Emma's Review: The Perfect Christmas Village by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

Tis the season.... for a Christmas cynic to have his frozen heart melted by festive magic.

When Christmas-hating Sam moves to Holly Cross, he thinks he's found the perfect home, until he discovers that, each year, Holly Cross transforms into the most Christmassy village in the whole country...

Blythe is just one sale away from being Real Estate Agent of the Month, so she twists the truth to sell a home to city boy Sam, who is looking for the perfect house in the perfect location. Little does he know he's just bought a cottage in the middle of the most Christmassy village in the country. And if there's one thing Sam loathes, it's Christmas.

Sam's arrival puts Holly Cross's chance to win the title of Britain's Most Perfect Christmas Village now in jeopardy, and the villagers are soon up in arms. Meanwhile, Sam is in his own personal hell surrounded by fairy lights and everyone is looking to Blythe to fix things.

But as the festive season looms, maybe there's more than just Christmas in Holly Cross for Sam to fall in love with...

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: A Wedding at Sandy Cove - Part 1: Always the Bridesmaid by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley 

This will be Ella’s eighth time down the aisle…

Ella has made it her mission in life to find every bride in their dream dress.

But every time she sends one of her happy customers off to the altar with a perfect, ivory silk gown, she thinks of those seven, hideous bridesmaid dresses hanging in her own closet.

She’s about to add another one, too, because her best friend’s wedding is now only months away. And this one, in a muddy shade of brown, might be the worst dress yet.

Ella is excited for her friend to have the perfect seaside wedding, but every discussion about flowers and centrepieces makes her feel more alone than ever.

So, Ella finally accepts her friends’ pleas to set her up on a blind date.

Ella is set to meet a handsome, gym-going estate agent. But a mix up on the night throws her into the path of Kit, instead.

Kit is most definitely not the man she was supposed to meet, but he could end up changing her life in ways she never thought possible…

Book Link: Kindle

Emma's Review: One Family Christmas by Bella Osborne

 Reviewed by Emma Crowley

A big family. A whole lot of secrets. A Christmas to remember…

This year, Lottie is hosting one last big family Christmas at the home she grew up in – just like her Nana would have wanted.

But when her relatives descend on the old manor house, Lottie gets more than she bargained for. Every family has its secrets, but in this family, everybody has one!

So, between cooking a Christmas dinner, keeping tensions at bay and a stray dog out of mischief, she has plenty on her plate (and not just misshapen sausage rolls and a frozen turkey). And then her first love shows up – nine years after he walked out of her life.

Can Lottie make their last family Christmas one to remember… for the right reasons?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: Meet Me at Pebble Beach: Part Four - Seas the Day by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Regan has been busy trying to tick everything off her lottery wish list: she’s started her own business, helped a worthy cause, and even sorted out a new home – albeit a temporary one. But she still has a couple of items to check off – including get a hot new boyfriend, and she knows justwhere to find one… 


Will Regan and Charlie get their happy ending and sail off into the sunset – or does fate have other ideas?

Amazon Affiliate Link: Kindle

Emma's Review: Meet Me at Pebble Beach: Part Three - Sink or Swim by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Regan has just started to find her groove when tragedy strikes – threatening to send her right back to square one. But with her new market stall confirmed, she has plenty to keep her busy… and that’s before you add a hot fireman, a new four-legged friend and some sticky situations to the mix. 
But business is slow, and Regan is starting to doubt whether this is the right path for her after all…

Can she get her new business out of troubled waters?

Amazon Affiliate Link: Kindle

Emma's Review: Meet Me at Pebble Beach: Part Two - In Too Deep by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

With a little help from some new friends in her seaside community – including one very handsome fireman called Charlie – Regan realises that when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up! She decides to start living her best life and attempt to make the changes she would have made if she had won the lottery – on a budget, of course.

Newly determined and armed with a list of ways to change her life, Regan works hard and things start looking up – but is she out of the deep end yet?

