Category: Ali McNamara

Synopsis: Ava loves city life but when something happens to make her feel unsafe, she retreats to the calm and quiet of Bluebell Wood. The once high-flying Ava now locks herself away in her fairy-tale cottage, only leaving to explore the trails of the nearby woods or to potter in the garden with her dog, Merlin.

When Ava begins to feed the wild birds that flock to her bird table, they start leaving her trinkets of appreciation in return. The gifts seem innocent at first, but they soon seem to take on a deeper meaning.

It isn’t until Ava meets Callum, the handsome parish priest, that she can’t help but wonder if the birds might have been trying to get her out of the house all along. But will their curious behaviour help to heal Ava, and transform her and Callum into the lovebirds they clearly long to be?

My Rating: 5/5

My Review: I have to admit that I am a big Ali McNamara fan and every time I read one of her books I am reminded why! This was an absoluteky joyous book to read. Due to the sheer volume of death and destruction I read about within the thriller books I love, it’s always nice to have a reprieve from that and this is the perfect solution! Ava has given up city life to try living among the peacefull Bluebell Wood. As a reader you don’t know her exact circumstances until much later in the book, you only know she is crippled by anxiety. AMN has such flair when decsribing these beautiful fictional towns that you almost want to go there on holiday.

Ava is struggling but persisting in her need to get over her problems such as leaving the house. Somehow Bluebell Wood and the retal cottage she is staying in seem to cast a spell over her.  You get to meet many villagers including Callum the parish priest. Ava also shares her journey with Marvin her new dog. There is something so calming about the book, the characters and the setting. It was a purejoy to read something so lovely and it certainly put a smile on my face.There are many that say these type of books are too predictable but thats the joy of these books. They may have a sad story behind varioud characters but it’s the joy in seeing them grow, adapt and overcome. Another wonderful book by an author I think is amazing!

Synopsis: Kate thinks all her wishes have come true when she opens her own little craft shop in the idyllic harbour town of St Felix.

But she soon finds a mystery lingers in her new shop – a sixty-year-old love story told through beautiful paintings and intricate embroideries.

Jack, the owner of the nearby art shop, volunteers to help Kate unravel the mystery, but in doing so they realise their own lives share some uncanny similarities with Clara and Arty, their 1950s counterparts . . .

My Rating: 5/5 Continue reading “Kate and Clara’s Curious Cornish Craft Shop by Ali McNamara”

Synopsis: Amelia is a single mother, doing her very best to look after her young son, Charlie – but money is tight and times are tough. When she first hears that she is the last descendent of the Chesterford family and that she has inherited a Real-Life Castle by the sea, Amelia can’t quite believe her ears. But it’s true!

She soon finds that owning a castle isn’t quite the ticket to sorting out her money problems that she’d first hoped: she can’t sell, because the terms of the ancient bequest state that any Chesterford who inherits the castle, must live there and work towards the upkeep and maintenance of the family home. So ever-practical Amelia decides to uproot her little family and move to this magnificent castle by the sea.

Living in a castle on the beautiful Northumberland coast is fun at first, but organising the day-to-day running is a lot more complicated than Amelia first imagined. Luckily she has help from the small band of eccentric and unconventional staff that are already employed there – and a mysterious unseen hand that often gives her a push in the right direction just when she needs it most.

It’s only when she meets Tom, a furniture restorer who comes to the castle to help repair some antique furniture, that Amelia realises she might get the fairy-tale ending that she and Charlie truly deserve…

My rating: 4/5

My review: I love Ali McNamara books but have to say I actually started this book twice and put it down. It has a little bit of a slow start and I think that was my issue initially. However, putting it down and coming back to it was the best thing to do. Once I came back to it I started again and it was an easy read. I think I needed to be in the right frame of mind (anyone else get that?).

Amelia is a single mum who is struggling to make ends meet. She receives a  call from a solicitor who tells her that she is the last descendent of the Chesterford family and that she has inherited a Castle by the sea. When she finally realises this is an opportunity she needs to take she finally makes the move and her and her son Charlie take the chance and move to Chesterford Castle.

The additional characters that appear in this story absolutely make it and they include Dorothy and Arthur who live there as Castle staff along with Joey and Tiffany. As Amelia and Charlie settle, Amelia begins to realise that living in the castle although great, also comes with the responsibility of ensuring the castle stays in tip top shape and that people still come to visit.

As a reader you are definitely taken along for the journey and although there is also a ‘ghost’ element to this story (not normally something I like) it was done fantastically and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Tom arrives at the castle and becomes the restorer as well as builders who start t covert outbuildings and as time goes on more and more things start to happen which cause Amelia to wonder whether she has made the right choice.

This story although slow to start (for me anyway) ended up being a book I thoroughly enjoyed. Although it seems to be a slight step away from what McNamara normally does it still has her signature style of writing and characters you love. In the end I wondered why I had waited so long to read this and would definitely recommend.