Blog Tour Review: Le Tour de Love by Lilac Mills

Le Tour de Love by Lilac Mills

Published: 31st March 2019

Pages: 283

Available on kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 4/5

Blurb

“…the opportunity of a lifetime.”

When physiotherapist Molly Matthews is offered a dream job by a guy who shaves his legs and has an obsession with his bicycle, she has serious doubts about accepting. But, as she keeps telling herself, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime and she’ll never get another chance like this. So, she does what anyone in her position would do – she agrees to join a professional cycling team for the most prestigious race in the cycling world – The Tour de France.

The reality, though, isn’t exactly what she had anticipated; instead of eating out at restaurants in pretty French villages and spending her free time lounging around the hotel pool, Molly finds herself living out of a suitcase for three weeks, massaging eight pairs of sweaty legs, administering ice baths and treating saddle sores.

And neither did she anticipate falling for a gorgeous, passionate, professional rider by the name of Alexander Duvall…

Review

This is the first book that I’ve read by Lilac Mills and I’m sure it won’t be the last as I found Le Tour De Love to be an interesting and enjoyable read. I know nothing about the cycling world but was intrigued enough by the line “opportunity of a lifetime” to give this book and new to me author a read.

Molly Matthews is working as a physio-therapist when Alex Duvall walks into her clinic for treatment on his wrist, he explains to her he needs to be race fit in two weeks as he’s competing in the Tour De France. Molly bends the rules and treats Alex morning and night to help him into peak condition, but then Alex makes her an offer she can’t refuse. Join team BeSpoke as their physio and travel round the world with them, with nothing to lose Molly decides to give it a go. Molly soon finds its not the glamorous lifestyle she was picturing, she also finds she’s becoming more attracted to Alex as each day passes, something which against team rules. Can Molly keep her feelings in check until the end of the Tour or will love find a way?

I liked both Molly and Alex as characters on their own but as romantic partners I felt there was something missing between them. Probably time together because although this is dubbed a romance novel set in the cycling world to me it was very heavily focused on the cycling side of the story and the romance felt secondary.

I did enjoy the story and learning about the cycling world, it seems very complex and Lilac Mills has obviously done her research well every detail felt very realistic and she managed to capture the excitement, nerves and pressure surrounding each stage of the races, creating a fabulous story.  If your looking for a romance novel then you might be slightly disappointed but if you’re looking for an enjoyable summer read which will have you on the edge of your seat as you follow along with the races then you will love this book.

Thank you so much to the author for sending me a copy to review honestly and to Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Lilac spends all her time writing, or reading, or thinking about writing or reading, often to the detriment of her day job, her family, and the housework. She apologises to her employer and her loved ones, but the house will simply have to deal with it!

She calls Worcester home, though she would prefer to call somewhere hot and sunny home, somewhere with a beach and cocktails and endless opportunities for snoozing in the sun...

When she isn't hunched over a computer or dreaming about foreign shores, she enjoys creating strange, inedible dishes in the kitchen, accusing her daughter of stealing (she meant to say "borrowing") her clothes, and fighting with her husband over whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher.

Social Media Links – https://www.instagram.com/lilacmillsauthor/

https://twitter.com/LilacMills

Purchase Link:

viewbook.at/LeTourDeLove

Blog Tour Review: Chloe Lost Girl by Dan Laughey

Chloe Lost Girl (Carl Sant Book #1) by Dan Laughey

Published: 5th March 2019

Publisher: Creativa

Pages: 286

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 5/5

Blurb

A missing student. A gunned-down detective. A woman in fear for her life. All three are connected somehow.

Detective Inspector Carl Sant and his fellow officers get on the case. But what links the disappearance of a university student, the death of an off-duty police sergeant, and a professor reluctant to help them solve the case?

Their only clue is a sequence of numbers, etched by the police sergeant Dryden on a misty window moments before he breathed his last. Soon it becomes clear that Dryden's clue has brought the past and present into a head-on collision with the very heart of Sant’s profession.

Racing against time, D.I. Sant must find out what's behind the mysterious events - before the bodies start piling up.

Review

Chloe Lost Girl is the first book written by Dan Laughey featuring Detective Carl Sant a guy who’s dedicated to his work and not afraid to bend the rules to find out the truth. In this first book Carl and his team are looking for missing girl Chloe Lee whose being missing for over five weeks. The team don’t have much to go on so when colleague DC Liam Dryden is gunned down in a massacre about the number 33 bus their focus is elsewhere. The dead detective has left them a clue 3 1 8 is marked in the window of the bus above his body, what does this mean and is it anyway linked to the missing Chloe Lee.

