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Floating Solo by Shelley Wilson #Review

  Fancy taking a leisurely boat ride along a beautiful Warwickshire canal? Floating Solo by Shelley Wilson was published by Hillfield Publishing on November 5th. Are you single? Have you lost your confidence when it comes to travelling? Would you welcome a few weeks away to find that missing spark? Climb aboard the Creaky Cauldron for an adventure like no other! Budding entrepreneur Kat Sinclair wants to grow her quirky solo narrowboat holiday enterprise but faces rejection at every turn. Until a Hollywood film crew gets in touch with the potential to change her business, dreams, and love life forever. 'Enemies to lovers' 'Small town romance'   My Thoughts   You can't help but fall under the spell of life on the canals when you read this story. Kat has big dreams for her business but seems to lack confidence to put it into action. Her Floating Solo holidays are very successful for her clients and many use the experience to sort out their thoughts and plan their ...

The Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley Dunbar #Review


 

Here we have another festive and uplifting read from Kiley Dunbar. The Gingerbread Christmas Village was published by Hera on August 31st.


Everyone deserves a Christmas treat...

The annual Wheaton gingerbread exhibit (a model village made of gingerbread) and grotto has been an important part of the sleepy Cotswold hamletā€™s Christmas celebrations for decades.

For years the gingerbread exhibition drew visitors from across the region and each year the model town grew more elaborate and ambitious but recently, interest has been dwindling. The gingerbread grotto needs to be rehomed or close forever.

Sixty-four-year-old Margi, the eventā€™s founder, has had enough of village life (and its total lack of eligible men) and is planning to sell up and head to Birmingham to live closer to her niece.

She has lost her spark and her Christmas spirit and decides this will be her last gingerbread village, but despairs when she finds her only support is her old friend, Izzy, her niece Lucy from Birmingham, and Fern, the shy young farmerā€™s daughter. Oh, and Patrick, the gorgeous, reliable school caretaker.

As if this wasnā€™t enough, Lucy is determined to get her out dating again and persuades her to try some online dating apps but Margiā€™s had her heart broken too many times and wonders if she has just missed her chance.

Can they save the Gingerbread Grotto and can Margi get her old spark and her Christmas spirit back?

A cosy, totally feelgood seasonal read that will have you smiling. The perfect read to snuggle up and have you feeling festive! Fans of Jenny Colgan and Trisha Ashley will love this book.


 My Thoughts

I would say that this has to be the most uplifting of the festive books I have read this year. It has a cast of slightly quirky individuals and at its heart, a central character, Margi, who has a warm and generous heart and a love for her community. Margi is also feeling a bit overlooked and invisible, having been abandoned by her second husband. At the beginning she is letting what she perceives as societyā€™s expectation of women of a certain age dictate how she acts. Her first visible act of rebellion is when she lets her hair go grey. The creation of the annual Gingerbread Village is important to her but at the same time has become a burden as fewer and fewer residents have volunteered. However, it becomes the catalyst which touches many peopleā€™s lives.

    Community, friendship and love are all at the centre of the story.Margi has to be brave and recognise what is important to her and what really matters in life. She has to learn to live in the present. This story has moments which will make you laugh and some which are touching. Margi isnā€™t the only character who has to learn to let go of othersā€™ expectations. There also a few other love stories on the side where grasping the moment leads to happiness. 

In short: love and happiness all the way


About the Author

Kiley Dunbar is a Scot living over the border in Northern England where she teaches English and creative writing, devours romance novels, fusses over Amos the Bedlington Terrier, and loves two little Dunbars. She thinks making imaginary people find happiness and fall in hopelessly in love has to be the best job in the world.

 

Social Media Links ā€“

'Kiley Dunbar Author Book Page' on Facebook

website and newsletter: www.kileydunbar.co.uk 

You tube   |  Twitter

 Book links:  Amazon UK   |  Kobo     |  Apple  | 


Thanks to Kiley Dunbar, Hera and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources  for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.

Catch up with these great bloggers!
 

 
 
 

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