The Forever House by Veronica Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hunter's Moon is the ultimate 'forever' house. Nestled by a river in the Peasebrook valley, it has been the Willoughbys' home for over fifty years, and now estate agent Belinda Baxter is determined to find the perfect family to live there. But the sale of the house unlocks decades of family secrets - and brings Belinda face to face with her own troubled past. .
I have read a few books by Veronica Henry and I have enjoyed all of them, when I discovered she had released a new novel 'The Forever House' I couldn't wait to get stuck into it. I had a real personal connection with this book, as I am currently in the process of buying my own forever house.
Belinda is an estate agent and she has high value houses on her books, when she hears about a potential dream home coming onto the market she wants to make sure it is her that can secure it for their books. They decide to have an 'open house' and then put forward the highest offer to try and keep the house out of the public eye for too long and to not have too much disruption.
The book jumps between the 1960's where we find out how Sally and Alexander met, who owned the house and the present day. As we go through the book, you discover that there are many secrets that have come out of Hunters Moon.
I loved the setting of this book and the characters had a lot of depth to them. I really enjoyed this, for me it was a lovely spring book set in the countryside.
I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.
The Apple Orchard by Veronica Henry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
In the charming town of Peasebrook, there's a place for everyone. War vet Joe has made new friends and a new home for himself here, overlooking a beautiful apple orchard. But when tragedy strikes and Joe is left out in the cold, it will bring them all together in entirely unexpected ways . . .
The Apple Orchard is a truly feel-good short story about friendship and kindness. It's the perfect introduction to Veronica Henry and includes an extract of her upcoming novel The Forever House.
When I downloaded this I am not sure what I was expecting, although reading other Henry novels I thought it would be chick lity and a lovely read. Don't get me wrong this was a lovely read, just not what I was expecting.
This is a very short story, most of it is a sample of her new book which I believe follows on from this. I found this story very moving and it did bring me to tears, I did enjoy the story more than I thought I would, however I think it was almost too short and that the characters were wasted. I would like to have learnt more about Joe and perhaps read about more of his previous life and how he ended up living where he was, perhaps the relationships he had in more detail.
Although these were addressed I would have liked that to have been a full length novel as I really felt connected to him and Digby.
This is a nice short story and worth a read if it is free. I would suggest this is too short to justify purchasing it, however this may encourage you to pre order/buy Henry's new novel. Overall I would give this 3.5*
How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Everyone has a story . . . but will they get the happy ending they deserve?
Emilia has just returned to her idyllic Cotswold hometown to rescue the family business. Nightingale Books is a dream come true for book-lovers, but the best stories aren't just within the pages of the books she sells - Emilia's customers have their own tales to tell.
There's the lady of the manor who is hiding a secret close to her heart; the single dad looking for books to share with his son but who isn't quite what he seems; and the desperately shy chef trying to find the courage to talk to her crush . . .
And as for Emilia's story, can she keep the promise she made to her father and save Nightingale Books?
An easy uncomplicated read, perfect for holiday or a winter read by the fire side.
Nestling in the town of Peasbrook in the countryside of the Cotswold's is Nightingale Bookshop and oldie worldie establishment which seems to have been caught up in time. From the minute the reader crosses the threashold it seems as if they are transported into a haven of charm and and endless possibilities. We start the book in a way at the end at least the end of a chapter of its' life when the owner has died and his daughter has inherited her 'home' in the bookshop. Julias having no other surviving family relative leaves his daughter the bookshop that she had grown up in and she travels back to the Cotswolds to take ownership. She is fiercely determined that she will keep it running which she knows would have been her fathers' intention but finds that its not as easy as she might have thought. With mountain debts and unpaid bills (her father really didn't have a business brain and so long as he could pay the staff and have a modest living he was happy to muddle along) Emilia is left with the heavy responsibility of paying off the debts if she is to keep the shop running.
The residents of Peasbrook and lots of regular customers to the shop have looked on Nightingale Books as a kind of therapy place, somewhere they could meet with Julias and tell their troubles to and Julias in turn would listen, provide countless cups of tea and was never short on good advice. The residents therefore were very fond of him and some miss him much more than others. They all want the book shop to remain open as much for his memory as for a place they can go to escape, in the pages of a book, from all their problems and troubles. As the story unfolds the lives of some of the residents seem to intertwine to bring this story to life.
You can really 'feel' the place, and picture as you are reading what it looks like, an enchanting place, safe, comforting and always there. I found the descriptive passages lovely and an extension to what I already imagined the shop looked like. I liked Emilia and all the characters in the book and although the story held no surprises for me it was well written, entertaining and believable.
Lovely indulgent read and worth investing the time - I would give this 4 stars, it would have got a 5 star rating but it was so predictable and there were no surprises or twists which would have made it just perfect. However still a 'feel good' factor book that gives a nice cosy glow when you're finished.
I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.
The Beach Hut Next Door by Veronica Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Summer appeared from nowhere that year in Everdene . . . and for those lucky enough to own one of the beach huts, this was the summer of their dreams.
For Elodie, returning to Everdene means re-awakening the memories of one summer fifty years ago. A summer when everything changed.
Vince and his brother are struggling to come to terms with the death of their father - but they have very different ways of coping.
And for Jenna, determined to put the past behind her, the opportunity to become 'the ice cream girl' once again might just turn her life around.
But this summer is not all sunshine and surf - as secrets unfold, and some lives are changed for ever..
When I received The Beach Hut Next Door I couldn’t wait to read it, from reading the blurb and looking at the cover I knew I was going to be in for a summery read. This is the second book that features Everdene; however you do not have to have read the previous book ‘The Beach Hut’ in order to enjoy this one. After reading this one though you may find yourself wanting to read ‘The Beach Hut’ to find out where it all began!
The story is based around The Beach Huts of Everdene, this summer the owners are back and we follow the lives of some of them. I really enjoyed this book; however there are many characters in the story and at times I was forgetting who was who and having to go back through the story to find out what that character had previously did. This was a shame as the writing was wonderful; it flowed well and was smooth. I just felt that there were too many characters in the story and some of them seemed unnecessary.
Jane, is an ice cream girl, she wants to invest in her future and decided that buying a traditional van would be the way to go, we follow her as she tries to secure a loan for it and I was hoping to find out more about her and follow her story a bit; we however leave her to move onto another character. Although we do return to visit her, I felt that the level of information was lacking after the initial introduction to her. You may remember her if you have read Henry’s short story ‘A Sea Change’, it was nice to have a familiar character return.
My favourite character in the book has to be Elodie, she grew up in Everdene, living in Grey House she has spent many years away due to a secret that was exposed to her about her family. After many years she feels the time has come to return. Through the book we realise what had happened in Elodie’s life and how it has become since she left Everdene. I really enjoyed reading about Elodie, she was by far my faviourte character, I felt that I grew up along with her as I read the book.
Another of my favourite characters were Rachel and Tim. They have recently separated but although they have shared everything they had while they were together, neither one of them can come to terms with selling their beach hut. So they decide they want to keep it between them and sharing it for half the year each.
Although the book is wrapped up in the theme of Everdene and the beach huts, the stories are very separate and almost read as short stories which was nice. There were many other characters in the book though and I didn’t think these were needed, I would have been quite happy to have read more about my three favourite characters!
Overall I really enjoyed this book and the reason I haven’t given it 5* is just down to the amount of characters in the book. I thought the writing was wonderful, smooth and engaging, I am looking forward to reading other books by Henry.
I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.