I was hooked from this from the start, possibly because I’ve been on the number 33 bus from Otley quite regularly, so reading about the mass shooting did send shivers down my spine. It’s not just the bus though, this is a great story with so many twists and turns in the plot its bound to appeal to anyone who loves this genre. I loved that there were so many possible suspects and explanations and just when I thought I had it all worked out Dan Laughey goes and throws someone else into the mix for us to suspect.

It’s not the fastest moving story but I enjoyed the slower pace as I got to know the characters more and really get a feel for the story, I guess it helps I know the area very well too so can easily picture the action unfolding.

Great story and I highly recommend you have book two ready to read as soon as you’ve finished this as I was desperate to work out how all the various threads tied together and I’m sure you will be too.

Thank you so much to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Rachel’s random Resources for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.

About the Author

Dan Laughey is a lecturer at Leeds Beckett University where he teaches a course called ‘Youth, Crime and Culture’ among other things. He has written several books on the subject including Music and Youth Culture, based on his PhD in Sociology at Salford University. He also holds a BA in English from Manchester Metropolitan University and an MA in Communications Studies from the University of Leeds.

Dan was born in Otley and bred in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, a hop and a skip away from the Leeds setting of his Chloe novels.

His crime writing was purely academic to begin with. He’s written about media violence and tackled the age-old concern about television and video games influencing patterns of antisocial behaviour in society. After years of research and theoretical scrutiny, he still hasn’t cracked that particular nut.

He’s also written about the role of CCTV and surveillance in today’s Big Brother world, the sometimes fraught relationship between rap and juvenile crime, football hooliganism, and the sociocultural legacy of Britain’s most notorious serial killer – the Yorkshire Ripper.

All in all, Dan’s work has been translated into four languages: French, Hebrew, Korean and Turkish. He has presented guest lectures at international conferences and appeared on BBC Radio and ITV News in addition to providing expert commentary for The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.

Social Media Links –

Twitter: @danlaughey – Facebook: fb.com/laughey

Purchase Links:

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PDLDS7N

US - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PDLDS7N

Blog Tour Review: A Feast of Serendib by Mary Anne Mohanraj

A Feast of Serndib by Mary Anne Mohanraj

Rating: 4/5

Blurb

Dark roasted curry powder, a fine attention to the balance of salty-sour-sweet, wholesome red rice and toasted curry leaves, plenty of coconut milk and chili heat. These are the flavors of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka was a cross roads in the sea routes of the East. Three waves of colonization—Portuguese, Dutch and British—and the Chinese laborers who came with them, left their culinary imprint on Sri Lankan food. Sri Lankan cooking with its many vegetarian dishes gives testimony to the presence of a multi-ethnic and multi -religious population.

Everyday classics like beef smoore and Jaffna crab curry are joined by luxurious feast dishes, such as nargisi kofta and green mango curry, once served to King Kasyapa in his 5th century sky palace of Sigiriya.

Vegetable dishes include cashew curry, jackfruit curry, asparagus poriyal, tempered lentils, broccoli varai and lime-masala mushrooms. There are appetizers of chili-mango cashews, prawn lentil patties, fried mutton rolls, and ribbon tea sandwiches. Deviled chili eggs bring the heat, yet ginger-garlic chicken is mild enough for a small child. Desserts include Sir Lankan favorites:  love cake, mango fluff, milk toffee and vattalappam, a richly-spiced coconut custard.

In A Feast of Serendib, Mary Anne Mohanraj introduces her mother’s cooking and her own Americanizations, providing a wonderful introduction to Sri Lankan American cooking, straightforward enough for a beginner, and nuanced enough to capture the flavor of Sri Lankan cooking.

Review

I have a slight addiction to cooks so when the chance to review A Feast of Serendib by Mary Anne Mohanraj came up I jumped at the chance, especially as Sri Lankan food is something, I know nothing about and I’m always eager to learn about a new cuisine.

For me a good cookbook has to have three elements,  recipes that I want to cook which don’t contain loads of ingredients and numerous steps,  photographs of the majority of the recipes so I know what I’m aiming for and thirdly be an interesting read where I can learn something about the author, I think A Feast of Serendib has managed to achieved all three of these well.

