Bedlam amd Breakfast at a Devon Seaside Guest House by Sharley Scott #Review

I am happy to feature Sharley Scott's latest novel, Bedlam and Breakfast at a Devon Seaside Guesthouse. 

 

Katie is desperate to leave her stressful job, so she doesn’t think too hard about moving to Devon to run a B&B, even if it means uprooting her family. She is certain that she and Jason have a strong and loving relationship which can weather any storm.

Hooked by the beauty of Torringham with its quaint harbour and stunning coastline, they purchase Flotsam Guesthouse which needs more than a lick of paint to keep it afloat. Soon, Katie finds that renovating and running a guesthouse is taking its toll, especially when dealing with challenging guests and madcap neighbours, Shona and Kim. Katie comes to learn that trouble is afoot whenever Shona begs a favour.

However, when her adored daughter moves back to their old hometown, she wonders if they’ve made a huge mistake, especially when cracks begin to show in her marriage.

Her seaside idyll is crumbling along with her relationship. Should she let Flotsam Guesthouse founder while she salvages her marriage? Katie needs to decide where her priorities lie. The only issue is, she doesn’t know.

My Thoughts

There is lashings of humour in this book which has such scope for it given the number of guests who come through the guesthouse doors. There seems to be a ring of truth about some which is hardly surprising given the author is in fact a guesthouse owner. I am sure there are plenty more stories up her sleeve.

    The story travels at a good pace and you are genuinely interested to find out how Katie and Jason's enterprise pans out. The B & B community is portrayed as a supportive, fair-minded  but completely overworked lot and there are some larger than life characters among them.  The seaside setting makes you wish it were summer and indeed this would be a great holiday read. 

In short: Travel to Devon for escapades galore.

 

About the Author

While 'Bedlam & Breakfast at a Devon Seaside Guesthouse' is fictional, I am a guesthouse owner. Thankfully, we have been blessed with lots of amazing and kind-hearted guests, who are nothing like some of the characters featured in this novel and the subsequent books in the series. I would be a lot greyer if they were.

Likewise, Jason is quite different to my husband, who I sometimes nickname Victor Meldrew. He is lovely though and has a fab sense of humour, although some of his dryness has rubbed off on Jason.

Bedlam & Breakfast is set in South Devon, in the fictional town of Torringham, which is loosely based on Brixham. If you've been to Brixham you may recognise some of the local features, including the seals, fishing industry and the fantastic lifeboat crew, but the businesses, people and a number of settings are fictionalised.

The same applies to the B&B owners featured. Many guesthouse owners undertake work when they move into a property and our current B&B was not an exception. While, thankfully, our previous owners were nothing like Jim and Maureen, this also means we don’t get to live next door to the fabulous Shona and Kim. But we do have many lovely B&B friends. B&Bers are a wonderful and hardworking bunch, although the ones we know have a perchant for parties in the low season. That's why I had to end Bedlam & Breakfast at a party.

You can follow Sharley here: Facebook   |  Twitter

Book link: Amazon UK 

Thanks to Sharley and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour. 

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