Emma's Review: An Almost Perfect Summer by Jill Mansell

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Nick is the most intriguing man Nella has met in a while. He's a 9 in the looks department (no one gets a 10), he makes her laugh, and he keeps her company when she ends up in A&E. But they live hundreds of miles apart.

Then Nella loses her job. There's a perfect role on offer at a Cotswolds holiday retreat. The catch is that her boss would be Nick. And that makes Nick the one man she can't risk falling in love with.

While Nella struggles with her feelings, a Hollywood star has found a haven at the retreat. Lizzie's sworn off people - especially men - until her friendly new neighbours entice her out of her shell. Maybe she needs a flirtation - with gorgeous Nick, perhaps? Not with taciturn local Matthew, though, who definitely isn't a member of her fan club. Then an astonishing secret revealed changes everything . . .

Book Links: Kindle or Hardcover

Emma's Review: The Photographer's Secret by Ellie Midwood

Germany, 1944: Nazi banners blowing in the wind, Maggie Sullivan takes her first steps into enemy territory. Armed only with a camera and a US press pass, Maggie never backs down from danger. But close to her heart is a secret; one that she can never share. Maggie was born in Germany. Years ago, she and her mother were forced to flee Berlin, leaving her siblings behind. The US Army are Maggie’s protectors for now, but she wakes each night in a cold sweat wondering: what will they do if they discover her past?

Every day Maggie works tirelessly to prove the horrifying truth about what Nazis are doing in the camps. But inching closer to the barbed wire, an inscription on an officer’s report grips her with an ice-like fear. Her family’s name. She’s desperate to know more, but it would risk her entire mission. She must save the innocents, even if it means letting the secrets of her own past slip through her fingers…

Then the unthinkable happens. Just as she snaps her first shot of the camp, Maggie feels rough hands snatch the camera from her grip. Someone knows about her secret, and if she’s captured, her photos will never leave Germany. As Maggie fights to prove her innocence, will her story be lost forever? Can she survive long enough to help free the prisoners in the camp and heal the trauma of her past?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback 

Emma's Review: Christmas for the Homefront Girls by Susanna Bavin

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Manchester, December 1940: Sally, Betty and Lorna are determined to keep their spirits up this winter. Their friendship, and a bit of festive cheer, is all they need to get through the nightly blackouts.

But for Lorna, the past is about to come calling. And when the devastating Christmas Blitz reunites her with her ex-fiancé George, her past and her present collide. As the bombs fall, Lorna and George work together through the night to save those trapped in the rubble. And as dawn approaches, Lorna wonders if she can finally forgive the man who broke her heart…

As air raids throw George and Lorna together time and again, it becomes clear that nothing about his visit to Manchester is what it seems. And to Lorna’s surprise, she soon discovers that he desperately needs her help.

Can George and Lorna work together, despite everything that happened between them? And as the snow begins to fall, will Lorna allow her heart to open once more? 

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback 

Emma's Review: A Postcard from Puffin Island by Christie Barlow

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Verity Callaway is running away.

From her job.

From her quiet life in the Midlands.

And most of all from her ex-fiancée…who has just become her newest neighbour.

The plan is simple: hop in her reliable camper van and cross the Channel, headed for a rendezvous with her best friend in Amsterdam to kick off six months of travel. But when Verity stumbles across a decades-old postcard while preparing her cottage for its temporary tenants, her life takes an unexpected turn, and she finds herself on a ferry to Puffin Island instead.

Verity’s childhood was filled with tales of adventures set on the picturesque island, but she’d always thought her beloved granny had made it all up. Now, knowing the stories and the setting were real, Verity is determined to find the postcard’s sender and uncover the secrets of her grandmother’s past…even if it means setting off a sequence of events that will change not just her own life, but also that of the sleepy island’s close-knit community…

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: Winter Wishes in the Scottish Highlands by Donna Ashcroft

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Singleton and city-girl Ivy Heart has just turned thirty. She can’t remember when she last had a Christmas off and this year is no different. Ivy has been tasked with bringing the estranged grandson of her boss, Lady Ballentine, home before Christmas Eve. With her job on the line, Ivy packs her bags for the snowy Scottish Highlands to track down the heir to the Ballentine estate.

When Ivy arrives at Christmas Resort, she discovers Ross Ballentine is far from a polished Laird-to-be. Rough around the edges, free-spirited and jaw-droppingly gorgeous, Ivy is shocked when he drives off on his snowmobile at the first mention of his grandmother. Not taking his frosty tracks as an answer, Ivy books herself onto his reindeer spotting tour, determined to convince him to return to his responsibilities at the crumbling family castle.

But events don’t follow Ivy’s meticulous schedule as she spends time with Ross in his rustic cabin, switching her phone and mind off to the demands of city life. Soon it’s not just the log fire heating up between them. Does Ivy have more in common with this grumpy woodsman than she thought?

As sparks of romance fly under snowy skies, will Ivy succeed in getting Ross home in time for Christmas Eve? Or will this festive season end in heartbreak?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback