Review: The Summer of Serendipity by Ali McNamara

The magical new summer novel by the author of Little Flower Shop by the Sea
One summer, property seeker, Serendipity Parker finds herself on the beautiful west coast of Ireland, hunting for a home for a wealthy Irish client. But when she finds the perfect house in the small town of Ballykiltara, there’s a problem; nobody seems to know who owns it.
‘The Welcome House’ is a local legend. Its front door is always open for those in need of shelter, and there’s always a plentiful supply of food in the cupboards for the hungry or poor.
While Ren desperately tries to find the owner to see if she can negotiate a sale, she begins to delve deeper into the history and legends that surround the old house and the town. But for a woman who has always been focussed on her work, she’s remarkably distracted by Finn, the attractive manager of the local hotel.
But will she ever discover the real truth behind the mysterious ‘Welcome House’? Or will the house cast its magical spell over Ren and help her to find true happiness?

My Review
I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful story and found I couldn't put it down at times. I do love a charming tale set in the British Isles, and Summer of Serendipity is set in the Emerald Isle itself (that's Ireland in case you didn't know!) which is somewhere I've always longed to visit. Ali McNamara literally made me feel like I'd been transported to a wonderful part of that country – leaving me even more desperate to holiday there myself.

I honestly don't think there was anything about this story that I didn't like. The characters were such fun, believable and I just wanted to be friends with them all. As soon as I discovered the main character's name was Serendipity, I had a feeling I would fall in love with this tale and that's exactly what I did! Not only that but the cover is an absolute delight too – it matches the story perfectly.

All in all, a wonderfully written tale. I shall look forward to reading more by this author.

Ali McNamara attributes her over-active and very vivid imagination to one thing – being an only child. Time spent dreaming up adventures when she was young has left her with a head bursting with stories waiting to be told.
When stories she wrote for fun on Ronan Keating’s website became so popular they were sold as a fundraising project for his cancer awareness charity, Ali realised that not only was writing something she enjoyed doing, but something others enjoyed reading too.
www.alimcnamara.co.uk | @AliMcNamara

Review: Summer's Lease by Carrie Elks

Summer’s Lease by Carrie Elks
Published 13th July
If music be the food of love, books are certainly the appetizers . . .
Cesca Shakespeare has hit rock bottom. Six years after the play she wrote bombed at the box office, she’s unable to hold down a job, keep an apartment, and worst of all her family have no idea how far she’s fallen. So when her fairy Godfather offers her the use of his friend’s Italian villa for the summer, she grudgingly agrees to try writing a new play. That’s before she finds out the house belongs to her arch-nemesis, Sam Carlton.
When Hollywood heart-throb Sam Carlton sees his name splashed across a gossip rag, all he wants to do is hide. That’s how he finds himself traveling to Italy, deciding to spend the summer in his family’s empty villa on Lake Como. Except when he arrives it isn’t as empty as he’d hoped.
Over the course of the hot Italian summer, Cesca and Sam have to come to terms with their pasts. What begins as a tentative friendship quickly grows into an intense attraction – and then a scorching fling. But they can’t hide from reality forever . . . as their different worlds collide, Sam and Cesca face a choice: is this just a summer romance, or could their love weather even the coldest winds?

My Review

I was utterly captivated by this lovely story from Carrie Elks. It was exactly the kind of book that's perfect to read whilst lying on the beach during the summer holidays. 

Cesca was an unusual character with an unusual name. Although she clearly had talent, she was wasting away going through terrible job after terrible job until fate steps in for her and she ends up working in Italy for the summer. I must say, I thought the premise of the story was an utter delight. Sam's character was so different from what we expect of him in the beginning. Because of the way Cesca was treated in the early days, we expect him to be full of himself but he's not... as he proves throughout the book.

All in all, a really wonderful tale, beautifully written too. Highly recommended!

About the author

Carrie Elks lives near London, England and writes contemporary romance with a dash of intrigue. She loves to travel and meet new people, and has lived in the USA and Switzerland as well as the UK. An avid social networker, she tries to limit her Facebook and Twitter time to stolen moments between writing chapters. When she isn’t reading or writing, she can usually be found baking, drinking wine or working out how to combine the two.