harry, is a rather interesting character. 

I was also curious to discover just what had driven Ella to live in such a remote location, and the pasts of all the key players are fascinating.   

This has a lovely feel to the story, its uplifting, its heartwarming, there are horses, character development and they are all really likeable and relatable to.  Set in a picturesque location, this is a really great book that I could barely put down,  I was whizzing through the pages and couldn't believe how fast I was getting through the book.  Utterly absorbing and I wish I could meet all of Elle's horses. 

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

Book Review - The Greek Escape by Karen Swan - #HolidayReading Mexico

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Amazon UK

Title: The Greek Escape

Author: Karen Swan

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Publication Date: 12th July 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Before every new beginning, there must be an ending . . .

Running from heartbreak, Chloe Marston leaves her old life in London for a fresh start in New York. Working at a luxury concierge company, she makes other people’s lives run perfectly, even if her own has ground to a halt. But a terrible accident forces her to step into a new role, up close and personal with the company’s most esteemed and powerful clients. Charismatic Joe Lincoln is one of them and his every wish is her command, so when he asks her to find him a secluded holiday home in the Greek Islands, she sets about sourcing the perfect retreat.

But when Tom, her ex, unexpectedly shows up in Manhattan and the stability of her new life is thrown off-balance again, she jumps at the chance to help Joe inspect the holiday house; escaping to Greece will give her the time and space to decide where her future truly lies. Tom is the man she has loved for so long but he has hurt her before – can she give him another chance? And as she draws closer to Joe, does she even want to? As magnetic as he is mysterious, there’s an undeniable chemistry between them that she can’t resist.

But whatever her heart is telling her, she’s in over her head – another client’s wife has mysteriously disappeared and serious allegations about Joe threaten more than just her happiness. Who can she trust? And will Chloe uncover the truth in time?

I'll start by saying I was just mildly disappointed that we didn't get to see more of Greece than a small bit in this book.  

However that really was my only fault as I really enjoyed the rest of it,  And by the end the title even made sense to me!

 I loved Chloe's job and the demands the ultra rich were making on her. A luxury concierge service sounds like an interesting place to work. 

I also really enjoyed getting to know Chloe although I found her taste in men to be rather shocking!

There is mystery, intrigue, great locations, and an overall good story. 

This was a lovely bit of escapism that I enjoyed reading poolside one morning on holiday.   

Book Review - Something To Tell You by Lucy Diamond

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Amazon UK

Title: Something To Tell You

Author: Lucy Diamond

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Pan MacMillan

Publication Date: 24th January 2019

Rating: 4 Stars

When Frankie stumbles upon an unopened letter from her late mother, she’s delighted to have one last message from her . . . until she reads the contents and discovers the truth about her birth. Brimming with questions, she travels to York to seek further answers from the Mortimer family, but her appearance sends shockwaves through them all.

Meanwhile, Robyn Mortimer has problems of her own. Her husband John has become distant, and a chance remark from a friend leads Robyn to wonder exactly what he’s not been saying. Dare she find out more?

As for Bunny, she fell head over heels in love with Dave Mortimer when she first arrived in town, but now it seems her past is catching up with her. She can’t help wondering if he’ll still feel the same way about her if he discovers who she really is – and what she did.

As secrets tumble out and loyalties are tested, the Mortimers have to face up to some difficult decisions. With love, betrayal and dramatic revelations in the mix, this is one summer they’ll never forget.

To start with this book feels a bit overwhelming, there are a large number of characters, and the narrative swaps between focusing on a large number of the leading ladies at relatively quick intervals, so until I had worked out who was who and how they all fitted I was lost.  In fairness I started this while on a long haul flight and was exhausted, so it may not be just the book that led to me feeling disjointed as I read this! 

This is a book that explores family relationships, and proves that there is no such thing as a normal family any more. 

