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jesslovelybooks's review
4.0
Received an ARC of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of this story had me very intrigued. It’s a story about a woman named April, 35, recently divorced and in the outskirts of life. She’s torn on where to go and what to do next, so she invest her life savings on a rundown chalet/lodge, which in turn means more to her than people think. With this new venture of bringing this chalet park back to life, she discovers new friendships, old love stories, and perhaps a second chance at love herself.
I truly enjoyed this read from start to finish. I’d say this is like an adorable hallmark movie.
The premise of this story had me very intrigued. It’s a story about a woman named April, 35, recently divorced and in the outskirts of life. She’s torn on where to go and what to do next, so she invest her life savings on a rundown chalet/lodge, which in turn means more to her than people think. With this new venture of bringing this chalet park back to life, she discovers new friendships, old love stories, and perhaps a second chance at love herself.
I truly enjoyed this read from start to finish. I’d say this is like an adorable hallmark movie.
jo_bookworm's review
4.0
If you enjoy Cornwall as a backdrop for your stories then you are going to adore the latest novel from Rachel Dove.
April has runaway, now divorced she has put as much distance between her old life in Yorkshire and her new life at Shady Pines Chalet Park on the Cornish coast. She has not just escaped their she has bought it and ploughs her money and her life into starting again.
Cillian O'Leary can't runaway far he has young daughter Orla to deal with and an ex partner who does not value their daughter at all. He needs to start again so when his old job as general handyman comes up again at Shady Pines he spots his chance in starting again.
He didn't bank on the whirlwind that is April though nor permanent curmudgeonly resident Martha's reluctance to accept change.
April and Cillian's burgeoning friendship and relationship seems doomed from the start. Not only trying to contend with April's clumsiness and lack of confidence. Cillian constantly sstomps about grunting and falls into a sulk over the smallest thing.
But it is Orla's innocence which keeps drawing April back and makes her realise what the future may have held if she had stayed where she was.
Martha starts to soften as she can see what settling for one life and love can do for you and when relations with April that slightly she lets her in to a secret, to one that will perhaps give her a second chance to.
This is a lovely book to lose yourself in, perhaps not as polished as it could be, a bit clunky in parts and I found myself a bit lost with who was who. Not sure though if that was me or the writing. However, these points are easily overlooked and the joy of the story comes off the pages and a perfect holiday escape if you cannot get to one yourself. I could see myself waking up in a chalet and walking the cliffs and eating fish and chips!
April has runaway, now divorced she has put as much distance between her old life in Yorkshire and her new life at Shady Pines Chalet Park on the Cornish coast. She has not just escaped their she has bought it and ploughs her money and her life into starting again.
Cillian O'Leary can't runaway far he has young daughter Orla to deal with and an ex partner who does not value their daughter at all. He needs to start again so when his old job as general handyman comes up again at Shady Pines he spots his chance in starting again.
He didn't bank on the whirlwind that is April though nor permanent curmudgeonly resident Martha's reluctance to accept change.
April and Cillian's burgeoning friendship and relationship seems doomed from the start. Not only trying to contend with April's clumsiness and lack of confidence. Cillian constantly sstomps about grunting and falls into a sulk over the smallest thing.
But it is Orla's innocence which keeps drawing April back and makes her realise what the future may have held if she had stayed where she was.
Martha starts to soften as she can see what settling for one life and love can do for you and when relations with April that slightly she lets her in to a secret, to one that will perhaps give her a second chance to.
This is a lovely book to lose yourself in, perhaps not as polished as it could be, a bit clunky in parts and I found myself a bit lost with who was who. Not sure though if that was me or the writing. However, these points are easily overlooked and the joy of the story comes off the pages and a perfect holiday escape if you cannot get to one yourself. I could see myself waking up in a chalet and walking the cliffs and eating fish and chips!
lainibop's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
shanno_h0's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
manda_reads's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Adorable romance.
megs004's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to love this book. I went into this thinking it would be a cute Hallmark like second chance romance but the story was forgettable and I could not really get into it. There was so much more room for some depth and more character development. The author also could have spaced out the plots into more than one book than to jammed everything into one. It was still a decent book but I would not recommend this to anyone.
