Blog Tour: From Provence with Love by Alison Roberts

 

Last year I read Falling for Provence by Alison Roberts and at the end of it I was really hoping that we would get to read more about the sisters in the story. Luckily for me, we do, and this is Laura's story. 

Laura Gilchrist is a woman in control. She's a successful real estate agent who is charge of her own life, organised and efficient, and who knows what she wants and what she doesn't. After inheriting a share in a run-down cottage in France, what she wants right now is to get it done up and sold. If that means that she has to be in communication with the absolutely gorgeous, motor bike riding French realtor Noah Dufour then so be it. And if that communication turns into flirtation, and that flirtation turns into a whirlwind weekend affair, then again, c'est la vie.

Whilst their weekend affair is brief, it is also intense and they cover a variety of subjects including the fact that neither of them want children. So when Laura realises that she has accidentally fallen pregnant she isn't looking forward to telling him, especially not over the phone, and she also needs to come to terms with her own change in priorities as well. 

When Laura has to travel to France for a family celebration, she has the opportunity to tell him face to face, and he pretty much reacts as expected. However, while I realise that sentence probably makes him sound a bit insensitive, which he is, he also has his reasons and as he works through his past traumas and heartbreaks hopefully he will see sense.

Noah is depicted as a successful bad boy. He knows all the best restaurants for wining and dining, but he is not afraid to share his favourite places with Laura, so he is not just a one dimensional characters. One other thing about Noah. When we first meet him he is a smoker. Ugh...so horrible to even read about. Just shows how ingrained the anti-smoking message is these days. 

The book is broken into three parts. The first few chapters are in effect a recap of the last book, but told from Laura's perspective, rather than Ellie's. At the same time, we are seeing what is going on with Laura and Noah. I recall Ellie having some kind of thought in the first book but boy, it was much more intense than she thought. The second part are the weekend and the immediate aftermath, and then the final act is about dealing with the fallout after the announcement. 

In fiction there is something about Provence. I did go there many years ago but I would love to go back now and see if I could catch the magic that so many other people do. In the mean time, I will just have to make do with feeling the magic through the pages of books like this. At one point Noah says

"The South of France is like a sigh, n'est-ce pas?" he asked. "Like breathing out slowly because you've found what you've been looking for all along, even if you didn't know what it was that you were looking for."

It certainly made me sigh.

Alison Roberts again brings the medieval villages, the lavender fields and the food and restaurants to life in the pages of this book. Bonus points that some of the book is set at Christmas so we get some festive descriptions as well.  She did live in the location that these books are set in, and it shows in the writing. Roberts also has written many straight romance novels, and I do think that there are times when that shows as well, but I am okay with that!

The stage is all set for us to find out now what the story is with Fiona Gilchrist, why she has been estranged from her family and only on the very edges of the story for the last two books. I am looking forward to seeing what her story is!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 4/5

About the book

From Provence, With Love

A lifechanging encounter, a whirlwind affair... an unexpected consequence

Laura Gilchrist has always made sensible choices. But a trip to Provence to sell an inherited stone house leads her face to face with Noah Dufour. Her wild, irresistibly attractive real estate agent. And within an instant she’s bewitched. Without a second thought, she decides she’s going to accept his offer to ride on the back of his motorbike and see the beauty of the South of France though his eyes. She’s never acted on impulse before, but Noah makes her feel spontaneous and free – and a little bit excited.

Weeks later, with the memories of their passionate fling refusing to fade, Laura waits for her life to return to normal. But she can’t shake the feeling something has changed. And then her instincts are confirmed by the sight of two blue lines. Their connection was a whirlwind; perfect yet brief. But Noah has become a chink in her buttoned up armour and she knows her news is going to blindside him. Now she must return to Provence to find out whether they can both take a leap of faith based on one brief yet perfect holiday romance…

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/ProvenceWithLove

About the Author 

Alison Roberts is the author of over one hundred romance novels, joining Boldwood to write ‘wish you were here’ fiction set in the South of France.

Social Media Links –

Twitter: @RobertsAli54060

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/AlisonRobertsNews

Bookbub profile: @rosi3

Blog Tour: A Santorini Secret by Rose Alexander

 

Carrie's life is on a precipice. She is barely making ends meet as an author of children's books, her mortgage payments are about to sky rocket due to rising interest rates, and her teenage daughter Nell is going through a very difficult stage. Carrie was only able to buy her home thanks to a small inheritance from her Great Uncle Sol. Nell's father, Jack, is present for his daughter, but Carrie has not spoken to him since even before she knew she was pregnant after she caught him in a compromising position. Carrie needs to come up with an idea for a new book soon, in the hopes that she will be able to make some money.

One day, she receives a postcard from her friend Xanthe who now lives on the Greek island of Santorini. When she was a young woman, she had visited the island and had a brief holiday fling with a gorgeous young man named Krys. Now, Xanthe is inviting her back to the island.  Whilst Carrie would love to go, and to take Nell with her, she knows that she can't do that right now.

When visiting her parents, Carrie's mum suggests that she should go through some of Sol's possessions, Carrie finds an old sketchbook filled with pictures of soldiers, and also with a picture of a beautiful young woman and Carrie is intrigued. She also finds a ring, engraved in Greek. 

Sol never talked about his activities in WWII, and he certainly never explained why it was that he was never interested in marrying anyone after he came back to civilian life.  When Carrie gets some money from an unexpected source, she and Nell head to the island to try and find out more. There she learns about Vassia, the young woman in the picture.

