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Winter Magic at Hollybrae Castle by Jaimie Admans #Review

  Winter Magic at Hollybrae Castle by Jaimie Admans was published by Boldwood Books on September 9th. A Scottish castle, a fake marriage… and one very real Christmas romance?   After a window display goes disastrously viral – thanks to a malfunctioning animatronic Santa and an unfortunate encounter with Paddington Bear – Lula Haines finds herself without a job just weeks before Christmas. So she jumps at the chance to decorate Hollybrae Castle in Scotland for the holidays. There’s just one complication: her handsome new boss, Oliver Bracewell, needs a fake wife for the festive season. To secure a promotion that could save his family’s castle, Ollie has been pretending to be a married father-of-two to impress the family-focused firm where he works. Now his bosses are coming to stay at Hollybrae over Christmas… expecting to meet his non-existent wife and children. At first, playing along is easy as Lula is swept up in the magic of turning Hollybrae into the perfect f...
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Last Time We Met by Emily Houghton #Review

 

Today, I am delighted to feature this friends to lovers romance, Last Time We Met. Emily Houghton's  romance will be published in print by Penguin on August 4th. Transworld released the book in digital form on 14th July.  

ONE PROMISE
Aged thirteen, best friends Eleanor and Fin are inseparable. Convinced it will always be this way they make a pact - to go to university together, always live near each other, and if they're both single at 35 they'll get married.

TWO DECADES
Eleanor and Fin haven't spoken in fifteen years. Life has run away from them and they're both far from where they'd dreamt of being all those years ago.

CAN THEY STILL KEEP THEIR WORD?
It takes tragic circumstances for Fin to come back into Eleanor's life, but everything has changed since the last time they met. Is it too late to mend their friendship? Or is there a chance they can keep some of the promises they made? 


 My Thoughts

You meet up with Fin and Eleanor at different points of their lives, spanning from their childhood when they were inseparable, to the present day, when they have lost touch. Told from both Fin and Eleanos' perspectives, you feel as though you are seeing both sides of their story. Fin was important to all of Eleanor's family and seemed like a brother and honorary son to them. The reason for Fin's return to the UK adds a poignancy to the story and you glimpse the lives of several of the residents in his mother's care  home. Grief and loss are set against the warmth and compassion which you see there and you can't help but feel for Fin as he comes to terms with his mother's illnesses.

    There is also a certain sadness attached to the fact that former best friends have lost touch and can't seem to communicate as they used to. You are willing Fin and Eleanor to talk more but as you come to realise, the dynamic between them is complicated and there are some serious issues at the root of their relationship. Eleanor's new best friend, Sal adds some humour to the story and I enjoyed Eleanor's relationship with her sister and mother. This is a story which carries you along and by the end, you do care about how it will end up. 

In short: Friends to lovers

About the Author


Emily Houghton is an ex–digital specialist and full-time creative writer. She originally comes from Essex but now lives in London. A trained yoga and spin teacher, Emily is completely obsessed with dogs and has dreamt of being an author ever since she could hold a pen.

You can follow Emily here:  Twitter

Book links: Amazon UK 

Thanks to Emily Houghton, Penguin Random House and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.

Check out the rest of the tour!

 


 

 

 


 

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