Guest Review: The Villa of Secrets by Emma Burstall

Can a stay at a magical villa help her find her way to start again?

When Cleo arrives at Villa Ariadne on the sun-drenched island of Crete, she’s hoping for space to breathe – and perhaps some clarity about the life she no longer recognises. Newly divorced and estranged from one of her children, she’s not sure what comes next.

Sharing the villa with a small group of women, each carrying their own private heartaches, Cleo is drawn into the gentle rhythm of island life. Beneath the lemon trees and endless blue skies, friendships begin to form and long-buried hopes stir.

But when an unexpected event shakes their peaceful escape, the women are forced to come together in ways none of them anticipated. And as Villa Ariadne works its quiet magic once more, Cleo may discover that even in uncertainty, second chances are still possible.

Review: Like the last book I read from this author (Beside the Turquoise Sea), this one features the Villa Ariadne, a large, luxurious and somewhat magical villa on Crete. As well as being reacquainted with the villa itself, it was nice to catch up with some of the local people from the seaside village near to it.

In this story, Katerina, the elderly lady who owns the Villa Ariadne, has been persuaded to rent it out for use as a wellness retreat. It goes on to follow the fortunes of the first group of women who have arrived to spend a week at the retreat. Taking centre stage is Cleo Frobisher, who, like others in the group, has been having a tough time lately. She is recently divorced, and her daughter has suddenly been avoiding contact with her. The other women also have their tales of woe which emerge gradually. As the week progresses, friendships form within the group and everyone relaxes aided by the peaceful atmosphere, sunshine and good food. However, the peace is suddenly shattered by an unforeseen event, forcing the women into difficult situations and they find themselves doing things they never imagined they could.

This was a very enjoyable and compelling story with a twist in the middle. Like the characters who arrived at the Villa Ariadne, I relaxed in the peaceful atmosphere of the picturesque Greek island so vividly described by the author and could imagine the taste of the mouthwatering dishes being served up. I really liked the way in which the friendships among the women and also with some of the locals developed gently. At the same time, stories of their lives were revealed. When their calm visit became a bit of an adventure, everyone learned more about themselves than they expected when they set off from home. Definitely a book I would recommend for anyone looking for a bit of escapism.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Nationalities in the Title

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This is a fun one because I feel like there are more of them than we realise...I hve extended to all place names but taken it a bit further back to include some of my favourites!

Bonus title that has not yet been released...

Guest Review: A History of the World in 47 Borders: The Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps By Jonn Elledge

People have been drawing lines on maps for as long as there have been maps to draw on. Sometimes rooted in physical geography, sometimes entirely arbitrary, these lines might often have looked very different if a war or treaty or the decisions of a handful of tired Europeans had gone a different way. By telling the stories of these borders, we can learn a lot about how political identities are shaped, why the world looks the way it does - and about the scale of human folly.

From the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilisation, to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, to the reason why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a fascinating, witty and surprising look at the history of the world told through its borders.

Review: This is a popular history book by the journalist Jonn Elledge in which he provides short accounts of some of the more unusual facts behind the borders of continents, countries, cities and seas. It comprises, as the title suggests, 47 chapters each discussing a particular border, but with a bonus 48th chapter regarding Poland and its chequered history and shifting borders. The book is divided into three sections: the first on historical borders; the second on the legacies resulting from the drawing of borders; and the third on less physically defined borders such as maritime borders and the International Date Line.

I found the book to be very readable with short chapters and humorous comments scattered throughout. One criticism I would make however is that, although many of the chapters are illustrated with maps, there are no maps in approximately half of the chapters. For a book discussing lines drawn on maps, more illustrations would be an improvement. However, overall I found the book to be an interesting introduction to the subject that should appeal to all map addicts.

To order your copy now, just click here!

Guest Review: Blue Skies Ahead by Jessica Redland

 Leaving behind everything she thought she knew, Grace arrives at Hazelwick Farm with her teenage daughter, Maddie, and her mother, Frances, ready to build a new life together.

Grace has dreamt of fresh air, open skies and days filled with taking care of the animals while building a family business together. But starting over isn’t as simple as she hoped.

Maddie has barely spoken to her since the divorce from her father and Grace doesn’t know how to fix what she doesn’t fully understand. Between strained silences at home, and the demands of getting the farm ready to open for business, Grace begins to wonder if she’s made a mistake.

Yet life at Hazelwick Farm has its surprises. Grace keeps crossing paths with handsome tenant, Caleb, whether she means to or not. Could this unexpected connection be the start of something she never saw coming?

Review: This is the first book in a new series from Jessica Redland, one of my favourite authors known for many other excellent collections. Her books tend to feature locations in the north of England, this one being no exception.

The story focuses on the fortunes of equine-assisted therapist Grace and her family. Grace is having a difficult time, as her husband of 27 years has ended their marriage without explanation, meaning that the family house in Berkshire must be sold, she has been given notice at work and her teenage daughter, Maddie, is acting quite out of character, making Grace very upset. When Grace takes Maddie to visit her mother, Frances, in Northumberland for a break, they come by chance upon a property for sale that looks ideal for them all. Hazelwick Farm is now a visitor attraction with horses and goats as well as a small cafe and a couple of letting cottages. Grace can see that she would be able to run her business there, while Frances with her baking skills could manage the cafe and all three women could live comfortably in the farmhouse. However, it is not as attractive a proposition as Grace imagined when she discovers that the actual property and the business have not been properly managed. However, with hard work and encouragement from her close friend and Caleb, the tenant of one of the cottages on the farm, she goes ahead with readying Hazelwick Farm Animal Encounters for opening to the public. Can she reverse her fortunes and enjoy life once again?