Frankie never met her father, but when she discovers who he is, she decided to rock up in person,  just a shame she had bad timing and it was Harry and Jeannie's Wedding Anniversary being celebrated that weekend. 

This leaves the heads of the Mortimer clan, at odds and ends, and Jeannie is especially unhappy. 

Meanwhile we get to know well other key women in this family dynamic too - Robyn who is married to John (one of Frankie's half brothers), Bunny who is going out with Dave (another of the siblings) and Paula (the half-sister).  We also get to know Alison, Robyn's mother too. 

All of the ladies have big struggles in their lives - John is hiding things from Robyn,  Bunny has a huge secret she has been hiding, Alison really needs to shake up her life, as all she does is work and watch TV, and Frankie, well there is a blast from the past for Craig her other half, and it really shakes them up too. 

There is conflict, secrets, lies, drama but also the good things about families too.  There are some amusing parts to this book and some more serious moments. 

I really enjoyed the variety of women that were featured, as well as learning about their families.   I didn't really have a favourite character, but apart from John who I really disliked, and Julia I didn't hate many either.  They are relateable too, especially if you have a large family and odds are you will recognise relatives within them. 

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

Book Review - The Winter Secret by Lulu Taylor

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Amazon UK

Title: The Winter Secret

Author: Lulu Taylor

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Publication Date: 29th November 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

‘My dear boy, the place is cursed. It always has been and it always will be . . .’

Buttercup Redmain has a life of pampered luxury, living in beautiful Charcombe Park. Her older husband, Charles Redmain, is wealthy and successful, and proud of the house he has painstakingly restored, once owned by a famous ancestor. Buttercup is surrounded by people who make her life delightfully easy. But the one thing she really wants seems impossible.

There are other discomforting realities: her husband’s ex-wife Ingrid still lives nearby although Buttercup has never met her. And it soon becomes clear that all the people who make Buttercup’s life so carefree are also watching her every move. Does she actually live in a comfortable but inescapable cage? And what is the real story of her husband’s previous marriage?

In the late 1940s, Xenia Arkadyoff lived in Charcombe Park with her father, a Russian prince, and her mother, a famous film star. Life seemed charmed, full of glamour and beauty. But behind the glittering facade lay pain, betrayal, and the truth about the woman Xenia spent her life protecting.

Now Charcombe Park is calling back people who were once part of its story, and the secrets that have stayed long hidden are bubbling inexorably to the surface . . .

My head is reeling, from that completely addictive conclusion to a wonderful book. 

This is easily Lulu Taylor back to her best, and one of my favourite books by this author for a few years at least.  

No idea where to start this review - there are quite a few threads to this story, but separated enough by chapters and where necessary year headings to make it very easy to follow and not be confused.  In fact despite the length of the book, I found it to be a very fast story to read, and was gutted any time I had to put it down to get on with my real life. 

The book all centres around Charcombe Park, a massive house which although magnificent to the outsiders eye, has had a chequered history.   We learn about a few of the generations of people living in it and the two smaller properties either side of it.    

There is Buttercup Redmain, wife of Charles Redmain who currently owns the house.  She lives to the untrained eye a wonderful life full of great riches, and the freedom to not work, and just do as she wishes.  However as the reader starts to delve beneath the surface, you soon see the truth of the situation.  

She however is not the first Mrs Redmain, and she doesn't know much about Ingrid who was, only what she has been told, but she is highly curious, but unsure who she can trust.  Ingrid lives in one of the two smaller properties, despite being divorced from Charles. 

Then there is Xenia, she also used to live in Charcombe Park, with her famous actress mother and father.  We get to learn about life in the late 1940s, and 1950s from Xenia's perspective and there is definitely an interesting story line about her mother in that.  We also get to see her as an old lady now, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. 

Actually I had a great deal of sympathy for all three of the key ladies in this story, as the truth starts to emerge.   

This is a book that definitely crept under my skin as I was reading it, and when I wasn't I was thinking about it, wondering just what direction the story would take.    

I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this novel, and already looking forward to seeing that this author writes next. 

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

Book Review - The Christmas Lights by Karen Swan

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Amazon UK

Title: The Christmas Lights

Author: Karen Swan

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Pan

Publication Date: 1st November 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

Set on the scenic fjords of Norway, The Christmas Lights by bestselling author Karen Swan is a moving Christmas tale of love and heartbreak. 

December 2018, and free-spirited Influencers Bo Loxley and her partner Zac are living a life of wanderlust, travelling the globe and sharing their adventures with their millions of fans. Booked to spend Christmas in the Norwegian fjords, they set up home in a remote farm owned by enigmatic mountain guide Anders and his fierce grandmother Signy. Surrounded by snowy peaks and frozen falls, everything should be perfect. But the camera can lie and with every new post, the ‘perfect’ life Zac and Bo are portraying is diverging from the truth. Something Bo can’t explain is wrong at the very heart of their lives and Anders is the only person who’ll listen.

June 1936, and fourteen-year old Signy is sent with her sister and village friends to the summer pastures to work as milkmaids, protecting the herd that will sustain the farm through the long, winter months. But miles from home and away from the safety of their families, threat begins to lurk in friendly faces . . .

The mountains keep secrets - Signy knows this better than anyone - and as Bo’s life begins to spiral she is forced, like the old woman before her, to question who is friend and who is foe.

What can you say about such a marvellous book, written by one of my favourite authors that hasn't already been said. 

Am I allowed to just say Wow! ... and leave it like that - as I think wow is the best was to describe the setting of this book, the stories contained within the pages, and just my overall feeling towards it all. 

I've read a couple of other Christmas books this year that have had a reference to the The Northern Lights in the title, and set somewhere in Scandinavia, so i was curious to see what Karen Swans' take on the setting would be. 

And if you are in the same position as me with Christmas reads then don't worry this was completely different, had a very different feel to it, and that is all due to the main characters and the setting. 

For Bo and Zac are a travel Instagram brand, and have over 9 million followers, they travel with their cameraman and are what appear to be a close threesome.  To the outside world they appear to have a perfect life and they are inspirational. 

They are known as The Wanderlusters and they go to places off the beaten track and try to spend at least a month if not longer in their new destination, living like a local, not in hotels, and trying to experience authentic activities. 

For this trip to Norway they have decided to spend Christmas in a shelf farm, in the Norwegian Fjords, an area that is incredibly hard to navigate to and around, even in the summer when its the season, and close to impossible in winter. 

They are renting their accommodation from Signy, and interspersed with the 2018 chapters, we have those set in 1936, in Signy's childhood, highlighting key events from one summer when she was fourteen.  At times I did wonder other then background colour what the point of the chapters were, but as the book progresses, well there are some similar themes being explored. 


As someone who is keen to do a more mainstream Norwegian Fjord cruise at some point in the future, I was very curious as to the setting of this book, and I am now completely convinced the best way for me in real life to view the fjords is by boat.  All this hiking and action man stuff isn't for me but its riveting to read about in this book. 

There is plenty of action scenes, and you really get a great feeling for the location, a spattering of the language and food, and various customs in Norway in the run up to Christmas. 

And that is before you take into account what appear to be cracks in the real version of Bo and Zac - and their stay in Norway is eye opening in so many ways that I will leave you to ponder and find out for yourself. 

This is a perfect winter's day read, that will have you utterly absorbed and not really caring how cold it is outside.  It is an enthralling story that had me completely hooked.  Easily one of Karen Swans best books to date,  if you are even halfway tempted, go and read this, you won't regret it! 

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

Book Review - On A Beautiful Day by Lucy Diamond

Amazon UK

Title: On A Beautiful Day

Author: Lucy Diamond

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Macmillan

Publication Date: 11th January 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Treasure every moment. Life can change in a heartbeat.

