WHERE? Nelson’s Bar is the perfect little village. Nestled away on the Norfolk coast we can offer you no signal, no Wi-Fi and – most importantly – no problems!
WHO? The ideal candidate will be looking for an escape from their cheating scumbag ex-fiancé, a diversion from their entitled cousin, and a break from their traitorous friends.
WHAT YOU’LL GET! Accommodation in a chocolate-box cottage, plus a summer filled with blue skies and beachside walks. Oh, and a reunion with the man of your dreams.
PLEASE NOTE: We take no responsibility for any of the above scumbags, passengers and/or traitors walking back into your life…
GET IN TOUCH NOW TO MAKE THIS A SUMMER TO REMEMBER!
I'd like to thank Sabah at Avon Books for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour and for my copy of A Summer to Remember to review.
When your life is going down the gurgler... finding your fiance in a compromising position especially when you live and work together makes things more than a little complicated... then there's nothing for it than to escape into the middle of nowhere to figure things out. That's the situation that our heroine Clancy finds herself, totally alone with no-one to turn to as her parents are missionaries working overseas. So what better way to lick her wounds than take over the caretaking of some holiday lets that her cousin Alice has a half-share in when a vacancy arises.
From the offset it was never going to be plain sailing for Clancy as her reappearance in Nelson's Bar was never going to be welcome news for some of the locals, even though it was none of her own doing, because she's guilty by association to Alice who jilted her fiance Lee at the altar. Alice's disappearance hit Lee hard and even though life took a surprising turn for him he's now back in the village himself. Aaron, Lee's brother, had bought out Lee's share of the house and the holiday lets that he shared with Alice, and has been managing the business single-handedly so he's just as surprised when Clancy turns up on the doorstep unannounced to take on the caretaker role.
Clancy was a wonderful, warm character that I instantly felt a connection to. I'm sure we've all experienced the heartbreak of being cheated on so it's totally understandable the hurt and betrayal that she's feeling by not only the man she thought she was going to be with for the rest of her life but also by the actions of one of the colleagues who she runs the company with. I wanted only the best for her and so found myself cheering her on at certain moments but also wanting her to stand up for herself more on other occasions when it looked like others were going to use her vulnerability and take advantage of her.
I think I can safely say we all need an Aaron in our lives as he was the total package, dependable, loyal to his friends and family especially Lee who he kept a watchful eye over, hard-working and it didn't hurt that he was handsome too. I really felt for him too on occasions as he was really in a predicament at times, caught in the middle of everything that was going on but wanting to look out for everyone involved to ensure that no-one got hurt which was no easy task.
The setting of Nelson's Bar was picture perfect and somewhere I would happily escape to for some much needed R&R although not sure I'd cope with living there full-time with the lack of modern day technology! Through the descriptive writing of Sue Moorcroft I almost felt like I was wandering through the village myself, a walk along the coastal path to zig-zag beach sounds perfect to clear the mind although there's no way in hell you'd get me jumping off The Leap down to the sea below.
Then there are the locals, an interesting diverse mix of characters as you'd expect in any small town or village. Some quirky like Dilys and Ernie, their situation might seem strange to others but it clearly works for them, others like young Harry and Rory who are struggling for acceptance in a small rural community, or someone like Kaz to become friends with and spend many an hour putting the world to rights over a coffee or a glass or two of wine. You can't like or love everyone and there were certainly a couple of characters that I instantly had my hackles up, one I'd even go as far to describe as odious. But I have to confess it was a character of the four-legged variety, a one-eyed dog by the name of Nelson, who stole a place in my heart.
A Summer to Remember was just the pick me up I needed, it was filled with strong characters, angst, romance, humour, friendship but above all else it's a time for new beginnings. I sincerely hope that we might see the residents of Nelson's Bar again at some point in the future as I don't think we've heard the last of them.
Shaz, thank you so much for being part of the A Summer to Remember blog tour and for writing such a positive and heartwarming review. I'm over the moon that you enjoyed ASTR so much!
ReplyDelete