There is a wide selection of recipes, so you really get a feel for the cuisine, with an emphasis on curried dishes but also recipes for some drinks and desserts which I liked. Many of the recipes call for the use of Sri Lankan curry powder and I’m pleased the author has included a recipe to make my own, apart from the dried curry leaves I already had most of the spices in my cupboards. I’ve not had the chance to make many of the recipes yet but from the few I’ve tried the Fish White Curry and the Tangy Peppered Beef Stew being favourites, just watch out for the peppercorns, my kids also liked the Garlic-Ginger Chicken.

Each recipe has its own photo and a little introduction about the dish which I really liked as t gives more insight into the recipes.  The book also has a detailed introduction which gives a lovely insight into the culture and cuisine of Sri Lanka. I think the author has done a great job with this cookbook and I’m looking forward to trying more recipes very soon.

Thank you so much to the author for sending me a copy to review and to Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.

About the Author

Mary Anne Mohanraj is the author of Bodies in Motion (HarperCollins), The Stars Change (Circlet Press) and thirteen other titles. Bodies in Motion was a finalist for the Asian American Book Awards, a USA Today Notable Book, and has been translated into six languages.  The Stars Change was a finalist for the Lambda, Rainbow, and Bisexual Book Awards.

Mohanraj founded the Hugo-nominated and World Fantasy Award-winning speculative literature magazine, Strange Horizons, and also founded Jaggery, a S. Asian & S. Asian diaspora literary journal (jaggerylit.com). She received a Breaking Barriers Award from the Chicago Foundation for Women for her work in Asian American arts organizing, won an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in Prose, and was Guest of Honor at WisCon. She serves as Director of two literary organizations, DesiLit (www.desilit.org) and The Speculative Literature Foundation (www.speclit.org).  She serves on the futurist boards of the XPrize and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.

Mohanraj is Clinical Associate Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and lives in a creaky old Victorian in Oak Park, just outside Chicago, with her husband, their two small children, and a sweet dog.  Recent publications include stories for George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards series, stories at Clarkesworld, Asimov's, and Lightspeed, and an essay in Roxane Gay’s Unruly Bodies.  2017-2018 titles include Survivor (a SF/F anthology), Perennial, Invisible 3 (co-edited with Jim C. Hines), and Vegan Serendib. http://www.maryannemohanraj.com

Purchase Links:

http://serendibkitchen.com/shop/

https://a-feast-of-serendib.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Blog Tour Review: Birdie & Jude by Phyllis H. Moore

Birdie & Jude by Phyllis H. Moore

Published: 20th March 2018

Pages: 338

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 4/5

Blurb

A moving novel of loss, regret, denial, and discovery on Galveston Island, from the author of Opal’s Story and The Ember Months.

Birdie has lived to regret many of her decisions, but she doesn’t regret offering a stranger, Jude, shelter from an approaching hurricane. Their serendipitous meeting will form a bond that will change their lives forever.

In a character driven story with memories of the protests and inequality plaguing the 1960's, Birdie’s reached middle age and questions her life. Jude is striking out on her own, but has been derailed by a fatal accident claiming her only friend. Although their backgrounds and lives are vastly different, they recognize something in the other that forges a friendship.

As their relationship solidifies, they share glimpses of their pasts. Birdie is a product of the '60's, an aging hippie, with a series of resentments. She had a sheltered childhood in an upper class family. Her parents longed to see her make the Texas Dip at the Mardi Gras ball. Jude, however, entered foster care as an infant. Her parents, victims of a murder/suicide, left her and her siblings orphaned and separated.

There is something about their connection that strikes Birdie as familiar. Can souls know each other in different lives? Birdie struggles with the awareness that she has had regrets and hasn't lived an authentic life, while Jude faces an uncomfortable truth about her own. It has all the feels.

Review

When Birdie finds Jude laid on the beach covered in dried blood and suffering from recent injuries Birdie is drawn to her and invites her back to her house to clean herself up and shelter from the impending storm. Birdie and Jude couldn’t be more different but quickly form a strong bond, almost as if they’d known each other before.

Birdie an aging hippy has led a sheltered life after refusing to follow her parents wishes of becoming a debutante. Battling her sexuality, she’s still mourning the lost of her closest friend Henry. Now she is reaching her later years she’s realised she’s wasted a lot of her life and is determined to change things. Jude is in her twenties and after a fatal accident leaves best friend Casey dead her plans for a trip to Europe. After spending most of her life moving between foster homes Jude’s never really felt like anywhere was home until she stays with Birdie, here she finally begins to feel settled.