What the fans say: 'Wonderful characters and the stories are always great, with twists and turns' Gemma

It’s a beautiful day in Manchester and four friends are meeting for a birthday lunch. But then they witness a shocking accident just metres away which acts as a catalyst for each of them.

For Laura, it’s a wake-up call to heed the ticking of her biological clock. Sensible Jo finds herself throwing caution to the wind in a new relationship. Eve, who has been trying to ignore the worrying lump in her breast, feels helpless and out of control. And happy-go-lucky India is drawn to one of the victims of the accident, causing long-buried secrets to rise to the surface.

This is a novel about the startling and unexpected turns life can take. It’s about luck – good and bad – and about finding bravery and resilience when your world is in turmoil. Above all, it’s about friendship, togetherness and hope.

Witnessing a freak accident was the catalyst for the four best friends, that leads to their lives changing drastically.  

Jo decides to move in with her boyfriend, partly due to an electricity issue in her current flat and has to see if she can ever work out how to get along with his daughter Maisie.  

Eve is concealing from everyone a lump she found on her breast, and starts to act erratically. She is the sort of person who doesn't like lose control over anything. Laura on the other hand finds her marriage isn't quite as strong as it should be, while her desire for a baby is getting stronger by the day. 

Finally there is India, and this accident triggers all sorts of emotions in her, and lead to her being one of the most interesting characters, especially once you discover her secrets. 

This is a story of friendship, relationships and how one moment can change your outlook on life forever. It is a lovingly written story and was the book focuses on all four women you really get to know them very well, in addition to the rest of their families.  I really liked the various characters, and found myself thoroughly enjoying the whole book. 

I am a huge fan of Lucy Diamond, and found this was certainly up to her normal standards, and found I was able to read it reasonably quickly, always being keen to get back to the book to see what the women would be up to next.  

Really enjoyable story, where I was eager to see how everything turned out. 

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

Book Review - A Not Quite Perfect Family by Claire Sandy

Amazon UK

Title: A Not Quite Perfect Family

Author: Claire Sandy

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Publisher supplied copy

Publisher: Pan MacMillan

Publication Date: 6th April 2017

Rating: 4 Stars

Funny, feisty and all-too-true, A Not Quite Perfect Family by Claire Sandy is for anyone who loves their family so much they’d just like a weekend away from them.

Fern Carlile has a lot on her plate. It’s a good thing she loves her big, imperfectly perfect family, because she’s the one who washes their pants, de-fleas the dog and runs her own business. A hearty meal is the one thing that brings the Carliles together – but over the course of a year, the various courses also pull them apart.

Around the table sits an eight-year-old militant feminist, a pair of teenage accidental parents, and a cantankerous OAP. Fern’s husband needs an extra seat for his spectacular midlife crisis.

Will Fern’s marriage be over by the time coffee is served? Perhaps she’ll give in and have the hot new dish that looks so tempting. Decisions, decisions . . .

A Not Quite Perfect Family is quite a clever book in that it likens a year in a family to a 12 course meal in a top restaurant, and each chapter which is named after the type of course, gives us another month in the life of the Carlile family, and often has some relevance to the sort of things that may happen in the chapter. 

Fern Carlile lives in Homestead House with her partner Adam, teenage son Ollie and 8 year old daughter Tallulah. On midsummer's day, Fern and Adam announce they are splitting temporarily, which sets off a chain reaction of other events in the family. 

Pretty soon Fern has plenty of other company in Homestead House, as her aunt Nora moves in, Evka her cleaner appears more often, and Ollie's girlfriend spends more and more time there. In addition whenever Fern is dog walking she meets up with a group of regulars and one really stands out to her and offers her a distraction on her feelings towards Adam. 

There is a huge amount of different personalities on display in this cast of characters, all very unique and distinctive,  which makes for some energetic dialogue, and dynamics.  

