Book Review: Beneath Cornish Skies by Kate Ryder  @KateRyder_Books @rararesources 

.
.

Beneath Cornish Skies
by Kate Ryder

 

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP

To an outsider, Cassandra Shaw‘s life looks perfect. She lives in a beautiful, luxurious house in the English countryside, with a handsome, wealthy boyfriend who insists she needn’t do a day’s work in her life. But Cassie knows that something is not right. Her boyfriend has grown colder, treating her more like a housekeeper than a future wife. And her time feels empty and purposeless.
.
Cassandra has always been riddled with insecurities and self-doubt, but, just for once, she decides to take a chance on a new beginning. She answers an advert for a live-in nanny, dog walker, cook, and all-around ‘Superhuman’ for a family living in a rambling manor house on the rugged North Cornish coast. The work is hard and tiring, but Cassie has never felt so fulfilled.
.
As Cassie learns to connect with the natural beauty unfolding around her, Cornwall starts to offer up its secrets. Soon, Cassie starts wondering if she was drawn to this isolated part of the coast for a reason. Why was she guided to Foxcombe Manor? What are the flashes of light she sees in the valley? Is it her imagination or does someone brush past her? And who is the mysterious man living deep in the woods?
.

A beautiful romance with a hint of ghostliness, Beneath Cornish Skies is for anyone who has ever longed to start their lives again.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

It’s odd how a relationship can end on such a seemingly small, inconsequential incident. But that’s what happened, and however many times I went over the minutiae of our life together there was never any satisfactory explanation as to how we had unravelled so spectacularly without my noticing.

 

People are usually unaware of the chains of cause and effect created by their actions, but life is a blending of choices that opens doors to new experiences. Essentially, we are constantly reshaping our futures… Just remember, Cass. You may not be able to control the wind but you can control your sails.

My Review:

 

This was a moody and atmospheric hybrid women’s fiction/romance with ghostly paranormal undertones and a varied assortment of generations of British characters. The storylines were vividly etched with lush descriptions and brain-snagging details while also providing interesting lessons on Cornwall history, marine biology, and botany. I was simultaneously entertained and educated, which rarely happens!

The main character of Cassandra/Cass initially resided in the lap of luxury yet she was not fulfilled and realized her life was shallow and without real joy. I personally don’t know a thing about enduring a luxurious lifestyle but do know how easily one can fall into slogging through a repetitive cycle of dull day-to-day numbness and ignoring troublesome issues we chose not to deal with. However, I cannot see myself turning a blind eye to repetitive, blatant, and overt betrayal and struggled with Cassandra’s continued pull towards a man who had callously and insultingly admitted to doing so. She needed a few pinches and maybe a connection with my favorite purple crocs to her backside to jar her head loose. But that is just me – and I can be fierce. Just ask my quivering husband; I keep the little man in fear.   😉

About the Author

 Kate Ryder is an award-winning, Amazon Kindle international best seller who writes timeslip and romantic suspense in a true-to-life narrative. On leaving school she studied drama but soon discovered her preference for writing plays rather than performing them! Since then, she has worked in the publishing, tour operating, and property industries, and has traveled widely.

Kate is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors. In 2017, she signed a 4-book contract with Aria (a digital imprint of award-winning independent publisher, Head of Zeus).

Summer in a Cornish Cove, a contemporary romantic suspense set on the Lizard Peninsula, gained her a nomination for the RNA’s 2018 Joan Hessayon award, while its standalone sequel, Cottage on a Cornish Cliff, reached the heady heights of #2 in Kindle Literary Sagas.

‘Secrets of the Mist’, a mysterious timeslip romance, not only achieved #1 Kindle bestseller flags in the UK, Canada, and Australia but also reached #49 in Amazon UK Paid Kindle. In the original, self-published version (The Forgotten Promise) it was awarded the first Chill with a Book “Book of the Month”.

Originally hailing from the South East of England, today Kate lives on the Cornish side of the beautiful Tamar Valley with her husband and a collection of animals.

Social Media Links 

 

6 Replies to “Book Review: Beneath Cornish Skies by Kate Ryder  @KateRyder_Books @rararesources ”

  1. Like Kate, I enjoy reading books in this setting… and might pick this one simply for that

  2. I love Cornwall so the fact that this book is set there is a bonus point for me. Sounds like I might want to give Cass a good slap to knock some sense into her though.

  3. This sounds like a wonderful read! I’ve struggled with a few British books but you always seem to find the best ones. Definitely going to give this one a try 🙂

Comments are closed.