thewoollygeek's review
4.0
Such a heartwarming novel, a great read in these uncertain times. Cute and relatable characters, a lovely story and wonderful writing. There isn’t anything to dislike about this book. I liked April, but Cillian and Orla held my heart the most, just so cute. It’s set in Cornwall so that’s a big win for me because it’s my joint favourite setting with Scotland, so I’m going to love a book if it’s set where I love. Just perfection, cute, romantic with lots of feels.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
taisie22's review against another edition
4.0
April Statham spent one childhood summer at the Shady Pines Chalet Park on the Cornish coast, so when her marriage falls apart, she impulsively buys the somewhat derelict place and moves south from York. Right away she thinks she's made a big mistake, but the one permanent guest, Martha, convinces her to hire Cillian O'Leary, the former handyman, to help her with renovations.
This is a charming story about second-chance romances on the lovely coast of Cornwall. It's not really a hotel, more of a glamping place, but April manages to find happiness in starting over and realizes some things about herself along the way. The secondary characters are interesting and the writing fits the narrative. It's well worth the read.
This is a charming story about second-chance romances on the lovely coast of Cornwall. It's not really a hotel, more of a glamping place, but April manages to find happiness in starting over and realizes some things about herself along the way. The secondary characters are interesting and the writing fits the narrative. It's well worth the read.
hannargh's review
2.0
April arrives in Cornwall after the long drive from Yorkshire with her entire life packed up into her car. Shady Pines holiday park is not only a fond memory from her past, it's also her second chance at life. It's also a second chance for handyman Cillian, who is desperately seeking a safe home for him and his young daughter. April must navigate the difficulties of running a holiday park, alongside her attraction to Cillian and managing her new neighbours and tenants.
The plot outline seemed perfectly simple - I could summarise the story really happily (as above). But what let it all down was the execution.
There were just too many things going on - April's mother has recently died, and she's mourning for her. Also she remembers Shady Pines as a safe space after her mother packed up and ran (from what?). April is also running from a bad marriage and unpleasant divorce. She has PCOS and has been unable to have children. It also means that she has intense mood swings. She's a little curvy, maybe, and hates that. Her ex-husband would comment on it too so she has low self-esteem. Also she's super clumsy. And also she put her life savings into the holiday park and is now down to her last pennies.
And that is just April.
Sadly, that level of complicated character and backstory means that so many of these important details are mentioned briefly, forgotten about and brought up again later.
There's also Martha, who is the grouchy permanent tenant of the holiday park. She's also an artist. She's mourning Charlie, her husband, who died years ago. And is also keeping something secret. She also wants to go visit the art gallery in town but doesn't quite dare.
And Cillian, and his daughter Orla, who are escaping their own bad past relationship. Cillian is also short on money, and on work, and is looking for somewhere safe to raise his young daughter.
And there are April's (separate) neighbours, Judith and Henry, who I can count the number of times that I read about on one hand, but are apparently key players by the end of the story.
The novel also starts with a letter to You from the mysterious G. And there are a couple of letters spacing up the chapters, but without any real pattern. It's like they seemed a good idea at the beginning and then were forgotten about partway through. You see how these letters are important later on, but there's no real consistency to them.
That is also part of the problem - the inconsistencies. Reading this book, which wasn't at all badly written, it often felt that it was missing a good strong proof-reader. There were times when a character said something, and then another answered after a couple of pages of inner thoughts and description. By which point you'd forgotten what the question was. Or it was stated that they had read something, but on the next page it said that they hadn't. It seemed like the author had created too many loose threads to keep track of and that meant the reading was muddled at times.
The same goes for the time frame - I think a year had passed by the end of the story? But it could also have been 6 months? And at the beginning I wasn't clear whether we were a week in or a month in at times. I'm not sure the author was either ...
My other big issue was April and Cillian's relationship. They were constantly described as moody, grumpy and hormonal (both of them). This isn't something that was every really sorted out. Instead, it just faded away, having been used an excuse for some big arguments that weren't ever really resolved. It seemed like Cillian was sharing all of his truths, whereas April was just sharing a bad attitude and blowing hot and cold and every now and again remembering to be insecure and not dealing with her own genuine issues at all. She was effectively a great big child.
And finally, the weird non-sex. I read 'boobs', 'boobies', 'thingy', 'family jewels' and 'manhood' but nothing that was actually, you know, anatomy. I also read romance for the intense feelings and, I have to say, the sex. I've read romance where the plot is utter rubbish but the sex is hot. I've read romance where the sex is clumsy or effectively redacted. Here, I couldn't actually tell that it had happened. I had to read the paragraph over twice to work out what was going on. And I think it was sex. Probably?
It wasn't just that it was 'clean' - it was just ... gone.
I know romance can be hit and miss. And I'm often more critical of it than I should be. But oh man, this was not for me. Here, the author could have taken some of the story away to spend more actually developing her characters, or split it into two satisfying couple novels instead. Also, where was the hotel?
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The plot outline seemed perfectly simple - I could summarise the story really happily (as above). But what let it all down was the execution.
There were just too many things going on - April's mother has recently died, and she's mourning for her. Also she remembers Shady Pines as a safe space after her mother packed up and ran (from what?). April is also running from a bad marriage and unpleasant divorce. She has PCOS and has been unable to have children. It also means that she has intense mood swings. She's a little curvy, maybe, and hates that. Her ex-husband would comment on it too so she has low self-esteem. Also she's super clumsy. And also she put her life savings into the holiday park and is now down to her last pennies.
And that is just April.
Sadly, that level of complicated character and backstory means that so many of these important details are mentioned briefly, forgotten about and brought up again later.
There's also Martha, who is the grouchy permanent tenant of the holiday park. She's also an artist. She's mourning Charlie, her husband, who died years ago. And is also keeping something secret. She also wants to go visit the art gallery in town but doesn't quite dare.
And Cillian, and his daughter Orla, who are escaping their own bad past relationship. Cillian is also short on money, and on work, and is looking for somewhere safe to raise his young daughter.
And there are April's (separate) neighbours, Judith and Henry, who I can count the number of times that I read about on one hand, but are apparently key players by the end of the story.
The novel also starts with a letter to You from the mysterious G. And there are a couple of letters spacing up the chapters, but without any real pattern. It's like they seemed a good idea at the beginning and then were forgotten about partway through. You see how these letters are important later on, but there's no real consistency to them.
That is also part of the problem - the inconsistencies. Reading this book, which wasn't at all badly written, it often felt that it was missing a good strong proof-reader. There were times when a character said something, and then another answered after a couple of pages of inner thoughts and description. By which point you'd forgotten what the question was. Or it was stated that they had read something, but on the next page it said that they hadn't. It seemed like the author had created too many loose threads to keep track of and that meant the reading was muddled at times.
The same goes for the time frame - I think a year had passed by the end of the story? But it could also have been 6 months? And at the beginning I wasn't clear whether we were a week in or a month in at times. I'm not sure the author was either ...
My other big issue was April and Cillian's relationship. They were constantly described as moody, grumpy and hormonal (both of them). This isn't something that was every really sorted out. Instead, it just faded away, having been used an excuse for some big arguments that weren't ever really resolved. It seemed like Cillian was sharing all of his truths, whereas April was just sharing a bad attitude and blowing hot and cold and every now and again remembering to be insecure and not dealing with her own genuine issues at all. She was effectively a great big child.
And finally, the weird non-sex. I read 'boobs', 'boobies', 'thingy', 'family jewels' and 'manhood' but nothing that was actually, you know, anatomy. I also read romance for the intense feelings and, I have to say, the sex. I've read romance where the plot is utter rubbish but the sex is hot. I've read romance where the sex is clumsy or effectively redacted. Here, I couldn't actually tell that it had happened. I had to read the paragraph over twice to work out what was going on. And I think it was sex. Probably?
It wasn't just that it was 'clean' - it was just ... gone.
I know romance can be hit and miss. And I'm often more critical of it than I should be. But oh man, this was not for me. Here, the author could have taken some of the story away to spend more actually developing her characters, or split it into two satisfying couple novels instead. Also, where was the hotel?
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.