The Holiday Escape by Heidi Swain – Blog Tour/Book Review

About the book:

Her dream holiday is his everyday life. His dream holiday is her normal life. What happens when they collide?   Ally and her dad, Geoff, run the family business, a creative retreat, from their home Hollyhock Cottage in picturesque Kittiwake Cove. They give their guests their dream break, but Ally hankers after glamourous city living, fancy restaurants and art galleries. Ally’s survival strategy is to escape out of season, take a break abroad and pretend to be the person she always imagined she would be. She meets Logan while she’s away and he turns out to be exactly the kind of distraction she’s looking for. With her spirits restored, Ally returns home, picks up the reins again and sets her sights on another successful season, but when Logan unexpectedly arrives on the scene, she soon realises she’s in for a summer that’s going to be far from straightforward…  A story about bringing a holiday home – and what happens when what goes on on holiday comes back to bite you… Your favourite authors love Heidi Swain’s ‘A summer delight!’ SARAH MORGAN ‘A delightfully sunny read with added intrigue and secrets’ BELLA OSBORNE ‘A ray of reading sunshine!’ LAURA KEMP ‘A lovely, sweet, summery read’ MILLY JOHNSON ‘An absolutely gorgeous summer tale of love and secrets’ RACHAEL LUCAS  

My review:

Reading a book written by Heidi Swain is like meeting new friends that you instantly bond with, become completely connected to them, and making you want to be with them all the time! From the outset of the story, when we first meet Logan and Ally, who inadvertently uses her best friend Flora’s name as a pseudonym, we are drawn to their characters and their instant attraction, with a little help from a friendly nun!

I adored their brief connection in Barcelona, but when Ally runs out on Logan she never expected to come face to face with him in Kittiwake Cove. I loved the fictional location of Kittiwake Cove in Dorset, with the hidden spot on the beach, the swimming platform, and the house and gardens Ally’s parents inherited. I think one of Heidi Swain’s many talents is her ability to world-build so effortlessly that I have always fallen in love with her locations and wanted to be there every time. As idyllic as the house and gardens were, Ally simply saw her life in the cove being limited by her parent’s dream and her dream of a life in Barcelona was held ransom, and it clouded her judgement.

Duty was a strong thread to the story, with Ally feeling she should help her father achieve the dream he had with her mother, at the expense of her own dreams. I loved Ally’s dad Geoff, her best friend Flora and Flora’s twin brother Freddie but I was unsure and unsettled by Tara, returning to the area after several years. Still, life would be boring if we loved everyone, right?

The Holiday Escape was a perfect holiday read. I read it while on holiday in South Korea, and it made me want to spend time in my hotel room when I really needed to explore! There was a delightful balance of romance, community and the conflict between duty and desire at its’ core.

Many thanks to Team BATC, Simon & Schuster UK and Heidi Swain for my invitation to take part in the blog tour. I received a copy of the book following my honest review. Please check out the other stops on the blog tour below:

Purchase links:

https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/The-Holiday-Escape/Heidi-Swain/9781398519572/

Return to Half Moon Farm by Holly Hepburn – Blog Tour/Book Review

About the book:

When Daisy’s mother falls ill she is forced to return home. With her twin sons in tow, she moves back to Half Moon Farm, her family’s ancient hop farm.

But a new life in the Kent countryside isn’t necessarily as idyllic as it might seem. Daisy’s relationship with her mother is complicated and the tumbledown farm isn’t the only thing that needs rebuilding. Daisy and her sons must adjust to life with estranged family, a leaking roof, and no WiFi.

Luckily for Daisy, she might yet find some distraction in silver fox farmer, Drew, or in the haughty heir to the nearby estate, Kit, who she can’t seem to avoid.

Daisy must learn to juggle her new life, the boys, and the daunting task of updating the farm. But there are secrets lurking in her family’s past that might throw everything into further disarray…

My review:

Return to Half Moon Farm by Holly Hepburn is a lovely story featuring Daisy, who takes her twin sons to live temporarily in her family home because her mother is ill.

