Summer Secrets

The Cottage on Lily Pond Lane #2 

by Emily Harvale

Goodreads

Amazon US / UK  

#LilyPondLane

Escape to the seaside village of Little Pondale with Part Two of this heart-warming and romantic, four-part serial.

Mia Ward was amazed to inherit her great-aunt Matilda’s thatched cottage in the tiny seaside village of Little Pondale – especially as Mia didn’t know she had a great-aunt Matilda. She was even more astonished to discover she’d only inherit the place if she lives there for a year.

Now Mia and her friends, Ella and Garrick are embracing village life. Garrick’s also embracing someone in The Frog and Lily, so Mia turns her attention to one or two of her sexy, single neighbors. But great-aunt Matilda remains an enigma and Mia’s still determined to discover who she was.

When Mia’s mum, Lori arrives, she’s eager to see what the summer has to offer. There’s the Kite Festival, the Fête, the Frog Hill Run, but what really appeals to Lori, much to Mia’s horror, is the Midsummer Night’s naked bathing in the pond at Frog’s Hollow.

As sweltering days surrender to sultry nights, love is definitely in the air. And when an incident means Mia has to face her greatest fear, help arrives from a surprising source. But one thing is clear… someone is trying to make sure Mia doesn’t stay in Little Pondale…

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

I know this is mean but after spending all morning with her I’m beginning to wonder if Hector didn’t throw himself into the path of that car and his death had nothing at all to do with the curse of Frog’s Hollow.

They had tried to get Garrick to join them but he said his singing voice sounded like a rhino being strangled in a mud hole and whilst Mia had no clue as to what sound that would make, it probably wasn’t pleasant, so they’d left him in the pub.

Wait and see if he asks you out. Or go to his bakery and ask to see his buns.

“Well, all I can say is if only I were a few years younger, Alexia Bywater would have serious competition, deary. I was a pretty young thing you know and my body was curvier than hers. Flexible too. I could wrap my legs around my neck, you know, dear. Probably still could if it weren’t for a touch of arthritis.” A rather unpleasant vision of Hettie with her legs wrapped around Garrick’s neck popped into Mia’s head as Garrick choked on his coffee and Ella made a curious sound, almost like a clucking chicken.

He smiled tenderly and Mia was sure a bone in her ribcage must have broken because something had just pierced her heart.

My Review:

I am continuing to groove on this light and fun new series with the second installment ushering in more mysterious elements to the storyline. Mia appears to have stirred up some animus within the quaint little village as ominous tidings began arriving on her doorstep, an activity that is in addition to the residents’ favorite pastimes of gossiping and betting on how long she will last. Mia seems to have become as fickle as a fourteen-year-old middle schooler, although in her defense, there does seem to be a surfeit of handsome single men in one place. The plot lines are thickening as the characters already have been well established, and the humor advances with the arrival of Mia’s feisty mother. Love is in the air but warnings from a fortune-teller may have muddled things a bit. I learned two new phrases to boast about with one to add to my Brit list and the other appearing to be more universal, but I was unfamiliar with the delightful term of “bingo wings” which is an extra fun label for underarm flab… although I lovingly call mine kimono arms. My Brit vocabulary list now includes the addition of “Jack the Lad,” which Mr. Google informed me was “a brash, cocky young man.” I do love learning new terminology.

AND COMING SOON –

 Part 3 – Autumn Leaves!

Author Bio –

Having lived and worked in London for several years, Emily returned to her hometown of Hastings where she now spends her days writing… and chatting on social media. Emily is a Member of the SoA, a PAN member of the RWA and a Pro Member of ALLi. She’s an Amazon bestseller and a Kindle All Star. Emily loves writing and her stories are sure to bring a smile to your face and a warmth to your heart.

Emily says, “I write about friendship, family and falling in love. I believe in happing endings.” When she isn’t writing, she can be found enjoying the stunning East Sussex coast and countryside, or in a wine bar with friends, discussing life, love and the latest TV shows. Chocolate cake is often eaten. She dislikes housework almost as much as she dislikes anchovies – and will do anything to avoid both.

Social Media Links – https://www.facebook.com/emilyharvalewriter

https://www.twitter.com/emilyharvale

https://www.instagram.com/emilyharvale

The Purrfect Pet Sitter

by Carol Thomas

Goodreads

Amazon US / UK

B&N

Introducing Lisa Blake, the purrfect pet sitter! 
When Lisa Blake’s life in London falls apart, she returns to her hometown rebranding herself as ‘the purrfect pet sitter’ – which may or may not be false advertising as she has a rather unfortunate habit of (temporarily) losing dogs!

But being back where she grew up, Lisa can’t escape her past. There’s her estranged best friend Flick who she bumps into in an embarrassing encounter in a local supermarket. And her first love, Nathan Baker, who, considering their history, is sure to be even more surprised by her drunken Facebook friend request than Lisa is.

As she becomes involved in the lives of her old friends Lisa must confront the hurt she has caused, discover the truth about her mysterious leather-clad admirer, and learn how to move forward when the things she wants most are affected by the decisions of her past.

