Guest Review: Great British Railway Journeys By Charlie Bunce

A glorious insight into the history, landscape and people of Britain, from The Sunday Times bestseller.

The Scottish west coast was one of the most challenging stretches of line to confront railway engineers. Extreme gradients, curves, bogs and scree left them scrambling around for ideas, but the result is one of the most scenic railway journeys in the world. En route Michael Portillo discovers local authors such as Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott, local industries including haggis, tartan and whisky-making and impressive landscapes including Ben Nevis and the magnificent Glenfinnan Viaduct.

Places visited: Ayr, Glasgow, Paisley, Helensburgh, Loch Lomond, Tyndrum, Oban, Fort William, Inverailort and Mallaig.

This individual journey is one of a series taken from the bestselling books Great British Railway Journeys and Great Victorian Railway Journeys that accompany the highly successful BBC Two series. Michael Portillo follows the famous George Bradshaw railway guides in railway journeys across the length and breadth of the country, discovering spectacular scenery and stunning architecture and exploring local history and industry.

Review: Great British Railway Journeys is a BBC television series, presented by the former politician Michael Portillo, that has been airing on television for several seasons. Michael Portillo is filmed undertaking various rail journeys, stopping at locations along the route to view places of interest and to interview people about the role of railways in their industry. The inspiration for the series was the railway timetables and guides written during the 19th century by George Bradshaw and known as Bradshaw’s guides. This was a time when the railway network in Britain was expanding rapidly, and the programme makers wanted to follow Bradshaw’s guide to show how the advent of the railways changed the face of Britain, and to contrast the Victorian era with the present day.

Charlie Bunce was the executive producer of the first two series of the programme, and wrote this book, with a foreword by Michael Portillo, to accompany the series. It describes the nine separate journeys that were featured in these two television series. Each of the journeys, which cover England, Wales and Scotland, has a separate theme covering such topics as the movement of manufactured goods, or the opening up of coastal holiday resorts to city factory workers. Although, compared to the television series, the book seems rather dry, it is accompanied by many historical photographs, which I found to be the most interesting aspect of the book.

This book will appeal to all railway lovers and also, because it is a travelogue with an historical angle, will also appeal to those with an interest in social history.

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

Review: Hello Again by Isabelle Broom

Philippa Taylor (Pepper to her friends) has big dreams. When she closes her eyes, she can picture exactly who she ought to be. The problem is, it's about as far away from her real life in a small coastal town in Suffolk as she can imagine. 

So when her elderly friend Josephine persuades Pepper to accompany her on a trip to Europe, she jumps at the chance to change her routine. And when Pepper bumps (literally) into the handsome Finn in Lisbon, it seems as though she might have finally found what she's been looking for. 

But Pepper knows all too well things are rarely as they seem. Her own quiet life hides a dark secret from the past. And even though she and Finn may have been destined to find each other, Pepper suspects life may have other plans as to how the story should end. 

A romantic and sweeping story about friendship, love and realising that sometimes it's about the journey, not the destination.

Review: I always love Isabelle Broom’s writing and her ability to take me all over the world with her books. 

I adored the travel aspect of this book because we get to go to some more unusual locations. I loved visiting Lisbon, Guernsey and Hamburg in the novel. I loved the sights and the sounds as well as the food and the drink of course. This author has such a way with words you can fall in love with a place and have the urge to visit even if you hadn’t even given it a second thought before. I also love her writing because you can literally taste everything her characters are eating, I just wish I didn’t feel the hangovers as much after the wine!

Pepper is an interesting and complex character. I will admit that I did struggle to connect with her a little over the course of the novel. She has had a certain amount of tragedy in her life and acts accordingly. I do feel like she is a little selfish at times but when we get to know her and her past, especially her family life we can see why. Then we have Josephine who is definitely a positive influence in Pepper. She also has a selfish streak but in a ‘I don’t care what you think of me’ kind of way which is really hard not to love. 

Of course we don’t just have a love story when it comes to travel and location in this novel, we also get to meet Finn who takes a liking to our Pepper. Again though I did struggle to connect with him on the page a little, I was wishing someone better would come along, I guess I just have very different tastes to Pepper and that is just fine.

I loved the travel in this novel, I loved the writing and as always Isabelle Broom has left me with such vivid pictures in front of me thanks to her wonderful description and I can’t wait to see where she is going to take me next. 

