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Maxine Morrey is a bestselling romantic comedy author with eight books to her name including Winter’s Fairytale and the top ten hit The Christmas Project. She lives in West Sussex. Her first novel for Boldwood, #No Filter, was published in November 2019.

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BLOG TOUR The Mother’s Day Victory by Rosie Henry

March 8, 2022 ~ ChapterAndCake ~ Leave a comment

Today it is my pleasure to bring you my review of The Mother’s Day Victory by Rosie Hendry.

Can the Women on the Home Front protect their community in times of war?
Norfolk, 1940. As war rages on, sisters Prue and Thea, along with the wider community of Great Plumstead, are doing all they can to help the war effort, from running the mobile canteen for the Women’s Voluntary Service to organising clothing drives and collecting salvage.
When, Anna, a young German girl who fled her country, seeks refuge in the village, Thea opens up her home, Rookery House, and invites Anna into their growing family. But while many in the village welcome Anna with open arms, others are suspicious of the new arrival . . .
As the war intensifies and panic sweeps the country, Anna is taken by the government who fear she’s a spy. The women of Great Plumstead are already fighting their own battles on the Home Front, but will they come together in Anna’s time of need to keep the newest member of their community safe from war?
The Mother’s Day Victory is the perfect wartime family saga and the second novel in Rosie Hendry’s much-loved series, filled with heart-warming friendships, nostalgic community spirit and a courageous make-do-and-mend attitude. Perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries, Donna Douglas and Elaine Everest.

The Mother’s Day Victory is the second in Rosie Hendry’s Women on the Home Front series. The Mother’s Day Victory follows sisters Prue and Thea in their small community in Norfolk, as they do what they can to support the war effort. When Anna, a young German Jewish woman who has fled Nazi rule settles with Thea, tensions rise as some people begin to be suspicious about her intentions. Anna’s story is a heartbreaking one, but it was one that we need to read about. So many of the historical novels I read are from the British perspective, it was nice to read one from the perspective of the persecuted. Despite finding herself safe from Nazi rule, she still finds herself facing prejudice in the place she thought she would be free – despite being Jewish, her German roots continue to bind her to the atrocities in Europe.

Rosie Henry really brought a new perspective to WWII fiction for me, and I loved it. Obviously I loved the camaraderie and ‘can do’ attitude of the women in Great Plumstead – it’s always wonderful to read about communities coming together to support those protecting their country. But learning a little more about Anna, and those like her who managed to escape the Nazi regime was fascinating. I will go back and read The Mother’s Day Club so that I can learn more about the women in Great Plumstead, but in the meantime I am more than happy to recommend this novel to you. It is full of strong, capable women who fight for what is right – very fitting for International Women’s Day! I shall definitely be reading more of Rosie Hendry’s work!

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

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Author Bio

Rosie Hendry lives by the sea in North Norfolk with her husband and children. She writes uplifting, heart-warming historical fiction based on true events from our social history. Listening to her father’s tales of life during the Second World War sparked her interest in this period and she loves researching further, seeking out gems of real-life stories which inspire her writing.

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BLOG TOUR Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons by Patsy Trench

March 6, 2022 ~ ChapterAndCake ~ Leave a comment

Today it is my pleasure to bring you my review of Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons by Patsy Trench on day one of her fabulous blog tour!

London, 1905. A show. A stuttering romance. Two squabbling actresses.
Is it Shakespeare? Is it Vaudeville?
Not quite. It is Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons, a satirical play about suffragettes which its creators – friends and would-be lovers Robbie Robinson and Violet Graham – are preparing to mount in London’s West End.
It is the play rival actresses Merry and Gaye would kill to be in, if only they hadn’t insulted the producer all those years ago.
For Robbie and Violet however the road to West End glory is not smooth. There are backers to be appeased, actors to be tamed and a theatre to be found; and in the midst of it all a budding romance that risks being undermined by professional differences.
Never mix business with pleasure?
Maybe, maybe not.

Robbie Robinson is finally bringing his play, Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons to the West End, and he knows just who should produce it; Violet Graham. Despite her lack of experience, and probably because of his feelings for her, he know she is the woman to bring his play to fruition in Edwardian London. With actresses vying for the role, despite their insulting behaviour to Violet in a past life, this is a play with plenty going on back stage!