In 1944 the island of Santorini was held by the German army. She is shocked when one day a man turns up at their house asking her father for assistance. He is a member of the Special Boat Service (SBS) who have secretly come to the island to perform a raid on the island. They were a group of soldiers who went from island to island in the Mediterranean performing lightning raids and then escaping to move onto the next target. The man needs help from the locals with food and water to guide them to the best places to attack the Germans. 

Whilst it isn't ideal, Vassia is drawn into this activity, and she does so knowing that there are risks involved, but she never expected the reprisals to be so brutal and swift after the attacks. She also does not expect to find that one of the group of men has been left behind - Sol. With her family devastated, she does what she can to help, ever conscious of the growing attraction she has to him. The race is on to get him safely off the island. And she would never have believed that any kind of betrayal would come from any of her friends or family.

As Carrie and an initially reluctant Nell uncover more, it is not only Sol's secrets which are revealed. Vassia's own story is filled with tragedy and betrayals that have continued to have impacts through the generations. 

I know that there has been some talk around about whether WWII (and dual timelines) are getting a bit tired as a subject for historical fiction, but the reality is that there does still seem to be a lot of stories that haven't been told before like the SBS in this book! The fact that this book was also set in Greece doesn't hurt. I have read several WWII books set in Greece before but they are not the normal setting!

Given the recent news about the earthquakes in Santorini, it was kind of poignant to be reading about this island at this point in time. The author did a great job of bringing the island to life. I also really appreciated that, whilst there were dramatic moments in the story, the author didn't necessarily wrap things up in the most obvious way. 

I hadn't read Rose Alexander before. I really, really enjoyed this story. I was totally engrossed in the book, and I am looking forward to reading more from her!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews, and the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host here.  Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy. 

Rating 4.5/5

About the Book 

Santorini, Greece, 1944. A village nestled in the mountains where children play together beneath the endless blue sky. A cottage once full of the laughter of family and the joy of a new baby. But when the Nazis arrive on the island, a devastating tragedy and an impossible choice will break this family apart…

Present day. Single mother Carrie arrives on the sun-drenched island of Santorini, her adored uncle Sol’s tattered sketchbook clutched to her chest. Heartbroken at his death, Carrie is certain Sol – who refused to speak about how he spent the war in occupied Greece – was hiding secrets all his life: and that the drawings he made of a striking young woman with wavy hair will hold the answers. Tucked away with the sketchbook was a beautiful diamond ring engraved in Greek, and Carrie cannot bear the thought that her uncle never had the chance to give it to his love.

Even as she explores the winding cobbled alleys Sol drew in his book, Carrie is filled with childhood memories. And asking around the close-knit locals, the elderly women Carrie meets speak of a brave young woman named Vassia, and a secret allied mission to rid their beautiful island of German troops. But when pressed, they refuse to say more…

Then she finds a letter written by Vassia herself. She’s shocked to read how Sol was left stranded, fighting for his life, and how Vassia risked everything to save him before a terrible betrayal tore them apart. When Carrie finally unravels the truth, the secrets will shatter the small community, and change the course of her life forever…

A Santorini Secret is an epic tale of love, loss and secrets in World War Two that will sweep you away to the hidden coves and sun-kissed beaches of Santorini. Fans of Victoria Hislop, Fiona Valpy and The Letter won’t be able to put this beautiful book down.

 

About the Author


Rose Alexander has had more careers than she cares to mention and is currently a secondary school English teacher. She writes in the holidays, weekends and evenings, whenever she has a chance, although with three children, a husband, a lodger and a cat, this isn't always as often as she'd like. She's a keen sewist and is on a mission to make all her own clothes.


https://www.rosealexander.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/rosealexanderauthor/
https://twitter.com/RoseA_writer


Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Rose Alexander here: https://bookouture.com/subscribe/rose-alexander/


Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0DQVJSKHXsocial


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Top Ten Tuesday: Books set in another time

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's them is Books Set in Another Time. You may be aware that I host the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, so I have decided to share 10 books that were reviewed more than once in last year's Historical Fiction Reading challenge. Most of these were reviewed three times during 2024, with the last two being reviewed four and five times respectively! There were 600 individual titles reviewed for the challenge which is impressive! You can find more statistics from last year's challenge here.

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

The Household by Stacey Halls

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

James by Percival Everett

Gabriel's Moon by William Boyd

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner

Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Have you read any of these? I have several of these on my TBR pile.

Do you love historical fiction? Do you love reading challenges? It's not too late to join us. All the details can be found here!

This week...

I'm reading

It was a busy reading week this week! I read several books, a short story and finished an audiobook. 

Firstly, I finished The House of Light and Shadows by Lauren Westwood which I reviewed here. If you like a book where a house is an integral character in the story, then this might be for you.

Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering also has a house like that and for added measure each chapter is named for a famous house in literature. Here is my review.

I was then excited to see that The Bookstore Keepers by Alice Hoffman was available. This is the third short story in the Once Upon a Time Bookshop stories. These are the first Alice Hoffman stories I have read. I will be reading more as I am amazed how much story and feeling she fits into these short stories.

I was then hoping to get a bit of my reviews for March and also read an Aussie author, but the book I wanted wasn't quite ready. I therefore started A Santorini Secret by Rose Alexander which I really loved. Will be searching out some of her other titles. The review for this one will be up later this week.

I am now sneaking in a non-review read. A couple of weeks ago I went to see Mary-Lou Stephen talk about her book The Jam Maker and so I have started that one!

I also finished listening to Pride and Prejudice, narrated by British actor Rosamund Pike. I then started 

Mis-Directed by Lucy Parker which also has a couple of celebrity narrators, Nicola Coughlin and Gwilym Lee. I sat on the couch to listen to this and may have fallen asleep so I need to rewind a bit. Generally I listen to audiobooks on walks or in the car. 