Daisy and her mother have had a difficult relationship for a number of years so the return is fraught with tension.

While she is there, she meets two men, Drew a silver fox of a farmer who helps out at the farmhouse, and Kit who she is convinced is an Earl and member of a family her own family have feuded with for generations.

When Daisy finds love letters to her grandmother during war time from someone who was not her grandfather, she sets out to discover who her mystery man was. I loved the way the letters were insterspersed within the chapters and gradually revealed a story of true love.

I loved the friendship Daisy developed with Kit who was not as stuffy as he initially seemed. Their friendship paralled that of the friendship between the twins, and Kit’s daughter.

The references to The Secret Garden, a much loved book I read as a child, really captured my imagination and I loved that there was a similarly walled garden in the grounds of the castle.

This was a compelling book filled with new beginnings, secrets and lost love, and above all hope.

Many thanks to Team BATC, Simon & Schuster and Holly Hepburn for my invitation to take part in the blog tour. I received a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Please check out the other stops on the blog tour below:

Purchase links:

https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Return-to-Half-Moon-Farm/Holly-Hepburn/9781398511989

The Hidden Years by Rachel Hore – Blog Tour/Book Review

About the book:

Sunday Times bestseller Rachel Hore’s captivating new novel of secrets, loss and betrayal – set on the beautiful Cornish coast during World War Two and the heady days of the 1960s.

When talented musician Gray Robinson persuades Belle to abandon her university studies and follow him to Silverwood, home to an artistic community on the Cornish coast, Belle happily agrees even though they’ve only just met. She knows she is falling in love, and the thought of spending a carefree summer with Gray is all she can think about.

But being with Gray isn’t the only reason Belle agrees to accompany him to Silverwood.

Why does the name Silverwood sound so familiar?
What is its connection to a photo of her as a baby, taken on a nearby beach?
And who is Imogen Lockhart, a wartime nurse who lived at Silverwood many years ago?

As the summer months unfold, Belle begins to learn the truth – about secrets from the past that have been kept hidden, but also about the person she wants to be.

My review:

This dual timeline historical fiction is set during and shortly after World War II, and in the swinging sixties, centred around a glamorous old house in Cornwall.

I love the connection that Belle has instantly with musician Gray, although I found it shocking that she would immediately drop out of university with very little consideration and head with Gray to an artists’ commune, Silverwood, located in an old large house in a beautiful location in Cornwall. At first they seem like an unlikely combination but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that there is more that connects them, than separates them.

Imogen’s story begins in 1939 at the big old house, when she delivers two evacuees to a boarding school for boys which has been forced to relocate from Kent to Cornwall, and ends up standing in for the school matron, which ultimately leads to her training to become a nurse.

How the timelines are interwoven and delicately linked becomes apparent as the stories progress, when Mrs Kitto who lives in a cottage in the grounds of Silverwood shares Imogen’s story with Belle.

As so often happens with a story set in a beautiful and familiar location, the Cornish location takes on a life of its own, with the local towns and other locations changing between the decades. I adored the descriptions of the internal architecture of Silverwood, especially the quirks of the library and study. The connection to the preparation for D-Day and the changes brought by the staging points for the US military forces really gave the location more depth and made me want to investigate the Cornish coastline very soon.

I love dual timeline historical fiction, and I felt the flow between the two timelines was expertly done with precision. Both storylines had been beautifully woven together in such a way that the connection between the two timelines was carefully reached at the end of the book.

The Hidden Years by Rachel Hore is a compelling story of love, loss, regret and secrets that will have you completely entranced.

Many thanks to Team BATC, Simon & Schuster and Rachel Hore for my invitation to take part in the blog tour, for which I received a finished copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. Please check out the other stops on the blog tour below.

