A Wedding at the Beach Hut by Veronica Henry - Feel-good, Warm, and Delightful

Things are looking up this week, but even if you can't get away to the seaside yet, A Wedding at the Beach Hut by Veronica Henry is the perfect book to enjoy on your own favourite sun lounger at home. If only it would stop raining!
Robyn and Jake are landscape gardeners;
business partners who fell in love, and their wedding party, a small affair with their favourite people, is to be held in the Shedquarters, the beach hut that belongs to Jake's family on Everdene Sands.
On her eighteenth birthday, Robyn's mother, Sylvia, gave her a special box from her birth mother, Emily. Robyn knew she'd been adopted, but couldn't bring herself to open it until now, when she is pregnant herself, and getting married in just one month's time. However, she worries about upsetting her parents if she gets in touch with Emily. They have been wonderful, bringing her up on the beautiful Hawksworthy Farm in Devon, giving her the life that she may never have had. But now the farm is losing money and Sheila and Mick must decide whether not to sell it.
Jake's parents, Rocky and Tina, have split up. Rocky, a builder, moved them all to Devon to have a simple family life, but it was too quiet for her, so she moved back to Enfield to run her hairdressing business, leaving him to earn a living and look after their two boys, Jake and Ethan. Now Jake's getting married and Ethan's off to uni, he's feeling lonely and wondering what his future will be. However, the Shedquarters has been his lifeline and the centre of family beach life for him and the boys and, with a lick of paint, will be the perfect wedding venue.
When she opens the box, Robyn discovers that Emily, has written her a letter about giving her up  thirty years ago. This breaks Robyn's heart, but she also worries about getting in touch with her as her family may not know about the existence of a baby at all. Meanwhile, Emily has never stopped thinking about the little baby girl she relinquished all those years ago.
This is a warm and delightful novel with real characters you care about, their stories expertly woven together, set in around the beautiful Devon coast, with that all important feel-good ending.
Piano playing does come into it and I challenge you to resist finding that piece by Ravel on YouTube!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

A Last Chance to Spend Christmas at the Beach Hut with Veronica Henry!

There is still time before the decorations have to come down to spend Christmas at the Beach Hut with Veronica Henry.
I've read so many of her books over the years, including the two other ones about the beach huts at fictional Everdene Sands in Devon, and I loved this one too.
This time, three different people, all with problems that mean they cannot spend Christmas at home, escape to Everdene.
Firstly, Lizzy Kingham, who has just been made redundant, is asked to have her mother-in-law, Cynthia, for Christmas by his ex-wife, Amanda, who is swanning off to the Alps skiing instead of taking her turn. Lizzy is so cross that she walks out of the department store where she bumped into Amanda with the dress she has tried on over her arm, and gets stopped by Security and taken to the manager's office. Then when she gets home, her husband, Simon and eighteen-year-old twins, Hattie and Luke, do not turn up to decorate the Christmas tree because they are too busy at work or seeing their friends. This is the final straw. It makes Lizzy feel that she is being taken for granted and, without all her hard work, there would be no Christmas for them to enjoy. So she leaves them a copy of her Ocado online grocery order and Delia Smith's Christmas for them to do it themselves, and heads off to her friend's beach hut where she and Caroline spent wonderful teenage summers.
Next, along the coast, Harley's mother has moved in with her new boyfriend, Tony, who is threatening Harley, and goading him to fight back so he can prove what waster he is. But he isn't, he's just looking out for his mum and little brother, River, so he too, heads to Everdene where he acts as a caretaker for several of the owners. Caroline is one of these, but has told him that he may stay in her hut if he wants to as, although he's got it ready for their Christmas visit, they won't be coming this year after all.
Lastly, Jack and his young son, Nat, have escaped their families, unable to bear another Christmas without Fran, Nat's mum, who died last December from an embolism, to spend it in the fresh sea air, as far away from the traditional Christmas as they could get in the beach hut next door which has been lent to him by a client.
Lizzy's family are horrified that she's gone and do all they can to find her again so that they can spend Christmas together. Meanwhile, she is spinning her Christmas magic at Everdene and helping Harley and Jack solve their problems.
As always, Veronica Henry gets right into each character, making them really believable, and in reading the book, you find yourself squeezing into the beach hut and sharing a glass of mulled wine with the three runaways as the sea murmurs softly on the sand outside. Fantastic!

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?

Catch the Last Rays of Sunshine with The Beach Hut and The Beach Hut Next Door by Veronica Henry

With summer virtually over, it's great to recapture some of that endless sunshine we've had this year with two books by Veronica Henry.
The Beach Hut and The Beach Hut Next Door are two sets of stories all linked together by the row of beach huts at Everdene Sands in Devon.
In the first book, the stories are linked by the Milton family who are having their last season here before their hut is sold after fifty years of idyllic summers, and in the second it is the story of Elodie who grew up at The Grey House on the cliffs that runs through the book.
Both books marry the past with the present, telling the story of Jane Milton's first summer at their beach hut and the way it changed her life forever, and Elodie's last summer there before she left to make a new life for herself.
Veronica Henry writes like Maeve Binchy in, for example, The Italian Class: seeing the same thing from a different point of view and really getting under the skin of the characters. She also good at making you feel the sands of Everdene between your toes!
So drag your deck chair out of the shed, find a patch of sunshine in your garden and settle down with these two great reads.
I've enjoyed them so much that I'm going to get A Night on the Orient Express next!
Have you read any Veronica Henry books?

I'm in Today's Teignmouth Post!

I'm in today's Teignmouth Post! Hooray!
Obviously if you're down in Devon, you can buy one there, but you can also download a copy for 50p from their website.
Teignmouth Post
It's a really good article which they've taken from my press release. It just shows what a self-published writer can do, and I'd like to thank reporter, John Ware, and editor, Ruth Davey, for all their help, not to mention Rhona at the Quayside Bookshop for suggesting it.
Quayside Bookshop