Publication Date: Out now!!!
Format: Ebook
Price: Ebook £1.89
Publisher: Boldwood Books
I would like to say a huge thank you to my SquadPod ladies (you know who you are) for organising this wonderful little review bash for this warmly romantic book. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Boldwood books for allowing me to read and review a digital copy. I would like to say a huge thank you to the creative talent, Gillian Harvery for creating such a warm-hearted and loving book. Intrigued? Let’s head over to the blurb and find out a bit more.
It was just supposed to be a holiday, but could it become the second chance she didn’t know she needed?
Life isn’t quite going as planned for Katy. With her only daughter living in Australia and a husband who has asked for a break, she is suddenly at a loss.
Her best friends Sam, Vicky and Ivy have always been there for her through thick and thin and they’re not about to leave her all alone now. Whisking her away to glorious France for a last minute retreat is the perfect escape, and just what Katy needs to get her life back under control.
As Katy unwinds in the beautiful French countryside, surrounded by her friends, the pain of her past slowly begins to melt away under the warm summer sun. Will this rest give Katy a new lease on life and help her win back her husband? Or could there be a new love on the horizon where she least expects it?
This book is a lovely, heartwarming and gentle book about finding yourself again and being brave enough to reach out for what you want and what you deserve. This is a love story, but I feel that isn’t the main part of the story. We are pulled in Katy (the main character’s) orbit from the first page and we follow her and her friends antics throughout this novel. For me the main thrust of the story is for Katy to love and find herself again, as her marriage to a somewhat controlling, gaslighting and just plain obnoxious man who feels he’s entitled to ground her down and then leave her but also wanting to know he can come back to her… for me he deserves a slap (I will not mention his name not just because of spoilers but because men like him don’t need their names mentioned or any attention really). I loved Katy’s friends and how each tried to rally her and let her know that she can be a much stronger and better woman than she ever was with him.
I loved also the setting and the idea of an artistic retreat. And yes there’s the romance between her and her new man (sexy French man ofc 😉) but I feel that she’s the one that realises that to feel free and happy is to love oneself and find herself more than falling in love. This is one book that really made me think of my mum, (don’t worry dad is not like the main awful man… thank god) but how she felt about herself and how we as her family members only saw her… I realise mum is so much more than just being there for me or my sister or cook/partner to my dad but someone with secrets and hidden desires and yes unrealised dreams… I felt closer to my mum reading this one and it is a special book.
Ratings: 4 🌟s with a a large ☕️ and a large 🍰
Author’s Blurb:
Gillian Harvey is a freelance journalist and the author of two well-reviewed women’s fiction novels published by Orion. She has lived in Limousin France for the past twelve years, from where she derives the inspiration and settings for her books. Her first title for Boldwood A Year at the French Farmhouse will be published in September 2022.
I hope you have enjoyed this lovely and heartwarming tale and if you are intrigued by this little review, you can find a copy in Waterstones, and of course on Amazon. I will leave you now to say Happy Reading and see you soon!!!
Zoe's Book Nook 