Purchase links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1398517933?tag=siscuk-21

Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781398517936

WHSmith: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/the-hidden-years/rachel-hore/hardback/9781398517936.html

Bookshop.org: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/untitled-1-ha-rachel-hore/6648460?ean=9781398517936

About the author:

Rachel Hore worked in London publishing for many years before moving with her family to Norwich, where she taught publishing and creative writing at the University of East Anglia before becoming a full-time writer. She is married to the writer D. J. Taylor and they have three sons.

Always By Your Side by Julie Haworth – Blog Tour/Book Review

About the book:

When school teacher Rose loses her dream job at a London primary school, her self-confidence takes a knock. Worse still, her stockbroker fiancé, Ollie, sees it as the perfect opportunity for her to join his firm, which only adds to the feelings Rose has that their relationship might be coming to an end.
 
An unexpected phone call, and an elderly aunt who’s taken a fall, means Rose must drop everything – including Ollie – and return to Blossom Heath, the Sussex village she grew up in.
 
With no job to rush home to, Rose decides to stay in Blossom Heath for the Summer, trading London for the idyllic countryside. Here Rose finds herself reconnecting to the village life of her childhood in more ways than one, including falling head-over-heels for local farmer, Jake.
 
So when her London life comes calling, Rose is faced with an impossible choice… to return to the high-pressure life of her past, or embrace the joy of a new life in the country.

My review:

Always By Your Side is a debut novel by author Julie Haworth, and is set in the fictional but beautiful village of Blossom Heath in Sussex, where everybody knows all the gossip but the community will rally around whenever needed.

When Rose goes to stay in her Great Aunt Jean’s cottage, the place of many wonderful memories of summers long since past, while her aunt is in hospital following a fall, she finds herself reconnecting with the village, renewing old acquaintances and befriending new people. This makes her re-evaluate what she wants from life, which is at odds with what her fiancé Ollie wants.

The chemistry between Rose and hunky farmer Jake is sizzling. Everyone can tell that they like one another a lot but with Rose being engaged and Jake damaged by his past relationship, neither of them is prepared to act on their feelings.

I loved the friendship Rose makes with Grace the local vet, when she takes an injured border collie she finds on the side of the road on her way to Blossom Heath. Her relationship with her wonderful great aunt is so lovely, they have such a positive and supportive connection filled with respect and love gained from spending time together following the death of Rose’s mother when she was a young girl.

A special shout out needs to go to the border collie, Scout, who is completely adorable and made me reminisce about the working border collies my parents had on their smallholding.

There was a side story about dognapping, which created tension and a reason for the community to come together to capture the dognappers and return the stolen dogs to their owners. This is a very real situation for some dog owners, so I found myself reflecting on what I would do or how I would feel if either of my dogs were taken.

I found this beautifully written debut novel completely engaging and I would love the author to return to Blossom Heath for another story.

Always By Your Side by Julie Howarth is a gentle romance in a rural idyll where the community rallies round, and gossip travels faster than the speed of light!

Many thanks to Sara-Jade Virtue, Team BATC, Simon & Schuster UK and Julie Haworth for my invitation to take part in the blog tour, for which I received a copy of the paperback edition of the book. Please check out the other stops on the blog tour below:

Purchase links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1398517836?tag=siscuk-21

Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781398517837

WHSmith: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/always-by-your-side-an-uplifting-story-about-community-and-friendship-perfect-for-fans-of-escape-to-/julie-haworth/paperback/9781398517837.html

Hive: https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Julie-Haworth/Always-By-Your-Side–An-uplifting-story-about-community-a/26835244

About the author:

With a degree in English and American Literature, Julie Haworth worked as an English teacher for a number of years, specialising in working with learners with literacy difficulties, before launching her own freelance copywriting business. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and her debut novel, Always By Your Side, which she wrote whilst recovering from Covid in 2020, won the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award in 2023.

A Little in Love by Florence Keeling – Blog Tour/Book Review

About the book:

The little village of Weddington is fast becoming THE place to get married. With its stately home, castle and two churches it has something for everyone, and now, famous after appearing in huge romcom movie hit A Little In Love, it’s hosting a monthly wedding fayre…

Rose Pedal is the proud owner of Pedals & Prosecco, a brand new business serving ice-cold fizz from a vintage bicycle, and she’s excited to be attending her first wedding fayre. But, on the way to Weddington Hall she’s involved in a near miss crash involving dashingly handsome James from Blume’s Florist.