Amazon Affiliate Link: Kindle

Emma's Review: Meet Me at Pebble Beach: Part One - Out of the Blue by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

When Regan’s lottery numbers unexpectedly come up on a rollover, she can’t believe her luck. Having spent the past few years coasting along in the slow lane of life, this is the break she’s been waiting for – and she wastes no time in making some big life decisions.

But Regan’s plans for a life of sipping cocktails on her own private island come crashing down when she discovers that the winning ticket was a bad prank – and she’s now jobless, boyfriendless, and homeless to boot.

When the going gets tough, can Regan stay afloat?

Amazon Affiliate Link: Kindle

Author Interview: Emma chats to Bella Osborne

Today I'm handing the blog over to Emma who is chatting to Bella Osborne about her latest book A Walk in Wildflower Park which is published in paperback today and was previously published as a 4 part eBook series which Emma reviewed. 

Hi Bella and welcome back to the blog. It's been a few years since you last visited us so can you give readers a quick recap/intro to yourself and your writing journey?
Thanks so much for having me on your blog. I’ve been jotting down stories as far back as I can remember but decided that 2013 would be the year that I finished a full length novel. Since then I’ve written five best selling romantic comedies and been shortlisted twice for the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel of the Year Award. 

My stories are about friendship, love and coping with what life throws at you. I live in The Midlands, UK with my husband, daughter and a cat who thinks she’s a dog. When not writing I’m usually eating custard creams and planning holidays.

Describe your new book in five words and can you give us a reason for one or two of those choices?
Friendships
Expectations
Parklife
Shenanigans
Intrigue

Friendship is what holds my main characters together throughout the trials of life: Sophie is juggling family and work and feels she’s failing at both and Anna is licking her wounds after another failed relationship.

Shenanigans is one of my most favourite words and it sums up the office antics and the comedy that runs through the story.

Emma's Review: Wildflower Park – Part Four: Rooting for You by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Life’s not always a walk in the park…

When Anna is dumped by her fiancé, she moves in to her own place on the edge of the gorgeous Wildflower Park and pledges to stay off men and focus on her career, but a handsome new colleague seems to thwart her attempts at every turn. And when she receives an accidental text from a mystery man, could it be the new start she needs? Or someone she really shouldn't be falling for?

Anna’s neighbour Sophie is a stressed-out mum-of-two with a third on the way. Her husband is a constant frustration, and their children are a regular source of newly-invented swear words and unidentifiable sticky surfaces.

Luckily, Anna and Sophie have each other – and Wildflower Park proves to be a sanctuary as they map out a path to find the happiness they both deserve…

Amazon Affiliate Link: Kindle

Emma's Review: Wildflower Park – Part Three: Oopsy Daisy by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Life’s not always a walk in the park…

When Anna is dumped by her fiancé, she moves in to her own place on the edge of the gorgeous Wildflower Park and pledges to stay off men and focus on her career, but a handsome new colleague seems to thwart her attempts at every turn. And when she receives an accidental text from a mystery man, could it be the new start she needs? Or someone she really shouldn't be falling for?

Anna’s neighbour Sophie is a stressed-out mum-of-two with a third on the way. Her husband is a constant frustration, and their children are a regular source of newly-invented swear words and unidentifiable sticky surfaces.

Luckily, Anna and Sophie have each other – and Wildflower Park proves to be a sanctuary as they map out a path to find the happiness they both deserve…

Amazon Affiliate Link: Kindle 

Emma's Review: Wildflower Park – Part Two: A Budding Romance by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Life’s not always a walk in the park…

When Anna is dumped by her fiancé, she moves in to her own place on the edge of the gorgeous Wildflower Park and pledges to stay off men and focus on her career, but a handsome new colleague seems to thwart her attempts at every turn. And when she receives an accidental text from a mystery man, could it be the new start she needs? Or someone she really shouldn't be falling for?

Anna’s neighbour Sophie is a stressed-out mum-of-two with a third on the way. Her husband is a constant frustration, and their children are a regular source of newly-invented swear words and unidentifiable sticky surfaces.

