An Ideal Husband by Erica James

 

After 30 years of marriage, and a wonderful family Christmas, Louisa is stunned when husband Kip asks for a divorce on Boxing Day. He’d never seemed unhappy – and they’ve raised three children together.

For months, Kip has been secretly seeing a younger woman – and if that wasn’t bad enough – it’s the woman who broke their youngest son’s heart.

Now Kip is moving out and embarking on a new life with Zoe, and Louisa is left to pick up the pieces. Their beloved family home, Charity Cottage, is up for sale, and tensions are running high.

Yet, despite the betrayal and anger, when Louisa lays eyes on what might be a unique and welcoming new home, she feels a first glimmer of hope that life might be taking a turn for the better.

And while Louisa is making exciting plans, Kip finds himself facing challenges of his own and begins to learn that living the dream may not be as simple as he thought…

I have loved many books by Erica James over the years so I had high hopes for her new release An Ideal Husband and with a cover that pops out from the shelves thanks to its bold coral colour I am sure there will be many hands reaching for this one at the airport on the way to their Summer Holibobs!

This book felt very different from the authors previous books but none the less it was still such a fabulous current read that felt so honest and believable as she tackles infidelity and marriage break down after an affair, exploring the effect it has not on just those directly involved in the relationship but the results it has on the rest of the family too.

The family all have a very close bond and have lived a very loving life together but all it took was one crack to then splinter the family and yet the power of love shows there is still a thread connecting them together but we continually find ourselves unsure of how stitching their family back together will look in the end thanks to the unpredictability of the storyline.

I loved all of our characters ( other than Giles ) which surprised me because some of the things the characters done particularly Zoe and Kip I thought would turn me against those characters but I genuinely felt for them all. I was so desperate to see Louisa with a happy ever after that is the romantic in me but I never quite knew if Kip and Louisa would find their way back together again and I am not going to spoil it for you but all I will say is the way the book ended did in the end feel the right outcome to the story.

This book felt more fresh and modern compared to the authors previous novels and has a more uplifting feel looking at new beginnings in later life when our lives take an unexpected turn. It shows that our paths can get so tied up in our partners that when we find ourself out of the relationship its learning to start again alone and find our own strength to then go ahead with what we want for ourselves.

Although there were many sad and devastating parts of this book the storyline never felt heavy or gave a sense of doom and gloom it was full of hope, optimism and shows the strength, love and support of a loving family.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would actually say its probably my favourite novel by Erica James.

Available to buy HERE!

A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James

 

July 1981. As the country prepares to celebrate Prince Charles’ wedding to Lady Diana, Libby wants to be as far away from royal wedding fever as possible.

Having caught her own fiancé in bed with her best friend just weeks before they were due to marry, she’s fled London for the comfort of the Suffolk countryside.

At Larkspur House, with its magical garden created by renowned garden designer and one-time socialite Elfrida Ambrose, and its comfortingly familiar kitchen presided over by Libby’s great-aunt Bess, she hopes to find a way to put her life back together.

But for lifelong friends Bess and Elfrida, Libby’s arrival has stirred up the ghosts of the past. And before they can help her rebuild her shattered future, they must confront their own unspoken secrets, lost loves, and tragedies…

I always know when I open an Erica James book I am going to be charmed with a delicate and charming novel and her new release A Secret Garden Affair is no exception.

We are introduced to three strong women whose stories are all entwined, we have Libby who was a bride to be until just before the wedding she walked in on her fiancé and bestfriend. Libby needed to escape and she knew the one place she could find comfort and support would be at Larkspur House with her great aunt Bess and Elfrida.

The storyline moves between the present with Libby healing and learning more about Bess and Elfrida, and to the past which follows the friendship that blossomed between Elfrida who was lady of the house and Bess who was the hired help. We travel along with these two incredibly strong courageous women on their lives together and see them become each other’s rocks as they face many trials and tribulations along the way. Their friendship was so endearing as the devastation both women have experienced even though they were from different walks of life the one thing they could rely on without any hesitation was each other.

The storyline covers a lot of ground not least with Elfrida’s gardening but we also see Love, Loss, devastation and numerous secrets that look set to rear their ugly heads. This really was a quaint and charming read with exceptional detail which made everything so easily to visualise.

I loved this book, the wonderful characters and their colourful lives they lead.

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Coming Home to Island House by Erica James

It's the summer of 1939, and after touring an unsettled Europe to promote her latest book, Romily Temple returns home to Island House and the love of her life, the charismatic Jack Devereux.

But when Jack falls ill, his estranged family are called home and given seven days to find a way to bury their resentments and come together.

With war now declared, each member of the family is reluctantly forced to accept their new stepmother and confront their own shortcomings. But can the habits of a lifetime be changed in one week? And can Romily, a woman who thrives on adventure, cope with the life that has been so unexpectedly thrust upon her?

My favouite thing about being a book reviewer is having books sent to you by authors you haven’t come across before and even books that you wouldn’t have necessarily picked up whilst browsing the bookshelves in our local store and this is exactly how I discovered the talented author Erica James when her generous publishers sent a copy of her book to me a year or so ago and now I cannot get enough of her books and look forward to her new release each year.

Her latest release is Coming Home to Island House and what a wonderful read this book is. I was captured by not only the authors beautiful storyline but the wide range of loveable and also loathable characters that entertain us and touch our hearts right from the very first page.

Our central character is author Romily Temple. The storyline opens with Romily returning home from her book tour to find her husband Jack Devereux in a life-threatening state. In the days that follow Jack shares his wishes with Romily that he has made mistakes with his estranged family and wants to reunite them with her help.

The family all arrive to see Jack after receiving a message from Romily but their arrival was too late, but always one for difficult surprises Jacks will dictates that they all need to spend a week together in order to receive their inheritance. With so much history and turmoil running between the family members will they be able to fulfil his wishes especially with the brink of war fast approaching.

The storyline is set around the time of World War II and I hold my hands up and say I have never been one who loves books set heavily around the war but with this storyline I found it insightful seeing how the war effected the day to day lives and relationships of each of our characters.

Romily was such an admirable character, to have lost someone she so desperately loved and to then be lumbered with his family was enough to deal with but then to top it off and help with the adorable evacuee Stanley and still have that sense of wanting to fulfil her duty and do her bit for her country makes her a character impossible not to like.

There are such a vast amount of characters in this book and they all have a detailed and important role in the book not just making brief appearances here and there and yet at no point did I lose track of who was who because they were so well developed. We even have the dreadful Arthur who was such a vile excuse for a human and I really wanted him to get his just deserts!

There really is something for everyone in this book as it follows friendships and relationships, grief and love, hope and desperation. I felt so involved with the characters and with each bit of good or heart-breaking news I felt I was sharing it with the characters and was on a rollercoaster of emotions throughout.

This was a heart-warming, insightful and captivating read with a wonderful group of admirable characters, definitely a book that I would recommend.

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Erica James 20th Book Birthday

Today it is my stop on the blog tour celebrating Erica James' 20th Book Birthday.

I have not one but two reviews to share with you, firstly my review for Song of Skylark which is Erica's latest release and also a review for one of her previous books Summer at the Lake.

To top it off I am also hosting a giveaway that is open to the UK only too.

Lizzie has always had an unfortunate knack of attracting bad luck, but this time she's hit the jackpot. Losing her heart to her boss leads to her losing her job, and with no money in the bank, Lizzie finds herself forced to move back home with her parents. When she reluctantly takes another job, she meets Mrs Dallimore, a seemingly ordinary elderly woman with an astonishing past . . . Now in her nineties, Mrs Dallimore is also coming to terms with her situation. Old age is finally catching up with her. As she and Lizzie form the bond of unexpected friendship, Mrs Dallimore tells the story of a young girl who left America before the outbreak of World War Two and, in crossing an ocean, found herself embarking on a new life she couldn't have imagined. As Lizzie listens to Mrs Dallimore, she begins to realise that she's not the only person to attract bad luck, and that sometimes life has a way of surprising you . .

Bestselling author Erica James is an author whose books I was introduced to last year and after reading my first ever book by her I remember thinking how I had been missing out on her fabulous books all these years and so I greedily began buying more of her books. This year Erica is releasing her 20^th book titled Song of the Skylark and the striking cover will be calling out to readers from the shelves.

The storyline follows young Lizzie who has had to return home to her parents with her tail between her legs having lost her job due to very idiotic and embarrassing situation. Her mum Tess is determined that Lizzie isn’t going to just sit around wallowing in self-pity and so she arranges for her to work as a volunteer at Woodside a residential home for the elderly which Lizzie is not looking forward too.

Clarissa is one of the residents at Woodside and she strikes up an unlikely friendship in Lizzie and she tells Lizzie the story of her life in the hope that Lizzie will then finally realise that everyone has bad luck at some point in their lives but you have to dust yourself of and keep going.

The book starts of at a slow pace as we are introduced to Lizzie and find out about her background and the reason she is back home with her parents and I did find my attention wasn’t gripped at the start, I found myself picking the book up and popping it back down often as it just felt like it was being drawn out to long but as soon as we began to embark on the journey down memory lane with Clarissa the book soon had me gripped and I was snatching the odd page at every moment I got.

I found Clarissa’s story so captivating, she was such an admirable character who had faced so much devastation through her life but she never wallowed she always picked herself up and was ready for the next chapter of her life. Each time the storyline jumped backed to Lizzie I found myself eager to get back to Clarissa’s story to find out what happened next but I can see the relevance of having Lizzie’s storyline weaved in too as it gave a chance not only for Clarissa ( or Mrs Dallimore as Lizzie addressed her) to tell her story but also to teach Lizzie to not give in to her run of bad luck, it happens to us all and Clarissa had more than her fair share but you have a choice to get back up and try again because we only have one life and it isn’t going to stop and wait for you.

The author has created such an atmospheric read that will take you on a thought provoking and emotional journey along with our characters, not only Lizzie and Clarissa but all the supporting characters too from the charming Ellis and Artie, the wonderfully refreshing Effie and the adorable Nicholas, Thomas and Walter.

This is a book that I will stay with me because of the message it delivers. This is not a journey you will want to rush through, read and savour every chapter of this honorable characters life story that felt all too real. I think I would go as far as to say that this has been my favourite book by Erica James so far.

Lake Como - beautiful, enchanting, romantic... For Floriana, it is the place where the love of her life is getting married to another woman. And she's been invited to the wedding. For Esme, it is where, over sixty years ago, she fell in love for the first time. So often she's wondered what happened to the man who stole her heart - and changed the course of her life. Adam is in danger of burying himself entirely in his work after his girlfriend left him. Could a trip to Lake Como be the distraction he needs? Now it's time for each of them to understand that the past is not only another country, it can also cast haunting shadows over everyone's lives...

I have been working my way through Erica James’s novels after I read her book The Dandelion Years last year and was totally captivated by the storyline and her skilled writing style and now I cannot get enough of her books. Summer at the Lake sounded like the prefect read to bring a ray of light into this dull and wet day and it sure didn’t disappoint.

Tour guide Floriana has her mind on something else when she is involved in a hit and run, little did she know that this event would introduce her to two people Adam and Esme, who would become wonderful caring friends. Each of the characters have loved and lost and before long they are helping each other to mend their broken hearts.

The storyline is set in both Oxford and Lake Como but it is Lake Como that felt so inviting and whisked me away with the characters to a place I didn’t wish to return. We visit Lake Como both in the past and present as we hear Esme’s story of her younger years and then we revisit the same spots when an event leads our characters back to Lake Como together.

I loved each of our protagonists Floriana was a lively outgoing character, Esme was a wise, meddling woman and Adam was a pure gentleman with such a caring nature so they all brought something to their little friendship trio as well as to the storyline. Romance blossoms throughout the storyline and I was hoping for a perfect happy ending for all of these good natured characters.

The enchanting setting, the engaging characters and the heartbreak and romance all come together and make such a beautiful Summery read.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of both Summer at the Lake and Song of Skylark

enter below. 

Open to the UK only ( publishers instructions)

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The Dandelion Years by Erica James

Ashcombe was the most beautiful house Saskia had ever seen as a little girl. A rambling pink cottage on the edge of the Suffolk village of Melbury Green, its enchanting garden provided a fairy-tale playground of seclusion, a perfect sanctuary to hide from the tragedy which shattered her childhood. Now an adult, Saskia is still living at Ashcombe and as a book restorer devotes her days tending to the broken, battered books that find their way to her, daydreaming about the people who had once turned their pages. When she discovers a notebook carefully concealed in an old Bible - and realising someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to hide a story of their own - Saskia finds herself drawn into a heart-rending tale of wartime love...

I am ashamed to say I have never read a book by Erica James and I have just finished reading The Dandelion Years and if her other books are as breath-taking as this one then I really have been missing out and have a lot of catching up to do.

Saskia Granger lives with her father Ralph and her two Grandfathers Harvey and Oliver, an unusual set up but one which has worked perfectly well for the foursome but with Saskia now in her 30’s they gentleman are keen for her to fly the nest and have an adventure but they are worried they are holding her back. An exciting discovery of a hidden notebook looks set to give Saskia a new adventure as she reads about a war time romance and the need to find out how the notebook has made its way into her hands as surely no-one would knowingly have thrown it away.

I need to apologise now as I do not feel my review will give this book the justice it deserves. The author has delivered such a beautifully crafted book that really had me captivated the whole way through. From the storyline to the charming characters and the beautiful writing style this was just a remarkable read.

This is a dual time read which I don’t usually favour as I always find myself drawn to one or the other sides but the balance in both the present day and the war time was perfect in this book and I found myself equally intrigued by Jacob and Kitty’s story as well as enjoying the more modern feel to Saskia and Matthews lives too. I adored all of the characters in this book they were all a little quirky and some a little introverted and I loved the unusual family set up of the Granger family I found this really touching.

I was as gripped as Saskia when reading Jacobs notebook and just as she wanted to know more so did I. I also really enjoyed the love of books that shines through in this book, Saskia is a book restorer and her father Ralph has a book shop and he buys and sells old books so this was something else that really caught my attention.

I did have an idea of how the book would end but it really didn’t matter because it was such a beautiful journey to get to the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I have definitely found a fantastic new author and I can not wait to read another of her books although they will have a lot to match up to with this book.

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