I'm watching

We watched Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story which was heartbreaking and inspiring in equal measures. Jelena Dokic was a young tennis player back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She came to Australia as a refugee and then represented Australia, until she announced that she was going back to Yugoslavia. She was infamous because of the way her father, Damir, acted, even getting thrown out of major tournaments due to his aggressive behaviour. However, what the public saw was only the tip of the iceberg. The abuse that Jelena was receiving at home was horrific. She is now estranged from her father, and she is a respected tennis commentator and body image advocate. Here's the trailer

Tuesday night I went to see a preview screening of The Last Journey, a Swedish documentary in which a man and a friend decides to take his elderly father on a road trip to the south of France, to try and spark him back into life. It was a lovely movie, and we went to see it in a fab art deco theatre I had never been to before. The son and his friend, who are famous in Sweden, who produced the movie were at the screening and there was a Q and A session after. It was so touching, because when it started it was about the son not understanding how aging had affected his father, and by the end it was about him accepting that his dad was getting old. Along the way they reminisced about their summers in France. If you get the chance to see it, do so, but maybe take some tissues. It's now the highest grossing Swedish documentary of all time.

Life

We went for a lovely lunch for Valentine's Day which I posted a bit about here. Other than that it was all about the dog this week.

Max

Our lovely boy had a relapse and is not well at all. Late last year he was really unwell and was diagnosed with Addison's disease, liver enlargement, muscle shrinkage in his head and brain, and hyperthyroidism. Despite that for the most part he is a happy dog. He is a Labrador though, so you know there is something wrong when he goes off his food and water, so we ended up at the emergency vet on Thursday. He now has a couple of more things medically and so the vets talk about him having a complex medical history. He takes more medication than Robert and I do combined!

He is recovering, but we have had to have some serious conversations about what happens next time. His a very handsome boy, and has a great nature but he is not genetically blessed and wouldn't have done well in the wild! 

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Have Never Reviewed
Blog Tour: The House of Light and Shadows by Lauren Westwood

Blog Tour: Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering

The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Weekend Cooking: What I Ate in One Week (Stanley Tucci Style)


I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date and Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

Weekend Cooking: What I Ate in One Week (Stanley Tucci style)

At the end of last year I reviewed Stanley Tucci's latest book What I Ate in One Year (review here) where he shared his thoughts on what he ate, the people he shared meals with the events etc. At the time I said I thought it would be interesting to try it out here. Of course, I haven't had dinner in a 5 star restaurant with celebrities but maybe there might be something interesting to come out of this. I guess we will all find out together! 

Saturday 

We spent some time planning out our excursions on our upcoming cruise from Tokyo to Seoul. They were pretty pricey but hopefully they will be enjoyable. I was hoping to do a tea ceremony but my friend who has lived there has said that with my dodgy knees and hips I will struggle with a traditional tea ceremony. We do have a few days in Tokyo before hand so I am hopeful that we will get to do a foodie walking tour in Tokyo. We'll see. You can be sure that I will be sharing our adventures in a future post.

We did also go to a pub that has been set up in one of the buildings in the old Pentridge prison. Our brunch buddies G and E are moving up to mid coast of New South Wales. We are going to miss them a lot but we do hope to go up and visit them later in the year.

Sunday

After picking up our new car (whose name is Dot) earlier in the week, on Sunday we had opportunity to go for a drive.

Ever since we first got together, my husband has always insisted that we do something for Valentine's Day, which still kind of surprises me because he isn't usually one for doing the normal romantic gestures. I am good with that because he shows me he loves me in so many ways every day, but it is nice still.

Because he has sailing on Friday nights, we ended up booking lunch at a fancy winery restaurant called Scotchman's Hill which is just over an hour away from us. We first found it last winter when we went for a drive to the nearby town of Portarlington. As we were driving home, we saw a sign and just turned left to see what was up the road and we saw this restaurant at the top of the hill and it looked really nice so we said that we should go there for lunch one day. Sunday was that day!

It was a lovely meal, and we would totally go there to eat again. The setting was really lovely, and even though it was an unseasonably cold day they were still able to open up all the external doors. I imagine it is the kind of place which hosts weddings quite regularly. You could even see the skyline of Melbourne in the distance. 

I had a beautifully cooked thick, juicy, grilled pork chop with slaw and peas with a side of grilled broccolini. I am not entirely sure what the slaw part was made of as it didn't really look like cabbage but it tasted good. This was followed by an orange blossom panna cotta with spiced rhubarb and white chocolate crumb. Now I know the menu said that it was going to spiced, but it was still a surprise when I tasted it. I am pretty sure there was ginger and star anise at the very least. 

Robert had a steak with chips and chocolate fondant with cream. It's supposed to come with ice cream but he doesn't eat ice cream so he got a smear of cream instead. 

A friend of mine has recommended a different location which turns out to be within a kilometre or so from here, so we have booked to go there in June.

After a lunch like that we weren't really that hungry so we just had grilled cheese on toast. We quite often have cheese on toast or eggs on toast on a Sunday night, even on days when we haven't splurged on a nice lunch!

Monday

I had been hankering for roast chicken so I cooked the roast chicken recipe from Recipetin Eats Dinner which promises you the easiest, juiciest roast chicken. In effect it is almost like a pot roast as you cook the potatoes and carrots underneath the chicken. Everything was delicious, and yes it was juicy! I think my go to roast chicken recipe from Bill Granger is still my favourite though

Tuesday

Tuesday night I went to see a preview screening of The Last Journey, a Swedish documentary in which a man and a friend decides to take his elderly father on a road trip to the south of France, to try and spark him back into life. It was a lovely movie, and we went to see it in a fab art deco theatre I had never been to before. The son and his friends who are famous in Sweden, and who produced the movie were at the screening and there was a Q and A session after. It was so touching, because when it started it was about the son not understanding how aging had affected his father, and by the end it was about him accepting that his dad was getting old. Along the way they reminisced about their summers in France. If you get the chance to see it, do so, but maybe take some tissues. It's now the highest grossing Swedish documentary of all time.

