Emma's Review: A Family Reunion by Patricia Scanlan

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

One explosive family reunion. A lifetime of secrets revealed. 

When four feisty women from the same family, get together at a family reunion, anything can happen… 

Marie-Claire, betrayed by her partner Marc plans her revenge to teach him a lesson he will never forget. She travels from Toronto, home to Ireland, to the house of the Four Winds, for her great aunt Reverend Mother Brigid’s eightieth birthday celebrations. It will be a long-awaited reunion for three generations of family, bringing together her mother, Keelin and grandmother, Imelda - who have never quite got along. 

And then all hell breaks loose. 

 Bitter, jealous Imelda makes a shocking revelation that forces them all to confront their pasts, admit mistakes, and face the truths that have shaped their lives. With four fierce, opinionated women in one family, will they ever be able to forgive the past and share a future? 

And what of Marc? 

It’s never too late to make amends…or is it? 

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

#RNA60 Giveaway: Win a romance-inspired bookish bundle

This year is the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA), an organisation that champions writers and their romantic fiction novels. Over the years the genre has broadened as authors writing styles and reading tastes have evolved but the central ingredient at its core romance/love is ever present. 

As part of their celebrations the RNA has designated February as Romance Reading Month, well it is the month of love after all, so I've decided to join in the celebrations today by hosting a romance-inspired giveaway bundle. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to buy to include, apart from a romance novel or 2 of course & maybe some sweets or chocolate, but I've got until the giveaway finishes on Valentine's Day to decide 😍

Books Read & Giveaway: Orange Blossom Days by Patricia Scanlan

In a beautiful southern Spanish town, where the sea sparkles and orange blossoms scent the air, the gates of a brand new apartment complex, La Joya de Andalucía, glide open to welcome the new owners.

Anna and Austen MacDonald, an Irish couple, are preparing to enjoy their retirement to the full. But the demands of family cause problems they have never foreseen and shake their marriage to the core.

Sally-Ann Connolly Cooper, a feisty Texan mother of two young teenagers, is reeling from her husband’s infidelity. La Joya becomes a place of solace for Sally-Ann, in more ways than one.

Eduardo Sanchez, a haughty Madrileño, has set out with single-minded determination to become El Presidente of the complex’s management committee. But pride comes before a fall.

Jutta Sauer Perez, a sophisticated German who aspires to own her very own apartment in La Joya, works hard to reach her goal. Then the unthinkable happens.

As their lives entwine and friendships and enmities develop, it becomes apparent that La Joya is not quite the haven they all expect it to be…

Amazon links: Kindle or Hardcover

Festive Giveaway: Win a copy of A Gift for You by Patricia Scanlan

I had originally planned to run the first of a few scheduled festive giveaways last weekend but a few of the items I wanted were not in stock locally so have had to be ordered in which has delayed them by a few days.  The first book I have decided to give away is a copy of A Gift for You by Patricia Scanlan which isn't specifically a Christmassy book, although it does have a gorgeous wintry cover, it's a collection of short stories. 

Sarah's Guest Review: Patricia Scanlan - A Time for Friends

Reviewed by Sarah Brew

When are the boundaries of friendship pushed too far, and when is it time to stop flying over oceans for someone who wouldn't jump over a puddle for you? There comes a time when Hilary Hammond has to make that call. 

Hilary and Colette O'Mahony have been friends since childhood, but when irrepressible Jonathan Harpur breezes into Hilary's life and goes into business with her, Colette is not best pleased. 

After their first encounter Colette thinks he's a 'pushy upstart' while he thinks she's 'a snobby little diva'. And so the battle lines are drawn and Hilary is bang in the middle. 

But as the years roll by and each of them is faced with difficult times and tough decisions, one thing is clear … to have a friend you must be a friend. 

And that's when Hilary discovers that sometimes your best friend can be your greatest enemy…

Amazon links: Kindle or Hardcover

Irish Fiction Month Interview: Patricia Scanlan

I've been a huge fan of bestselling author Patricia Scanlan ever since I first read her City Girl trilogy when I was in my twenties.   
 
Over the years I've read all of her books including her latest book With All My Love which I've recently reviewed so I was very happy when she agreed to to an Interview for my Irish fiction feature month.

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
No it happened unexpectedly when I wrote my first novel City Girl to win a competition in Cosmo magazine to win a word processor and see my novel in print. I didn’t win…but I became a writer! 

If you weren't a writer, what career path would you have chosen to follow?
I would love to have been an artist or an animator.

Why do you think Irish Fiction has become so popular worldwide?
Who knows better about writing for women than women? And we have some FANTASTIC Irish women writers. I think that Irish fiction is so popular, because, if we authors have done our job properly, the readers can identify with the characters and their life experiences. It may be the ups and downs of family life, the stresses of looking after elderly or sick parents, sibling resentments, getting dumped by a rotter, feeling fat and frumpy, the frustrations of parenthood, having a horrible boss, trying to juggle career and motherhood, being elderly and feeling like a burden on your children, marriage break up or whatever. There are so many scenarios that we write about that our readers, worldwide identify with. I call it the ‘Universal Experience.’ It’s probably our Celtic heritage but we can tell good stories and bring warmth, compassion and empathy to our novels.

Books Read: Patricia Scanlan - With All My Love

On a crystal clear Mediterranean day, Briony McAllister sits playing with her four-year-old daughter, Katie, while she waits for her mother, Valerie, to join them. Valerie has recently moved to a picturesque town in southern Spain to finally leave behind her turbulent past and find a peace that has always eluded her. Briony has no idea that in a few moments' time her relationship with her mother will change irrevocably. As Katie plays, Briony pulls from her bag an old photo album, found in a box in her mother's new home. As she begins to study the faded photos, a letter falls to the ground. It is addressed to her.

My Darling Briony, it begins. As Briony reads the words with mounting shock, realisation dawns. Her mother lied to her about what happened with her beloved grandmother Tessa all those years ago - and denied Briony that most precious of relationships, the type of relationship Valerie now enjoys with Katie.

The lives of three generations of women are set to change forever as the past is revisited and the truth unfolds through the undelivered letters Tessa wrote to Briony over the years. Secrets, lies, betrayals and sacrifices - the complex bonds between mothers, daughters and granddaughters are intricately explored as Patricia Scanlan takes us into the hearts and homes of a family at war.