Arriving at the beautiful stately home drenched and disheveled, Rose is horrified to find James is not only not sorry for nearly knocking her off her bike, but he’s gatecrashing her allocated spot on the lawn. His arrogance gets her back up and it’s definitely a case of hate at first sight. But as the wedding fayre season continues, James gently wins Rose over, and their relationship starts to bloom.

Can being just ‘a little in love’ help Rose and James find their own happy-ending…

A Little in Love is the most charming romantic comedy you’ll read this year, from a hugely talented author, perfect for fans of Cathy Bramley, Phillipa Ashley and Cressida McLaughlin.

My review:

A Little in Love by Florence Keeling is a warm and entertaining romcom set in the world of Wedding Fayres in countryside locations. It’s the perfect read for wedding season, with plenty of brides, bridalwear, flowers and prosecco served from a trailer attached to a pink and brown vintage bicycle.

Rose Pedal is the owner of Pedals and Prosecco, which she had recently set up. When she has a dramatic meet cute that initially makes her angry, she is distracted by the beautiful green eyes of James Blume, the florist who nearly ran her off the road on the way to her first wedding fayre. The romance that happens is a real slow burn with a few obstacles along the way, particularly with Peter, James’ identical brother, and his obnoxious father Geoffrey.

I loved the friendships within the story, the lifetime friendship between Rose and Megan, the friendship between the women who have stalls at the wedding fayres, and the camaraderie within the small villages in the area. The way in which the local community rallied around Rose when she needed help with her business, and the way in which they all rallied round to help a bride get married at incredibly short notice was uplifting and entertaining. There were some incredibly funny moments that had me giggling throughout the book.

If you’re stuck indoors on one of the very rainy days we have ahead of us this summer, grab yourself a copy of A Little in Love by Florence Keeling, pick up a glass of something sparkling and curl up and immerse yourself in this delightful summer read.

Many thanks to Sara-Jade Virtue for my copy of A Little in Love, together with Books and the City, Simon & Schuster and Florence Keeling for my invitation to take part in the blog tour for this entertaining read. Please check out the other stops on the tour below:

Purchase links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1398517828?tag=siscuk-21

Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781398517820

WHSmith: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/a-little-in-love-the-perfect-romantic-read-heidi-swain-sunday-times-bestselling-author/florence-keeling/paperback/9781398517820.html

About the author:

Florence Keeling LOVES weddings. She married the man she met when she was four months old, and 21 years of married bliss later, they are still VERY much in love. Her love of stories started with Mr Men and Topsy and Tim, she longed to attend Cackle’s Academy and spend days sharing adventures with the Famous Five. As a grown up, she wrangles two grown up kids, two mad huskies and three day jobs. A Little In Love  is her third work of fiction.  Follow her on twitter at @KeelingFlorence.

My (extra) Ordinary Life by Rebecca Ryan – Blog Tour/Book Review

About the book:

The Average UK Woman…

Has brown hair
Is 5’4
Eats meat
Doesn’t live in London
Will fall in love before they’re 30…
Emily knows how she measures up. How do you?

When watching a documentary on the average human experience, Emily realises she’s the epitome of the typical woman. Her name, her height, her occupation… even her blood group. The only thing unusual about her is that she’s a twin. But her twin died when they were only 8 and Emily can’t help but think maybe her sister was meant to live instead of her. Secretly she suspects her sister would have done a better job at life… better than average anyway. So Emily writes a list committing her to live a more extraordinary life… she’ll become a vegan, run a marathon and bungee jump.

But the one thing she knows she can’t do though is fall in love… because according to the stats this is the perfect time for her to meet the person she’ll marry. And normal just won’t do.