The reason why I mention this is because one of his dad's favourite recipes is ratatouille, and one of the key scenes in the movie where the son realises that his father just can't do certain things anymore revolves around cooking this meal.  For a long time my favourite meal was ratatouille and couscous. We don't have it very often anymore because I am keener on it than everyone else in my house. It did make me want to have it though! I might see if I can sneak it on the menu list this week

Here's the trailer for the movie

When I got home from the movie my son had cooked Mexican Chicken and Rice which is a recipe that I got from my cousin years ago. It was originally written on the back of a blue envelope. I would make it a couple of times, and then I would misplace the envelope for a few years, then we would find it again and the cycle would repeat until a couple of years ago when I decided it was time to put on the blog and throw away the envelope once and for all! It's a dish my son likes to cook so for a while there if it was his turn to cook we knew that we would get either this or pork nachos! We ask him to cook at least once a week. We did end up adding in the leftovers of the chicken from Monday night shredded into it as we are really trying to minimise food waste as much as we can!

Wednesday 

Pork chops, mash and beans with gravy. Yes, more pork chops. I do cook a nice pork chop, carefully timed to be nicely coloured but still tender. Not as thick as the one I had at lunch, or as juicy, but not bad even if I do say so myself. I learnt how to cook pork like this on a TV ad years ago. 6 minutes on one side, 5 on the other, then let it stand. Always turns out well.

Thursday 

Well, Thursday turned out to be a bit of an emotional day as we had to take our dog to the emergency vet as he basically stopped eating and drinking. He's a beautifully natured dog and a very handsome good boi but he isn't genetically blessed and has all sorts of things wrong with him. We will be bringing him home tomorrow but we know his health issues will be life long and that he won't have a long life.

We did do chicken parma for dinner, but it is the last time we will be having it this way, not because it wasn't delicious but because one of the key ingredients is no longer available. Chicken parma is a cooked schnitzel (or it could be a flattened chicken breast) that has a tomato sauce slathered on top, then slices of ham and cheese and then it is put in the oven until the cheese melts. For years, I have made this using a can of something called Tomato Supreme. This was tomatoes with capsicum and onion cooked into a concentrate sauce and it was the perfect parma sauce. They stopped making it 18 months ago or so and I was so disappointed. When we rearranged the pantry a little while ago I found one last can. I hate it when they stop making your favourites. Of course, we can use just tomato sauce or paste but is't not quite the same. I've just noticed that the can says it is a salsa mix so that is an alternative too! We have done that before too,  but for now....farewell Tomato Supreme

We also cooked the accompanying chips in the air fryer. Robert was just about to put them in the oven when I reminded him that we really need to use our new air fryer more, and they were so good! Maybe we will remember to use it more often!

Friday

I had to fast as I was having blood tests in the morning. By the time I had sat in the waiting room for more than an hour, I was starving by the time I got home!

Friday night is generally takeaway night in our house. We had burgers from our local shopping centre. We haven't actually had them for months, so I was really looking forward to them. We do tend to share waffle fries they are delicious and if you have chips and waffle fries for both of you it is way too much!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Out for dinnner
Sunday - Grilled cheese on toast
Monday - Roast chicken, potatoes and carrots
Tuesday - Mexican Chicken and Rice
Wednesday - Pork chops, mash, beans and gravy
Thursday - Chicken parma with chips and brocolli
Friday - Take away

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

 

Do you ever get the feeling that you are late to the party? I did with this book. I started hearing about it at the end of last year and immediately wanted to read it, but by that point it had already won the Goodreads Reader's Fiction prize for 2024.

When Phoebe Stone checks into the beautiful Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, she has a plan. She is wearing an emerald silk gown, has no luggage and is alone. Her plan is to have one night of indulgence and then she will kill herself. Phoebe is at rock bottom as she is recently divorced, her cat has died, her work is going nowhere, and she has to still see her ex and his new partner (who used to be Phoebe's friend) at work. 

It immediately becomes clear that Phoebe is the only guest in the hotel who is not there for a six day wedding extravaganza. When Lila, the bride, finds out what Phoebe's plan is she is absolutely appalled. Nothing, nothing can ruin the event that she has spent a fortune on so that it will be just perfect. 

Soon, despite her best efforts, Phoebe finds herself sharing confidences with various members of the wedding party, and getting more involved in the event than she ever thought possible. Whilst Lila is projecting the image of the perfect happy bride, the reality is different. As they swap stories, it becomes clear that happiness is an illusion. Phoebe looks back over her life, her marriage, her career. Is it possible that Phoebe could find a way out of her own unhappiness?

I am going to put it out there now. I loved this book! It is smart and funny, sad and hopeful, and so many more things. Lila could have come across as a bridezilla, and she possibly is to a degree, but she is also a woman who believes that it is a expected that she will have this perfect life, and she is trying really hard to achieve it, despite everything. Phoebe believes that she has nothing to live for, and finds that despite everything that has led her to this place, she might be wrong.

The book is structured in an interesting way too. Each chapter is one of the days in the lead up to the wedding. This makes for some very long chapters (which I don't necessarily love) but it also gives the events more gravitas as the actual wedding day gets closer and closer.

