The Seafront Tea Rooms- Vanessa Green

"The Seafront Tea Rooms is a peaceful hideaway, away from the bustle of the seaside, and in this quiet place a group of women find exactly what they've been searching for.

Charismatic journalist Charlotte is on a mission to scope out Britain's best tea rooms. She knows she's found something special in the Seafront Tea Rooms but is it a secret she should share? Kathryn, a single mother whose only sanctuary is the 'Seafront', convinces Charlie to keep the place out of her article by agreeing to join her on her search. Together with another regular, Seraphine, a culture-shocked French au pair with a passion for pastry-making, they travel around the country discovering quaint hideaways and hidden gems. But what none of them expect is for their journey to surprise them with discoveries of a different kind . . ."

I received a copy of the first few chapters of this new book- from Net Galley.

Charlotte writes reviews of teashops for the paper and is always looking out for quaint or outstanding places to enjoy. She appears to have a slightly strained relationship with her sister and is getting over a broken engagement. She is looking for more teashops to submit her reports and the excerpt ends with her finding the tearooms with the lacey curtains and aromatic teas in little tins ready to be chosen and savoured by the new guests. It draws you in and leaves you wanting to hear the rest of the story.

Characters are introduced that from the 'blurb' will be major parts of the story including the aupair from France.

I really can't wait until this one is released and I can read further. I loved her first book- one of my favourite reads last year and I can just imagine that this one is going to join my favourite lists this year aswell.

The Purgatorium- Eva Pohler

I was sent a copy of this book for review by Goodreads.

"Seventeen year-old Daphne Janus is floored when her parents agree to let her accompany her best friend to a getaway resort on an island off the coast of California. She doesn't know her parents have sent her to the Purgatorium as a last-ditch effort to save their child.

Her best friend and life-long neighbor takes her to a mostly uninhabited island with a wildlife preserve on one side and Chumash Indian ruins on the “haunted” side. The resort might be beautiful, the beach pristine, and the views from the headland amazing, but strange things begin to happen that soon have Daphne running for her life. At first she finds the therapeutic games thrilling: the ghosts that visit her room, the dropping elevator, and the kayak incident are actually kind of fun once she recovers from them. But when her horse bucks her off during a trail ride and she becomes lost on the haunted side of the island, it’s not fun anymore, and she wonders if her parents have sent her there to help her or to punish her."

Although not initially sure what to expect from this one it was a real page turner. 

Daphne goes to a paradise island type resort with her best friend after a very stressful time.They swim in a beautiful pool with a glass bottom where they can watch the sea creatures. She finds once she is there that they are providing a therapy service for her to face her fears. She gets stuck in an elevator and inside a cave when the tide comes in. Are these part of the therapy or just accidents? Then on a pony trekking expedition she is thrown off her horse and becomes scared that she does not know who she can trust. She tries to flee- but are the people she meets part of the therapy or do they belong to the more tourist side of the island. If she can reach that side of the island will she be able to catch a boat to safety.

I loved the suspense during the book - and wondering what was going to happen to her next.
This is the first part of a series and I am already keen to read the next book in the series.

The Teashop on the Corner- Milly Johnson

I was lucky enough to be chosen as part of Team Milly. The first 'perk' was receiving her new book ahead of the publication day. It was exciting to receive a lovely wrapped pressie in the post.

She's one of my favourite authors and couldn't wait to curl up with this one.

Product Description

The magical new novel from Sunday Times top ten bestseller, Milly Johnson
Life is full of second chances…if only you keep your heart open for them.
Spring Hill Square is a pretty sanctuary away from the bustle of everyday life. And at its centre is Leni Merryman's Teashop on the Corner, specialising in cake, bookish stationery and compassion. And for three people, all in need of a little TLC, it is somewhere to find a friend to lean on.
Carla Pride has just discovered that her late husband Martin was not who she thought he was. And now she must learn to put her marriage behind her and move forward.
Molly Jones's ex-husband Harvey has reappeared in her life after many years, wanting to put right the wrongs of the past before it is too late.
And Will Linton's business has gone bust and his wife has left him to pick up the pieces. Now he needs to gather the strength to start again.
Can all three find the comfort they are looking for in The Teashop on the Corner? And as their hearts are slowly mended by Leni, can they return the favour when she needs it most…?
A story of love, friendship and second chances that will warm your heart and rekindle your hope.