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

Review: Are We Nearly There Yet? by Lucy Vine

Alice is turning thirty and is stuck in a rut. Her friends are all coupling up and settling down, while she's still working as a temp, trying (and failing) not to shag her terrible ex, getting thrown out of clubs, and accidentally sexting her boss...

She decides to throw caution to the wind and jets off on a round-the-world adventure to #FindTheFun and find herself. Of course, she's no more likely to find the answer to true happiness on the beach in Thailand than she is at the electric beach in Tooting, but at least in Thailand there's paddleboard yoga.

Can Alice find happiness on her travels? Or is she more likely to lose herself all over again...?

Review: Oh my goodness I could not put this book down, it made me laugh, it made me feel and it quite simply made me keep turning the pages until I had had my fill-I just loved it. 

Alice is such a great character because she is so easy to relate to. We have all been there, wondering where our life is going and trying to do something about it when it just isn't going where we want it to. I loved Alice's decision making process and I loved her view of herself. I think a lot of us would struggle with being brave enough to go off and do the travelling that she did and so it was wonderful to live vicariously through here. She also has some amazing one-liners thanks to the awesome writing of Lucy Vine so you've got that to look forward to as well. 

There are some fab supporting characters in this book as well, all of whom add to some great comedy setup but also counteract some of Alice's personality traits. We get to meet friends in LA first then Alice's brother and his friend in Thailand and let's not forget bestie Eva back home in London. Then there are the men in Alice's life, another part of what makes her so relatable. She switches between thinking she needs to meet someone completely different and thinking that she's best to stick with the kind of guy she had back home. There are also some AMAZING one-liners when it comes to sex in this book none of which I will spoil for you but you are in for some spitting out the coffee with laughter moments there trust me!

When it comes to things like being sex positive and being body positive Alice is pretty open and honest. She hasn't got it quite right but she knows what it ought to look like and so this is a pretty open and honest book which is strongly feminist and definitely girl power and that's one of the things that really kept me turning the pages. I loved the fact that Alice knows what respect should look like even if she doesn't always look for it for herself, or others. Those around her also help with that and so I loved what this book had to say about the way we view women in society and the way they are often treated without explicitly coming out and saying in. 

There are definitely some serious moments in this book and Lucy Vine has achieved the perfect balance of some serious messages within the laugh out loud comedy. I loved this book. I loved the characters and the travel and the fab writing and I highly highly recommend it to you!

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

Guest Review: Eleven Minutes Late by Matthew Engel

Britain gave railways to the world, yet its own network is the dearest (definitely) and the worst (probably) in Western Europe. Trains are deeply embedded in the national psyche and folklore - yet it is considered uncool to care about them.

For Matthew Engel the railway system is the ultimate expression of Britishness. It represents all the nation's ingenuity, incompetence, nostalgia, corruption, humour, capacity for suffering and even sexual repression. To uncover its mysteries, Engel has travelled the system from Penzance to Thurso, exploring its history and talking to people from politicians to platform staff.

Along the way Engel ('half-John Betjeman, half-Victor Meldrew') finds the most charmingly bizarre train in Britain, the most beautiful branch line, the rudest railwayman, and - after a quest lasting decades - an Individual Pot of Strawberry Jam. Eleven Minutes Late is both a polemic and a paean, and it is also very funny.

Review: This book, sub-titled "A Train Journey To The Soul Of Britain", is a description of the author's travels throughout the rail network, interwoven with his personal view of the historical development of Britain's railway system. It is clear that Matthew Engel has a deep love of Britain's railways combined with a sense of frustration at the seemingly haphazard manner in which they developed and successive governments' lack of a long term, strategic view of the future role of railways. However, the book is not full of gloom and I found myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions.

In the first strand of the book, a trip from Penzance, the most south westerly point on the rail network, to Thurso, the most northerly point, is described. This is followed by various trips to other places on the network chosen for their location, scenic beauty or just the quirkiness of the place names. Along the way, there are encounters with a number of individuals who give their opinions on the railways.

Although not claiming to be a formal history, the book's second strand gives a reasonably broad overview of the development of the railways, from the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1830, the burgeoning of numerous railway companies during the subsequent period of railway mania, their nationalisation in 1948, the widespread closures following the publication of the Beeching Report in the 1960s, and their re-privatisation during the 1990s. The various individuals behind some of the notable events, such as George Stephenson, George Hudson (the "Railway King"), Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Richard Beeching and John Major (under whose premiership the railways were privatised in the 1990s) are mentioned.

The book is critical of the long term policies regarding the railways, but perhaps the greatest anger is reserved for the privatisation during the 1990s. As a former civil servant myself whose department underwent a series of changes to government agency and then government owned company before being closed down, there are a number of familiar themes. These were the large sums of money paid to consultants, most of whom had no prior knowledge of the core business, prior to the re-organisation; the belief that pre-existing staff would be unfit to manage the new organisation due to their experience of public sector working; and all driven by what appeared to be political dogma that the private sector was better than the public sector.

Overall, I found the author's descriptions of his journeys charming and, although his personal view of the railways and their development is highly critical, he does provide considerable justification for his complaints.

Click here to order your copy: UK or US

Review: Chasing The Sun by Katy Colins

Georgia Green is on the conveyor belt to happiness.

Live-in boyfriend, perfect career and great friends, it seems like Georgia is only a Tiffany box away from her happily ever after. But when she arrives in Australia for her best friend’s wedding and is faced with the bridezilla from hell, she starts to realise that she might not want the cookie-cutter ending she thought.

What was meant to be a trip full of sunny days at the beach and wedding planning over cocktails, has turned into another problem for her to fix – just like the ones she’d left behind. With hardly any time for her boyfriend, let alone herself, it feels like there is just too much to juggle. It might be time for Georgia to step off the conveyor belt to find the balance in life and see if she really can have it all…

Review: Oh this was the prefect funny, romantic, summer read. I picked this up because I wanted something that would be a little escapist and would make me laugh and that was exactly what I got. I just loved the storyline of this novel. It had everything you could want. A little travel, a little drama, a little relationship trouble, and a lot of growing up. It was all balanced perfectly. There were interesting sub plots and just a lot of fun times. It was fast-paced and so I read it all in one day. It left me feeling warm inside and happy that not everyone has their lives together the way you think they do. 

Now I haven't read Katy Colins's other novels but I got into this one straight away and so I guess you don't have to have read the others in order to pick this one up. I do know that I have been spoiled for the others so let that be a warning to you! I loved getting to know Georgia. She is a character who i can easily identify with, she could be one of my own friendship group. She is great at looking like she has got it under control when really she's knackered and its all a bit much and I am sure there are plenty of us out there who can totally relate to that when it comes to juggling work, family, friendships and relationships. Her own friendships are also very easy to recognise as the friendships I have and issues I have. 

I loved the other characters in the novel as well. All of them are completely plausible and all of them felt very real. I enjoyed learning about who they are and reading their storylines though Georgia. Some of the other characters made for the funniest moments in the novel and I just loved the way they all fitted into the storyline. There were some seriously hilarious moments in this novel but I think I liked the fact that this all could have happened to me. I enjoyed the travel, I enjoyed the adventure and I enjoyed the friendships and relationships that were explored in this novel. This was a great read and definitely something to add to your suitcase or over sized handbag this summer!

To order your copy, just click here!

Review: The Last Piece of My Heart by Paige Toon

When life feels like a puzzle, sometimes it's the small pieces that make up the bigger picture... Join Bridget on a journey to put her world back together.

A successful travel journalist, Bridget has ambitions to turn her quirky relationship blog about the missing pieces of her heart into a book. But after a spate of rejections from publishers, she accepts an alternative proposition.

Nicole Dupré died leaving behind a bestselling novel and an incomplete sequel. Tasked with finishing the book, Bridget is thankful to have her foot in the publishing door, even if it means relocating to Cornwall for the summer and answering to Nicole's grieving husband, Charlie...

Review: I was so excited to read this novel and once I started it I couldn't put it own. I love how Paige Toon has such a knack for sweeping you off to a new place and leaving all your worries behind. This time we are swept off to Cornwall for a little bit and then to Thailand, what more could we ask for? I still really felt so immersed in Paige Toon's writing, even though I wasn't necessarily somewhere exotic, it just must be the gift that she has! 

I loved the fact that this novel features and author, I wonder how much personal experience was put into this? And yet it is also about so much more. It is about learning to love after being hurt, about what constitutes lies and deception and about grief and how people handle that in different ways. And there are so many characters facing all or some of these issues. And yet I never felt at any time like this was an issue driven book. I just loved getting to know Bridget and in turn her getting to know Nicole and Charlie. 

This book definitely has a slightly slower pace than some of this author's previous novels, I think perhaps because so much of it takes place in one setting. I loved the family aspect of it too, both Nicole's family and Bridget's family. There were some mo moments that made me laugh and others that made me cry. Of course I wanted to be eating fish an chips during the first section of the novel and then during the latter part of the novel, I was desperate for Pad Thai!

If you are a fan of Paige Toon then obviously you will love this novel. If you are looking for a summer read that you can loose yourself in and escape from the real world then this definitely needs to be added to your collection. The slightly slower pace didn't stop me finishing this one in one day and I am sure that you will absolutely fly through this one, tissues at hand and be left feeling all warm and fuzzy afterwards!

To order your copy now, click here!

Blog Tour: Q & A with TA Williams, author of Dreaming of Venice

I am very honoured to be part of the Dreaming of Venice Blog Tour today. TA Williams has stopped by the blog before, but today he has been answering my probling questions. Before you scroll down to the interview, here's what the book is all about:

Find love, friendship and prosecco – in the magical city of Venice.

Life is tough for Penny. A dead end job in a London café, a boyfriend in Australia (what could go wrong?) and an art career going nowhere. But then Penny is approached with an extraordinary proposition.

It isn’t going to be easy but, if she can pull it off, she will turn her life around and at long last see the fulfilment of her dream – to visit Venice. And, just maybe, find true happiness with the handsome man of her dreams.

But can dreams come true?

And without further ado, here is the Q & A I promised you! Keep reading down to find out more about the author, links to buy the book and the Goodreads page. 

First question-bit of a cliche-how did you get into writing?

I’ve always written. I’ve still got all 44 handwritten pages of “The Lake Dwellers” (a shameless ripoff of Swallows and Amazons) written at the age of 13. When I was working full time, I used to write in the evenings as relaxation.

Do you write full time & if so, have you always done this?

I do now. I gave up the day job ten years ago (I am very old!) and now concentrate on writing. I usually write three books a year.

Do you have a particular writing style or genre that you prefer?

Writing style? I do like a bit of humour. Even in my “serious” books, like Chasing Shadows, there has to be somebody with a sense of humour. We humans take ourselves far too seriously. As for genre, I’ll write anything. At the moment I’m enjoying myself writing romantic comedies, but I’ve written thrillers, historical novels and romance.

How do you develop your characters as you write, are any of them based on real people?

None really based on real people, although there will always been traits I have observed in friends and acquaintances that slip in. Most all are out of my imagination and they develop pretty much under their own steam as the book evolves.

What was the inspiration behind Dreaming of Venice?

Firstly, I love Venice. I lived in Italy for 8 years and I love the whole country, but Venice is totally unique in the world. I have always wanted to write a book about “La Serenissima” (as the Venetians call it). As for the story, I think it was watching the wonderful TV version of John LeCarré’s The Night Manager that gave me the idea of somebody impersonating somebody else.

What is your writing process-do you map it out first? Write a bit at a time?

Not really. I start with a setting and a main character or two and a rough idea of what’s going to happen and then let it lead me along. I’ve always been terrible at writing synopses in advance. They always change.

How much of you is reflected in your writing?

Seeing as my main characters are usually women, probably not that much. Yes, they all tend to be good at languages (that’s about my only talent) and they all like good food and wine, dogs and Italy.

What kind of research did you do before/during writing your latest book?

My wife and I went to Venice for a few days and stayed in an amazing 5 star hotel – that’s classified as research and it’s tax-deductible, you see ☺. My wife is an art historian, so she was a terrific source of advice on painters and painting.

How much attention do you pay to the reviews that you get?

Love the good ones, hate the bad ones. In fairness, most of my reviews have been pretty good, but for time to time there’s a bad one that makes me stop and think. You can learn a lot from a well-written bad review but, alas, most bad reviews tend to be short and imprecise. The “best” bad review was for a previous book and all it said was, “Meh.”

Are friends and family supportive of your writing?

Bless her, my wife is very supportive. She also reads all my stuff before it goes off to the publishers and she makes some really useful comments - not least as she is a woman and I’m writing from a female point of view. Sometimes we men don’t quite get it right…

How do you feel leading up to your publication day?

Dreaming of Venice will be my eleventh published book, but there is still the same nervousness. I scan the ratings, wait anxiously for the first reviews (thankfully, reviews for Dreaming of Venice are looking very good so far) and know that publication day itself will see me firmly rooted to my chair in front of the computer screen, hard at it with social media.

Which other authors inspire you or are there any you particularly enjoy reading?

To be honest, I don’t really read any romcoms. I enjoy romantic comedy movies like Four Weddings and a Funeral, but don’t know much about other authors’ take on the genre. Most of my reading is thrillers (LeCarré is amazing!) or non fiction. I’m a closet history junkie.

Finally...what are you working on right now?

I’m just finishing the first round of edits for another romcom set in Provence and then I’ll be moving onto something set, I think, in St-Tropez. As I said above, seeing as it’s tax deductible…

Information about the Book

Title: Dreaming of Venice

Author: T. A. Williams

Release Date: 24th April 2017

Genre: Romance

Publisher: Canelo

Format: Ebook

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34597482-dreaming-of-venice

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XN5V1YR

Author Information

My name is Trevor Williams. I write under the androgynous name T A Williams because 65% of books are read by women. In my first book, "Dirty Minds" one of the (female) characters suggests the imbalance is due to the fact that men spend too much time getting drunk and watching football. I couldn't possibly comment. Ask my wife...

My background, before taking up writing full time, was in teaching and I was principal of a big English language school for many years. This involved me in travelling all over the world and my love of foreign parts is easy to find in my books. I speak a few languages and my Italian wife and I still speak Italian together.

I've written all sorts: thrillers, historical novels, short stories and now I'm enjoying myself hugely writing humour and romance. My most recent books are the What happens… series. What happens in Tuscany reached #1 in the Amazon.uk Romantic Comedy chart and What Happens on the Beach, the last in the series, came out in July. Chasing Shadows is still romance, but with the added spice of a liberal helping of medieval history, one of my pet hobbies. I do a lot of cycling and I rode all the way to Santiago de Compostela on a bike a few years back. This provided both the inspiration and the background research for Chasing Shadows.

I’m originally from Exeter, and I’ve lived all over Europe, but now I live in a little village in sleepy Devon, tucked away down here in south west England. I love the place.

Website: http://www.tawilliamsbooks.com/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TAWilliamsbooks

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TrevorWilliamsBooks  

Thanks so much to TA Williams for stopping by today. Don't forget to stop by the other wonderful blogs and see what else this fabulous blog tour has to offer!

Review: Then. Now. Always by Isabelle Broom

I hope you're ready for an adventure. Twenty-eight year old Hannah certainly is. She and her colleagues are in Spain for a month to film a documentary, and it's a dream come true. Not least because Hannah will get to spend long summer days with Theo, her boss (and crush). If only Tom (Hannah's best friend and cameramen) and Claudette (the presenter) would stop getting in the way... Then things become even more complicated when Nancy, Hannah's half-sister arrives. What is she doing here? For once in her life, can't Hannah just have one perfect summer, free of any drama?

Review: Isabelle Broom's books always make her readers want to travel and this book is no exception. This writer clearly has a gift for describing settings so that they jump right off the page. She describes the sound smells and feels of the Spanish coast so that you can literally feel the eat in the air, the sand between your toes and the kick of the Sangria hitting your veins. This is a definite must for any travel junkies on a budget, just like myself because you will be able to sample all that Spain has to offer in wonder descriptive reality without having to fork out for those plane tickets!

Your trip will be courtesy of Hannah and her work colleagues Theo, Tom and Claudette. These characters are written to be just as real as the setting, and whilst I didn't find myself warming to them, I believe that that was a deliberate choice on the part of the writer and so she has clearly done her job. Hannah is really rather self-centred and her tales of her childhood began to wear on me a little after a while, but I loved the storyline that she has about the relationship with her sister, and I really liked the fact that she remained committed to her work despite having many set backs, some of them self-inflicted, whilst she is in Spain. 

As I mentioned, I didn't warm to many of the other characters but that is because they seem to be out to cause our Heroine as much physical and emotional trouble as possible. It was sometimes hard to read Hannah trying to carry on with her job, and her life, whilst everything was against her and this sometimes made the book drag for me but overall it was an enjoyable read. The storyline is based around friendship and possible romance. Of course, being Spain, there is an element of holiday romance in there too, which was great fun. This would make an excellent book to take away with you on holiday, but would equally transport you away from the British summer weather if you're not going away this year. You genuinely will feel like you are living the med trip alongside Hannah and Tom!

