romance – Page 6 – What Cathy Read Next…

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog blitz for Endless Skies by Jane Cable. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting to participate in the tour and to Sapere Books for my digital review copy. And what a fabulous quartet of book bloggers I have joining me in hosting today’s stop on the tour – Jo at Jaffareadstoo, Cal at Cal Turner Reviews, Joanne at Portobello Book Blog and Anne at Being Anne. Do try to find some time to check out their posts.

If my review makes you want to read the book, then don’t hang about as the ebook of Endless Skies will be 99p until 23rd October (purchase link below).

About the Book

If you want to move forward, you have to deal with the past…

After yet another disastrous love affair – this time with her married boss – Rachel Ward has been forced to leave her long-term position in Southampton for a temporary role as an Archaeology Lecturer at Lincoln University. Rachel has sworn off men and is determined to spend her time away clearing her head and sorting her life out. But when one of her students begins flirting with her, it seems she could be about to make the same mistakes again…

She distracts herself by taking on some freelance work for local property developer, Jonathan Daubney. He introduces her to an old Second World War RAF base. And from her very first visit something about it gives Rachel chills…

As Rachel makes new friends and delves into local history, she is also forced to confront her own troubled past. Why is she unable to get into a healthy relationship? What’s stopping her from finding Mr Right? And what are the echoes of the past trying to tell her…?

Format: ebook (283 pages) Publisher: Sapere Books
Publication date: 26th July 2020 Genre: Historical/Contemporary Fiction, Romance

Find Endless Skies on Goodreads

Purchase links*
Amazon UK
*link provided for convenience not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

The haunting and dramatic prologue does what just what a prologue should: leave questions in your mind as you read the rest of the book and make you want to read it again once you’ve turned the last page.

Rachel is a flawed but relatable character. Okay, she’s made poor decisions in the past about relationships but she’s also been let down and damaged by the actions of others. However, she recognizes she’s made mistakes and, guided by the wise advice of her friend Jessie, tries her best not to repeat them. However, sometimes she just cannot resist the tug of her heart over her head and, as we learned from Pride & Prejudice, first impressions cannot always be relied upon.

I liked seeing Rachel cast off the self-imposed shackles of academia and return to her first love, hands-on field archaeology with a trowel in her hand and dirt under her fingernails. Her connection with Esther, one of the ladies at The Firs retirement home, was touching and I loved how Rachel’s gradual unearthing of Esther’s memories mirrored her own literal unearthing of the history of the nearby air base. The landscape of rural Lincolnshire and its endless skies is vividly evoked.

The balance between the contemporary and wartime storylines was different from what I’d anticipated and there were elements I hadn’t been expecting. However, it’s no bad thing for a book to confound your expectations, is it?

Endless Skies has a bit of everything – romance, archaeology, mystery, history – making it the ideal book to immerse yourself in for a few hours on a wet afternoon. And for fans of old movies, the wonderful 1945 film, The Way to the Stars, would make the perfect companion piece.

In three words: Engaging, tender, romantic

Try something similar: The Sea Gate by Jane Johnson

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About the Author

Jane says: I write romance with a twist, that extra something to keep readers guessing right to the end. While my books are character driven my inspiration is always a British setting; so far a village in Yorkshire (The Cheesemaker’s House), a Hampshire wood (The Faerie Tree), gorgeous Studland Bay in Dorset (Another You) and rural Lincolnshire (Endless Skies).

I was born and raised in Cardiff but spent most of my adult life living near Chichester before my husband and I upped sticks and moved to Cornwall three years ago.

I published my first two novels independently and have now been signed by Sapere Books. I am an active member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and contributing editor to Frost online magazine.

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for One Day In Summer by Shari Low. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to participate in the tour and to Boldwood Books for my review copy via NetGalley.

You can read my review below. Do also check out the posts by my tour buddies, Pam at Books, Life and Everything and Tizi’s Book Review.

About the Book

One day in summer, three lives are about to change forever.

After two decades of looking after others, this is the day that Agnetha McMaster is reclaiming her life. It’s her turn, her time but will she have the courage to start again?

Ten years ago, Mitchell McMaster divorced Agnetha and married her best friend, Celeste. Now he suspects his second wife is having an affair. This is the day he’ll discover if karma has come back to bite him.

Thanks to a DNA test, this is the day that Hope McTeer will finally meet her biological father. But will the reunion bring Hope the answers that she’s looking for?

Three people. Twenty-four hours. A lifetime of secrets to unravel.

Format: ebook (324 pages) Publisher: Boldwood Books
Publication date: 11 June 2020 Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Find One Day In Summer on Goodreads

Purchase links*
Amazon UK| Hive (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

With books such as This Is Me, Shari Low has perfected the art of the multi-character storyline and achieves the same feat with One Day in Summer. It has the same structure as previous novels, such as One Day in Winter, with the events taking place over the space of one eventful day, albeit with the occasional trip back into the past.

Set in Glasgow, like many of the author’s other books, readers familiar with the city will have fun spotting places and landmarks mentioned in the book. Those who have read previous books will be pleased to see return appearances by a few characters. And all readers should look out for a couple of ‘close encounters’ between characters in the different storylines.

After recent traumatic events, Agnetha has many reasons to be thankful for the situation in which she finds herself. She has two lovely daughters, a successful business, a support group who understand exactly what she’s been through and the possibility of a new man in her life. She deserves today, her forty-fifth birthday, to be a good one.

One would have to be in a generous mood to wish her ex-husband, Mitchell, the same, although I did start to feel less hostile towards him as the book progressed. At least, he has the humility to be aware of his own shortcomings and to recognise the concept of karma. I wish I could say the same about Mitchell’s current wife, Celeste. You may, like me, have a wish to develop the superpower that enables you to shoot invisible laser darts that will set hair extensions on fire, explode face fillers and pierce silicon boob implants.

More serious issues are woven into the storyline, such as family breakdown, illness and bereavement, but never in such a way as to overwhelm the message that you should never give up the hope of second chances in life.

As the day draws to a close, like pieces of a jigsaw, things finally slot into place. But will it show the picture you were expecting? In the epilogue, which cleverly echoes the prologue, the reader finds out whether Agnetha decides to forgive the mistakes of the past and respond positively to the plea, “take a chance on me”.

As one character observes, “This was the most bizarre day. One minute stressful, one minute sad, then funny, then loving, then easy, then hard…” One Day in Summer is the ideal one day binge read; a skilfully crafted story of love, loss and new beginnings.

In three words: Romantic, engaging, heart-warming

Try something similar: A Wedding in the Olive Garden by Leah Fleming

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About the Author

Shari Low is the #1 bestselling author of over 20 novels, including One Day In Winter and My One Month Marriage, and a collection of parenthood memories called Because Mummy Said So. She lives near Glasgow.

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Tag: romance

#BookReview Endless Skies by Jane Cable @SapereBooks