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The Battle of the Bookshops by Poppy Alexander #Review

  The Battle of the Bookshops by Poppy Alexander was published by Avon Books on September 25th.  A charming literary-themed novel about a young woman determined to save her great-aunt’s beloved bookshop from extinction by the shiny new competition—which also happens to be run by the handsome son of her family’s rivals. The cute, seaside town of Portneath has been the home of Capelthorne’s Books for nearly a hundred years… The shop, in the heart of a high street that stretches crookedly down the hill from the castle to the sea, may be a tad run-down these days, but to Jules Capelthorne, the wonky, dusty world of literary treasures is full of precious childhood memories. When her great-aunt Florence gets too frail to run it alone, Jules ditches her junior publishing job in London and comes home to make the bookshop’s hundredth birthday a celebration to remember. Jules quickly discovers things are worse than she ever imagined: The bookshop is close to bankruptcy, ...
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The Island in Bramble Bay by Victoria Walker #Review #PublicationDay

 

Do you fancy some summer sunshine? Victoria Walker's latest novel, The Island in Bramble Bay is published today, April 23rd by Ever After Books. 


Welcome to Bramble Island! Find breezy, sunshine-filled days, shaded woodlands, glittering sea and a summer of love…

Maggie Cassidy is the new park manager of Bramble Island in Dorset. A job on an island where she is the only year-round inhabitant is the perfect fresh start for her. But when she’s torn between the job she came to do and the island she has grown to love, can she hang on to her perfect new life without compromising her dreams?

Charlie Mackenzie is the forester on Bramble Island. He is a loner full of secrets, burnt out by the life he left behind in San Francisco. When his past catches up with him can he finally face what he has spent three years running from without jeopardising everything that healed him?

Bramble Island lulls them both into an idyllic existence but when the outside world bangs on their door, is history about to repeat itself for both of them?

 My Thoughts

The setting on Bramble Bay is gorgeous and completely in synch with the story. Bramble Bay is almost like a character within the story. It is the magnet which brings Maggie there and where Charlie has found a measure of healing. The trees and Nature are a healing influence. This is an entertaining story with some likeable characters and a variety of secondary characters who could you could imagine being at the centre of their own stories.

    Maggie emerges as an unselfish and generous character. There is a strong thread of romance throughout the story which gives it an escapist feel. You soon realise that there is more to Charlie than his work as a forester. Ultimately, you see that the sides of his character have to make peace with each other as he has to decide what is really important to him. 

In short: lovely characters and a big dollop of romance

About the Author


Victoria Walker has been writing romantic fiction since a visit to Iceland in 2014 inspired her first novel. As well as writing, she spends her free time dressmaking, knitting and reading an inordinate amount of contemporary romance, occasionally punctuated by the odd psychological thriller and saga.

In the past she has worked as a cinema projectionist, a knitting and sewing tutor and has owned a yarn store, all things which will no doubt appear in her books if they haven't already.

Victoria lives in the Malvern Hills with her husband and two teenage children.

 

You can follow Victoria here: Twitter  |  Instagram 

Book links:  Amazon UK  |   Amazon US  

Thanks to Victoria Walker, Ever After Books and Rachel of Rachels Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the event.

 



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