.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

My Stan, you know, by God he knew how to treat a lady! The things we got up to when we took our bikes out of a Sunday afternoon. You should’ve seen us. Going alfresco, Stan would call it… The daft beggar! Ah, I miss him. I miss every bit of that man, I can tell you…

Less impressive were the too-tight-fitting Spiderman costumes worn by a marching band of elderly gentlemen, who were showing off more than their musical skills with the cut of their tights.

Uh oh, you didn’t find Napoleon, did you? … Napoleon Boneypart, the skeleton in my closet!

 My Review:

I enjoyed this sneakily constructed second-chance romance, despite the slower pace of the developing story. The main character of Lisa Blake was struggling, oh so mightily, with absolutely everything. I wasn’t always as patient with Lisa as I should have been being that I had initially thought her selfish and then rather mousy and easily influenced, as I didn’t fully grasp just how damaged and traumatized she was until I was more than midway through the book.   Oh this clever and wily author, she tucked sly humor into unexpected nooks and crannies and threw several curve balls that kept me a bit on edge by dropping clues and misdirection and deviously planted worrisome seeds to draw my concern in the wrong direction. And I fell for it. Silly me. Ms. Thomas’s writing was engaging, entertaining, and often amusing. I will be watching her for repeat visits.

About Carol

Carol Thomas lives on the south coast of England with her husband, four children and lively young Labrador. She has been a playgroup supervisor and taught in primary schools for over fifteen years, before dedicating more of her time to writing. Carol is a regular volunteer at her local Cancer Research UK shop. She has a passion for reading, writing and people watching and can often be found loitering in local cafes working on her next book.

Social Media Links –

http://carol-thomas.co.uk

http://facebook.com/carolthomasauthor

http://twitter.com/carol_thomas2

http://www.pinterest.co.uk/carol_thomas2/

http://www.instagram.com/carol_thomas2/

The Things We Need to Say

by Rachel Burton

Goodreads

Amazon US / UK 

B&N

Sometimes the things we never say are the most important.

Fran loves Will with all her heart. They had a whirlwind romance, a perfect marriage and a wonderful life. Until everything changed. Now Fran needs to find her way again and teaching a yoga retreat in Spain offers her just that. Leaving behind a broken marriage she has some very important decisions to make.

Will needs his wife, he needs her to open up to him if they’re to ever return to the ways things once were. But he may have damaged any possibility he had of mending their relationship and now Fran is in Spain and Will is alone.

As both Fran and Will begin to let go of a life that could have been, fate may just find a way of bringing them back together.

 Perfect for fans of Katie Marsh, Amanda Prowse and Sheila O’Flanagan

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Midlife crisis? … Couldn’t he have just bought a Porsche or something?

His family were of the traditional British stiff-upper-lip variety; tall and robust with good bone structure – the kind of people who could drink all night without appearing inebriated and still be up at dawn to feed the dogs and shoot the pheasants.

My Review:

I surprised myself with the level of engagement and I experienced with this insightfully written, melancholy, and slowly developing story. I have no personal interest and typically avoid or don’t relate to the main issues at the foundation of the storyline, but the emotive and well-crafted words chosen and artfully arranged by this talented author required that I stop and reevaluate my opinions. Most of the characters were facing life-altering transitions and several were living in significant turmoil caused by messes or their own making, yet I couldn’t look away. I am usually annoyed by the avoidance tactics, extreme waffling, and flight tendencies displayed by the character of Fran, however, Fran was so endearing and making such an effort to put herself back together, I could easily forgive her shortcomings. The storyline was evocative, unpredictable, and intriguing; I remained engaged and speculative from beginning to end. Ms. Burton’s writing was superb throughout, and the characters’ inner musings were profoundly insightful, observant, and thoughtfully executed. This book is a cautionary tale to remind us what happens when people become so entrenched in perfecting and achieving their goals that they lose sight of themselves and everyone/everything around them. Been there, done that, bought that shirt. Though thankfully, not the same shirt as these characters.

Author Bio 

Rachel Burton has been making up stories since she first learned to talk. After many false starts, she finally made one up that was worth writing down.

After graduating with a degree in Classics and another in English, she didn’t really know what to do when she grew up. She has worked as a waitress, a paralegal, and a yoga teacher.

She has spent most of her life between Cambridge and London but now lives in Leeds with her boyfriend and three cats. The main loves of her life are The Beatles and very tall romantic heroes.

Her debut, The Many Colours of Us, was an Amazon Kindle bestseller. Her second novel, The Things We Need to Say, is released on 11 May 2018. She is currently working on her third novel in which the heroine follows the love of her life to live in a city in northern England. It has no autobiographical elements at all…..maybe.

Find her on Twitter & Instagram as @bookish_yogi or search Facebook for Rachel Burton Author. She is always happy to talk books, writing, music, cats and how the weather in Yorkshire is rubbish. She is mostly dreaming of her next holiday….

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/rachelburtonauthor/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/bookish_yogi

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/bookish_yogi/