I especially loved the box of notes that Fern had kept from when she and Adam once broke up many many years ago, which helped show how pure their love once was, before real life got in the way.  Then there is the outspokenness of auntie Nora, the liberal attitude Evska has towards sex and where she tries to find some, the friendship between Fern and Layla (who lives in France), Tallulah who at only 8 is a little feminist, and has an opinion on anything. 

Actually my favourite scene has to be when Tallulah was asking her mum for clarification after her lesson at school about "ess eee ex" and she has a couple of absolutely wonderful questions and imagery about how babies are really made. I was laughing out loud at that! 

A Not Quite Perfect Family is like a fine wine, it got better and better with age (or in this case as the book progressed), and it really does highlight a modern family in every sense of the word. There is so much to love about the story, and I found it to be an enjoyable book. 

Thank you so much to Jessica Duffy at Pan for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Christmas Under The Stars by Karen Swan - Rachel Reads Randomly Book #46

Amazon UK

Title: Christmas Under The Stars

Author: Karen Swan

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Pan MacMillan

Publication Date: 3rd November 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Worlds apart. A love without limit.

In the snow-topped mountains of the Canadian Rockies, Meg and Mitch are living their dream. Just weeks away from their wedding, they work and play with Tuck and Lucy, their closest and oldest friends. Meg and Lucy are as close as sisters - much to Meg's sister's dismay - and Tuck and Mitch have successfully turned their passion for snowboarding into a booming business.

But when a polar storm hits, tragedy strikes. Alone in the tiny mountain log cabin she shares with Mitch, Meg desperately tries to radio for help - and it comes from the most unexpected quarter, a lone voice across the airwaves that sees what she cannot.

As the snow melts and they try to live with their loss, the friendship Meg thought was forever is buckled by tensions, rivalries and devastating secrets. Nothing is as she thought and only her radio contact understands what it is to be truly alone. As they share confidences in the dark, witnessed only by the stars, Meg feels her future begin to pull away from her past and is forced to consider a strange truth - is it her friends who are the strangers? And a stranger who really knows her best?

Like a fine wine, Karen Swan books get better with age. With that I mean I loved her first few books, but recently it seems like every new book, as she progresses with her career is becoming just more and more impressive, and in this case has a pretty unique set of circumstance in the story too. 

In a roundabout way I think I'm trying to say that Christmas Under the Stars is simply amazing,  from its very clever in retrospect title, the absolutely gorgeous cover that I could sit and stare at for hours, to the setting in the Canadian Rockies, and the set of characters and what they go through, in a year. 

My absolutely favourite strand to the book is the one I feel I can't properly mention in a review because it is probably more special to come across it yourself. Suffice to say there is a character that is unlike anyone I've really seen before in any book, and the location of his first interactions is rather special. 

Now onto things I can talk about, this is the story of four friends, Meg & Mitch, Lucy and Tuck, who all live in the Canadian Rockies. A week before Meg is due to marry Mitch he goes out on a rescue missing in desperately disastrous weather conditions and never makes it home. 

Meg, Lucy and Tuck all need to learn how to deal with the aftermath, and in particular in Meg's case she needs to slowly come to terms with everything and then see just what she wants from life in general. Lucy and Tuck however are facing their own crisis of marriage, and there are certainly elements of that storyline that I never saw coming. 

The scenery in this book is breathtakingly beautiful, but at the same time, it highlights just how harsh the winters are in the Canadian Rockies, in addition, to just what an array of wildlife they have up there, some more harmless than others. I do love the idea of an elk just wandering down Banff's main road after dark, but the grizzly bears on the other hand are completely different prospect.

I've even googled images of the area and it really is as stunning as the book makes out. In fact before I read this Canada wasn't a place I had ever really thought too much about, but I do think Christmas Under The Stars could do its part for Rockies tourism. There was even a  weekend in Toronto, so you got a good feel for a different part of the country too, with some of the major landmarks visited. 