It is clear that Patsy Trench has previously worked in theatre, and she brings that knowledge so eloquently to this novel. From the casting, to the financing, to the finalising of scripts, she really seems to know about all aspects of producing a play and it really comes across within the novel. Its not all technical though, the characters are well-rounded and believable. You can imagine the upset felt by rival actresses Merry and Gaye when they discover that Violet, a woman they were once so insulting to when she was but a junior member of staff, is now in charge of a play that they both both so desperately want to lead!

This is a novel full of great characters, set in the bitchy world of theatre in Edwardian London with a budding romance thrown in for good measure – it is light and fun; a very enjoyable read that I am happy to recommend!

Thank you to Patsy Trench 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.

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Author Bio

Patsy Trench has spent her life working in the theatre. She was an actress for twenty years in theatre and television in the UK and Australia. She has written scripts for stage and (TV) screen and co-founded The Children’s Musical Theatre of London, creating original musicals with primary school children. She is the author of three non fiction books about colonial Australia based on her own family history and four novels about women breaking the mould in times past. Mrs Morphett’s Macaroons is book four in her ‘Modern Women: Entertaining Edwardians’ series and is set in the world she knows and loves best. When she is not writing books she teaches theatre part-time and organises theatre trips for overseas students.

She lives in London. She has two children and so far one grandson.

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BLOG TOUR Heaven & Hell for the Tobacco Girls by Lizzie Lane

March 5, 2022March 4, 2022 ~ ChapterAndCake ~ Leave a comment

It is my pleasure to bring you my review of Heaven & Hell for the Tobacco Girls by Lizzie Lane as part of her fabulous blog tour!

Bridget Milligan has donned a uniform and joined the nursing services where she becomes intrigued with the miracles of modern medicine. She’s also torn between family loyalty, her new career and Lyndon O’Neill, the love of her life. Is it too impossible to hope that everything will come out right in the end?
Phyllis Harvey is still serving in Malta where she sees the casualties of war first hand. Finally it seems like Phyllis is blessed with true in love, but fate can sometimes be a rocky road and nothing is that certain.
Maisie Miles is left holding the home front at the tobacco factory but with the sudden death of her grandmother finds herself once more alone in the world. However, thanks to a substantial inheritance, she is able to extend a helping hand to a friend in desperate need.
There are tears and laughter, goodbyes and new arrivals along with the hope that new beginnings are not far over the horizon.

As you are aware if you follow my little blog, I am a big fan of World War II historical fiction, so I jumped at the chance to read this! I have been aware of the Tobacco Girls series for a while now, but haven’t had the time to get stuck in, so this seemed like too good an opportunity to be missed! Heaven & Hell for the Tobacco Girls follows a number of girls who originate from the Tobacco factory in Bristol.

Bridget is leaving the tobacco factory in order to train as a nursing auxiliary, as she is keen to make a real difference to those fighting in the war. But she needs to work out if she can have a career, love and family.

Phyllis has already left the tobacco factory for foreign shores. Based in Malta, she has seen the real impact of the war. Having found love, she has dreams for the future but the unpredictable nature of the war means that nothing is certain.

Maisie remains at the tobacco factory, but feels lonely as her friends leave her behind. When her Grandmother passes away and leaves her an unexpected inheritance she hopes to really help those around her.

This is a novel all about women keeping the home front running for those away fighting. It is about a group of women who want to make their mark and help with the war effort, whilst also realising how much of the world is opening up to them – they have choices, they can look for love on their own terms and they can find fulfilling work. Careers are opening up to them like never before and they are finally starting to be able to make their own decisions on how they want their lives to be.

I read Heaven & Hell for the Tobacco Girls as a standalone novel, but if I’m honest I wish I had read the others in the series first. Whilst the characters all had back stories that were mentioned, I would have preferred to have known about their stories in more detail. That’s just me though, this novel gives you more than enough information to be able to thoroughly enjoy it without having read the previous novels in the series! It was also nice to read a wartime novel not based in London. London suffered the brunt of the bombing during the Blitz, but it is often easy to forget that the whole of the country was doing everything it could for the war effort, so it was nice to read a novel set in Bristol!

I am more than happy to recommend this novel to you all. It is a great example of war fiction, but it’s also a lovely novel about women, friendship and love.

Thank you to Lizzie Lane, Boldwood Books and Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour, and for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

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Author Bio

Lizzie Lane is the author of over 50 books, a number of which have been bestsellers. She was born and bred in Bristol where many of her family worked in the cigarette and cigar factories. This has inspired her saga series for Boldwood The Tobacco Girls.

