Happy Valentines Day everyone! I am so excited to bring you my review of A New Life for Ariana Byrne by Liz Hurley as part of her amazing blog tour, on a day full of love!

What happens after all your dreams come true?

Ariana Byrne knows how to survive. After becoming guardian to her four little sisters after their parents died when she was only eighteen, she had to grow up quickly. Now she’s in her twenties, stuck in a loveless marriage to Greg, trying to make ends meet for her young twins, William and Leo.

So when Ari is told that she’s actually the Right Honourable Lady de Foix, Countess of Hiverton, owner of a sprawling estate in the village of Saxburgh in Norfolk, her first instinct is laughter. Surely the girl who has to choose between food and keeping the lights on isn’t really rich beyond her wildest dreams?

She knows how to take care of her sisters and her children, but how on earth can Ari take care of an entire village? Can she fight off the circling land developers from Saxburgh, and stop her in-laws from grabbing all the money for themselves?

And while she’s struggling to settle in and settle down, she’s making new friends and new mistakes. Trusting her gorgeous neighbour, Sebastian Flint-Hyssop, may be the biggest one of all…

She’s swapped sink estate for country estate…but can a girl from inner city London learn how to become a Lady?

Take a trip to Hiverton Manor for the most uplifting novel of 2020 – guaranteed to put a smile on your face! Fans of Jenny Colgan, Trisha Ashley and Carole Matthews will love this romantic, feelgood read.

Ariana Byrne has had many tough times in her relatively short 28 years of life.  Losing her parents at such a young age, and then fighting hard to keep her younger sisters together when the authorities thought it best to separate them.  Giving up her own dreams in order to be the best sister she could be, then the best wife she could be to Greg, and the best mother she could be to her twin sons, Leo and William.  After ten years of struggling without the support of her beloved parents, Ari unexpectedly finds herself a Countess, and wealthy at a time when she had struggled to put food on the table.

If you want a novel that knows how to draw you in then this is the novel for you.  A lot happens in the first four chapters. A LOT.  Sometimes you wonder how so much could happen to one person in such a short space of time, but you can’t help but follow the story through to see how Ari deals with the cards she has been dealt. Ari is a character who has given up everything for those around her, and there isn’t a more deserving character to receive the title and riches that she receives.  Obviously they come with their own set of problems, (the most obvious being that she had family the whole time, but they just didn’t care about her or her sisters) but watching her deal with them all is inspiring.  This is not your standard chick-lit or romance novel – of course there is romance, but this novel is more about the strength of a woman when facing adversity.  How she has spent her whole adult life fighting for what she believes to be right, regardless of the consequences for herself.

I loved this book.  I loved the characters, I loved that there were so many strong female personalities, and I wanted to know how they would deal with the issues that were presented to them.  The village setting was perfect, a real contrast to Ari’s humble beginnings in the diverse London street she lived on. Everything about this novel was fab, and I am so pleased that Liz Hurley will be continuing the story of the Byrne sisters – I can’t wait to read the next installment!

Rating: 📖 📖 📖 📖 📕

Thank you so much to Liz Hurley and Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be a part of this fabulous blog tour, and for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Author Bio 

When I grew up I wanted to be an underwater archaeologist or an astronaut but I ended up in a library. Everyone laughed as I’m not a naturally quiet person but I loved it. I went on to become a professional librarian for the money and the glamour. Not finding quite enough of either my husband and I set up a bookshop.  We didn’t find much there either so I started writing. Now I have loads of money and glamour but only in the pages of my books! In the meantime I dive and look at the stars.

Social Media Links –

• Twitter: @hello_hurley
• Facebook fan page: @theotherlizhurley
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• Author website: lizhurleywrites.com