There are some adrenalin inducing scenes, and I loved Tuck and Mitch's love of all things adventure sports, including their business. 

At a time where the remaining friends should be banding together and supporting one another gaps begin to show, and it makes the dynamics of the book so much more interesting.  

It took until about the fourth chapter for me to be hooked on this book, so about 30-40 pages in, at which point I re-read the prologue which suddenly made a bit more sense having more knowledge already of which character was which, and then I was lost to the world as I read this outstanding book. 


Thank you to everyone that voted for Christmas Under The Stars..although it has left me slightly confused as when I bought the book and foolishly put it on my spreadsheets I was going to take it on holiday with me, so need to rethink that plan a bit!

Please do take a look at this weeks book choices on the vote, it will be the last Rachel Reads Randomly vote of 2016, as after that I have too many things going on in real life and the blog to run the feature during December. Will definitely be back in January!

Book Review - Searching for a Silver Lining by Miranda Dickinson

Amazon UK

Title: Searching for a Silver Lining

Author: Miranda Dickinson

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Publisher supplied review copy

Publisher: Pan MacMillan

Publication Date: 20th October 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

It began with a promise . . .

Matilda Bell is left heartbroken when she falls out with her beloved grandfather just before he dies. Haunted by regret, she makes a promise that will soon change everything . . .

When spirited former singing star Reenie Silver enters her life, Mattie seizes the opportunity to make amends. Together, Mattie and Reenie embark on an incredible journey that will find lost friends, uncover secrets from the glamorous 1950s and put right a sixty-year wrong.

Searching for a Silver Lining is an uplifting and captivating story, and makes me think it is never too late to say sorry, and that you really shouldn't hold a grudge for 60 years. It started slightly slow but still in a way that had me interested, as as the story continued, and there is a race against time, the pace increases, and so does the addictiveness of the book. I read this in one afternoon, and can't think of a better way I could have spent the time. 

I had been slightly worried about elements of this book as they first appeared in the book, and also of the mention of the 1950s in the blurb, but if like me you aren't a history nut, then don't worry its not in your face. There are diaries, but we only get short relevant extracts about Mattie's grandfather which were interesting. The other main way we get history is from Reenie's reminisces, but since they are in conversation form, it was like a grandparent telling a grandchild stories of their youth, and from that point of view very comforting. 

Reenie Silver is without a doubt the star of this book, with Mattie in more of a supporting role, despite Mattie being the main character, and the point of view we see everything from. Reenie was part of 50s group The Silver Five, but never got a chance to play the biggest gig of their career at the Palm Grove, London. She has taken responsibility for 60 years about the band splitting up that night, although no one knows the reason why. There has been a 60 year rift between the band members, and thanks to a graveside promise Mattie has made to her dearly departed grandfather (who she also had a rift with), the pair embark on a massive task.

When I think of road trips, I usually think of epic stories down Route 66 in USA, possibly with a group of people just out of college doing something amazing. Searching for a Silver Lining turns the road trip concept around, and involves an octogenarian, Reenie, Mattie and club owner Gil touring all over Britain to try and reunite The Silver Five for a one off reunion concert. 

At times I was in tears with elements of the story, other times I was willing some romance to happen, other times I was just smiling and laughing as everything progressed. There is a romance but its so supplementary to the main story, it almost barely registers. It is how Mattie and Reenie communicate and their relatively new friendship and how it develops that I loved reading about the most. 

Reenie has had a colourful past, and the stories she tells adds a fair amount of glamour to the situation, although perhaps a pinch of salt is needed as you listen to her. She is larger than life, but there is a lot to her under the surface too, and I enjoyed learning about all facets of her personality. 

Without a doubt I think this is the best and most enjoyable book that Miranda Dickinson has written to date, and is one I would love to see made into a film. It definitely is my new favourite by her, and I'm just sad that I have reached the end of the story, as I was loving it so much. 

