Summer at Hollyhock House by Cathy Bussy
Published by Sapere Books
Publication Date: 30 July 2018
332 pages
My thanks to Caoimhe O'Brien at Sapere Books for the invitation to read an advance copy of this fun rom com and be part of the promotional blog tour.
Book Description:
An uplifting romantic comedy from a new voice in women’s fiction! Perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley, Debbie Johnson, Jenny Colgan and Holly Martin.
One long summer changed Faith forever…
Faith Coombes should have been over the moon when her long-term boyfriend proposed to her. But instead, she broke up with him. Rob was safe, reliable, nice and … boring. Nothing like the only person who had ever broken her heart…
Unable to afford the rent on another flat and desperate for a new start, Faith takes the plunge and moves back to the village she grew up in, returning to the house that holds so many memories for her.
Hollyhock House, the family home of her best-friend Minel, also belongs to the boy who meant so much to her all those years ago…
As Faith falls back in love with the sprawling surroundings at Hollyhock she also finds herself falling all over again for the only person who has truly hurt her.
Can Faith come to terms with her past? Did she make the wrong decision in breaking up with Rob?
One long summer changed Faith forever…
Faith Coombes should have been over the moon when her long-term boyfriend proposed to her. But instead, she broke up with him. Rob was safe, reliable, nice and … boring. Nothing like the only person who had ever broken her heart…
Unable to afford the rent on another flat and desperate for a new start, Faith takes the plunge and moves back to the village she grew up in, returning to the house that holds so many memories for her.
Hollyhock House, the family home of her best-friend Minel, also belongs to the boy who meant so much to her all those years ago…
As Faith falls back in love with the sprawling surroundings at Hollyhock she also finds herself falling all over again for the only person who has truly hurt her.
Can Faith come to terms with her past? Did she make the wrong decision in breaking up with Rob?
Or does her heart really lie at Hollyhock House?
Summer at Hollyhock House is a charming romantic comedy full of lost loves, missed opportunities and second chances. This summer read, perfect for the holidays, will have you laughing-out-loud in parts, close to tears in others, and above all, championing Faith as she searches for what is most important to her.
My Review:
Faith and Rob have been together for a few years now, and the natural progression for their relationship in Rob's mind is to propose...which really isn't what Faith had in mind. Cue a huge change in circumstances for them both which results in Faith moving back home to her parents' house with an impending sense of gloom as she has to face up to people and places from her teenage years which she has managed to avoid for some 9 years.
We meet Faith's school friends Minel and Sara, their friendship as close as it was all those years ago - but it's not the girls who Faith has the problem with, it's Min's brother Rik who she is dreading facing. She and Rik have unfinished business and by the reaction she gets from Rik when she arrives back at Hollyhocks it seems she isn't the only one struggling with left over emotions from back in the day. With a scorcher of a summer to spend in close proximity to him, and following a discussion with the girls which causes Faith to rethink all she thought she knew about the last time she saw Rik, Faith decides to bite the bullet and try to lay some ghosts to rest with a full and frank discussion with the young man who is causing her so many sleepless nights.
Misunderstandings and stubborn pride are both to blame in the couple's story, which the author has related with perfect pacing, with flash back chapters dotted in amongst the present day's events to keep everything neat and tidy in the reader's mind. The introduction of Rik's beautiful new girlfriend adds to the confusion as to what his feelings are towards Faith, leaving her tying herself in knots as to whether they can even just be friends let alone anything else her heart had in mind.
Long bike rides in the sunshine, a summer-long project with a well established group of friends and time to contemplate what she wants out of life leads Faith to be brave in both her personal and professional life in the long term - and she gets her very own adorable puppy into the bargain!
I loved this easy to read tale of summer romance and felt a great sense of contentment by the end of the book. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting a good summer read.
Faith and Rob have been together for a few years now, and the natural progression for their relationship in Rob's mind is to propose...which really isn't what Faith had in mind. Cue a huge change in circumstances for them both which results in Faith moving back home to her parents' house with an impending sense of gloom as she has to face up to people and places from her teenage years which she has managed to avoid for some 9 years.
We meet Faith's school friends Minel and Sara, their friendship as close as it was all those years ago - but it's not the girls who Faith has the problem with, it's Min's brother Rik who she is dreading facing. She and Rik have unfinished business and by the reaction she gets from Rik when she arrives back at Hollyhocks it seems she isn't the only one struggling with left over emotions from back in the day. With a scorcher of a summer to spend in close proximity to him, and following a discussion with the girls which causes Faith to rethink all she thought she knew about the last time she saw Rik, Faith decides to bite the bullet and try to lay some ghosts to rest with a full and frank discussion with the young man who is causing her so many sleepless nights.
Misunderstandings and stubborn pride are both to blame in the couple's story, which the author has related with perfect pacing, with flash back chapters dotted in amongst the present day's events to keep everything neat and tidy in the reader's mind. The introduction of Rik's beautiful new girlfriend adds to the confusion as to what his feelings are towards Faith, leaving her tying herself in knots as to whether they can even just be friends let alone anything else her heart had in mind.
Long bike rides in the sunshine, a summer-long project with a well established group of friends and time to contemplate what she wants out of life leads Faith to be brave in both her personal and professional life in the long term - and she gets her very own adorable puppy into the bargain!
I loved this easy to read tale of summer romance and felt a great sense of contentment by the end of the book. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting a good summer read.
About the Author:
Cathy is an author, journalist and hopeless romantic who wrote her first book at the tender age of six. Entitled Tarka the Otter, it was a shameless rip-off of the Henry Williamson classic of the same name, and the manuscript was lost after she sent it to her pen-pal and never heard a jot from her since.
Fortunately reception to her writing became more favourable and she spent ten years working for a range of newspapers and magazines covering everything from general elections and celebrity scandals to cats stuck up trees and village fetes. She has been freelance since 2011 and written for The Telegraph, Red Online, Total Women’s Cycling and other lifestyle and cycling publications and websites.
She is the author of three non-fiction books and her debut and thankfully non-plagiarised novel Summer at Hollyhock House will be published by Sapere books this year.
Cathy lives on the leafy London/Surrey border with her husband, two children and a dog with only two facial expressions, hungry and guilty. Her hobbies include mountain biking, photography, wandering around outside getting lost, fantasising about getting her garden under control, reading, and looking at pretty things on Instagram. You can find her there @cathybussey.
Social Media Links:
Fortunately reception to her writing became more favourable and she spent ten years working for a range of newspapers and magazines covering everything from general elections and celebrity scandals to cats stuck up trees and village fetes. She has been freelance since 2011 and written for The Telegraph, Red Online, Total Women’s Cycling and other lifestyle and cycling publications and websites.
She is the author of three non-fiction books and her debut and thankfully non-plagiarised novel Summer at Hollyhock House will be published by Sapere books this year.
Cathy lives on the leafy London/Surrey border with her husband, two children and a dog with only two facial expressions, hungry and guilty. Her hobbies include mountain biking, photography, wandering around outside getting lost, fantasising about getting her garden under control, reading, and looking at pretty things on Instagram. You can find her there @cathybussey.
Social Media Links:
Website
Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment