Can I interest you in a short little break, a long weekend if you will?
You will not need your passport, you only need to get to Cornwall or thereabouts. The hotel I have chosen is a unique boutique style, with glorious views, hand picked and stylish decor and with food to make your mouth water.
Still not quite sure?
Well what about the two people who run it, surely you will be interested to know about them. Claire and Luca are their names and they live and breathe The Townhouse by the Sea. Luca is an amazing who uses local produce and everyone around seems to flock in to sample his food. Down to the shortbread provided in your room. He is an attraction to the hotel in more ways that one, there is something charismatic that draws you in – the eternal bad boy every girl wants to tame?
Claire seems to have managed it, she is the calm to his storm. Everything runs perfectly with Claire in charge, she knows what she wants from everyone and expects them all to deliver. Trouble is Claire is not sure if Luca is what she wants? Then a face from the past turns up and perhaps Claire has been hiding away these last few years?
Now if that does not tempt you what else will? If you like people watching, then you are coming to the right hotel.
There is the young couple, so obviously in love that they are trying to find the missing piece of the girls past to ensure that the future is successful. The older couple who seem to be escaping from something, but the wife seems constantly on edge? Why? Then there is the family unit, mother, father and daughter, but actually something seems wrong with the set up, the father seems to be making up for something, but what? Then the stag group, a first for the hotel, but don’t let that put you off. They all seemed interested in having a good time, sampling the food and drink, and everything the sea has to offer. But the stag seems distracted? He is about to make the biggest commitment of his life, he may be getting cold feet
Tempted to go for a visit? I thought you might be.
Veronica Henry’s new novel, brings together the wonderful setting of a hotel, and all the residents and weaves a story that had me hooked from the first moment I started reading. You get to know the characters, you care about them as I did with Claire and Nick. You despise them as I did with Karen and Luca. You want to make sure that the right overcomes wrong in the case of Chelsee and the future is as sunny as it is at The Townhouse. Somehow with ease, the background of the character was slotted into the novel, without any obvious jarring of the story line. It fitted beautifully. This book is pure escapism, you have got everything you need to transport you away, the scenery and the weather, the laughter and the tears without even having to get your suitcase out! And after you have finished the book, you wonder just what did happen to all those people whose stories and lives you had suddenly viewed once they left The Townhouse by the Sea, and another long weekend was over…..until the next one.
I loved this book, it was the sunshine needed in a very wet dreary summer (so far). I love Veronica Henry’s writing, and this is one of her best. Something just drew me in and I was hooked, which is why I put off some housework just to finish the book. Even the cover of the book, had me dreaming of short breaks away, or even walks by my own seaside.
I was never quite sure as each chapter finished and the next one started quite where it was going to take me. I believed in so many of the characters, especially their pasts which explained so much about them. I started to panic that perhaps everything would not work out. I wanted Claire to have the future she deserved. I wanted, Monique to get her happy ending.I wanted Angelica to find the right path for herself and make sure her brother got the future he needed away from their mother. Even the minor characters in this book got under your skin, a sign of a good book. I would love to learn more about these characters, so if you want to write a sequel, Veronica…….
You can find more about Veronica Henry here and also follow her on twitter if you are that way inclined @veronica_henry.
The Book Jotter 