My review:

This fantastic debut novel absolutely blew my socks off, it was vibrant, funny, poignant, immensely relatable and had me laughing out loud and blinking away tears too. I think it’s so relatable because I’m sure I’m not the only one to frequently question whether I have lived my life well, and sometimes feel that it’s all just lacking something exciting.

Emily is such a funny character, she says the strangest things seemingly without engaging her brain, but then in a professional setting she can move effortlessly into commanding her audience in an instant. I loved the friendship she has with Kaz, who she has been friends with since she was little. The connection she makes with Josh is really hot, but this is so much more than a romance.

The story moves between the present and the past, back when her twin Claire was still alive. As the 20th anniversary of her twin’s death approaches, Emily becomes almost fixated on whether the right twin died, because she is convinced that Claire, who was good at everything, would have been a more extraordinary adult. The ‘Life List’ Emily creates in order to make changes in her life is perhaps influenced by her views on what Claire would have been like had she lived. Some of them really were unlikely choices for Emily to make, like deciding to run a tough mudder when she didn’t even run, which ended up with some hilarious moments.

I loved the characters, particularly Leon, Sandra and Kaz, and her students at school provided some entertaining moments.

This book was my first read of 2023 and I think it entirely possible that I will be still thinking about it at the end of the year. It was a beautifully poignant yet hilarious look at love and grief, and how what may seem like an ordinary life can actually be truly extraordinary. With this as an exceptional debut novel, I cannot wait to see what Rebecca Ryan writes next.

Many thanks to Team BATC, Simon and Schuster and Rebecca Ryan for my invitation to take part in this blog tour, for which I received a finished copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. My views on this book are entirely my own. Please check out the other stops on the tour below:

Purchase links:

Amazon: amzn.to/3ifrBj7

Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/my-extra-ordinary-life/rebecca-ryan/9781398509245

Hive: https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Rebecca-Ryan/My-extraOrdinary-Life/25956863

Bookshop.org: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/my-extra-ordinary-life-9781398509245/9781398509245

About the author:

Rebecca Ryan lives in Bradford with her husband and three young children. Although she always loved writing, it hadn’t really occurred to her that she could do it professionally. She recently left her job as a teacher to pursue writing full-time. She enjoys walking in the countryside and takeaways (if that counts as a hobby).

A Christmas Celebration by Heidi Swain – Blog Tour/Book Review

About the book:

When Paige turns up unannounced at Wynthorpe Hall, she discovers the place she knew when she was growing up has changed beyond all recognition. She’s only planning to stay for a short time, but is quickly pulled into local life.
 
One night while driving home after delivering library books and shopping to residents she stumbles across an isolated cottage and meets Albert, its elderly and rather grumpy owner. She quickly realises there’s more to Albert than meets the eye and the same can be said for the other man she can’t seem to help running into, handsome but brooding Brodie.
 
All three of them have a secret and a desire to hide away from the world, but with Christmas on the horizon, is that really the best way to celebrate the season?

My review:

I’m not sure it’s ever really Christmas without a Heidi Swain romance to really get you in the mood for the festivities. A Christmas Celebration actually begins in November, when Paige arrives back in the UK following her departure from her role as an aid worker in Jordan. She heads to Wynthorpe Hall to stay with her godparents Angus and Catherine, in order to help them out while there are reduced numbers of helpers for their Christmas preparations.

Although it is a location we’ve seen before within Heidi’s fictional world, and some old familiar characters are around, the main characters in this story, Paige, Brodie and Albert, are new. It would definitely work as a standalone, but honestly, if you read this and love it as much as I did, you’ll wish that you had read the other books in the series first!

I loved Paige as a character. She’s clearly traumatised by something in her past, and she needs the time and the right location to find herself again. As she settles into family and village life, she finds that the distraction of helping others actually goes some way to helping herself too. When her path crosses the brooding Darcy-esque character of Brodie, it’s clear that sparks are going to fly, and I don’t think I blame her, a brooding hottie, what’s not to love?

