Always Something There To Remind Me by Lilian Kendrick - A Warm-Hearted Novel About Achieving Your Teenage Dreams

The thing that made me want to read Always Something There to Remind Me by Lilian Kendrick was the fact that, amongst the aims Lydia had written on a list when she was fifteen, was that she wanted to skate like Jayne Torvill! Me too!
Now thirty years later, Lydia, newly divorced, finds her school rough book (remember those?) complete with her other hopes of overcoming her fear of flying; singing in front of an audience; and getting a date with a rock star!
She finds help and inspiration from Des, a man at her writing group, who helps her to achieve her dreams, in sometimes very unexpected ways, and I found myself giggling out loud at the things she got up to.
It was lovely to read a book about a woman in her forties, instead of twenty- or thirty-somethings, with the idea that she is not too old to make those teenage dreams come true.
And does she find new love with Des? You'll have to read the book to find out!

High Tide by Veronica Henry - An Uplifting Autumn Read

Now that Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night are over and Christmas is sparkling on the horizon, You might like this relaxing autumn read by Veronica Henry. High Tide will definitely help you unwind away from the lists, the shopping, and the cooking!
It's set in the fictional Devon seaside town of Penfleet, and begins with two funerals, and afterwards follows the two characters who are left behind and whose life must go on.
Kate, a New York events organiser, returns to her home town for her mother, Joy's, funeral and has only a few days to attend that and empty her old home ready for selling, before Carlos, her boss, wants her back.
Vanessa lives in Penfleet House, the wealthy second wife of Spencer, who has to cope with his first wife's histrionics and the indifference of his children.
Veronica Henry soon works her magic that can only come from being a scriptwriter on Holby City and The Archers, to weave a story about Kate and Vanessa and how they cope.
She introduces two male characters: Sam, a single dad, who has escaped to Penfleet with his children for a more meaningful life; and Nathan, who lives with his grandfather and apart from sailing the boat that they've restored, works for the local undertaker. . .
This results in an uplifting story to enjoy by an open fire with a mug of hot chocolate, or maybe a glass of red wine!
Which is your favourite Veronica Henry novel?

A Memory of Violets by Hazel Gaynor - Captivating and Wonderfully Written

I so enjoyed reading The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor earlier this year (review here) that I wondered how on earth she could follow it.
Well, she has, in A Memory of Violets which is just as captivating and as wonderfully written!
Set in 1876, it tells the heartbreaking story of two sisters, Flora and Rosie Flynn: one crippled and the other blind, bound together by poverty, surviving only by selling posies of violets and watercress around Covent Garden to those who will buy them.
But set also in 1912, it tells the story of Tilly Harper who escapes her past in the Lake District and comes to London to work at Mr Shaw's Training Home for Watercress and Flower Girls: a refuge where the girls are given a start in life, with clean living conditions, clean clothes, good food and training in making artificial flowers which are sold to help them earn a living.
There, Tilly finds Flora's notebook, and learns that one day Rosie slipped from her grip along crowded Westminster Bridge, and she has never given up trying to find her.
Tilly decides to try and find out what happened to Rosie, and at the same time discovers how to come to terms with her own past.
Hazel Gaynor is a very talented writer who can immerse the reader right into the heart of the story. I felt I was there beside Flora and Rosie in their bare feet and ragged clothes selling their posies in all weathers; and I was also there with Tilly in the bracing sea air at Clacton, where the younger girls were sent to the orphanage until old enough to learn how to make the flowers, as she fell in love with one of Mr Shaw's nephews (I won't say which one!).
There is so much to say about this book. It's visually beautiful with different flowers decorating each section and chapter. I would love to see a full colour edition, like a Victorian book of flowers, but I'm sure it would be too expensive. Hazel also manages to give many female characters the name of a flower, without distracting from the story, but hinting at the part each plays in it.
Her next book is out next September 2016. Set in the 1920s, The Girl From The Savoy is about a girl who rose from being a maid at The Savoy hotel to being a West End star. I can't wait!

The Villa Girls by Nicky Pellegrino - A Gentle Story, Full of Italian Sunshine and Warmth

The Villa Girls wasn't on my Summer Reading List this year, but it was on my bookshelf! I've had it some time because I loved Recipe for Life and The Italian Wedding which I have reviewed here and here, and it has links to both: The Villa Rosa in this one is the same as in Recipe for Life, and, Addolorata features in The Italian Wedding as she is the sister of Pieta, the girl who makes wedding dresses.
The other reason I read it is I love reading about Italy!
The story is told from from two points of view: Rosie, in the first person and Enzo, in the third with alternate chapters telling their stories, and I particularly liked Addolorata's comments and thoughts about Rosie at the end of each of her chapters too.

Not Triento, but enough pink villas for anyone!

The novel is set somewhere in the seventies or eighties; there are no mobile phones or any email, and life is lived at a slower pace. Rosie is coming to terms with her parents' death in England and, in Italy, Enzo Santi is growing up in privilege on his parents' olive farm. (I now know a lot about olive farming, having read this and The Olive Branch by Jo Thomas which I reviewed here!)
She becomes part of the Villa Girls when she goes on holiday with Addolorata, Lou and Toni to a villa in Majorca, and they like it so much that they rent the Villa Rosa in Triento and meet Enzo. But Rosie's fledgling holiday romance is shattered when Toni discovers what the Santi family have been hiding in their barn.
This is a gentle story, full of Italian sunshine and warmth, which follows Rosie and Enzo through the years. Will the promise of true love come true for them despite all the problems they have to surmount?

The Olive Branch by Jo Thomas - A Perfect Book to Warm up a Chilly Autumn Evening!

The Olive Branch by Jo Thomas was on the top of my pile of summer reads (see my blog post  here), but I waited until I was actually in Italy to read it!
The blurb said that 'olives and romance might just flourish in the warmth of the Mediterranean sun'. A perfect book to read on holiday!

Fuelled with Prosecco, in her empty flat that she once shared with her ex, Ed, Ruthie Collins buys an Italian farmhouse on eBay.
What a great start to a story!
If you enjoyed The Oyster Catcher, Jo Thomas' first novel, (review here) you will enjoy this especially because the cold wet west coast of Ireland has been swapped for sunny southern Italy.
But it doesn't start out like that because Ruthie arrives in torrential rain, only to find a grumpy goat blocking her front door. At least the weather gets better eventually and she meets her next door neighbours, the Bellanouvo family, but why aren't they pleased to meet her? And why is Marco Bellanouvo so angry that she's bought his grandfather's house? And how do you grow olives, anyway?
Jo Thomas has drawn her characters so well, including Ryan, the helpful Australian; Nonna, riding on the back of a Vespa; Luigi, Mrs Luigi and Young Luigi, that by the end I felt that they were old friends.
This book would make a wonderful heart-warming film. I read it on holiday in Italy, but it would be perfect to warm up a chilly autumn evening at home!

For a Gripping Read, Try Bay of Secrets by Rosanna Ley

Bay of Secrets is Rosanna Ley's second novel, and the second that I've enjoyed in a bid to read them all this summer.
Known for her skill in intertwining place and story to make an epic multi-stranded romance, this one is set in Barcelona, The Canary Islands and England. This made me very pleased because I visited Barcelona in August and I love to have a book to read set in the place I'm staying!

However, the Barcelona that Sister Julia lived in at the time of the Spanish Civil War could not have been anything like the modern city of today, apart from the fact that the amazing towers of the Sagrada Familia would have stood there waiting for the church to be finished as they still do in 2015.

Sister Julia is one of the three main protagonists. Her parents could not afford to feed her, but wanting her to be safe during the war, forced her to join a convent against her wishes. Here she, unwittingly at first, helped Dr Lopez who fasified death certificates and handed babies over to parents to adopt for large sums of money. On finding out his treachery, she begins to keep a book recording the names of the mothers, their babies and who adopted them. Will she ever be able to help any of the children to find out who they really are?

In 2011, Ruby Rae's parents are killed in a motorcycle crash. Clearing out their house, she discovers a shoe box containing a photo of a hippy girl with a baby, love beads and a baby's bonnet and wonders what they could mean.

Meanwhile Andrés Marin, born in Fuerteventura in The Canary Islands, was also sent away by his father because he promised to be a better artist than him. He came to England and spent seventeen years in Dorset setting up a building business. He meets Ruby at an auction when they both bid for a dilapidated  seaside cottage. Will 'hate at first' sight turn into love for them?

Through the themes of adoption; being wanted or not being wanted by parents; art, and the colours of West Dorset and The Canary Isles, Rosanna paints gripping story. It's not an easy heartwarming read because of what the characters have to go through, but you can't help reading on to find out what happens to Ruby and Andrés, and what Sister Julia's little book of names has to do with their lives.

A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke - A Great Summer Read!

I was pleased to find another book by Lucy Clarke because I enjoyed The Sea Sisters so much. (Find my review here.)
That book was about one sister following in the tracks of the other to find out how she  could have possibly committed suicide on the other side of the world; A Single Breath is about a wife following in the tracks of her husband, who has been drowned, all the way to Tasmania to find out who he really was.
These novels sound rather sad, dealing with death as they do, but it is Lucy's skill as a writer that brings the characters to life.

A Single Breath focuses on Eva, who witnesses her husband, Jackson, drowning off some rocks in Dorset, and decides to travel to Tasmania, as they had planned, to meet his family. Once there she finds she's not really welcome, but Jackson's brother, Saul, lets her stay in a shack which once belonged to Jackson, and gradually, she finds herself falling in love with him. The brothers are drawn beautifully: although they resemble each other, one is dependable and strong and the other, a dreamer and can't be trusted. I can't tell you too much, or I'll give the story away!
One tantalizing thing is that the chapters, telling the story from Eva's point of view, or Saul's, are interspersed with the thoughts of Jackson. How does that happen?
I loved Lucy's description of the sea and the scenes where Eva goes free diving.
This is definitely one of those books to enjoy on holiday!
If you do enjoy it, there was a brand new book out by Lucy Clarke on July 30th 2015 - The Blue.
Again, with a theme of the sea, I can't wait to read it as well!