Someone asked me recently how do I decide if a book is a 5 star read or not, and I have to say that it is very unscientific for me. It all comes down to how I feel when I close the book! A book doesn't have to be technically perfect, but if I close it with a huge sigh and a smile on my face, and I have felt all the emotions when I read it, then it's five stars. Bear in mind, I am very stingy with my 5 star gradings so it is all about that elusive feeling! If I have loved a book but don't quite get that gut feeling then it will be 4.5 stars which is still an excellent grade. This book, gave me all the feelings, and so is a 5 star read. Even though I read it a couple of weeks ago, it still gives me those feelings!

Rating 5/5

Blog Tour: Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering

 

Everything Andi Glover knows she learned from books. After an unconventional upbringing, she isn't really equipped to live life independently in the real world but she definitely doesn't want to go back to living in a converted bus, or living with her sister who manages to have a normal life.

When she gets a job working in the library of a stately home cataloguing books, she knows exactly how life should go. She will meet the single and available heir, he will sweep her off her feet and fall desperately in love with her, they will marry, have beautiful children and live happily ever after. That's what happens in every gothic romance right? Except.....that's not how it unfolds

Andi has been asked to catalogue all the books in the library at Templewood Hall, currently haphazardly piled up everywhere. Really, what she is being asked to do by Lady Tanith Dawe is to secretly find the missing diaries of Sir Oswald, a famous author who Lady Tanith says she was the muse for, even though she later married his son. Accompanying Andi most of the time is a cat known only as The Master, and he needs to be treated accordingly. Also in the house is Hugo, who is the second son but who is now heir to all he surveys after his older brother, Jasper, forfeited his inheritance. Throw in a very grumpy housekeeper and a very rude gardener and the cast is complete.

There were a lot of things to like about this book. For example, I loved that each chapter had the name of a famous house from literature in it. For example, the first chapter is called Manderley and then we had Northanger Abbey and Bag End (from The Hobbit) as well as many others. I did like how Andi's story progressed and where she ended up, but I did think it took Andi a bit long to find the diaries and everything was all a bit drawn out and convoluted. 

This is my third Jane Lovering book. Last year I read and loved The Start of the Story by Jane Lovering (my review). If I was going to recommend anywhere to start with this author I would still start there, but this was a bit of fun and worth reading.

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews, British Isles Friday hosted at Joy's Book Blog and the Bookish Books Challenge hosted at Bloggin Bout Books. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 3/5

About the book

Happily Ever After

Andi Glover loves nothing more than a good book.

Any book in fact because when you’re raised by unconventional parents who think school’s for squares, alongside a deeply conventional sister who escapes home as soon as she can, fiction is eminently preferable to reality.

The only problem is that fiction isn’t the best way to learn about the real world. When Andi starts her new live-in job at Templewood Hall for the eccentric Lady Dawe and her enigmatic son Hugo, it’s tempting to think she’s fallen into the pages of one of her favourite gothic novels.

But the plot twists at Templewood Hall are stranger than fiction and it’s not long before Andi questions if she’s living in a romance novel or a whodunnit. Bumps in the night, a missing heir, ghostly apparitions and secrets that have been kept for generations - the mysteries mount up. Then there's the inscrutable gardener who seems to appear when needed - is Andi right to hope for a happily-ever-after end to her story?

Purchase Link https://mybook.to/happilyever

About the Author 

Jane Lovering is a bestselling and multi-award winning romantic comedy writer. Most recently Jane won the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel Award in 2023 with A Cottage Full of Secrets. She lives in Yorkshire and has a cat and a bonkers terrier, as well as five children who have now left home.



Social Media Links –

Facebook: @jane.lovering
Twitter: @janelovering
Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/JaneLoveringNews
Bookbub profile: @janelovering

Blog Tour: The House of Light and Shadows by Lauren Westwood

 

Kate Goodman is about to go into an interview where she is hoping to be made a partner in her London law firm when she receives an urgent phone call asking her to come to East Sussex to look after her sister's children, Isobel and Max. Given that Kate has been estranged from her sister for 15 years, she is most surprised to find out that she has been named as their emergency contact.

Kate drops everything, heads to their fancy school and finds out that the teenagers have basically been fending for themselves for a couple of months since her sister fell and injured herself in the old house that she owns, Rookswood House. Now her sister, Emma, is in long term care due to her mental health and addiction issues. Kate has no idea what has happened, or where Emma's husband is, but she does agree to stay and care for them.

Rookswood House itself is somewhat derelict, so Emma and her family live in the nearby gatehouse.  Originally the house was home to Ada and Camille, known locally as the Weird Sisters. Ada, in particular, was well known for being a pioneering photographer, indulging in what we would see today as truly macabre photography. For example, early in the book there is a photo taken which is then developed in such a way so that the family is all neatly lined up as normal except the father is holding his head under his arm. 

Despite the dangers in the derelict house, Emma finds herself drawn to the house over and over and, despite being a very practical person, soon believes that there is someone or something in the house that is trying to give her a message.

Kate tries to figure out how to care for two teenagers, both of whom are hiding things from her, the regular calls from the schoolmaster, the builder who says Emma has engaged him to help with Rookswood, although the scope of what that really means is unclear, and tries to work out exactly what happened with her sister. There is a lot going on!

This is a dual timeline novel, although to be fair, the majority of the book is in the modern storyline, It is not a 50/50 split. Every few chapters there is an interspersed chapter during which we learn Ada's story, and what it is that she needs Kate to do in order for her to be free and maybe save Rookswood at the same time. There are so many ways in which Ada and Kate and Emma and Camille's stories echo each other. Can Kate and Emma avoid the same ending to their own relationship?

I love a book where the house is a character. Rookswood has so many secrets and casts such an imposing presence on the pages. I particularly enjoyed all the information about the history of Victorian photography, strange as it might have been. 