To order your copy now, click here!

Guest Review: A Wedding in Italy by Tilly Tennant

This is a review of part 2 in a series so may contain spoilers for part one...

Sun, spaghetti and sparkling prosecco. When it comes to finding love, there’s no place like Rome... 

Kate is living the dream with her gorgeous boyfriend Alessandro in his native city, but the reality is sometimes a little less romantic than she’d hoped. Every day in her new home is a fight against leaking pipes, her cantankerous landlord and her less-than-perfect grasp of the Italian lingo. 

All around her there is talk of weddings, but when a secret from her past is thrust out into the open, Kate must fight to prove to Alessandro’s Mamma – and the rest of his formidable family – that she truly is Italian marriage material. 

With the women in Alessandro’s life on a mission to break them apart, the cracks begin to show and Kate starts to question if Alessandro really is the man of her dreams. Can love and the city of romance conquer all, or is that just a fairy-tale?

Review: This title is Book 2 in the From Italy With Love series, following on from Book 1: Rome is Where the Heart Is. I very much enjoyed the first in the series, and had high hopes for this new book. I certainly wasn't disappointed - the story was every bit as good and another triumph for Tilly Tennant. The storyline had me hooked from page one, and I finished the book in quick time. 

It is always hard not to give any spoilers when dealing with a sequel, but I'll do my best. As in the first part, the story revolves around Kate, who is living the dream in Rome with her policeman boyfriend Alessandro. She is working hard to gain acceptance from his family, and at the same time trying to find some gainful employment. There are also other obstacles to overcome, and she misses her family at home in England, but she seems to remain happy despite all that. 

It was really enjoyable watching as Kate built up a relationship with Alessandro's, at times, disapproving family. However, a close friend of the family is not at all easy to deal with, and is responsible for a sinister turn in the plot. Kate's desire to make a living from her talents as a seamstress is proving a difficult one to fulfil, but I felt a little disappointed in her decision to look elsewhere for employment rather than trying a little harder to get her dressmaking business off the ground. 

As our thoughts turn to holidays at this time of year, I would heartily recommend this book as an addition to the suitcase or e-reader. It is an easy read, evoking lots of mental pictures of sunny Italy, its people and, of course, it's delicious cuisine.

To order your copy now, just click here!

Guest Review: Nice Work (If You Can Get It) by Celia Imrie

The second novel from the well-loved actress and Sunday Times bestselling author of Not Quite Nice, Celia Imrie. 

Somewhere on the French Riviera, tucked between glitzy Monte Carlo and Cannes’ redcarpets, lies the town of Bellevue-Sur-Mer, home to an energetic band of expat retirees who have resolved to show it’s never too late to start afresh, and open a restaurant.

But as the razzmatazz of Cannes film festival penetrates Bellevue-Sur-Mer, its inhabitants become entangled in a complex pattern of love triangles and conflicting business interests, and something starts to feel distinctly oeuf… 

Review: This is the follow up to Celia Imrie’s last novel, Not Quite Nice, which told the story of a group of British ex-pats living in the small coastal village of Bellevue-sur-Mer, just outside Nice on the French Riviera. I really enjoyed Not Quite Nice, and so was delighted to find the audio version of this second book available to me.

In Nice Work (If You Can Get It), we find the same group of people, but after a little time has elapsed. They are looking for something to occupy their time and bring in some income, and hit on the idea of opening a restaurant. Not all of the group decide to join in the scheme though, one of them being drawn back into the glitzy world of acting and film production from whence she came.

What follows is a sometimes hilarious account of the trials and tribulations encountered by all of the protagonists as they try to succeed in their ventures. There are some glorious twists and turns to the story, and I found a surprise around every corner. It certainly kept my attention. I thought there was a great mix of characters. In addition to the ones we had met in Celia’s previous novel, several new people crept in to this tale, from film stars to gangsters. There was also a bit of love interest.

As with Celia’s last book, I really enjoyed this story, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of light reading. It is mostly highly amusing, with interesting characters, although there are some seriously scary parts for some of them. Once again, the descriptions of the village were so vivid that I could imagine myself sitting there on the sea wall watching the boats bobbing in the harbour.