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My (Not-so) Perfect Summer by Phoebe MacLeod #Review

I am thrilled to be taking part in the Publication Day celebrations for My (Not-So ) Perfect Summer by Phoebe MacLeod. It is published today on May 7th by Boldwood Books .   Autumn’s summer is off to a smashing start… sort of. Earlier this year, Autumn’s life looked great: she had a great relationship with her brilliant teenage daughter Chloe and from September she was all set to be Deputy Head at the London school where she works. And with a pay rise on the cards, she was excited for her and her long-term boyfriend Marc to buy their first home. But Autumn’s barely opened the estate agent's website when Marc vanishes with half their savings, leaving her no choice but to move into grandma’s rural home in Kent. And things go from bad to worse when Autumn is involved in an accident during the move, leaving the village’s dashing new baker Jake in plaster cast, and making her a local outcast before she’s even unpacked her bags. Determined to put things right, Autumn offers to

The Things We Need to Say by Rachel Burton **Publication Day Review**

I am delighted to be featuring The Things We Need to Say today on its Publication Day launch. I thoroughly enjoyed Rachel Burton's novel, The Many Colours of Us and you can read my review here.
 

Sometimes the things we never say are the most important.

Fran loves Will with all her heart. They had a whirlwind romance, a perfect marriage and a wonderful life. Until everything changed. Now Fran needs to find her way again and teaching a yoga retreat in Spain offers her just that. Leaving behind a broken marriage she has some very important decisions to make.

Will needs his wife, he needs her to open up to him if they’re to ever return to the ways things once were. But he may have damaged any possibility he had of mending their relationship and now Fran is in Spain and Will is alone.

As both Fran and Will begin to let go of a life that could have been, fate may just find a way of bringing them back together.

 Perfect for fans of Katie Marsh, Amanda Prowse and Sheila O’Flanagan

My Thoughts

In The Things We Need to Say, Rachel Burton returns to the subject of family and explores ideas of parenthood and marriage. It is quite an intensive read, told through two of the characters, mainly Fran but also her husband, Will. Rachel picks apart their relationship until we have got to its bare bones in this affecting and emotional story. I stayed with them all the way through, willing them to just sort a few things out and speak to each other. Of course, it is not that easy.

    Through Fran's yoga class and hotel workers, we are given an interesting bunch of people who are all on the retreat for their own personal reasons. They add a touch of humanity to what is an otherwise emotional read and you see another facet of Fran's character as their yoga teacher and friend. You realise that she is intensely loyal and caring, offering a protective shoulder or a sympathetic ear at times. 

Just as in The Many Colours of Us, Rachel has created a well-paced story with likeable, rounded characters and some deeply felt issues. Recommended.

In short: A marriage in crisis makes for an emotional and affecting read you can't help get involved in.
About the Author



Rachel Burton has been making up stories since she first learned to talk. After many false starts she finally made one up that was worth writing down.

After graduating with a degree in Classics and another in English, she didn't really know what to do when she grew up. She has worked as a waitress, a paralegal and a yoga teacher.

She has spent most of her life between Cambridge and London but now lives in Leeds with her boyfriend and three cats. The main loves of her life are The Beatles and very tall romantic heroes.

Her debut, The Many Colours of Us, was an Amazon Kindle bestseller. Her second novel, The Things We Need to to Say, is released on 11 May 2018. She is currently working on her third novel in which the heroine follows the love of her life to live in a city in northern England. It has no autobiographical elements at all.....maybe.

Find her on Twitter & Instagram as @bookish_yogi or search Facebook for Rachel Burton Author. She is always happy to talk books, writing, music, cats and how the weather in Yorkshire is rubbish. She is mostly dreaming of her next holiday....

Twitter |  Instagram  |  Website   |  Goodreads  

Book links: Amazon UK

Thanks to Rachel Burton, HQ Digital and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the Publication Day event.

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