The only other book I have read by Lauren Westwood was the The Little Paris Toyshop which I absolutely adored (my review). This book has a very different feel to that one, so which is the more trademark Lauren Westwood book. I guess I am just going to have to read more from her to find out!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews, British Isles Friday hosted at Joy's Book Blog and the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host here. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 4/5

About the book

The House of Light and Shadows

An atmospheric and captivating old-house mystery, layered with romance and secrets.



Secrets lurk in the shadows at Rookswood House...

When Kate goes to look after her estranged sister’s children in their creepy old house, she takes a photo of what seems to be a ghost. Frightened yet intrigued, Kate undertakes to uncover the secrets of the house and the two mysterious sisters who lived there over a hundred years before.

But like the illusions of light and shadow in the sisters’ strange and disturbing Victorian post-mortem photography, Kate discovers that all is not what it seems. Someone – or something – has their own plans for Rookswood House – and for Kate.

With a potential developer circling around, her teenage niece in danger from an unseen force, and new love on the horizon, Kate must unravel the secrets and lies of her own and Rookswood’s past before she loses everything she holds dear.

If you like historical mysteries by Eve Chase, Rachel Burton and Harriet Evans, you'll love Lauren Westwood.

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/LightAndShadows

About the Author 

Lauren Westwood is an author of emotional women's fiction and intelligent romance novels.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @Lwestwoodbooks

Twitter: @lwestwoodwriter

Instagram: @lwestwoodwriter

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/LaurenWestwoodNews

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Never Reviewed

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's them is Books I Never Reviewed. When I set my reading/blogging goals this year, I said that I wanted to make sure that I reviewed all the historical fiction I read and all the books by Aussie authors. So far, I have well and truly exceeded that and have reviewed just about everything I have read. It isn't my intention to go back to reviewing every book I read as there is too much "I am so far behind" pressure that comes with that, but when it happens organically....great.

So I will start with the couple of things I have read but not reviewed this year, and then go back to last year's list to see what I can find there!

The Wedding People by Alison Espach - I read this a couple of weeks ago and absolutely loved it! It's a 5 star read for me. I intend to review this later this week.

Never Want to Sea You Again by Leonie Woods - This is a short story freebie from the author's Substack page. It's a fun, forced proximity romance. One fun thing is that you can choose if you want to read the spice version or the not so spicy version of the story! I chose the spicy version. A billionaire's secret daughter hides on board a yacht and finds herself in the middle of the ocean with a grumpy sailor! 

The Venice Hotel by Tess Woods - I read this towards the end of last year and really enjoyed it! It brings together a group of characters in a Venice hotel at Christmas time and they end up having to work together to help one of the guests. It was darker than I expected but very good!

The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley - You know, I have read all but the last book in this series and never reviewed any of them! I listen to them all on audio and they are big books. I do find the accents that are used, and the fact that there are different narrators for every audiobook, a bit odd. Maybe when I finish the series I will do some kind of retrospective review!

The Last Night in London by Karen White - I meant to pick up a Madeline Martin book when I started this one, but I liked it nonetheless!

The Ex Factor by Rachael Johns - This was another free short story and is still available on Substack. In this story a woman returns to the town and the husband she left behind so that she can get her divorce papers signed. This one was a bit spicy too!

Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - This is part of the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. I have reviewed a couple of them but not all of the. Seeing this author at Melbourne Writers Festival was one of my bookish highlights of last year. I listen to this series on audio too!

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods - Another audio read. I liked this one, without loving it. It's about a bookshop that has disappeared and a modern quest to find out what happened there. I am super excited about Evie Woods next book which is out soon called The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris!

The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson - Yes, another opportunity to gush about how amazing Laura Pearson is. I have now read three of her books and they are all so unusual with really imaginative ideas! And, of course, great reads! My favourite is The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine, but this comes a close second.

The Yellow Wood by Minnie Darke - I have been a huge fan of Aussie author Minnie Darke since I read The Lost Love Song which is an absolutely beautiful book. This was an Audible only book about a free spirited woman who doesn't want to be tied down to anyone or anywhere and the artist who loves her and is trying to move on.

The Presidents Hat by Antoine Laurain - Over the last couple of years I have become a bit of an Antoine Laurain fan girl. There's every chance I will still review this for Paris in July later this year.

And yes, I know that is eleven choices but I thought I would throw in an extra given that two of them are short story freebies from the authors!

Have you read any of these?

This week

I'm reading

Last week I declared that I had a pretty standard reading pattern now of finishing around three books and starting a couple of others. Of course, because I made last week's declaration, I didn't get that much read this week.

I did finish The Paris Dancer by Nicola Rayner which I reviewed here.  I also read and reviewed The Woven Lie by Liz Harris.

Now I am reading The House of Shadow  and Light by Lauren Westwood. I  read her book The Little Paris Toy Shop a couple of years ago and I loved it. This book is completely different but it is good! My review will be up later this week.



I'm watching


We haven't watched much this week, although we are currently watching The Hunt for Red October. I have seen lots of bits of this movie but I think this is the first time I have watched it all the way through.



Life

Its been a very busy week in our house!

The most exciting thing last week is that we bought a new car! It is the updated version of the car we already had (a Nissan Qashqai) and we already love it! Meet Dot! Yes, we name our cars.

On Monday night we went to see Post Modern Jukebox in concert. Have you heard of them? They take modern songs and then give them a retro twist. For example, they may take a 2024 song and give it a 1950s treatment or a doo wop sound. It was such a great show. The highlight was a version of Hallelujah which gave me more than goosebumps. It bought me to tears! When the show ended, the cheering was the loudest I had ever heard at that venue. Here's a video from Youtube to give you a feel 

Did you do anything for Valentines Day? Robert was supposed to be busy so we booked lunch at a winery called Scotchman's Hill which is just over an hour away. The lunch was fantastic, the view lovely and of course the company was first class.