Thank you so much to Francesca Pearce at Pan for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

Guest Post - Do You Have Any Writing Ambitions? by Miranda Dickinson - Blog Tour

I’m amazed that I’ve achieved my original ambition to be an author eight times over now, with one million books sold across the world! My ambition was always for more than five people in the world to read my stories, so it never ceases to thrill me that it's now a reality.

Every new book I write takes my writing ambitions a step further. I like to challenge myself to write a better book each time, trying out new things and, hopefully, creating ever more compelling and exciting stories for my lovely readers.

I’m a big believer in constantly expanding my vision for what I want my writing to achieve. A huge dream I’ve yet to achieve is seeing one of my books adapted for the screen, either as a film or a TV series. It’s my burning ambition to collaborate on turning book into a script. There are a couple of amazing screenwriters I occasionally chat with on Twitter who I would love to write the screenplay of a book of mine. If I’m ever brave enough (and lucky enough) to be able to commission them, I think it would be awesome!

When I was writing Searching for a Silver Lining I found I could really visualise the characters, locations and action, as if I were watching a film. In other exclusives during this blog tour I reveal my dream cast for the film. So who knows? If Richard Curtis happens to be reading...

Thanks so much for reading this blog exclusive! For more, follow my Searching for a Silver Lining blog tour. I really hope you enjoy Mattie’s story!

Thank you so much Miranda for sharing. My review of Searching for a Silver Lining will be available tomorrow, and I also think the book would make a fantastic Richard Curtis film, it really does have all the elements.

Amazon UK

It began with a promise . . .

Matilda Bell is left heartbroken when she falls out with her beloved grandfather just before he dies. Haunted by regret, she makes a promise that will soon change everything . . .

When spirited former singing star Reenie Silver enters her life, Mattie seizes the opportunity to make amends. Together, Mattie and Reenie embark on an incredible journey that will find lost friends, uncover secrets from the glamorous 1950s and put right a sixty-year wrong.

About Miranda Dickinson

Miranda Dickinson has always had a head full of stories. From an early age she dreamed of writing a book that would make the heady heights of Kingswinford Library and today she is a bestselling author. She began to write in earnest when a friend gave her The World's Slowest PC, and has subsequently written the bestselling novels Fairytale of New York, Welcome to My World, It Started With a Kiss, When I Fall in Love, Take A Look At Me Now, I'll Take New York and A Parcel for Anna Browne. Miranda lives with her husband Bob and daughter Flo in Dudley.

Follow Miranda on Twitter - https://twitter.com/wurdsmyth

Follow along with the rest of the Search for the Silver Lining Blog tour, and don't forget to return tomorrow to see my thoughts on the book. 

Book Review - The Paris Secret by Karen Swan

Amazon UK

Title: The Paris Secret

Author: Karen Swan 

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Pan McMillan

Publication Date: 14th July 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Not every door should be opened . . .

With stunning locations and page-turning tension, The Paris Secret is an intense and gripping tale from bestselling author Karen Swan.

Somewhere along the cobbled streets of Paris, an apartment lies thick with dust and secrets: full of priceless artworks hidden away for decades.

High-flying fine art agent Flora from London, more comfortable with the tension of a million-pound auction than a cosy candlelit dinner for two, is called in to assess these suddenly discovered treasures. As an expert in her field, she must trace the history of each painting and discover who has concealed them for so long.

Thrown in amongst the glamorous Vermeil family as they move between Paris and Antibes, Flora begins to discover that things aren't all that they seem, while back at home her own family is recoiling from a seismic shock. The terse and brooding Xavier Vermeil seems intent on forcing Flora out of his family's affairs - but just what is he hiding?

It took the whole of the first couple of chapters for me to realise that Karen Swan had yet another truly fantastic book on her hands (well, so  long as it continued for the whole book, which it did). There are early on the mentions of what are clearly a couple of big and intriguing mysteries, one related to Flora's work and the other with her family. 