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BLOG TOUR Home for Christmas by Camilla Isley

February 22, 2022February 21, 2022 ~ ChapterAndCake ~ Leave a comment

It is my pleasure to bring you my review of Home for Christmas by Camilla Isley, helping to kick off her fabulous blog tour!

Firstly let me just say – do not be put off reading this review of a novel with Christmas in the title. I know it’s February and Christmas is but a distant memory but this novel is too good for you to be scrolling past this review!

Would you share a bed with your enemy to save Christmas?
Down with a bad case of writer’s block, Riven has escaped to a mountain cabin for a prolonged writing retreat. The last thing he needs this Christmas is for his family to invade his sanctuary away from LA. What he needs even less is for a family of strangers as large and boisterous as his own to also be stuck in the same house after a double-booking disaster.
Especially when he ends up having to share a bunk bed with Wendy—a gorgeous, feisty New Yorker who quickly learns how to get under his skin.
Sharing a room with her is sweet torture and Riven isn’t even sure what he dreads more: that every passing day brings them closer to saying goodbye or that they have yet another night to spend together…

Riven is a famous author who is hiding out in a mountain cabin trying to overcome a severe case of writers block, whilst also trying to escape from his painful divorce. What he can’t escape though is his family, who insist upon him spending Christmas with them!

Wendy is a successful New York playwright, who is looking for a Christmas getaway with her family following the loss of her father. They need a new way to celebrate Christmas, and a snowy mountain retreat seems just the ticket! When a monumental mix up finds Wendy and Riven’s families sharing the mountain cabin for the holidays, of course only chaos can ensue!

This is a clear enemies to lovers romance novel – there is nothing unexpected. But that is exactly what I was looking for with this novel. Romantic comedies are supposed to be fun and light-hearted, and Home for Christmas definitely ticks all the boxes. The family dynamics were great within this novel, but the shining stars were Wendy and Riven. Both were excellent leading characters, well rounded and likeable. The tension between them was palpable, and it was so nice to follow two characters who weren’t intent on sabotaging each other. They really encouraged each other professionally, even when their working styles were so very different. There was no rivalry or jealousy – they were just really supportive of one another. Of course there was some high jinx along the way, but that just added to the fun! I can’t say I’d have been quite so forgiving as Wendy though after the ‘pink’ incident!

Home for Christmas is a standalone novel and should be read as such, but it also forms part of Camilla Isley Christmas Romantic Comedy series. If the other two novels in this series are half as good as this one I shall be grabbing myself copies!

Now for my star rating. If you have followed my reviews for a while you will know that I very rarely give out 5 stars. However, the stars clearly aligned when I picked up this book. This is the best romantic comedy novel I’ve read in a long time. It ticked all the boxes for me – great characters, light hearted fun, and a believable romance. I loved it! So I am more than happy to recommend this novel to you all. As today is publication day you have no excuse not to go out and grab yourself a copy immediately!

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

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Author Bio

Camilla is an engineer turned writer after she quit her job to follow her husband on an adventure abroad.
She’s a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.

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BLOG TOUR Spring Blooms at the Hummingbird Hotel by Daisy James

February 14, 2022 ~ ChapterAndCake ~ 1 Comment

It is my pleasure to bring you my review of Spring Blooms at the Hummingbird Hotel by Daisy James as part of her fabulous blog tour!

Welcome to the Hummingbird Hotel!
When Corfu’s newest hotelier Abbie Coleman is asked to host a Bakes & Beaches retreat for a group of Bake Off enthusiasts from a regional TV and radio station, she knows she needs as much help as she can get. Baking is not her forte, and with cupcakes, traybakes, pastries and showstoppers to co-ordinate – along with a whole host of terrifyingly high-octane water sports – she’s worried that her guests’ culinary creations will be more ‘curdled catastrophes’ than ‘tasty triumphs’. For any successful enterprise, preparation is key, so, along with her new assistant manager and all-round astrological guru Felix Morgan, Abbie sets about preparing a long and detailed To Do list.
But this is the Hummingbird Hotel, and the words ‘straightforward’ and ‘drama-free’ do not feature on the menu. So, when the salted caramel cupcakes are heavier on the salt than the caramel, and a guest’s expensive watch takes an unscheduled dip in the pool, Abbie must once again join forces with chef-turned-vineyard owner – and now fiancé – Nikos Angelopoulos, to unravel the mystery and maintain the hotel’s reputation for delivering beautiful bakes instead of mayhem and mistakes.
Can she turn burnt buns into sumptuous soufflés? Or will her future on Corfu be over before it’s begun?