I really enjoyed this book, which makes a wonderful start to this new series. It is certainly a book for animal lovers, with all the horses, goats, cows and even guinea pigs cropping up throughout. I can see that the author must have done a lot of research, given all the facts that I learned as the story progressed. As well as the stunning countryside scenery described in the book, I loved the characters, even Maddie at her teenage worst. Grace was an amazing character, with such bravery and determination to succeed. She was also lucky to have the backing of her mother and best friend, and, eventually, the handsome Caleb. I am already looking forward to the next book in this series and wondering which direction that will take.

To order your copy now, just click here!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Ok so I'm a couple of weeks behind with this one but I thought it was really cool so I wanted to do it!

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018 

2017

2016

Guest Review: The Hotel by the Sea by Julie Caplin

Rebecca needs to escape. After making a complete fool of herself watching the man she's secretly loved for years run off with someone else―she jumps at a temporary job at the family-run Quinta do Mar hotel. Sun, sea, and a fresh start sound perfect.

What she doesn't expect is Felipe Rebelo.

Charming, infuriatingly confident, and always ready with a flirty quip, Felipe seems to have life sorted. But beneath his carefree exterior lies a man carrying the weight of his entire family. The last thing he needs is another responsibility. Especially one who challenges him at every turn, makes him laugh, and is dangerously easy to fall for…

Review: This is part of the Romantic Escapes series of romantic comedies from this author. The stories in this series are set in a variety of countries and settings, this time in Portugal. Since I have read all the books in this series, I was confident when I sat down to read that I was going to be taken on a journey to a fabulous destination and meet some entertaining characters. I wasn’t wrong….

This story centres on Rebecca, who has run as far as she could and taken a job in the family-run Quinta do Mar hotel in the Algarve, having made a fool of herself over a man who took her for granted for years. She has only just arrived at the hotel when she meets Felipe, handsome and charming and full of himself. Rebecca enjoys flirting with someone she assumes is a lazy individual content to be looked after by the female members of the family. However, she eventually discovers that he is the head of the family, and the person working hard to keep the business afloat and the family safe. Even though Felipe knows that he has more than enough on his plate, he is seriously drawn to Rebecca. Equally, although she is still thinking about the man she left behind, she is finding herself falling for Felipe as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this light-hearted and easy to read romance. It was uplifting to watch as fiery and independent Rebecca and confident Felipe, at first fiercely competitive, gradually came to understand each other and themselves. I was cheering them on to find a way to be together. I very much enjoyed being taken on a tour of the area and Lisbon in particular, as well as reading about the local dishes and wines Rebecca was introduced to. The glimpses into family life at the hotel were highly entertaining, particularly scenes involving Felipe’s young cousins who he obviously adored. I thought this book was a great addition to the Romantic Escapes series and think it would make a lovely summer read.

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Guest Review: Victory ‘45: The End Of The War In Eight Surrenders By James Holland and Al Murray

From the Italian Alps to northern Germany, to London, New York, Washington and Tokyo, Victory ’45 tells the story of the extraordinary summer when the greatest conflagration the world had ever known finally came to an end after eight surrenders that heralded the Allied victory.

Comprised of eight chapters based around each of those surrenders and the victory celebrations which followed, it will be rich in character and human drama with revealing stories and perspectives behind the end of the war not yet told before. Each chapter will follow the viewpoints of a number of key characters as they traverse these world-changing events – from ordinary servicemen and women and civilians to generals and political leaders.

What took place during the negotiations of those surrenders and the terms that were agreed there would determine the directions the participating countries would take in the years that followed and ultimately the shape of our current world.

Review: How do you end a World War that has raged for almost six years across different continents and oceans? This is the question that the joint authors James Holland and Al Murray have set out to address in this book. Each having written individually historical accounts relating to the Second World War, and having collaborated on a podcast series “We Have Ways of Making You Talk”, this is their first collaborative book, published in 2025 to coincide with the eightieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

With Allied forces fighting in Northern Italy, closing in from the east and west on Germany’s capital Berlin, and fighting in Asia and the Pacific, the end of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan appeared imminent by the beginning of 1945. However, there had to be a series of negotiations to end hostilities on the various fronts and the Allies had agreed previously that nothing less than unconditional surrender would be acceptable. This book describes the processes and the personalities involved in these surrender agreements, starting with the surrenders of Nazi forces in Italy, Germany and Austria and ending with the surrenders of Japanese forces in Japan’s capital Tokyo and the Philippines. As well as the main protagonists, the book also provides accounts of some of the ordinary soldiers and civilians caught up in the events. One such intriguing account concerns a female interpreter in the Soviet Union’s Red Army tasked with examining captured documents and interrogating prisoners. However, she was also involved in locating and identifying the body of the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler following the latter’s suicide.

I found the book an interesting and highly readable account of events that have, in the main, received little attention. I should add a warning that there are details concerning the liberation of concentration and prison camps that are quite graphic. With photographs, a timeline detailing the sequence of events and a detailed bibliography, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the Second World War.

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