The relationship I loved the most in this heart-warming story was the relationship between Paige and Albert. I adored the way that Paige was able to gradually break down his defences which enabled him to set aside his pride and allow her to help him. Albert was such a cute old man, once his defences were down, and it was lovely to see him step outside his own four walls after a considerable time where he could not face leaving his home.

A Christmas at Wynthorpe Hall isn’t a Christmas without their Winter Wonderland celebrations, which bring the people of Wynbridge and the surrounding areas to the Hall to celebrate the festive season in the grounds around the big house.

A Christmas Celebration by Heidi Swain has got me craving twinkly lights, mistletoe and mince pies right now!

Many thanks to Sara-Jade Virtue, Books and the City, and Heidi Swain for my invitation to take part in this blog tour. Please check out the other stops on the tour below:

Preorder link:

A Christmas Celebration will be published on 13th October 2022.

About the author:

Although passionate about writing from an early age, Heidi Swain gained a degree in Literature, flirted briefly with a newspaper career, married and had two children before she finally plucked up the courage to join a creative writing class and take her literary ambitions seriously.

A lover of Galaxy bars, vintage paraphernalia and the odd bottle of fizz, she now writes contemporary fiction and enjoys the company of a whole host of feisty female characters.

Heidi can be found at the keyboard at all hours of the day and night and quite often scribbling longhand in her car during her lunch break. She lives in stunning south Norfolk with her wonderful son and daughter and a mischievous cat called Storm.

Social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Heidi_Swain

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WriterHeidiJoSwain/

Website: https://heidiswain.co.uk/

Underneath the Christmas Tree by Heidi Swain – Blog Tour/Book Review

About the book:

Wynter’s Trees is the home of Christmas. For the people of Wynmouth it’s where they get their family Christmas tree, and where Christmas truly comes to life.

But for Liza Wynter, it’s a millstone around her neck. It was her father’s pride and joy but now he’s gone, she can’t have anything to do with it. Until her father’s business partner decides to retire and she must go back to handle the transition to his son Ned.

When Liza arrives, she discovers a much-loved business that’s flourishing under Ned’s stewardship. And she’s happy to stay and help for the Christmas season, but then she has other plans. But will the place where she grew up make her change her mind? And can it weave its Christmas cheer around her heart…?

My review:

It’s no secret that I love the world that Heidi Swain has created in her books, and I would love to live in that world. Although in reading her books you will get to know the locations she has created, and you will see recurring characters, these books all work perfectly as standalones, and this is no exception. In Underneath the Christmas Tree we return to Wynmouth, to the surrounding area from the seaside town, where Wynter’s Trees is located. A Christmas tree farm complete with a log cabin, sounded so perfect, but when you then add the crafter’s huts, a lovely dog, and the very hot Ned, it honestly could not have been more perfect, and made me feel very festive. I also have to say the idea of renting a family Christmas tree in a pot and having the same tree the next year was a genius idea and I want to do it!

The cover is possibly my favourite of the covers for Heidi’s books, it’s so unusual seeing a pink cover for a festive novel, but I think it works perfectly.

When Liza arrives, determined to sort things out and then leave on her big adventure, Ned and his father David set out to find ways to change her mind. I loved the character progression of Liam, the teenage tearaway Liza catches trespassing who ends up working at the farm. He really did blossom under the encouragement from Ned and Liza. I did like that way in which Liza was able to move on from the pain of the bullying she received in her own teenage years, and make her peace with Chelsea. The chemistry between Ned and Liza really did sizzle from their first meeting, but in the background throughout this story was Liza’s intent to sell her share of the business, so it was more a case of ‘will she? won’t she?’ leave. No spoilers here!

I don’t think I’ve ever craved hot chocolate as much as I did when I was reading this wonderful festive read. This was a lovely story filled with romance, community, Christmas and yes, you’ve guessed it, a lot of hot chocolate drinking!

Many thanks to Books and the City, Simon & Schuster and Heidi Swain for my invitation to take part in this blog tour. Happy publication day Heidi! Why not check out some of the other stops on the tour below:

Purchase link: