Emma's Review: The Lady at the Lodging House by Natalie Meg Evans

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

A world away from the wealth and comfort of her family home, lord’s daughter Betony Styles has come to love her new life at a London lodging house with Grace and Jess. Selling her beautiful gowns to pay for her rent and rations for the other girls, Betony is determined to do her bit.

By day she works in the factory sewing much-needed uniforms for the Women’s Air Force. At night, air raid sirens blaze – but Betony and the other girls do all they can to help in the hardest hit neighbourhoods, rescuing a precious newborn from the rubble. And she’s head over heels with her beau, brave Canadian pilot Winter Macpherson.

But her father believes duty to her family should come before her duty for her country. He demands she give up playing games and come home once and for all.

To stand up to her father and follow her own path, Betony needs Grace and Jess more than ever. But when Winter disappears, her heart shatters. Together, can the lodging house girls give each other hope even in the darkest times?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: Walking on Sunshine by Heidi Swain

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

A Summer in Suffolk could be just what she needs…

When Tilly heads to the river in Willowell, Suffolk, to scatter her dad’s ashes, she’s in need of some rest and relaxation. Life has been tough lately, and she wants a new start.

Constance has lived in Fernside forever. She owns the beautiful Willowell Woods – but she can’t manage them alone, and they’re now up for sale.

Her nephew, James, has always loved Willowell Woods – and he doesn’t want anyone taking them over. So when Tilly asks to buy them, with an exciting idea for the land, sparks begin to fly… the problem is, they’re already falling in love.

Can Tilly and James find a way to turn sparks into fireworks? And will Constance finally realise that letting in the new doesn’t have to mean getting rid of the old…?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Hopeful Hearts Bookshop by Debbie Johnson

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Single and in a dead-end job, Kate feels hope spring when an anonymous invitation falls from the pages of a book. Now, she’s standing in a charming Scottish village and trying to ignore the six-four silver fox by her side. He’s got an invitation too, a husky Chicago accent, and dangerously gorgeous sea-blue eyes…

Widowed ex-police officer Brody never expected to be stranded in Scotland with a cute British lady. Her smile might be bewitching… but her attitude? Way too cheerful. And eccentric bookshop owner Moira says they can stay for free, as long as they don’t mind sharing one very cozy little cottage.

That’s the least of their problems. Turns out Moira’s bookshop needs them just as much as Kate and Brody need a fresh start. And with a twinkle in Moira’s mischievous matchmaking eye, things are soon hotting up in surprising ways!

But as they string fairy lights over snug reading nooks and rally the whole community to buy their favourite reads, can Kate and Brody save the bookshop and heal their hearts? Or will their fresh start come crashing down? 

Book Link: Kindle

Emma's Review: The Tuscan Villa by Ella Carey

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Manhattan, 1953. Francesca feels smothered by lace as she tries on wedding dresses in an uptown boutique. Can she really start a new life with her fiancé without first answering the questions she has about her childhood in Italy? Confronted with the news that the bougainvillea-covered villa she grew up in is for sale, and the lavish gardens her father designed and cultivated are destined to be razed, she buys a plane ticket and doesn’t look back. She can’t stand by and watch it all turn to rubble.

Fran chokes back a sob as she finds the gardens wild and overgrown and the once-pristine follies crumbling under the baking sun. But the lingering scent of the Italian basil from the kitchen garden brings Fran closer to the father she lost. To save this sacred space she must uncover what really happened when Vivi disappeared.

But while standoffish locals treat Fran like an outsider, she knows she is closing in on a secret at the very heart of the gardens she ran barefoot through as a young girl; a tragic love triangle that plagued the villa, defied the authorities, and might change everything Fran thinks she knows about who she is. One thing is certain: what happened to Vivi was no accident.

And just when Fran thinks she’s uncovered a truth that will shake the little village of Cortona to its foundations, she discovers a letter that changes everything once again. Can Fran find a way to save the gardens before they are destroyed? Or will she be forced to return home to a future in New York that no longer fits?

Book Link: Kindle

Emma's Review: Somewhere Only We Know by Cathy Bramley

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

She thought their love story was over. 
The world had other plans...

When Magnolia Jones finds her daughter's travel journal, she can think of no better way to honour her life than setting off on the gap year trip that twenty-three-year-old Brontë had dreamed of taking.

It was meant to be Brontë's adventure, but perhaps following her daughter's footsteps around the world is exactly what Magnolia needs to piece her broken heart back together and begin to heal.

As her travels take her further away from home, memories of a long-ago summer come flooding back. Magnolia barely recognises that girl she used to be - the dreams she had, the freedom ahead, the midnight kisses on the beach with curly-haired, brown eyed Jackson.

Maybe, just maybe, in this magical place that is somewhere only they know, Magnolia is about to discover that her journey isn't over - it's just about to begin...

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback