Bring Me Sunshine By Alex Brown

 

Gina Bennett has had enough after her husband of twenty-seven years lets her down one time too many. Deciding to choose herself, she embarks on a transformative solo journey to break free from the monotony of her life.

She escapes to the gorgeous Greek island of Kalosiros, where she holidayed in her youth, and where she had her first romance with the handsome Nico. Encountering two kindred spirits in Rosie and Deedee, the women bond over art classes and cocktails, renewing their lust for life and a shared quest to find Gina's lost love.

Together, they navigate the challenges of middle-age, self-discovery, and the liberating power of skinny-dipping. Will Gina find love again with her teenage sweetheart Nico, her husband, or with someone new?

Bring Me Sunshine is the latest book by Alex Brown and she takes us back to her feel good rom com that first introduced us to this author. 

With cracks in their marriage Gina and husband Colin are due to go on a long awaited holiday to Greece but at the last minute Colin declares he is unable to go due to work commitments little did he expect that Gina would decide to still go on the holiday without him!

Gina finds herself wrapped up in happy cherished memories of her youth and with the help of her two new friend Deedee and Rosie she is on a mission to reconnect with her first love.

This is perfect easy holiday reading which I have devoured in a matter of hours as I lay around the pool. With a Shirley Valentine vibe to the storyline this book is full of friendship, rediscovering youth and a touch of romance too wrapped up in a number of witty moments thanks to Gina and her friends.

This certainly had an appealing setting for a holiday read with the glorious sunkissed Greek setting and mouth-watering delights on offer. 

Although a light and uplifting read this book also does explore toxic relationships too and shows the power of a strong supportive friendship in these situations. It shows us that as we grow older and we begin to doubt ourselves and put ourselves down there is always time to find that fire in your belly and know that your still that same girl inside it's time to let her out to play!

I have enjoyed all of Alex Brown’s previous books but I definitely prefer her lighter romance coms as they are pure escapism with lashing of hope and humour which is what I loved in this book.

A Summer Holiday at Bridget's Bicycle Bakery by Alex Brown

 

It’s summer in Mulberry-on-Sea and with the arrival of warm, sunny evenings and happy tourists full of candy floss and ice cream, Bridget’s Bicycle Bakery has gone from strength-to-strength. There’s only one small croissant-shaped problem – her cosy kitchen isn’t big enough for all her delicious bakes!

The seaside-town’s old, boarded-up bakery would be perfect for Bridget’s scrumptious sausage rolls and sourdough loaves but she’ll have to breathe life and love into it, just the way she did with the local community. With the help of the her local friends and her gorgeous beau Jack, could Bridget’s Bakery dream be coming true, or is she about to wake up to a new surprise?

If like me your Christmas was made after reading A Cosy Christmas at Bridget’s Bicycle Bakery then you are in for a treat because author Alex Brown is back with a novella reuniting us with Bridget called A Summer Holiday at Bridget’s Bicycle Bakery.

The best way I can describe this novella is it is like catching up with an old friend over coffee having a catch up seeing what has been going on in Bridget’s life since we last saw her. She is going from strength to strength both in her business and also in moving onto the next chapter in her life allowing her grief and loss of Ted to naturally ease as she adapts to her new life and starts to allow new beginnings to blossom.

I have to also comment on the cover for this novella too it radiates happiness and summer vibes and even if I didn't already know this author I would be shallow enough to pick this book up based on the cover alone!

A feel good mini read that has still left me wanting more from Bridget so I hope to once again be reunited with her to see how her business is progressing.

Kindle

A Postcard from Capri by Alex Brown

 

In the Golden Age of Hollywood, Kelly Sinclair is on the cusp of becoming the next big movie star. Until then, she’s spending the summer of 1953 on the magical island of Capri…

Sixty years later, on a visit to her elderly grandmother’s cottage, photographer Maddie Williams unearths a box of old film memorabilia featuring a glamorous and beautiful young woman with platinum blonde hair. She also finds a postcard from the island of Capri, detailing the heart-breaking end of a passionate love affair.

Her grandmother now has trouble remembering anything from all those years ago. So when Maddie is commissioned for a photoshoot in Italy, she visits Capri to see if she can find out the truth. Can she unravel the mystery and discover what really happened in the summer of 1953, and will her magical island escape hold some surprises for Maddie, too?

It’s a good day when you are sitting down to start a new Alex Brown book this time with the third in the Postcard series, A Postcard from Capri.

Maddie’s new career in photography takes her off to Italy allowing her to take a trip to Capri where her Grandmother spent time in her younger years. With her Grandmother Rose’s memory fading and the name Audrey being mentioned she is keen to uncover the mystery of Audrey and find out more about her Grandmothers time in Capri all those years ago, but are somethings buried in the past for a reason?

I found myself completely captivated by this storyline with the perfect mix of chic glamour of the past and cosy familiarity of the present day in Tindledale. The glorious setting of Capri was screaming out to me and luring me into the Orchards and the crystal clear waters making the perfect backdrop to a storyline that trickled its secrets along the way.

I loved the unpredictability of this novel, discovering the hidden life that Rose has kept from all of her family and as the storyline moves back and forth in time this structure worked perfectly for this novel as we get to see first hand from Rose what life was like for her as well as following Maddie as she pieced the pieces of the puzzle together with her findings which made it more exciting.

There were certainly some emotive points but these just showed what a remarkable woman Rose was and gave a little insight to how things were different many years ago.

This was by far my favourite book in the Postcard series, with engaging characters a storyline that captured my attention the whole way through and had me googling holidays to Capri at the end! Alex Brown has delivered another beautifully descriptive novel that ticked all the boxes.

Kindle               Paperback

A Cosy Christmas at Bridget's Bicycle Bakery by Alex Brown

 

Finding yourself without a home in the weeks before Christmas would break most people, but for Bridget Carrington it’s a chance to start again. Mulberry-On-Sea has always been her happy place and she’s hoping it can work its magic this festive season and heal her family after a difficult year.

Now, as the community wraps Bridget and her children in its warm embrace, she starts to feel like herself again. With a new business, kids who are starting to smile, and the promise of a second chance at love, Bridget’s holiday season might just be a happy ever after…

Alex Brown is one of my top 5 authors and every single one of her books have been an absolute dream to read. I trust in her writing so much now that I don’t even read the synopsis to tempt me I dive straight into her novels with no expectations other than to know she will blow me away every single time.

Her new release A Cosy Christmas at Bridget’s Bicycle Bakery has been on my wish list since I first glimpsed the online trailer for the book and I have desperately been waiting for the paperback release but I am going to admit I have caved in early and read the book on my kindle but let me tell you having just this moment finished reading the book I am sitting here with a very satisfied and content grin on my face desperate to get my thoughts down for you all to read.

Bridget and her twin sons and daughter will steal your heart from the start of this novel, a family huddled together nursing the grief of the loss of husband/father Ted learning to adjust to their new life with a big gaping hole where he should be. Returning to her roots in Mulberry on Sea she is hoping they can all begin to heal and adjust surrounded by a caring and supportive community but Bridget also needs to start earning a living to support her family, could her love for baking be the distraction she needs and the solution the community of Mulberry on Sea need?

The novel has a tenderness to the storyline where it follows the families struggle with the loss of Ted but also a very uplifting feel too with hopes and new beginnings opening up and new sense of purpose and direction that is helping Bridget on the next path of life. Friendships new and old comfort not only Bridget but also bring a familiar and welcome feel to the reader as we are reunited briefly with much loved characters such as Eddie, Georgie and Sam who we remember from the wonderful Carrington’s series.

I love books that have characters setting up new little businesses so this one really appealed to me and I felt myself getting swept away with the excitement of Bridget’s baking business and I was eager to see her succeed.

Alex Brown has managed to capture the modern vibrant feel from her Carrington’s series and moulded that with her cosy, uplifting feel of her Tindledale books to make this book an exceptional read that ticks all the boxes for me. As I was reaching the end of the novel I really didn’t feel ready to leave these characters behind, I still fell like there was so much to explore in this story but to my delight I then read at the end that we can look forward to reuniting with them all again in another book in the series so I am already counting down the months until I can return in A Summer Holiday at Bridget’s Bicycle Bakery.

A Cosy Christmas at Bridget's Bicycle Bakery Cover Reveal

 It is no secret that I am a crazy Alex Brown fan so you can imagine my excitement to not only hear we are being treated to another book by this super talented lady but also that it is a return to the Carrington's series

AND

it's a Christmas book!

If all this hasn't got you fizzing with excitement then check out the video below

 

Now tell me you are eager for the snow to come and the hot chocolate to be steaming so you can cosy up with this little beauty!

A Cosy Christmas at Bridget's Bicycle Bakery is due for release 

Kindle - 14th October

Paperback - 25th November

So I would suggest pre-ordering both now! A Kindle copy for you because lets face it we all know we won't have the willpower to wait until November to read it and then a paperback copy for a friend to kick off your Christmas shopping already!

All you knead is love this Christmas … and plenty of baked goods!

Finding yourself without a home in the weeks before Christmas would break most people, but for Bridget Carrington it’s a chance to start again. Mulberry-On-Sea has always been her happy place and she’s hoping it can work its magic this festive season and heal her family after a difficult year.

Now, as the community wraps Bridget and her children – six-year-old Freya and fourteen-year-old twins, Oscar and Olly – in their warm embrace, she starts to feel like herself again. With a new business, kids who are starting to smile, and the promise of a second chance at love, Bridget’s holiday season might just be a happy ever after…

Kindle             Paperback

A Postcard from Paris by Alex Brown

 

I am beyond thrilled to be part of the blog tour for A Postcard From Paris as I am Alex Brown's BIGGEST fan! ( Yes I did give myself that number one spot!)

I have loved each and everyone of Alex's novels but this one is definitely up there with my favourite of hers so check out my review and see if this one needs to make its way onto your bookshelf.

Annie Lovell is keen to put the spark back into her life and when her elderly neighbour inherits an abandoned Parisian apartment she goes to Paris to discover more. Her curiosity takes an unexpected turn on discovering a bundle of secret diaries hidden within the walls, detailing the life of a young English woman, Beatrice Crawford, who volunteered in 1916 to nurse the soldiers in the fields of France.
 
Captivated by the romantic City of Light, Annie realises first appearances are not always as they seem. Following Beatrice’s journey from the Great War, through the Roaring Twenties and to a very different life in Nazi-occupied Paris, Annie must piece together the events from the past, if she is to fulfil the legacy that Beatrice left for her to find…

I really missed not having a book by Alex Brown to lose myself in in 2020 but I kept seeing her social media showing updates on her writing process and cover reveals which gave me something to look forward to for 2021. As much as I am not a fan of reading on my kindle I was so desperate to read A Postcard From Paris that I couldn’t wait for the paperback release and having now finished reading A Postcard from Paris I can tell you all, this was well worth the wait so I forgive her for not giving me a book last year!

Annie needs some excitement in her life and the perfect opportunity arises when her elderly friend Joanie inherits an apartment and boutique in Paris left to her by a Beatrice Archambeau but she doesn’t know who the lady is. Annie embarks on a mission to try and find out who Beatrice was and as she uncovers the diaries she kept during the war she begins to form a picture of the courageous woman, but what is the connection between Joanie and Beatrice?

This was such a heart warming and insightful read, certainly up there with my favourite novel by Alex Brown. The storyline is predominantly told from Annie’s point of view but we get a wonderful insight into the life Beatrice lead through her own words in her diaries and I for one am not great with dual time frames but with the past being unravelled to us in this way made it all the more engaging and I looked forward to the chapters where we would be taken back in time to see what a courageous woman Beatrice was and to gradually pick up little pieces of the puzzle to see how everything fit.

The part Beatrice played in the war was portrayed well and gave a small insight into the way they all lived in constant fear and secrecy to stay safe but with thanks to a few brave souls who put their own lives at risk to protect others some lives were spared.

The author describes in such detail the beauty of Paris, I longed to be sat outside Odette with Annie, Maggie and Kristen on the cobbled street under the red canopies eating freshly baked patisseries experiencing my own Parisian adventure!

I found I was equally invested in both Annie and Beatrice lives so I enjoyed moving back and forth between the characters watching them grow, with Annie building firm friendships and finally taking time to look around and find enjoyment in her life. The novel was such a positive and uplifting read full of bravery, friendships, new beginnings and a touch of romance too.

I am a huge Alex Brown fan and her fictitious village Tindledale is a favourite of mine so I was so thrilled to see Tindledale and a could of the old characters pop up and have a connection in this novel.

I highly recommend A Postcard From Paris with its mix of modern chic Parisian charm and heartwarming, heroic history.

Kindle                      Paperback

A Postcard from Italy by ALex Brown

I am thrilled to have one of my favourite authors, Alex Brown joining us back on the blog today to talk about her new release A Postcard From Italy.

What inspired you to write the storyline for A Postcard from Italy? 

Connie’s character had been percolating away for ages, years in fact, after I bought a beautiful handmade vintage coat in a charity shop. Every time I wore the coat I imagined who its original owner had been, what was her name, what was her life like and Connie was the culmination of those thoughts. I’ve always had a fascination for women in history, ordinary women and how they lived their lives and how that compares to women’s lives today. Plus, I find storage units intriguing, what do they contain? A lifetime of memories in Connie’s case, and so the storyline developed from there.    

Can you tell us a little about the research you undertook for this novel? 

The Italian scenes were written from memory of when I visited the breathtakingly beautiful Italian Riviera over fifteen years ago. I always knew that I would write a book set there and even though my trip was in the days before Instagram, the scenes and atmosphere were as vivid today as they were back then. For the inheritance legalities, I was very lucky to be put in touch with an extremely patient solicitor who specialises in inheritance law. The very emotional scene set on VE day was written after watching old newsreel and reading accounts from people who were actually there like my nan, Edie, the nippy who works in Lyons tea house on the Strand, it was very lovely being able to immortalise her in A Postcard From Italy.     

If A Postcard from Italy was to be made into a film who could you see playing Connie and Grace? 

Obviously, A Postcard From Italy film is a fantastic idea, I can just see Grace and Ellis wandering around Portofino and then discovering Connie’s powder pink villa on the hillside bathed in the scent from the lemon and orange groves … I think Emily Blunt would make a great Connnie and for Grace, it would have to be Gemma Arterton.  

I loved the cover for this book, was it all you hoped it would be and did you get much input. 

Thank you. Yes, it is all I hoped it would be … and more. I did have some input, we tweaked the font and a few other small details, but to be honest I loved it so much when I first saw it that I really didn’t need to add or change anything about it.    

Are you currently working on your next book and if so can you give us a little teaser and do you see a return to Tindledale in future novels? 

I’m just about to start writing the next book and feel very excited about it. As soon as I can say more I will, I promise. Sorry to be mysterious about it but get superstitious if I talk about it before my agent and editor have rubber stamped the idea. I’d love to return to Tindledale in future novels … Carrington’s too, perhaps, one day! I’m a great believer in that old adage of never say never. 

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us Alex, I am excited to now finally be able to share my thoughts on A Postcard from Italy with you all.

My Review

I have long been a fan of Alex Brown’s novels and I remember in October last year seeing the cover reveal for her next novel A Postcard from Italy and being totally wowed and I couldn’t wait for the book to come so I can be transported off to Italy!

Grace carries this storyline whilst we get to know her as a character and her background she is finding out about an interesting client whose valuable personal belongings have been left in the storage company where she works for years and now the unit is in arrears so she is determined to find out all about the owner Connie and make sure that the belongings are given to the rightful heir. As Grace uncovers Connie’s diary’s and some letters she finds herself becoming so invested in this woman and her heart is so touched by her story.

This was a sweet and touching storyline and I found I was equally interested in learning about Connie’s life as I was about Grace and I soon found that both women have had a strained life due to other peoples actions and I think this was one of the reasons why it was so important for Grace to find out all she could about Connie’s story as she saw a bit of herself in her. Grace was such a selfless character who despite her own struggles is always first to put others needs and wants before her own which only made me love her even more.

Not all of the book is set in Italy but when we are transported there everything was described so vividly it was easy to see in my mind the picturesque surroundings, the change of pace and I really wish I was there with the characters soaking up the atmosphere.

I am a hopeless romantic so I love the little sprinkle of romance that was weaved into the storyline which gave a lightness and uplifting feel to an otherwise moving and emotive read. I loved the mystery surrounding Connie and I enjoyed finding the next piece of the jigsaw as they were uncovered by Grace. The storyline was unpredictable and the epilogue rounded up this delightful storyline unexpectedly and perfectly. This was another flawless read by Alex Brown even if I was a little hesitant about coming away from my much loved fictional place of Tindledale ( although there is a mention here and there!) I knew I would be in safe hands with this authors skilled writing style and I wasn’t wrong.

Paperback              Kindle