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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...

Spin the Bottle by Isabella May #Review

 

I am delighted to be featuring Isabella May on the blog today with her latest novel, Spin the Bottle.  I thoroughly enjoyed Isabella's Costa del Churros , Oh! What a Pavlova, The Cocktail Bar,  The Ice Cream Parlour Bubblegum and Blazers, The Custard Tart Cafe by the Sea.The Wedding Cake; The Cake Fairies

 
CELESTE thought she had long forgotten the sweet, citrusy kiss she shared with TRAVIS during a game of spin the bottle. Splitting her time between her accounts office in super Instagrammable Notting Hill, and her tiny apartment in quirky Exmouth Market, modern-day life is simply too busy for men. Besides, whenever she tries to find The One, it always ends in disaster. From Tinder tragedies to trampolining tribulations, Celeste is starting to think that she's cursed.

But then Travis begins to pop up wherever she goes, and Celeste knows with stomach-sinking clarity that fate has finally caught up with them. Inspired by the idea of fake dating, Celeste is convinced the only way out of this mess is to call the curse's bluff. But will Travis agree to it? And how can she manage not to fall in love?

Pour yourself a lemonade and escape with this gorgeous will-they-won't-they rom-com set between London and Gibraltar!


 My Thoughts

This is a fun read which really got into its stride after the fake dates began. In a bid to break the spell which links them from childhood, Celeste and Travis agree to meet every week for 6 weeks. The meetings rarely go to plan and there is a great seam of humour within them. You also glimpse a bit more about their characters with each one. I think my favourite was their visit to the cat cafe where Travis seemed to be irresistible to the moggies. 

    Set in both London and Gibraltar, I enjoyed both settings. Anyone who has read The Cake Fairies will recognise some familiar characters and the foodie aspects add to the enjoyment. You can read this as a standalone, but should be aware that Bubblegum and Blazers is referred to quite a lot and is part of Celeste’s past. For an entertaining Summer read. Isabella May has done it again. 

In short: Will they, won’t they?


About the Author

Isabella May lives in (mostly) sunny Andalusia, Spain with her husband, daughter and son, creatively inspired by the mountains and the sea. She grew up in Somerset on Glastonbury's ley lines and loves to feature her quirky English hometown in her stories.

After a degree in Modern Languages and European Studies at UWE, Bristol (and a year working abroad in Bordeaux and Stuttgart), Isabella bagged an extremely jammy and fascinating job in children's publishing... selling foreign rights for novelty, board, pop-up and non-fiction books all over the world; in every language from Icelandic to Korean, Bahasa Indonesian to Papiamento!

All of which has fuelled her curiosity and love of international food and travel - both feature extensively in her romcoms.

Isabella is also a Level 4 Pranic Healer and a stillbirth mum.

 

You can follow Isabella here: Website| Twitter| Facebook 
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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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