Many pages into The Paris Secret you only start to get a glimpse as to how big the secrets are, and even then I couldn't foresee how they would turn out. Around half way through, I actually had to stop to gasp out loud at a revelation. 

Yet despite being a huge fan of Karen Swan's books, I had let The Paris Secret sit on my kindle for months because I fell into the age old trap of judging a book by its cover. Due to this cover not really being the same style as any of her previous books, I was worried about the content of the book, and whether I would really like it. The moral of this is I really do need to with authors that I love, to just sit and read them regardless of cover and potentially blurb. 

The backdrop to this mega story is Paris, and more specifically the art world. A known family in Paris suddenly discover they own an apartment that they didn't know existed. They call in the art experts, Flora, and she makes a whole range of startling discoveries, starting initially with just the sheer volume of treasures there are in this apartment. 

As she is tracing the provenance of some of the works of art, she is drawn back in time to the Second World War, and hits some big question marks, which make her even more determined to come up with the goods. Normally I try to avoid history, but in this case, it was a huge part of the story, but without being set in the past, so I was able to cope with it. 

The writing drew me in, and I was hooked on the whole book, especially the last quarter or so, where I lost all track of time, or where I was, as I knew I had to find out what happened next. It is a thoroughly enjoyable story, and I'm just sorry I didn't start it the second I got hold of a copy. 

Thank you so much to Pan and Netgalley for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

Book Review - Wildflower Bay by Rachael Lucas - #20BooksofSummer

Amazon UK

Title: Wildflower Bay

Author: Rachael Lucas

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Publisher supplied review copy

Publisher: Pan MacMillan

Publication Date: 11th August 2016

Rating: 4.5 Stars

This little island has some big secrets...

Isla's got her dream job as head stylist at the most exclusive salon in Edinburgh. The fact that she's been so single-minded in her career that she's forgotten to have a life has completely passed her by - until disaster strikes.

Out of options, she heads to the remote island of Auchenmor to help out her aunt who is in desperate need of an extra pair of scissors at her salon.

A native to the island, Finn is thirty-five and reality has just hit him hard. His best friends are about to have a baby and everything is changing. When into his life walks Isla . . .

I think I need to start by saying how good it was to return to Auchenmor, previously seen in Rachael Lucas' Sealed With A Kiss (& Christmas sequel), the rather remote Scottish island, full of warm hearted locals and we get to catch up with old friends too. 

That being said this is not a sequel of any sort, and although has the same setting as previous books, can easily be read as a book by itself, and what a book it is! I adored this story from its first rather funny incident, to Isla's initial opinions of the island and all the character development as the novel progresses. 

Isla makes a mistake in the first chapter which leads to her being put on gardening leave for 2 months from her top hair salon in Edinburgh. This coincides with her aunt needing someone to take over her salon in Auchenmor, somewhere that Isla has visited once and vowed never to go to again. 

Isla takes an instant dislike to the island and even buys a cheap calendar to count down the days, her aunt's salon is worse than she was anticipating, but after a couple of weeks you can see attitudes start to change. This is in part due to a growing friendship with one of her older customers, who she almost sees as a surrogate grandmother. 

Then there is Finn, who Isla keeps running into everywhere, and the scenes with the pair of them at Lilly's new retreat are hilarious, as are any involving Lily's son Lucien (although there is similar sounding name that describes him better!). 

This is a slow burning romance, with growing friendships, and personal growth foremost at the centre of this book, as well as small remote Scottish island life. I love the setting of Auchenmor, as well as its inhabitants, and I really hope there will be more books set here in the future. 

Wildflower Bay is a wonderful story that I found a pleasure to read, and gave me a warm feeling on a rainy & cold summer's evening. If you like warm hearted, cosy stories set in remote island locations then Wildflower Bay is definitely an excellent choice. 

Thank you so much to Lucie Twiggs at Pan for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.