Luckily, Anna and Sophie have each other – and Wildflower Park proves to be a sanctuary as they map out a path to find the happiness they both deserve…

Amazon Affiliate Link: Kindle

Emma's Review: Wildflower Park – Part One: Build Me Up Buttercup by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Life’s not always a walk in the park…

When Anna is dumped by her fiancé, she moves in to her own place on the edge of the gorgeous Wildflower Park and pledges to stay off men and focus on her career, but a handsome new colleague seems to thwart her attempts at every turn. And when she receives an accidental text from a mystery man, could it be the new start she needs? Or someone she really shouldn't be falling for?

Anna’s neighbour Sophie is a stressed-out mum-of-two with a third on the way. Her husband is a constant frustration, and their children are a regular source of newly-invented swear words and unidentifiable sticky surfaces.

Luckily, Anna and Sophie have each other – and Wildflower Park proves to be a sanctuary as they map out a path to find the happiness they both deserve…

Amazon Affiliate Link: Kindle

Emma's Review: Ottercombe Bay: Part Four - Shaken and Stirred by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Daisy Wickens has returned to Ottercombe Bay, the picturesque Devon town where her mother died when she was a girl. She plans to leave as soon as her great uncle’s funeral is over, but Great Uncle Reg had other ideas. He’s left Daisy a significant inheritance – an old building in a state of disrepair, which could offer exciting possibilities, but to get it she must stay in Ottercombe Bay for twelve whole months.

With the help of a cast of quirky locals, a few gin cocktails and a black pug with plenty of attitude, Daisy might just turn this into something special. But can she ever hope to be happy among the ghosts of her past?

Amazon Affiliate Links: Kindle

Emma's Review: Ottercombe Bay: Part Three - Raising the Bar by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Daisy Wickens has returned to Ottercombe Bay, the picturesque Devon town where her mother died when she was a girl. She plans to leave as soon as her great uncle’s funeral is over, but Great Uncle Reg had other ideas. He’s left Daisy a significant inheritance – an old building in a state of disrepair, which could offer exciting possibilities, but to get it she must stay in Ottercombe Bay for twelve whole months.

With the help of a cast of quirky locals, a few gin cocktails and a black pug with plenty of attitude, Daisy might just turn this into something special. But can she ever hope to be happy among the ghosts of her past?

Amazon Affiliate Links: Kindle

Books Read & Giveaway: Escape to Willow Cottage by Bella Osborne

Beth is running away. With her young son Leo to protect, Willow Cottage is the lifeline she so desperately needs. Overlooking the village green in a beautiful Cotswolds idyll, Beth sees a warm, caring and safe place for little Leo.

When she finally uncovers the cottage from underneath the boughs of a weeping willow tree, Beth realises this is far more of a project than she bargained for and the locals are more than a little eccentric! A chance encounter with gruff Jack, who appears to be the only male in the village under thirty, leaves the two of them at odds but it’s not long before Beth realises that Jack has hidden talents that could help her repair more than just Willow Cottage.

Over the course of four seasons, Beth realises that broken hearts can be mended, and sometimes love can be right under your nose…

Escape to Willow Cottage was originally digitally published as a four-part serial under the title Willow Cottage. This is the complete story.

Amazon Affiliate Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: Ottercombe Bay: Part Two - Gin and Trouble by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Daisy Wickens has returned to Ottercombe Bay, the picturesque Devon town where her mother died when she was a girl. She plans to leave as soon as her great uncle’s funeral is over, but Great Uncle Reg had other ideas. He’s left Daisy a significant inheritance – an old building in a state of disrepair, which could offer exciting possibilities, but to get it she must stay in Ottercombe Bay for twelve whole months.

With the help of a cast of quirky locals, a few gin cocktails and a black pug with plenty of attitude, Daisy might just turn this into something special. But can she ever hope to be happy among the ghosts of her past?

Amazon Affiliate Link: Kindle

Birthday Giveaway: Win a Tote Bag, BookBandz & Book

Even though today is my birthday I wanted to do a little giveaway to share the love and thank you lovely followers for all your support over the last 6 years.  The last few years have been a bit rough for me personally but the book community is a wonderful thing to be a part of and there's always someone on hand with a listening ear or a few words of support to provide the pick-up needed.