It took me a while to get into this novel as its very character driven and initially, I found Birdie a little eccentric, but I liked how she took Jude under her wing and helped her feel safe. Ms. Moore has done a great job a creating to very detailed female characters who are very real, something which she should be very proud as so often characters can be a little two dimensional, not Birdie and Jude they show us many differing character aspects.

I did enjoy this novel of friendship and enduring spirits but in places it did drag a little in the middle. There were a couple of places where I wasn’t sure if Birdie was referring to the present day or memories from the past which did confuse me. Birdie and Jude is a wonderful character driven novel which explores relationships and society and the idea that spirits can revisit us in different forms. If you want to really get to know your characters, then I can highly recommend this novel.

Thank you to the author and Rachel’s random resources for sending me a copy to review and inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Phyllis H. Moore wants to live life experiences more than once: doing it, writing about it, and reading about it. The atmosphere of the south draws her in and repels her. The characters are rich with dysfunction and redemption, real. She’s had two careers and two retirements. Both careers gave her inspiration for her novels: The Sabine Series, Sabine, Billy’s Story,  Josephine’s Journals and Secrets of Dunn House, Opal’s Story, Tangled, a Southern Gothic Yarn, and The Bright Shawl, Colors of Tender Whispers, The Ember Months, Birdie & Jude, and an anthology of spooky short stories inspired by real places and events, The Bridge on Jackson Road. In 2018 she also released a new genre for her, A Dickens of a Crime, a Meg Miller Cozy Mystery. She has authored one nonfiction book, Retirement, Now What? Phyllis has been published by Caffeinated Press in the anthology, Brewed Awakenings 2, Fifteen Tales to Jolt Your Mind Awake. She blogs on her web site http://www.phyllishmoore.com. Follow her on Pinterest and Facebook.

Phyllis is a retired social worker and former owner/operator of a small bed and breakfast. She’s lived in the rural areas and cities of south Texas. She currently lives on Galveston Island with her husband, Richard.

Social Media Links – https://www.facebook.com/phyllishmooreAuthor/

https://www.pinterest.com/corazone/

http://www.phyllishmoore.com

@phyllishmoore

Purchase Links

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07BLMR63Y

US - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BLMR63Y

Summer Season on the Seafront by Kate Ginger

Summer Season on the Seafront by Kate Ginger

Published: 10th June 2019

Publisher: HQ Digital

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 5/5

Blurb

The Greenley Players are back practicing their Shakespeare and, as usual, things aren't going to plan.

Sarah Powell is fed up with her sad single status and when her estranged father walks back into her life things get even worse. Can dishy doctor Finn MacDonald mend her broken heart and help her figure things out?

TV star, Nate Hardy's career is going from strength to strength until his performance is interrupted and he has to flee the West End to hide away in Greenley. Will he ever get his career back on track or will Sarah and the rest of Greenley's madcap residents capture his heart forever? 

Review

 Set in the lovely village of Greenley-on-Sea, Summer Season on the Seafront tells the story of the Greenley Players as they set out to perform their second Shakespeare play in the newly renovated theatre. The focus of the book is on Sarah who is playing Miranda the leading lady but with troubles in her own life Sarah is struggling to connect with her character and pull off a crowd-pleasing performance.

It wasn’t until I read a couple of chapters of this book that I realised it follows on from The Little Theatre on the Seafront published last year, this didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the book at all as Katie Ginger has given us enough background details that you can work out what happened previously. If you want the full story you can of course go and read that book first.

Sarah has been the previous star of the Greenley Players but she’s struggling to connect with her character, this might be because Miranda’s falling in love for the first time and for Sarah romance is sadly missing in her life. Still recovering from her cheating ex Vince she’s been on several disastrous dates while secretly harbouring a massive crush for her work colleague Finn MacDonald, the local doctor. I instantly connected with Sarah she’s a fun-loving girl who’s just starting to find her place in life after a few tragic years. She’s caring and supportive towards her friends and I was hoping she would find someone who would truly adore her so she could feel totally secure.

Actor Nate Hardy comes to Greenley-on-sea when his love life is splashed across the national newspapers and he needs a place to hide. To begin with I didn’t care much for Nate. He was portrayed as a famous actor who’d cheated on his wife then run away when things got tricky but as the story developed and we find out more about him he gained my sympathy. It must be hard to live in the limelight and have your every move scrutinized by outsiders. He helps the Greenley Players work on their performance and seems to form a special bond with Sarah. But when the dust settles, and he can return to his old life can Nate leave Greenley and Sarah behind.