My review

This was a real treasure of a book- now my favourite Milly Johnson book so far!!!!!!!! I really hope there are further books planned so that we get to catch up with the wonderful characters.

I would love to have a teashop near me that sold 'classic' themed items- I'd be penniless within weeks probably. All of the characters meet in the newly opened cafe and then each Tuesday and discuss the classics from that week! Each character brought something new to the book and it was interesting to hear more about their life stories.

I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book by being a part of Team Millie and would love to say a huge thank you for selecting me and not leaving me on the sidelines from PE days at school!

Milly confirmed that we will be revisiting these characters in another book and I can't wait.

My friend Adele went to meet Milly when she was signing copies of her book in Chesterfield and said that she was lovely.

She also met Lucy Diamond when she was signing her book- and very kindly she got a copy signed for me as a complete surprise.

In praise of houses and their parts

 This house (Droskyn Castle) must have fantastic views over the sea and looks perilously close to the cliff edge now. I think they rent out appartments for holidays now- what a fantastic place to stay. It has plenty of WINDOWS to sit and watch the sea.

This shows our 'holiday home'- the appertments where we always stay. Literally feet from the beach across a little footbridge. This vies with the photo underneath as the place where I would love to live.

This is my 'dream' home. Guy's grandparents used to live here and it always was my idea of the sort of house I'd love to live in. It's in the Bournville Village Trust- which means that any work on the house or garden would have to be approved by the Village Trust. They wanted to make the 'coach house' (garage) into a seperate little flat and weren't allowed to. But the lady who bought it from them appears to have got permission to cut down beautiful trees, destroying the charm of the garden with a HUGE deck with massive brick supporting it over the drop in garden levels. There was an open day when it was up for sale and we went for a nose around. She had modernised a lot of the rooms and had an extension built which added some ensuite rooms. It was lovely to be able to look round again- but they had taken away some of the charm of the house- which used to have a gp surgery in the 'boot room' area! If we had won the lottery that weekend and been lucky enough to have been able to buy it- we would have spent a while reversing a lot of her improvements. When we were looking around- various other people were looking around because they were fans of the architect- not sure if anyone was actually looking round with a view to buying it.

This house USED to be where Shakespeare lived.

Unusual house- this is Hagrids house from the Harry Potter films viewed when we went round the studios last year. It was a fantastic day and this was one of my favourite parts.

The WINDOW looking into Hagrids house- my daughter had taken this view when she went earlier in the year- so I had to take one too!

Modern- the Harry Potter Studios

Mothers and Mothering

We had a lovely day yesterday. We went over to see Guy's mum and were invited to stay for lunch and saw both of his sisters. We then took the girls over to see my mum. My mum is my best friend- she really is the nicest person that I know and everyone I know thinks she's lovely too. She has an awful lot on her plate at the moment. My dad has neuropathy, is partially sighted and has recently been diagnosed with Parkinsons - on top of his diabetes. He has very limited use of his hands-some days are better than others- but he's also very unstable on his feet- so he can't actually feel if he's feet are on the floor when he walks. So she has to get him up, MAKE him take a walking stick when he goes off to the loo and do all his medication. He can play up on it a bit sometimes and she's run ragged all day long. Because he can't be left on his own for long she doesn't get to escape the house that often. But she's still there offering to do a Mothers Day tea for us all- even though I wanted to bring it with us.

 She still loves her bucket and spade- she missed it when the girls grew up. So the new holiday tradition is to buy her a new one!

 One of my favourite photos of my mum- we went on a barge trip and were the only ones on the barge.

I had a lovely Mothering Sunday too. The girls remembered for a start. Amy was coerced into making a cooked breakfast. Emma had made a lovely card and little arrangement at college and it really warmed my heart. She can be a bit of a handful and some days I'm glad to get to bed- but her words really made me emotional!