We did also go to a farewell to some friends. They are moving to regional New South Wales. We are going to miss them a lot, as they do feel like our friends - by which I mean not just my friend or Roberts friend that we both hang out with.

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten 5 Star Reads from Previous Years
Blog Tour: The Secrets of the Rose by Nicola Cornick

Blog Tour: The Woven Lie by Liz Harris

Blog Tour: The Paris Dancer by Nicola Rayner

Weekend Cooking: Two Japanese Foodie Novel Reviews
Sunday Salon: Spell the Month in Books - February


I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date and Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

Sunday Salon: Spell the Month in Books -- February

 

Reviews From the Stacks

For 2025 I have decided to have a go at Spell the Month in Books which is hosted at Reviews From the Stacks. The link party opens on the first Saturday of the month, but I won't be posting until the third Sunday as I already have other things scheduled every Saturday and for the first two Sundays of the month.


The idea is that you use the title of books to spell the month name. There is also a theme each month, with the theme for February being Valentine’s Day/something sweet on the cover. 

Finding Love at the Christmas Market by Jo Thomas - A caterer in an aged care home takes a busload of pensioners with her when she goes to Germany to meet a baker she met online.

Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood - This is about a baker who solves crime on the side and it is set in Melbourne! This author is better known for her Phryne Fisher series. (my review)

Battle Royale by Lucy Parker - Two bakers go head to head for the chance to cook for a royal wedding. At first they are fierce rival but when they have to work together, sparks fly.

Rosie's Travelling Tea Shop by Rebecca Raisin - After all that cake we need a cup of tea, surely? (my review)

Under the Maui Sky by Kellie Coates Gilbert - I haven't actually read this book but I do own it. The family in this one run a pineapple plantation! Just the thought of that brings back memories of eating pineapple ice cream when we visited Hawaii a couple of years ago.

The Art of Cake Alice Oehr - This was a delightful little book featuring some history of cake, some recipes and lots of sweet drawings. Click on the link for an example of a page. (my review)

The Recipe for Happiness by Jane Lovering - This book features a cook in a day centre for the aged. (my review)

Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan - To be fair, this book isn't really about cake at all or have much sweetness, but it works for this prompt! (my review)

The hardest letter for me this month was the U! 

The theme for next month is Science Fiction. Not sure I will be able to the whole thing with science fiction as it isn't a genre I read a lot of, but I will try.

I am also sharing this post with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and given the foodie theme which inadvertently ended up being in the post I am also sharing it with Weekend Cooking which I host.

Weekend Cooking: Two Japanese Foodie Novel Reviews

I have done very badly in my reading for the Japanese Literature Reading Challenge which I signed up for this year and runs all through January and February. In my head, January should have been a month long extravaganza of all things Japanese, and then I could share a couple more reviews in February! Success! I did go and see a Japanese artist exhibition in January, but never really posted about it, and I have read one book this year, so ....not success?

The books that I do find myself reading when I read Japanese literature have quite a few similarities. Many of them episodic in nature - almost a collection of short stories. Most of them all seem to be looking at the people who are left behind and the grief they feel, and how grief is processed. Another series which has these similar characteristics is the Before the Coffee Gets Cold, which I have posted about previously. I have a friend who lived in Japan for a couple of years ago and we were talking about this recently which was an interesting conversation about the differences in cultures.

Today, I am going to share mini reviews of two books which both have food at their core and both have the similar episodic formats 

The first is The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisash Kashiwai, which is the second book in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series. I read and reviewed the first book in the series last year and really enjoyed it.

The idea of this book is that if you can find the restaurant you can tell them about a dish that has such perfect memories for you. The food detective, primarily former police detective Nagare Kamogawa, will then take the clues that you have provided and try to recreate the dish as authentically as possible. There is no magic in this series, unless you count the magical power of food to bring back memories

There are six stories in this book. They are:

 A famous swimmer who wants to have another taste of the nori-ben that his father used to make,  before they had a big falling out, 

A food writer who busily critiques all of the food she is served but then wants them to recreate a hamburger steak which is her son's favourite.

A couple who run a traditional confectionary shop who want to track down a Japanese Christmas cake

A model looking for the fried rice that her mother used to make her

A man looking for ramen that replicates the one he used to have at university

A one hit wonder that had been waiting thirty years for her next hit to recreate a celebration meal but it didn't happen.

The descriptions of the food throughout the book are absolutely mouth watering. The Christmas Cake story inspired me to make a Japanese Strawberry Shortcake, which is their version. I posted about making that here.

The relationship between Nagare and his daughter Koishi who helps him with his detecting underlies the stories, particularly as they take care to honour their wife and mother who has passed away some time ago. And yes, there is a cat! It's name is Drowsy and it appears in all the stories.

There are currently 11 books in this series published in Japan, but only two have been translated into English so far. As soon as more have been translated I will definitely be reading them 

The Chibineko Kitchen is the first book in The Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen series by Yuta Takahashi. It is also published with the title The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen.

I know that I probably shouldn't compare this book to either the When the Coffee Gets Cold series or the Yamogawa Food Detectives, but as I mentioned in the intro it is very difficult not too given the similarities in themes, the tone of the writing and the cats. There is one major difference with this book and that is there is a bit of a through story going through the four stories, more than there is in the other books I mentioned.

The Chibineko Kitchen is in a small seaside village not too far from Tokyo. They specialise in kagezen, which are traditional meals offered in remembrance of loved ones. The twist here is that it is possible that for the duration of the meal you can have one last conversation with them, one last chance to tell them that you love them, and to say goodbye.