Book 4 in the Hummingbird Hotel series is Spring Blooms at the Hummingbird Hotel, and what a delight it was to return to the beautiful island of Corfu. Abbie Coleman, the unexpected hotelier for the Hummingbird Hotel after she inherited the beautiful location, is running a Bakes and Beaches retreat for a group of colleagues. As anticipated, nothing ever runs smoothly at the Hummingbird Hotel! With ruined baking and swimming watches, Abbie must turn sleuth to work out exactly what is happening amongst the guests at her beloved hotel!

We are back with Abbie, her fiancé Nikos and her friends on the beautiful island of Corfu. If you have been following this series, you will know that Abbie’s true passion is floral artistry, and in Spring Blooms at the Hummingbird Hotel she is looking to see if she can get back to doing what she loves, creating floral masterpieces for local hotels and businesses. With so much on her mind, Abbie is pulled in multiple directions as she seeks to run a successful hotel, achieve her floral ambitions whilst also attempting to become part of Nikos’ family if she can ever get them to meet her.

This is a great addition to the Hummingbird Hotel series. I love the setting in Corfu, and Daisy James never fails to really bring to life both the hotel and Nikos’ vineyard. You can really imagine yourself wandering amongst the vines, or relaxing by the pool. The Bakes and Beach retreat sounded fabulous, with all the characters really emerging from the pages as well rounded individuals. I really enjoyed this novel and am more than happy to recommend it to you all – make sure that you make time to pick up the other novels in this fabulous series too!

Thank you to Daisy James and Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be a part of this wonderful blog tour, and for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Purchase Links

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Author Bio

Daisy James loves writing stories with strong heroines and swift-flowing plotlines. She especially likes to create sunshine-filled settings in exotic locations – the Caribbean, Tuscany, Cornwall, Provence – so she can spend her time envisioning her characters enjoying the fabulous scenery and sampling the local food and drink.

When not scribbling away in her peppermint-and-green summerhouse (garden shed), she spends her time sifting flour and sprinkling sugar and edible glitter. She loves gossiping with friends over a glass of something fizzy or indulging in a spot of afternoon tea – china plates and teacups are a must.

Daisy would love to hear from readers via her Facebook page or you can follow her on Twitter @daisyjamesbooks, or on Instagram @daisyjamesstories.

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BLOG TOUR A New Dawn Over Mulberry Lane by Rosie Clarke

February 9, 2022 ~ ChapterAndCake ~ 1 Comment

Today it is my pleasure to help bring to a close the fabulous blog tour for Rosie Clarke’s latest offering in the Mulberry Lane series, A New Dawn Over Mulberry Lane.

London 1958
Life has moved on since the war and the youngsters of Mulberry Lane are growing up fast.
Peggy’s Ronaski’s family is struggling with growing pains but she is always there, strong, reliable and ready to help whenever a crisis hits.
Meanwhile, Maureen Hart has family problems of her own to contend with.
Together they will work hard to conquer all of what life has to throw at them…
Join Peggy and Maureen as their siblings embark on life’s new adventures and try to forge a partnerships for success.
What does the future hold for the families and friends of Mulberry Lane?

Imagine my delight at discovering that Rosie Clarke was providing us with another novel in the wonderful Mulberry Lane series! If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you will know that I have read and reviewed each novel, and loved them all!

A New Dawn Over Mulberry Lane allows us to revisit characters that we have grown to know and love, including Peggy and Able and Maureen and Gordon. World War Two is long since over, but the friendships that were forged during that time are as strong as ever. However this novel really brings forth the next generation. Both Peggy and Maureen’s children feature heavily, as we watch them grow in both age and character. In Peggy’s case, her beloved grandchildren also play a large role within the novel. We follow them all as they find their way through post-war Britain, with big expectations for their futures. There is of course trials and tribulations, new friendships, love and even a wedding! But the stories I enjoyed the most were those of Shirley, Faye and Maggie – watching these young women and their ambitions grow, with such supportive family behind them all the way was lovely. You could really get a sense of the way times were changing, particularly for women. Rosie Clarke does such a great job of immersing us wholeheartedly into a time gone by, whilst providing us with characters that we are happy to revisit time and again. I love the Mulberry Lane series, and A New Dawn Over Mulberry Lane is a worthy addition to what is already a rich, character-based series. Peggy is, of course, the glue that holds together this fabulous community and I will always enjoy reading about her, her family and her friends. I am more than happy to recommend this novel to you, but I must insist that you work your way through the entire series!

