The Silver Bells Christmas Pantomime by Lynsey James

The Silver Bells Christmas Pantomime (Luna Bay #3) by Lynsey James

Published: 10th November

Publisher: Carina UK/HQ Digital

Available on Kindle

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Rating: 5/5

Blurb

This Christmas pantomime is about to be the talk of the town!
Luna Bay’s festive preparations are well under way and the much anticipated annual pantomime is to be, once again, the highlight of the season. Too bad that the village’s very own actress and darling of Broadway, Alice Woods, isn’t feeling in the mood for Christmas.
Until the pantomime comes under threat and a grief-stricken Alice is forced to push her personal pain aside and step up to direct – after all, the show must go on…
So with (more than) a little help from her new found friends, not to mention one very gorgeous Hollywood A-list celebrity, the play begins to come together, but will Alice finally believe that Christmas is a time for miracles after all?

Review

The Silver Bells Christmas Pantomime is the third book in Lynsey James’ Luna Bay series and is yet again a brilliant read. I was really pleased to find out that my hunch about who this book would be based around was right and that Alice Woods, who pops up briefly in The Sunflower Cottage breakfast Club is the main character in this new book.

Alice Woods used to be Broadway superstar until three years ago her world came crashing down and she was left heartbroken and alone in New York. Vowing never to act again Alice returns home to Luna Bay to hide away from the world, especially at Christmas time. But this year Alice’s mum has other ideas and is determined to see her bright and loving daughter embrace life once more. She makes a deal with Alice to take her away for a cruise over Christmas if Alice will at least try to partake in the Luna Bay pantomime, even if it’s just a backstage assistant.

Reluctantly Alice agrees to be involved in the panto and it’s not long before her acting buzz begins to return and she finds herself the new director of the panto. Can Alice take this big step and help the panto become more successful than in previous years? Surely she can with the help of her new found friends Lucy and Emily and a certain Mr Fox, the new Hollywood Mr Darcy himself.

I have adored Lynsey’s previous two novels set in Luna Bay and this one is just as good. I love how she has created the wonderful place of Luna Bay which just seems to ooze community spirit and be a sanctuary for people in need. I love all the characters she has created and am so glad some of my previous favourites have return in this third book. Most of all I love the little comedy moments in the realistic actions and dialogue of the characters which just makes me smile the whole time I read one of her books.

I loved Alice and the transformation she makes throughout the book. When we first met her in The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club she was shy, quiet and kept herself to herself, leaving me as a reader with a whole lot of questions about her. Slowly Alice, encouraged by her mother takes steps back into the public and gradually she begins to realise she can move forward and be happy again. I think is helped enormously by the gorgeous Ethan fox who just happens to appear every time Alice seems to set foot outside her house and would surely make any fell better.

I loved the simmering chemistry between Alice and Ethan and had my fingers crossed that she would take that final big step and reach out for her happy ever after.

This is the perfect read for fans of Lynsey’s books, people who want a little festive spirit and people who just love a good pantomime, I loved it!

Thank you so much to Lynsey and the publishers for this copy to review.

Blog Tour: The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club by Lynsey James

The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club by Lynsey James

Published: 1st August 2016

Publisher: Carina UK

Pages: 218

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 5/5

Blurb

Emily Reed is having a bad day. Devastated at losing her hard-earned promotion to the ditz who’s sleeping with the boss, her mother drops a devastating bombshell—the dad she’s known and loved for twenty-five years isn’t her biological father.

Now Emily needs answers and a month in Luna Bay should give her the time she needs to find her father, and land the difficult client at the Sunflower Cottage B&B which should put her back in the running for her coveted promotion.

Setting up the Sunflower Cottage breakfast club should be a great way to meet the locals and maybe even find out who her father is! The only problem is that brooding and insanely gorgeous, Noah, is determined to make Emily’s stay perfectly uncomfortable.

Finding out the truth was never going to be simple, but she never thought her heart would get in the way…

Review

The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club is the second book in Lynsey James’ Luna Bay series, although it can also be read as a standalone novel.

Emily Reed, Business Development Manager for Walter Marshall Hotels has gone from having her life all sorted to being completely lost, after twenty five years her mum has just dropped the bombshell that her loving dad Simon is not her biological father. Her biological father is actually a man named Brian who her mother had a fling with shortly after she was married in the little Yorkshire town of Luna Bay.

To make things worse she’s just been beaten to a promotion by Tara, who seems a little too friendly with their boss Paul. Needing a break and longing to go find out more about her father Emily asks for time off, Paul strikes a bargain with her she has a month to visit Luna Bay and find some answers but while she’s there Emily must get the Sunflower Cottage Bed & Breakfast to sign itself over to Walter Marshall and then she can have her longed for promotion.

Simple, except Emily makes a bad first impression on Mr Grumpy himself Noah Hartley. This wouldn’t be so bad except Noah is very close to The Sunflower Cottages owner Rose and Noah is determined that Rose won’t sell up. After an accident puts Rose out of action for a few days Emily agrees to help Noah run the B & B and to set up his “breakfast club” as a way to keep herself busy and try to subtly find out more about Brian.

