The Village Green Bookshop by Rachael Lucas

 

I hadn’t come across The Village Green Bookshop until I saw a post by author Miranda Dickinson who was singing its praises. Miranda has lead me to many hidden gems over the years that I wouldn’t have usually picked up so I was looking forward to reading The Village Green Bookshop.

Frustrated that she spends all her time as either a mum to a football-obsessed teenager or a wife to a workaholic husband, Hannah wants something for herself. When the chance comes to take over the Post Office in Little Maudley, a charming Cotswold village, Hannah grabs it with both hands. She’ll have a career at last and also get her son Ben away from his trouble-making mates.

But village life is not so picture-perfect after all: Hannah finds herself an outsider in this tight-knit community where the height of your hedge is a gossip-worthy subject. Even her idea to introduce a small bookshop to the Post Office causes a stir. At least Ben seems to have found his place as he joins the local football team, coached by ex-professional Jake Lovatt. But a shocking secret from their past threatens to uproot the new life they’ve made for themselves, and has drastic consequences…

This novel couldn’t have come at a better time for me with life so complicated at the moment and the bank holiday approaching I needed pure escapism with a simple storyline that would brighten my weekend and that was what I found in The Village Green Bookshop and more!

Hannah’s life as she knows it has been completely pulled out from under her feet and yet she doesn’t sit and mope she grabs life with both hands and focuses on what she wants and needs in life to make her happy and to create a better future for her troublesome son Ben. Her character was so selfless and like many of us has reached a time in her life where she can see how much she does for everyone else putting everyone’s wants and needs before her own and I was routing for her to start living and enjoying her life.

I think every bookworm has that hidden desire to work in a library or a bookshop so it is no surprise that books that feature the running of book businesses lure us in and by the end have us desperate to throw in the towel and upsticks and follow the dream like Hannah did.

I love the sound of a close nit village life with the community spirit knitting everyone together and this can be felt in this novel but it also shows the opposite side where tongues are wagging and no secret is ever safe! We meet numerous amount of the villagers and they all bring a little character to the storyline.

I love how Racheal Lucas has expertly managed to create such a simple easy flowing storyline that captured my heart and attention from the start, her storytelling is so light and uplifting and certainly provided me with the escapism that I needed. Ok so the romance was completely predictable but at the same time it was so honest and believable too so although the suspense factor wasn’t there, I still enjoyed watching the romance blossom.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Village Green Bookshop and the authors writing style is expertly crafted so I will now be going off to find one of her backlist books The Telephone Box Library.

 

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Wildflower Bay by Rachael Lucas

Isla's got her dream job as head stylist at the most exclusive salon in Edinburgh. The fact that she's been so single-minded in her career that she's forgotten to have a life has completely passed her by - until disaster strikes.

Out of options, she heads to the remote island of Auchenmor to help out her aunt who is in desperate need of an extra pair of scissors at her salon.

A native to the island, Finn is thirty-five and reality has just hit him hard. His best friends are about to have a baby and everything is changing. When into his life walks Isla . .

Wildflower Bay has been released in parts as e-books and I did read the first part and was looking forward to the rest of the book but I opted to wait for the complete novel as I am greedy and impatient and like to read it all in one go!

Isla has worked hard to become the head stylist at the swanky hair salon in Edinburgh but throwing herself into her career means she hasn’t actually lived her life to the full. When everything comes crumbling down around her she reluctantly heads to Auchenmor to help run her aunts salon which is worlds apart from the high end salon she is used to.

Having always worked in the hair/beauty industry, this storyline had great appeal as it was something I could relate to. I am a fan of storylines that take a business and attempt to turn them around so I really enjoyed watching Isla come up with strategic and realistic ideas.

Isla isn’t a character I warmed to immediately as she seemed like a hard career driven madam but as the storyline moves along her character starts to blossom and by the time I got to part three in the book I genuinely liked her character and I was hoping for a happy ending for her.

I did find that part 2 especially around the chapters of Lily I found my attention wavering, her character was irritating and the whole retreat part just didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the storyline  but luckily the storyline did pick up again.

There is a sweet blossoming romance and the building of new friendships which bring a comforting uplifting feel to the book along with a touch of humour and I have to admit I had a lump in the throat moment that threatened to bring on the waterworks!

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Coming up Roses

Country air, cowslips and a charismatic rogue . . . Would-be gardener Daisy can't believe her luck when her parents announce they're off on a midlife-crisis gap year, leaving her in charge of their gorgeous garden. After a turbulent few months, a spell of quiet in the countryside is just what she needs. A shoulder to cry on wouldn't go amiss either - so when Daisy comes across Elaine and Jo, she breathes a sigh of relief. But her new friends are dealing with dramas of their own . . . As Daisy wrestles the garden into something resembling order, her feelings for handsome Irishman George, begin to take root. But Daisy's heart's desire - her parent's garden - is under threat, and she is forced to confront nosey neighbours and fight greedy developers. Village life is turning out to be far from peaceful.

Coming Up Roses is the first book I have read by Rachael Lucas, I am not a fan of gardening so have never been known to pick up a book with this topic until I read Ivy Lane earlier this year and was surprised how much I enjoyed it so I decided to give Coming Up Roses a try too.

Daisy is house sitting for her parents who are off on their travels, this is a dream come true for Daisy who is a keen professional gardener because her parents garden which once was a well-tended beautiful garden has been left to its own devices so she cannot wait to tackle the garden and it soon becomes apparent the local villagers are pleased the garden is finally being given some attention too.

This opportunity has come at a perfect time for Daisy who is nursing a broken heart, with the help of new found friends, community spirit and her passion for gardening can she turn her life around?

This was such a beautifully crafted, charming read that had me engrossed in the storyline right from the first chapter. I found the characters so engaging from our main character Daisy as well as the numerous amount of supporting characters they were all developed so well. The friendships that Daisy had with Thomas was so endearing, and it was great to watch her friendship with Elaine and Jo blossom they seemed like an unlikely trio at first but they soon developed a strong bond and were each other’s shoulders to cry on.

The storyline held my attention the whole way through the book and as I mentioned before I am not a big fan of anything to do with gardening and yet I am a big fan of this book.  If you are looking for pure escapism, with well-rounded characters, friendships and a splash of romance then this fun and uplifting read will be the one for you. I am off to download the authors previous book Sealed with a Kiss now!

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