We've recently moved our table into the lounge as it makes better use of the space we have. Amy chose a dish and 'things' to fill it- for the centre.

For the love of books

Fact or Fiction

To be honest I will read anything and everything that comes my way. I love fiction- but love biographies, coffee table books and love flicking through recipe books dreaming of the day that I turn into a fantastic cook! These are a few of the books on the bookshelves at the moment. I must admit that since I transferred over to my kindle I buy far less real books and rehomed most of them- so my house no longer really tells you how much of a bookworm lives there. That's mainly down to dh moaning about the bookshelves groaning under the weight!

My portable library- holds much more than the real bookshelves these days.

World Book day- I still remember getting the girls dressed up on World Book Day when they were at Primary school. In Amy's last year at school- the whole 6th form chose to dress as one of the characters from Alice in Wonderland. I bought Amy a bright blue jacket- as she was given the Mad Hatter! We sewed a few buttons onto a jumper and BOUGHT a chain for the watch!

Favourite read to children

I tended to love books with fantastic illustrations and if they mentioned the girls names all the better- and Emma's Lamb was a particular favourite

Our nephew is expecting a baby (well his girlfriend is to be honest!) in May- which will be the first baby in the family for nearly 18 years- so we are all thrilled and I've started looking round for pressies already. They are having a little girl- so a pretty dress will definately feature! I also wanted to buy a nice book. I saw this one in Poundland and managed to get drenched in the biggest downpour this year and it got ruined. Emma still enjoyed reading it- and it has beautiful pictures!

Childhood memory. One of my memories from secondary school that stays with me is of our Welsh Headmaster reading an excerpt from a Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas every year. Obviously being Welsh it was told in the perfect way and I would look forward to hearing it every year. It wasn't until quite recently that I sought out my own copy!

Favourite character in a book- this is a hard one. As a child I devoured everything by Enid Blyton and an endearing character is Moon Face from the Magic Faraway tree, I also loved George in the famous five and the 'good' girls from Mallory towers. I regularly find new favourite characters in the latest books I read- but I read so many I can't bring one to mind!

                                       Even my garden has it's very own bookworm!

Today I read...

"It was a wedding invitation that changed everything for Floriana...

If she hadn't been so distracted at the thought of having to witness the one true love of her life get married, she would have seen the car coming.

If she'd seen the car coming, there would have been no need for elderly spinster Esme Silcox and local property developer Adam Strong to rush to her aid.

And if Floriana hadn't met Adam and Esme she would never have had the courage to agree to attend Seb's wedding in beautiful Lake Como.

For Esme, Lake Como awakens memories of when she stayed at the lake as a nineteen-year-old girl and fell in love for the first time. So often she's wondered what happened to the man who stole her heart all those years ago, a man who changed the course of her life.

Now it's time for both Esme and Floriana to face the past - and the future - on the shores of this most romantic and enchanting of lakes".(less)

Paperback, 384 pages

I

I couldn't resist the lure of a blog post about books! I had a nasty flu bug all of last week and didn't manage to do much apart from wake up , eat an evening meal and drop back to sleep again! I think I've only ever had flu once before- and wouldn't mind if it never visisted again. I went to see my niece in Miss Saigon and it was the first time I'd been out of the house for a week and my aunt made me feel tons better by telling me I looked very poorly!!!!!

Anyway- my favourite pastime is and always has been reading.

Today's book is by one of my favourite authors and it jumped onto my kindle late last week. I am 11% through it- one of the things I miss most about 'real' books is actual page numbers. I know it's possible to get them on some kindles- but mine shows the percentage read.

I was a very reluctant convert to kindle- but wouldn't be without it now. I had a complete disaster about a month ago where someone must have trodden on my old kindle and it didn't like it much. I was in a mad panic- until I forced myself to admit that they were just books. I have managed to get the vast majority of books that I had on it before. Some collections are lost- but I can read quite happily for a few years even if I don't buy anymore.

I am trying so hard to keep up to date with my photography challenges- but missed the last 2 weeks of this one and the Daily Snappers. I am listing them to try and catch up at some stage!