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Hi!
Today I'm delighted to bring you a post as part of the Blog Tour for Catherine Alliott's new novel, A Cornish Summer.
Flora's been in love with her husband for twenty years. The trouble is, he's been married to someone else for the past fifteen.
Now she's been invited to spend the summer in the shady lanes and sandy coves of Cornwall. It should be blissful.
There's just one small snag: she'll be staying with her former mother-in-law, Belinda.
And Flora discovers she's not the only one invited when her ex-husband shows up out of the blue, complete with his new wife. So now there are two small snags.
Can Flora spend the summer playing happy families wth the woman who stole her husband's heart, and the mother-in-law who might have had a hand in it?
Or will stumbling on the family secret change her mind about them all?
I went into this book expecting a character-focused book and wasn't disappointed. It's a slow burner - the first half is more about establishing who's who and what went on in the past to get them to where they are at the moment. I can't say I took to Flora immediately - I much preferred her friend Celia and I really loved Babs from the first time she appeared on the page.
There are a few different storylines happening simultaneously - a serious one about business, a secret, and Flora's own journey. Out of all of these, I liked seeing Flora's personal journey the most. I felt like "the secret" was a little predictable and I'm really not a fan of that particular thing being used as a plot device - I feel like it's overused in TV dramas, movies and books. I do have to say that here, it was done more respectfully than I've seen it done before - the addition of Christina was really good and I liked her character a lot.
While I felt like there were a lot of characters to keep track of, I had my favourites and didn't feel overwhelmed. I enjoyed the writing and thought that the story ended well. If you're looking for a character-driven beach or plane read, this is your one!
Thank you to Sriya at Penguin Random House for sending me an early copy, if you'd like to get this for yourself you can request it at your local library or purchase via the links below:
You can also check out the other stops on the Blog Tour below:
Absolutely beautiful book, lovely characters who l felt l knew personally as the story unfolded, wonderful writing, Catherine you are so incredibly talented x
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