In this book there are four stories.

The first is about a girl named Kotoko whose brother died and she is struggling with survivors guilt. She come to eat a fish stew made of a fish called fat greenling

The second story is about a young boy who shares an omelette sandwich with a young girl and then she disappears not long after!

The third is about making peanut rice for a neighbour of the restaurant

The final story is making beef hotpot and is for one of the main characters in the book

One of the points of difference to this book is that it actually includes the recipes. Some of them may be somewhat basic but they are there!

There are currently 9 books in the series. The second book comes out in English mid-year, and you can be sure that I will be getting my hands on it as soon as I can!

I know I have mentioned grief a lot here, but please don't think that these are heavy or depressing books. They are both very respectful of the people who are no longer in the lives of the characters for whatever reason, but there is also a joy and charm that lifts the books. As much as they are about looking backwards they are also about finding ways to move forward.

I have about four or five of these styles of books on my Kindle which I am hoping to read when I am visiting Japan and Korea in a few weeks time. That's my plan at any rate.

I am sharing this post with the Japanese Literature Challenge, hosted by Dolce Bellezza, with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story, and the Books in Translation Challenge hosted at Introverted Reader

Weekly meals

Saturday - Honey Pepper Chicken Stirfry
Sunday - Leftovers
Monday - Out for dinner
Tuesday - Takeaway
Wednesday - Zucchini, Tomato and Parmesan Risotto
Thursday - Baked Tuscan Chicken and Pasta
Friday - Mushroom Spaghetti Bolognaise

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Blog Tour: The Paris Dancer by Nicola Rayner

 

Confession time - it had been two weeks since I last read a book set in Paris! Thank goodness that I had this one lined up to read for a blog tour, otherwise I might have needed an intervention!

When Miriam's great-aunt Esther passed away in New York, it is her task to go and sort everything out. Her grandmother and her great-aunt had not been close, but as she begins her task of cleaning up, Mim finds some notebooks which seem to be telling a different one to the story she has always been told. She has always believes that her grandmother had moved to England before the outbreak of WWII, and never wanted to go back to Paris. Why would the stories be so inconsistent? Why did her grandmother and her sister not get along? And who is Lili?

Esther and her family are a Jewish family who work in the music halls of Paris, most specifically the fabulous Bal Tabarin music hall. There she meets Annie, a Canadian woman who has come to Paris to follow her dreams of becoming a ballroom dancer, and ends up at Bal Tabarin. Whilst Esther's sister has already found her place in the theatre as a seamstress, Esther hasn't quite found what her role in the theatre or even in life is. 

As war erupts, the family and Annie, who is also Jewish, take a huge chance and go into hiding in plain sight but there is always the chance that someone might inform the authorities. Whilst they all work in the resistance, that is not as much of a focus as you might find in other WWII books, rather it is the individual stories of Esther, Annie and the other dancers which are the focus. 

As Mim reads through Esther's notebooks, she has so many questions. In the end, she is helped to understand her aunt's life by the downstairs neighbour, Bibi. And the message of how her aunt lived her life could well help Mim turn her own life around, and might even help repair her relationship with her own sister.

Mim has been in a downward spiral since being involved in an inappropriate relationship which lead to a terrible tragedy about which she feels very guilty. When she is on the plane to New York she meets a man named Lucky and they hit it off, but she can't get over her trust issues so she might end up sabotaging the budding romance before it even gets off the ground.

The author has a passion for dance and it shows in both storylines. My favourite dance aspect was in the modern story as Mim and Lucky try out several different dance styles looking for the one that speaks most clearly to Mim.

As with all dual timelines, there is usually one story that I resonate with more than the other and usually it is the one in the past, and this book is no different. I definitely choked up as we got to the end of the historical story and so many of the questions were answered.

It looks like this is Nicola Rayner's first foray into historical fiction. I hope to read more from her in the future!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews, and the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host here. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 4/5

About the book

The Paris Dancer

A heart-wrenching and unforgettable story of courage, friendship and resistance, inspired by the incredible true story of a Jewish ballroom dancer in Paris during WWII, perfect for fans of The Paris Library.

Paris, 1938. Annie Mayer arrives in France with dreams of becoming a ballerina. But when the war reaches Paris, she's forced to keep her Jewish heritage a secret. Then a fellow dancer offers her a lifeline: a ballroom partnership that gives her a new identity. Together, Annie and her partner captivate audiences across occupied Europe, using her newfound fame and alias to aid the Resistance.

New York, 2012. Miriam, haunted by her past, travels from London to New York to settle her great-aunt Esther’s estate. Among Esther’s belongings, she discovers notebooks detailing a secret family history and the story of a brave dancer who risked everything to help Jewish families during the war.

As Miriam uncovers Esther’s life in Europe, she realises the story has been left for her to finish. Grappling with loss and the possibility of new love, Miriam must find the strength to reconcile her past and embrace her future.

Purchase Link - https://amzn.eu/d/3MAASpc

About the author

Born in South Wales, Nicola Rayner is a novelist and dance writer based in London. She is the author of The Girl Before You, which was picked by the Observer as a debut to look out for in 2019, optioned for television and translated into multiple languages. Her second novel, You and Me, was published by Avon, HarperCollins, in 2020. In her day job as a journalist, Nicola has written about dance for almost two decades, cutting her teeth on the tango section of Time Out Buenos Aires. She edited the magazine Dance Today from 2010 to 2015 and worked as assistant editor of Dancing Times, the UK’s leading dance publication, from 2019 until 2022. She continues to dance everything from ballroom to breakdance, with varying degrees of finesse.



Social Media Links –

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