Wednesday 15 June 2022

Guest Review: A Golden Cornish Summer by Phillipa Ashley

Under the golden Cornish sun, buried treasure and family secrets will change Emma’s life forever…

Emma loved her life in the seaside village of Silver Cove. But when the discovery of sunken treasure ignited a feud between her family and that of Luke, her first love, everything fell apart. Heartbroken and betrayed, she fled.

Now, as she wades into the sparkling surf for the first time in fifteen years, she remembers everything she loved about this beautiful place. Then a huge wave knocks her off her feet. Wet and dripping, Emma is rescued by none other than Luke – who is, to her dismay, even more handsome than ever.

As their paths continue to cross, and Emma is reminded of everything she ran away from, she starts to wonder if returning home was a huge mistake.

Or could the real treasure have been waiting here for her all along?



Review: This is the latest book in the Falford Series from Phillipa Ashley, the stories being set in and around the fictional Cornish village of Falford. Being part of a series, the book contains some recurring characters and locations, but it can be read as a standalone. I have already read the other books in the series, and was looking forward to returning to this location and the new characters introduced in this story. From the synopsis, I suspected that I was going to be taken on an adventure, and, as promised, I was hooked from the very start and didn’t want to put it down.


The story involves illustrator Emma, who is returning for the summer to her childhood home of Silver Cove, a small seaside village not far from Falford. She has not been there for fifteen years, her family having left following a bitter dispute with another family over sunken treasure. Unfortunately, the other family included her boyfriend Luke, and the pair parted company on very bad terms indeed; things were said that could not easily be overlooked. Emma has no idea when she returns to stay with her best friend Maxi that Luke has also returned to the village after a career in the navy and lives there in Emma’s former home. She decides to stay nonetheless and even becomes involved with Luke’s beachcomber group, who clean up the beach after the tourists have gone and recycle as much as they can. It is clear that Emma and Luke still have feelings for each other, but can they overcome what happened in the past?


I can thoroughly recommend this heart-warming and romantic story. I enjoyed returning to the setting for the previous books in this series, and being introduced to Silver Cove, a particularly idyllic sounding village right on the sea. What a shame that a family feud had forced Emma to leave. I liked Emma and thought her brave to stay in the area when she discovered that Luke was in residence. Luke is also a very likeable character. He has had an interesting life since the feud caused him and Emma to part, and is now a successful business owner determined to protect the beaches and wildlife in this area. Another interesting character in the story is a former teacher of both Emma and Luke. She obviously didn’t like Emma as a pupil but can’t help admiring what she has become and Emma begins to discover another person under her strict and stubborn exterior. I wasn’t sure whether Emma and Luke were going to end up together in this book. They had a very on and off relationship, enjoying each other’s company one moment and fighting the next. It was definitely worth the wait to find out the answer.


To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

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