Books Read: Hannah Fielding - Burning Embers

Source - Received from PR company to review

Whoops just noticed that this post that was scheduled to go live last week didn't upload... apologies Hannah and Midas PR.

Coral Sinclair is a beautiful but naïve twenty-five-year-old photographer who has just lost her father. She's leaving the life she's known and traveling to Kenya to take ownership of her inheritance--the plantation that was her childhood home--Mpingo. On the voyage from England, Coral meets an enigmatic stranger to whom she has a mystifying attraction. She sees him again days later on the beach near Mpingo, but Coral’s childhood nanny tells her the man is not to be trusted. It is rumored that Rafe de Monfort, owner of a neighboring plantation and a nightclub, is a notorious womanizer having an affair with her stepmother, which may have contributed to her father’s death.

Circumstance confirms Coral’s worst suspicions, but when Rafe’s life is in danger she is driven to make peace. A tentative romance blossoms amidst a meddling ex-fiancé, a jealous stepmother, a car accident, and the dangerous wilderness of Africa. Is Rafe just toying with a young woman’s affections? Is the notorious womanizer only after Coral’s inheritance? Or does Rafe’s troubled past color his every move, making him more vulnerable than Coral could ever imagine?

I'd like to thank Roisin at Midas PR for offering me a copy of Hannah Fielding's debut novel Burning Embers to review.  This is a contemporary romance novel set in 1970's Kenya, and if I'm honest, is probably is not a book that would have attracted my attention over some of the more modern day chicklit books that I generally read.  However, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I did enjoy reading this book and I think it's definitely a sign that my reading tastes are evolving as I get older!

We first meet Coral as she's returning to her childhood home, Mpingo, in Kenya following the sudden death of her father.  During the boat journey she meets a mysterious stranger who intrigues her but as quick as he comes into her life he disappears. So she's surprised to discover that he owns the neighbouring plantation but she's soon warned off him by her childhood nanny Aluna as well as several of the local women, will she listen to them or follow her heart?

This book had everything that I want in a book to keep me interested, romance, passion, mystery and the descriptive narrative of the Kenyan countryside made me wish I was there instead of being stuck here on a damp summers day.  I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for future releases from Hannah to see where she takes us next.
 
If this sounds like something you'd like to read, you can order a copy from Amazon in paperback or e-book format.