I loved Summer Season on the Seafront, it maybe classed as a romance novel but has so much more to offer. I loved how the story revolved around the theatre and its production of The Tempest and gave a real feel for theatre life. The romance isn’t over the top and too mushy which for me makes this the perfect summer read. I’d love another visit to Greenley-on-Sea just to find out more about the notorious Mrs Andrews.

Thank you so much to the publishers and Katie Ginger for sending me a copy to review and to Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.

About the Author

Katie Ginger lives in the South East of England, by the sea, and apart from holidays to very hot places where you can sit by a pool and drink cocktails as big your head, she wouldn't really want to be anywhere else. Summer Season on the Seafront is Katie's second novel. Her debut novel The Little Theatre on the Seafront was shortlisted for the Katie Fforde Debut Novel of the Year award. She is also the author of some cosy mystery short stories. Katie loves making her characters either fall in love, or killing them off - it depends on her mood!

When she's not writing, Katie spends her time drinking gin, or with her husband, trying to keep alive her two children: Ellie, who believes everything in life should be done as a musical number from a West End show; and Sam, who is basically a monkey with a boy's face. And there's also their adorable King Charles Spaniel, Wotsit (yes, he is named after the crisps!).

For more about Katie you can visit her website: www.keginger.com, find her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KatieGAuthor, or follow her on Twitter: @KatieGAuthor

Purchase Links

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summer-Season-Seafront-Katie-Ginger-ebook/dp/B07KQQ6856

US - https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Season-Seafront-Katie-Ginger-ebook/dp/B07KQQ6856

Blog Tour Review: Tuscan Enchantment by Kate Zarrelli

Tuscan Echantment by Kate Zarrelli

Published: 18th March 2019

Publisher: eXtasy Books Inc

Pages:162

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 4/5

Blurb

This was no cold marble—this was a man! Antonia goes to Tuscany to rebuild her life. The last thing she wants to do is fall in love, least of all with rich, arrogant, aristocratic Lorenzo.

Librarian Antonia Gray has fled England for northern Tuscany after an unhappy love affair to work on the archive of a 17th century Italian explorer, a member of a centuries-old aristocratic family. There she meets his descendent, Lorenzo Quattromani, rich, arrogant, handsome—and engaged to the beautiful and ruthless Giselle. The last thing Antonia wants is to fall in love, least of all with someone so dangerous. His engagement, though, is not what it seems, and Lorenzo breaks down Antonia’s resistance. But Giselle has other ideas.

Review

After a disastrous romance, shy librarian Antonia Grey flees England and heads for the Tuscan hills where she has found a job archiving the family history of the Countess Quattromani. Here Antonia finds peace and solace for her broken heart until the Countess’s young nephew Lorenzo arrives with his beautiful but cold fiancée Giselle.

Attractive, arrogant Lorenzo is used to women falling at his feet, so it piques his interest that Antonia wants nothing to do with him. With underlying desires on both sides its not long before romance blossoms and their both contemplating a whole new future, but scorned Giselle has her own ideas about how things will turn out.

Tuscan Enchantment is the perfect steamy romance set in the glorious Tuscan countryside which has been beautifully brought to life by Kate Zarrelli, her descriptions made me long to go there even more.

I loved the historical element which is threaded throughout this book. The castle at Gavedo sounds like an enchanting and also haunting place when its sad links to World war II are revealed.

Although I liked Antonia and Lorenzo as characters my favourite was the old Countess, she was as sharp as a pin even if she wasn’t too steady on her feet and I loved her snarky comments about Giselle.

If you’re after a lovely summer romance with an interesting back story and a few twists, not to mention a gorgeous Italian Stallion, then Tuscan Enchantment is the book for you.

Thank you so much for the publishers for sending me a copy to review and to Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.

About the Author

Kate Zarrelli is the romance and erotica pen-name of Katherine Mezzacappa. Kate is Irish but now lives in Carrara in Northern Tuscany, between the Apuan Alps and the Tyrrhenian Sea, with her Italian husband and two teenage sons. She writes historical, erotic, feel-good and paranormal fiction, set all over Europe, and in her spare time volunteers with a used book charity of which she is a founder member. You can follow her on Facebook at Kate Zarrelli books or on Twitter @katmezzacappa.

Social Media Links –

@katmezzacappa

https://www.facebook.com/katezarrellibooks/

https://www.facebook.com/katherinemezzacappafiction/

https://romanticnovelistsassociation.org/rna_author/kate-zarrelli/

Purchase Links

http://www.devinedestinies.com/978-1-4874-2305-6-tuscan-enchantment/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tuscan-Enchantment-Kate-Zarrelli-ebook/dp/B07PQ4ZKTD

https://www.amazon.com/Tuscan-Enchantment-Kate-Zarrelli-ebook/dp/B07PQ4ZKTD

Giveaway

Giveaway to Win a Little Carrara Marble Heart Pendant (Open Internationally)

·        Can be engraved with winner’s initials

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Blog Tour Review: Edie Browne's Cottage by the Sea by Jane Linfoot

Edie Browne's Cottage by the Sea

Published: 24th May 2019

Publisher: Harper Impulse

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 5/5

Blurb

Those who don’t jump will never fly…

Hurtling through the sky was supposed to be Edie Browne’s flight of independence. But when she falls head over champagne bucket while celebrating her successful landing, her life is changed in an instant.

But starting over has its benefits, and as Edie relearns the basics under the watchful eye of her Aunty Josie and an entire Cornish village of new friends and neighbours, she finds love and joy she never could have imagined in the unlikeliest of places… 

Come home to St Aidan and Periwinkle Cottage for a romance full of love, laughter and friends for life!

Review

It’s been a while since I read a book by Jane Linfoot but after just a couple of chapters of Edie Browne’s Cottage by the Sea I was reminded just how good a storyteller she is. I found Edie’s journey to recovery so absorbing that it wasn’t long before I was finished.

After suffering a stroke Edie goes to stay with her Aunt Josie to hopefully aid her recovery. What Edie finds when she arrives is that Josie too needs help and together, they begin to overcome the challenges which daily life throws and them. It’s not long before they’re both fully immersed in the village life of St. Aidan and with the community spirit which surrounds them life has never looked so good.

Edie’s a character who will instantly have your heart, despite her setbacks she hasn’t given in and become self-pitying, she’s working towards regaining her old skills and in the meantime learning a few more. I loved the bond she created with young Cam and how the two seemed to help each other blossom over the simplest of tasks. I loved her awkwardness around handsome Barney which led to some hilarious scenes which lightened up the story which in places does get quite emotional.

Josie was a little harder to warm to as she seemed a bit of a reclusive snob at the start of the book, not venturing into the village for anything and instead taking full advantage of the services of Amazon Prime to deliver her every whim whilst wishing she was back in Harpenden with her cleaner and gardener. Once the story unfolded though she came out of her quirky habits and became a central part of village life.

This is a lovely story about second chance, never giving up and the power of community spirit. It was an absolute joy to read and I adored the village of St. Aiden and all its inhabitants and hope Jane is planning another book based there. Edie Browne’s Cottage by the Sea is the perfect summer read and I highly recommend it to anyone who is wanting a warm and uplifting story.

Thank you so much to the publishers for sending me a copy to review and to Rachel’s Radom Resources for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.

About the Author

Jane Linfoot is a best selling author, who lives in a muddy cottage, up a steep hill in Derbyshire, with her family, their pets, and an astonishing number of spiders. Although she loves seeing cow noses over the garden wall, she’s happy she can walk to a supermarket.

Jane grew up in North Yorkshire where she spent a lot of her childhood avoiding horizontal gales blowing off the sea, and wrote her first book by accident, while working as an architect, and renovating country houses. While she loves to write feelgood books that let readers escape, she’s always surprised to hear her stories make people laugh, admits to (occasionally) crying as she writes, and credits her characters for creating their own story lines.

Jane’s garden would be less brambly if she wasn’t on Facebook and Twitter so often. On days when she wants to be really scared, she rides a tandem.

Her latest books include a series of stand alone novels, based around a seaside wedding shop in Cornwall. Cupcakes and Confetti – The Little Wedding Shop by the Sea, Sequins and Snowflakes – Christmas at the Little Wedding Shop, and Bunting and Bouquets – Summer at the Little Wedding Shop, and most recently, The Little Cornish Kitchen. These are all published by Harper Impulse,  an imprint of Harper Collins.

Follow Jane on Twitter @janelinfoot, or find her on her Author Page Facebook or her Personal Page Facebook. She’s also on Instagram, and has lots of Pinterest boards relating to her novels.

Purchase Links:

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edie-Brownes-Cottage-Sea-heartwarming-ebook/dp/B07PPD1JD9/

US - https://www.amazon.com/Edie-Brownes-Cottage-Sea-heartwarming-ebook/dp/B07PPD1JD9/