Thank you to Rosie Clarke and Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be a part of this wonderful blog tour, and for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

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Author Bio

Rosie Clarke is a #1 bestselling saga writer whose most recent books include The Shop Girls of Harpers and The Mulberry Lane series. She has written over 100 novels under different pseudonyms and is a RNA Award winner. She lives in Cambridgeshire.

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Book Review: A Bookshop Christmas by Rachel Burton

February 3, 2022February 2, 2022 ~ ChapterAndCake ~ 1 Comment

It might not be Christmas anymore, but better late than never! Here is my review of A Bookshop Christmas by Rachel Burton.

A snowstorm. A stranger. A spark. It should be the perfect start to the perfect love story.
But real life is far messier and more complicated than in the pages of the books in Megan Taylor’s family bookshop – the last few years have left this young widow in no doubt of that. Moving back home to York should have been a fresh start, but all it did was allow her to retreat from the world.
When prize-winning author Xander Stone rams his supermarket trolley into her ankles and then trashes her taste in books, Megan is abruptly awoken from her self-imposed hibernation. It’s time to start living again, and she’s going to start by putting this arrogant, superior – admittedly sexy – stranger in his place.
Just as she is beginning to enjoy life again, the worst happens and Megan begins to wonder if she should have stayed hidden away. Because it turns out that falling in love again is about more than just meeting under the mistletoe…

So I am a little late reviewing this novel given the fact that Christmas is officially over, the presents have been unwrapped and the trees have been dismantled, but better late than never!

Megan Taylor is a young widow, who, following the loss of her beloved husband, moved back to York to her parents bookshop to grieve. Xander Stone is the award winning author Megan manages to secure for a book signing in a bid to save her bookshop – he’s arrogant, aloof but also rather attractive!

This is a novel set in York, and I have to say, it was rather refreshing to have a novel set in an English city that wasn’t London. York is such a beautiful setting and it really comes across as a city where memories are made, love can blossom and futures can start. It’s been a while since I’ve been to York, but Rachel Burton certainly made me want to visit again soon with her vivid descriptions of this cultural city.

A Bookshop Christmas is a love story – you know it from the moment you pick up the book. In fact it’s the reason that I chose to read it (that, and the fact that it is set in a bookshop!), and it is definitely a good enough reason for you to pick it up too. But the relationships that I really enjoyed within this novel were the friendships. Megans bookclub is a group of supportive women who have kept Megan safe emotionally whilst she takes the time to rebuild herself following the loss of her husband. Whilst I really enjoyed Megan and Xander’s story, it was these friendships that I particularly enjoyed. The way these women had pulled together to create a safe and nurturing environment was wonderful to follow.

I am more than happy to recommend this novel to you all – please don’t be put off by the Christmas theme (particularly given the fact that I am recommending it to you in February!) because it really isn’t a key focus, it’s more of a backdrop to the story. So grab yourself a copy of A Bookshop Christmas, a glass of wine and dive in!

Book Review: Charlotte by Helen Moffett

January 28, 2022 ~ ChapterAndCake ~ Leave a comment

I am very pleased to bring you my review of Charlotte by Helen Moffett.

For fans of Longbourn and The Other Bennet Sister, this beautifully told story of marriage, duty and friendship follows Charlotte’s story from where Pride and Prejudice ends.
Everybody believes that Charlotte Lucas has no prospects. She is unmarried, plain, poor and reaching a dangerous age.
But when she stuns the neighbourhood by accepting the proposal of buffoonish clergyman Mr Collins, her fortunes change. Her best friend Lizzy Bennet is appalled by her decision, yet Charlotte knows this is the only way to provide for her future.
What she doesn’t know is that her married life will propel her into a new world: not only of duty and longed-for children, but secrets, grief, unexpected love and friendship, and a kind of freedom.

I have had this book for a little while, along with Longbourn by Jo Baker. Pride and Prejudice is my favourite book – it’s like a comfort blanket. When I’m struggling to read, or don’t know what book to pick up next, Pride and Prejudice is always the right book to fill that gap. So I love the idea of reading other peoples take on characters from such an important novel to me. But I then get a little scared to actually pick them up and read them. What if those authors ruin the characters? What if their view of Pride and Prejudice is different to mine? So I have put off reading these novels, because I couldn’t face the disappointment. I finally gave myself a talking to though, and picked up Charlotte by Helen Moffett.