After a number of mishaps, misunderstandings and a little heartbreak it’s finally time for Emily to head back to Glasgow, but something’s happened that Emily wasn’t expecting she’s fallen in love…can she really turn her back on Luna Bay now it’s in her heart?

Just like Lynsey’s first Luna bay book I adored this book, it’s an easy enjoyable read and one which is full of emotions, drama and some hilarious scenes. I think the thing that has made Lynsey’s writing standout to me is the characters, she has written some brilliant ones which I can so easily imagine. One of my favourites being Emily’s mum, I just loved her little pep talks with Emily and the scenes where she’s helping Emily cook the breakfasts are some of my favourite in the book.  Talking of breakfasts, I really want one of Noah’s New Yorker breakfasts as it sounded delicious!

I thought Emily was a great main character and had an ah-ha moment when I realised she had been mentioned in book one. I also have my suspicions as to who will be the main character in book three and fingers crossed I’m right because I’m dying to know more about that person.  Anyway back to  Emily, I loved the journey she went on in this book starting out being the uptight, health conscious business woman to the relaxed Emily who goes after what she wants rather than what is expected of her. The sparks that flew between her and Noah were wonderful and I loved reading how their relationship changed.

I also loved that other previous characters were mentioned, it was lovely to check in with Lucy and Jake and see how they were doing. I was a little sad that Elle and George were not in the book as there were character I loved from the first book.

I enjoyed reading The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club while I was on holiday and found it to be the perfect holiday read as its light-hearted and fun and Luna Bay reminded me of one of my favourite places Robin Hood’s Bay in Yorkshire.  I’m so looking forward to more of Lynsey’s wonderful story-telling in Luna Bay book three.

Thank you to the Lynsey, the publishers and Neverland Blog Tours for the review copy and for allowing me to be part of the blog tour.

The Broken Hearts Book Club by Lynsey James

The Broken Hearts Book Club by Lynsey James

Published: 12th October 2015

Publisher: Carina UK

Pages: 242

Available on Kindle

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Rating 4/5

Blurb

Secrets never stay buried for long…
Lucy Harper has always been good at one thing: running from her past. But when her beloved Nana Lily passes away she has no choice except to return to the one place in the world she most wants to avoid…
Luna Bay hasn't changed much in the eight years she has spent in London. The little Yorkshire village is still just as beautiful, but the new pub landlord is a gorgeous addition to the scenery!
Lucy only intended to stay for a day, yet when she discovers that Nana Lily has not only left her a cottage but also 'The Broken Hearts Book Club', Lucy is intrigued. Her Nana never have mentioned the club and Lucy can't wait to get started, but walking into her first meeting she is more aware than ever that her past is finally catching up with her.
One way or another, Lucy must finally face the past she left behind – or spend the rest of her life on the run…

Review

The Broken Hearts Book Club is the first book in the new Luna Bay series by Lynsey James and is actually the first book of hers that I have read. Full of things I love books, romance and a gorgeous Yorkshire village I was sure I was going to love this and I did.

Lucy Harper has just returned to Luna Bay for her Nana Lily’s funeral after keeping away in London for eight years. Lucy feels very uneasy about being back in Luna Bay as the tragedy of what happened years ago still haunts her and is something of a mystery to reader until well into the second half of the book.

She was hoping to just head back to London and leave the past behind for good, but her Nana Lily has had other ideas. She has left Lucy her beautiful cottage by the sea, which is hers to keep providing she lives in the cottage and takes over the running of the Broken Hearts Book Club for three months. Lucy loved Rose Cottage as a child so is torn in two as she really doesn’t want to stay in Luna Bay, but intrigue into her Nana’s special book club and a very dishy barman are just enough reasons to get Lucy to stay instead of scurrying back to the safety and anonymity of London.

Life back in Luna Bay isn’t quite as easy as Lucy imagined, determined to help the members of The Broken Hearts Book Club doesn’t quite go to plan and makes for some very funny moments as Lucy tries to fix all the messes she makes. There’s also still some hostility from certain members of the village which Lucy is scared to face up to.

Lucy was a wonderful main character, she tries so hard to please everybody that she doesn’t always completely think things through, which leads to some misunderstandings, but you could tell she really did begin to care about making the members of the book club happy and that she just wanted the best for everybody. I also loved many of the other characters including Elle, George and Jake and I even warmed to Diane towards the end.

I did feel that the mystery of what happened to the past did overtake the story a little as it’s hinted at so frequently. I was reading fairly fast through this book as I wanted to find out what the big mystery was and to be honest I was a little disappointed when I found out what it was. I did however settle into the book more and really enjoyed the last few chapters at a more leisurely pace.

I also really enjoyed the romance that builds up between Jake and Lucy and loved reading how their relationship developed as it felt very real and also didn’t overpower the book.

Overall I found The Broken Hearts Book Club to be an enjoyable read with some lovely characters, in a beautiful setting, yes I want to go to Luna Bay myself. It’s a story with mystery, with romance and with the message that it’s okay to forgive yourself and leave your heartbreak behind.

I’m glad there is a second Luna Bay book out now as I’m eager to dive back into Luna Bay and all its lovely characters.

Thank you so much to the publishers and Netgalley for providing me with a copy to review.