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The Widow's Vow by Rachel Brimble #Review #PublicationDay

  Today's historical fiction takes us to Victorian England and Bath. Published by Boldwood  today on December 16th, A Widow's Vow is the first in the Ladies of Carson Street saga series by Rachel Brimble.   From grieving widow... 1851. After her merchant husband saved her from a life of prostitution, Louisa Hill was briefly happy as a housewife in Bristol. But then a constable arrives at her door. Her husband has been found hanged in a Bath hotel room, a note and a key to a property in Bath the only things she has left of him. And now the debt collectors will come calling. To a new life as a madam. Forced to leave everything she knows behind, Louisa finds more painful betrayals waiting for her in the house in Bath. Left with no means of income, Louisa knows she has nothing to turn to but her old way of life. But this time, she'll do it on her own terms – by turning her home into a brothel for upper class gentleman. And she's determined to spare the girls she sa...
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The Ice Cream Parlour by Isabella May #Review


I am happy to be featuring Isabella May on the blog today with her latest novel, The Ice Cream Parlour.  I thoroughly enjoyed Isabella's Costa del Churros , Oh! What a Pavlova, and The Cocktail Bar, so I was interested to see where she would set her next book.

Giovanna Tonioli is a successful stockbroker with a famous sports star boyfriend, but things aren't as sweet as they seem. When life in the city of Bath goes from Vanilla to Rocky Road, she takes herself off to Italy for an 'Eat Pray Love' style tour of all things gelateria. What she doesn't expect to find on her travels is one smooth, hot dollop of temptation that she just can't shake.



How will her spiteful twin sister react when Giovanna returns to open a rival ice cream parlour? Will Natalia get her just desserts? Or will things become even stickier? All's fair in love, war and ice cream. Isn't it?



*Marian Keyes meets Paulo Coelho meets Nigella*



The Ice Cream Parlour is a mouthwatering tale of fate, family, love and jealousy - with a delectable drizzle of alchemy besides.




 My Thoughts
The tensions and rivalry which can exist between twin siblings and family dynamics play a major part in this story. Giovanna turns out to be a creative and brave young woman who takes a risk and decides to follow her instinct and turn her back on her more conventional career. This is a book with a few surprises as it takes a turn which you may not be expecting. Although Giovanna appears to be getting the short straw, in fact, as you discover, there may be more to it than that.

    Full of delicious flavours, coupled with some stunning settings in Italy as well as Bath, you will wish that you could sample some of the unusual ice creams. There are some comedy moments and larger than life characters. I certainly wasn't expecting Giovanna's relationship with her family to turn out the way it did. You are swept along with Giovanna as she travels to sort out her thoughts and learn from the best and you are certainly rooting for her to succeed.

In short:  Light and full of life it is just perfect for a summer's day read.
About the Author



Isabella May lives in (mostly) sunny Andalucia, Spain with her husband, daughter and son, creatively inspired by the sea and the mountains. Having grown up on Glastonbury's ley lines however, she's unable to completely shake off her spiritual inner child, and is a Law of Attraction fanatic.


Cake, cocktail, gelato, and travel obsessed, she also loves nothing more than to (quietly) break life's 'rules'. 

The Ice Cream Parlour is her fourth novel.

You can follow Isabella here: Website| Twitter| Facebook 

 | Instagram | 

Book link: Amazon UK

Thanks to Isabella May and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Check out the rest of the tour! 
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