Staying at Home This Year? Why Not Travel by Book? - Part Two

No one is going to be travelling anywhere for time being, so what better than to immerse yourself in one of these wonderful novels that are due out this summer? These are by some of my favourite authors, and I'm looking forward to settling down, indoors or out, and sailing away with them!

From Venice with Love by Rosanna Ley out on June 25th -  Destination Venice
I have travelled all over the world with Rosanna Ley since reading her first book, The Villa, which was set in Sicily. I love her books because she always makes the setting a key part of the story.
I'm looking forward to this one because it starts in Dorset, and goes to Lisbon and Prague before reaching Venice. A wonderful trip indeed!
It is about two sisters: Harriet who is struggling to run the family farm and Joanna who returns home only to set off again to solve the mystery of Emmy, who wrote the bundle of illustrated love letters which she finds.

The 24-Hour Café by Libby Page was due out on June 25th, but now it's been put back to February 18th 2021, but we can still read it on Kindle or in hardback. Personally, I prefer a paperback, but there you go! - Destination, Your local café
I'm looking forward to reading Libby's second book because I enjoyed her worldwide success, The Lido, so much.
If you are missing your local café, because of social distancing, this will one be a treat. Stella's café is open for twenty-four hours each day and everyone is welcome. Hannah and Mona work there and have dreams of their own, but during one twenty-four hours, their friendship will be tested, lives will be changed and the community will come together.

The Family Holiday by Elizabeth Noble also due out on June 25th - Destination, not sure! Looks like a bit of a magical mystery tour as there is little information available about it online.
Anyway, I've enjoyed all her other Sunday Times best selling novels over the years, so I'm sure this one will be no different. The blurb says it's about 'the joys and heartbreak of a family divided and reunited', so I'll be glad to go wherever it takes me.

Kate and Clara's Curious Cornish Craft Shop by Ali MacNamara due out on July 23rd - Destination, Cornwall!
Earlier this year, I read all Ali's Notting Hill trilogy, and also once again enjoyed Step Back in Time which you must read if you love The Beatles!
However, I have read all her more recent books too because they always have a wonderful touch of magic.
Kate has at last opened her quirky craft shop selling her handmade textile designs. However, some embroidered pictures and mysterious paintings hint about a sixty-year-old love affair, which Jack, who runs the local art shop, helps her to solve, resulting in the discovery of many similarities between them and the 1950s pair.  I can't wait to find out what happens!

Escape to the French Farmhouse by Jo Thomas due out on July 9th - Destination, Provence
Jo is another of my favourite authors, and I have read all her books since her very first, The Oyster Catcher, which came out in 2014. All her books have been about food and love, from oysters to lemons! This one is about baking with lavender.
After a disastrous six weeks in Provence, Del and her husband, Ollie, decide to return home, but as the removal van drives away, she decides that a new life in France without him would bring her the most happiness. She finds a recipe book at the market which Fabian runs and begins to bake, but will this really bring her the joy she desires?

I hope that you will enjoy my selection of novels and try some new authors. Travelling by book is much cheaper than your usual holiday, after all!
If you missed Part One, you can find it here.
Happy travelling!

Finding Hope at Hillside Farm by Rachel Lucas - A Great Read for Mother's Day

What better title could you want at the moment and what better book to cheer you up?
Finding Hope on Hillside Farm by Rachael Lucas certainly fits the bill.
Ella's Aunt Bron goes off to Australia for six months, leaving her to run Hillside Farm. She enlists the help of local girl, Charlotte with her ever-changing hair colour, to help her run her equine therapy business.
One day Ella sees a strange young girl peering through a hedge at her. She finds out her name is Hope and she has come with her grandparents, Jenny and Lou, to spend six months in Llanidaeron in a rented cottage. They, along with Hope's father, Harry, are all trying to come to terms with the death of Hope's mother, Sarah, five years ago.

Eventually, Hope comes to the stables as Ella's first child client, and learning to gain confidence with the horses helps her with confidence in her own life.
Through Hope, Ella finds that she comes to terms with her own past which means that she can now make the most of her own life as well.
Rachael Lucas describes life perfectly in this Welsh village with all its wonderful characters, and I found it such a joy to read.

Travelling by Book this Summer! Part One

Even if we may not be able to travel on an aeroplane or a cruise ship this summer, we can always travel by book!
2020 is a great year for new paperbacks by my favourite authors, so these are the books that I'm going to read and these are the places I'm going to travel to from the comfort of my own home.

The Strawberry Thief by Joanne Harris out already on Kindle, the paperback will be available on April 15th 2021 - Destination, France
As with probably everyone else, my first novel by Joanne Harris was Chocolat, the beautifully magical story thought to be set in Aquitaine. This eagerly awaited fourth book in the series finds Vianne back in Lasquenet-sous-Tannes running her chocolate shop with Rosette, but when Narcisse, the florist dies and leaves Rosestte some land, and a written confession to Reynaud, the priest, the cat is put amongst the pigeons.

The Secret Hours by Santa Montefiore out on July 9th - Destination, Ireland
The first novel I read by Santa Montefiore was The Swallow and The Hummingbird, the haunting love story of Rita and George, set in Devon and Argentina, and from that one I was hooked and I have read probably most of her nineteen books! This novel is set in Ballinakelly and sheds more light on the family who appeared in The Deverill Chronicles which told their story from 1910 to the 1960s.
This stand-alone story starts around 1885 and is about Bertie and Rupert's younger sister, Arethusa.
I really loved the Deverill trilogy and I'm looking forward to finding out more about this turbulent family.

The Giver of Stars by  Jojo Moyes out on May 14th - Destination, Kentucky
The first book I read by Jojo Moyes was The Ship of Brides, set after the Second World War when the Australian brides of British servicemen were brought back to England to be reunited with their husbands, and I was so captivated by the stories of the different girls and their relationships with each other and the crew, that I've read it several times.
This new book is also about a group of women who set out on a journey together, this time to spread the wonder of reading to the poor and lost. Based on a true story, it follows English girl, Alice, who has fallen into a controlling and loveless marriage to wealthy American, Bennett Van Cleve; and Margery O'Hare, a troublesome woman, and daughter of the local felon, who gathers a band of like-minded women together to trek through open skies and mountain forests and to discover freedom and friendship. I can't wait!

A Wedding at the Beach Hut by Veronica Henry out on May 28th - Destination, Good old British Seaside!
Looking back, the very first book I read by Veronica Henry was  . . . The Beach Hut! I have read several more since then because she is so good at weaving people's stories together. This is the fourth in her series about the beach huts at Everdene Sands. Robyn and Jake are planning their wedding, a small affair on the beach with their favourite people, but Robyn's thinking about her birth mother who gave her up for adoption and the box she left with her. Her adoptive parents are thinking about a new life for themselves and far away, Emily is thinking about the daughter she relinquished thirty years ago.
As always, I'm sure that their stories will be expertly woven together and I'm looking forward to losing myself on the beach in this one!

An Almost Perfect Holiday by  Lucy Diamond Also out on May 28th - Destination, Cornwall
This is the third book I've read by Lucy Diamond. She is excellent about writing about families, and relationships and I'm looking forward to being warmed by the Cornish sunshine as I read this one.
Lorna's holiday cottages are ready for new set of arrivals but will it be the perfect holiday they all yearn for?  Em is worried about how she will get on with George's seven-year-old daughter; Maggie wants to get on better with her daughter, Amelia, but then her ex turns up and she wonders if she can trust him again; Olivia has escaped the domestic grind, but what will happen when her past catches up with her?  With romance, trust, courage, wild teenagers and love in the air, the scene is set for an almost perfect holiday!

These are the first five novels I've chosen for my 'travel by book' summer.  I hope that I've inspired you to buy them and maybe try some of the other books by these wonderful writers.
Look out for the rest of my list, coming shortly!

The Telephone Box Library by Rachael Lucas - Make Yourself Comfy and Enjoy!

The Telephone Box Library is the first book I've read by Rachael Lucas and I really enjoyed it!
Lucy is taking a six month sabbatical from teaching in Brighton because all the stress has made her ill.
She finds an advert for a Cotswold cottage with reduced rent in exchange for keeping an eye on an elderly neighbour, and decides to take it.
Little Maudley is a beautiful village within reach of Milton Keynes and Oxford, and Bletchley Park; perfect for a history teacher to do some research on the Second World War. She is welcomed by Margaret who wants her to pop in regularly to see her feisty mother-in-law, Bunty, who is in her nineties.

Life is quiet in the Cotswolds, just what Lucy needs to get better in contrast with bustling Brighton, but conflict soon arises over the defunct telephone box on the village green which has played such an important part in village life. Walking her little dog, Hamish, she meets Mel, a dog walker amongst other things, whose daughter, Clemmie, is friends with Freya, the daughter of Mel's old schoolfriend, Sam, who's bringing up fourteen-year-old Freya on his own.
And as Lucy gradually become involved in the village, he takes her to see one of the specialist tree houses he's built for a couple who foster problem children, and soon, she begins to feel a flicker of attraction to him, but does he feel the same?
Will Lucy return to her teaching post in Brighton, or will she stay in Little Maudley?
Also, why is Bunty so determined the telephone box must stay, and what is the secret she has been hiding about the war?
A delightful novel, full of village life with wonderful characters from the spirited Bunty to the young teenagers, Freya and Clemmie, and fantastic scenery which makes you believe you are right there in the Cotswold countryside .
Don't hesitate, make yourself comfy and enjoy!