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.

To order your copy, just click here!

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.

To order your copy now, just click here!