Charlotte Lucas plays a relatively minor role in Pride and Prejudice, despite being Lizzy Bennet’s best friend. At 27 years old, the community has written her off as a spinster at a time when marriage was the only thing that could provide security to a young woman of her standing. Her sudden marriage to the incomprehensible Mr Collins causes upset within the Bennet household, and places an immense strain on Charlotte’s relationship with Lizzy. Mr Collins is depicted as a buffoon; very little intelligence with an unhealthy obsession with the upper classes, namely Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Due to this, Lizzy cannot believe that someone of Charlotte’s intelligence would marry him of her own free will.

Charlotte gives us such a clear insight into the life of Charlotte Collins and the decisions she makes, along with the reasons why. Helen Moffett has achieved what I hoped she would – a clear, smooth link to Pride and Prejudice. She understands Jane Austen in a way that I had really hoped for. She depicts Charlotte in exactly the way I imagined her to be – a practical woman looking for security, but hopeful for a peaceful, meaningful life.

I really loved this novel. I loved following Charlotte, and I surprisingly enjoyed learning a little more about Mr Collins, a character with more depth than we could really see or imagine in Pride and Prejudice. Helen Moffett has respected Austen’s work, and provided us with a new story that is completely sympathetic to a novel that I, and many others, love. I am more than happy to recommend this novel to you all. If you love Pride and Prejudice then this is definitely the novel for you.

BLOG TOUR: Heartcross Castle by Christie Barlow

January 19, 2022 ~ ChapterAndCake ~ 2 Comments

It is my pleasure to bring you my review of Heartcross Castle by Christie Barlow as part of her fabulous blog tour!

Love Heart Lane – where friends are there for you no matter what
A second chance…
When her grandfather Marley passes away Grace Power discovers she’s been left the beautiful but crumbling estate of Heartcross Castle. As a single mum of three, Grace has no idea what she’s going to do with it – but who can say no to a roof over their kids’ heads and a chance to get away from past hurts?
And a forever home
Heartcross Castle is full of secrets – especially a lost security deposit box that holds the truth to everything… But when celebrity chef Andrew Glossop sets his eyes on the castle and, to make matters worse, mistakes Grace as the new housekeeper, Grace tells him there is absolutely NO CHANCE he is getting his hands on her home.
Devastated to have got it so wrong, Andrew will do anything to make it up to her – but is she willing to listen?

I am always pleased when Christie Barlow releases another Love Heart Lane story, they are always full of family, friendship and love, and I am pleased to confirm that Heartcross Castle is no exception!

Grace Power is a mother to 3 boys, with a very difficult home life. She has spent years struggling after running away from home, but when she finds out that her Grandfather has passed away and left her Heartcross Castle, she finally sees a way to improve the future for herself and her beloved sons.

Upon arrival, she discovers that the Heartcross Castle she remembered is now unloved and crumbling. With celebrity chef Andrew Glossop living next door and clearly with his eyes on the castle, Grace will need to decide whether to work to retain the legacy of the Grandfather or take the money and secure her future.

Heartcross Castle is one of my favourite novels in the Love Heart Lane series. I loved Grace and her wonderful boys – Christie Barlow really highlights the difficulties of single motherhood, whilst showing how hard mothers work to give their children the best life possible. She really shows what you can achieve with very little money. Andrew Glossop is an equally great character, someone from an incredibly privileged background but with a less than ideal family life, proving that money isn’t always everything.

I am more than happy to recommend this novel, its an excellent addition to what is already a fab series!

Thank you to Christie Barlow 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.

Purchase Links

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Author Bio

Christie Barlow is the number one international bestselling author of fifteen romantic comedies including the iconic Love Heart Lane Series, A Home at Honeysuckle Farm and Kitty’s Countryside Dream. She lives in a ramshackle cottage in a quaint village in the heart of Staffordshire with her four children and two dogs.

Her writing career has come as a lovely surprise when Christie decided to write a book to teach her children a valuable life lesson and show them that they are capable of achieving their dreams. Christie’s dream was to become a writer and the book she wrote to prove a point went on to become a #1 international bestseller in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.

When Christie isn’t writing she co-presents The Book Show on Radio Northwich, enjoys playing the piano, is a keen gardener and loves to paint and upcycle furniture.

Christie is an ambassador for the @ZuriProject alongside Patron of the charity, Emmerdale’s Bhasker Patel. They raise money and awareness for communities in Uganda.

Christie loves to hear from her readers and you can get in touch via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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