I recently did a poll on Twitter to see what people wanted for a giveaway choice, the options were tote bag, BookBandz, book or voucher and the winning choice was a book.  But I've decided to be generous and offer a prize package of this 'My Weekend is all Booked' tote bag, gorgeous Chocolate BookBandz handmade by the lovely Karen (check her out on FB) and a book of your choice from the selection of books below 😍

Author Interview: Bella Osborne

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Bella Osborne back to the blog to find out a little about her new serial, Ottercombe Bay, part one Where There's a Will is published today.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your writing journey? 
Hi Sharon, Thanks for having me on your blog today.

I live in Warwickshire with my husband, daughter, and a cat who thinks she’s a dog. I’ve been jotting down stories as far back as I can remember but decided that 2013 would be the year that I finished a full length novel. I was lucky enough to meet my editor at the Romantic Novelists’ Association Conference that summer and I signed with HarperImpulse (part of HarperCollins) in 2014.

In 2016, my debut novel, 'It Started At Sunset Cottage', was shortlisted for the Contemporary Romantic Novel of the Year and RNA Joan Hessayon New Writers Award. 

If you had to give an elevator pitch for your new serial Ottercombe Bay, what would it be? 
Daisy is forced to return to Ottercombe Bay when a relative leaves her something unusual in their will. As the place where her mother died the town holds sad memories as well as a number of questions for Daisy so she must come to terms with her past before she can make something of her future. With a cast of quirky locals, a few gin cocktails and a black pug with lots of attitude, there’s more to the sleepy town than Daisy remembers.

Both your serials, Escape to Willow Cottage and Ottercombe Bay, have featured properties being restored, is this something that you enjoy doing, or would like to do, yourself? 
It’s something I had to do with my last property and whilst it felt like a big achievement to turn the house from almost uninhabitable to somewhere modern and homely, it’s not something I would be keen to do again. It did, however, give me lots of material for stories!

Describe Daisy in three words
Restless. Independent. Determined.

Emma's Review: Ottercombe Bay Part One - Where There's a Will... by Bella Osborne

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Daisy Wickens has returned to Ottercombe Bay, the picturesque Devon town where her mother died when she was a girl. She plans to leave as soon as her great uncle’s funeral is over, but Great Uncle Reg had other ideas. He’s left Daisy a significant inheritance – an old building in a state of disrepair, which could offer exciting possibilities, but to get it she must stay in Ottercombe Bay for twelve whole months.

With the help of a cast of quirky locals, a few gin cocktails and a black pug with plenty of attitude, Daisy might just turn this into something special. But can she ever hope to be happy among the ghosts of her past?

Amazon Affiliate Link: Kindle

Guest Post: One Piece of Advice I Wish I'd Been Given by Bella Osborne

If you're an eagle-eyed follower of the blog you'll have noticed that I have been part of the blog tours for parts 1 & 2 for Bella Osborne's Willow Cottage series so when I was invited to be part of the blog tour for part 3 A Spring Affair I didn't hesitate to say yes.

Thank you for being on the blog tour, it’s great to be here today.

I have been asked to write a piece about the one piece of advice I wish I’d been given when I started writing. Seriously they want me to pick just one piece of advice?! I’ve decided it’s too hard so here’s 5 pieces of advice that would have helped me at various stages of my writing journey.

1 – When I started writing. Seeing as I was circa ten years old when I started writing stories the advice I wish I’d had then is a little different to the advice I would appreciate later on in life. So to my ten year old self I wish somebody had said – This isn’t normal. The reason I wish they had told me this is because I spent many years assuming that everyone elses brain worked the same as mine. That they too were making up stories about the people around them. That they also had these ideas that had to be written down straight away and characters that got into the most amazing scrapes and went on unbelievable adventures. It would have helped me to rein it in at times and not look like a total nut job.

2 – As a teenager looking at career choices. At this stage in my life I would have liked someone to tell me – Being a writer is a valid career option. It was always seen as my odd little hobby and it took years before I did anything about it. People like me simply didn’t become writers. If only I’d known that it was a valid career choice perhaps my life path would have turned out differently, who knows?