#BlogTour THE BEAUTY OF BROKEN THINGS by VICTORIA CONNELLY #BookReview @rararesources

Delighted to be the latest stop on the Blog Tour for the wonderful THE BEAUTY OF BROKEN THINGS by VICTORIA CONNELLY.  My thanks to the author, publisher and Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources for the copy of the book,  putting the tour together and letting me be part of it all!

The Beauty of Broken Things

United by tragedy, can two broken souls make each other whole?

After the tragic loss of his wife, Helen, Luke Hansard is desperate to keep her memory alive. In an effort to stay close to her, he reaches out to an online friend Helen often mentioned: a reclusive photographer with a curious interest in beautiful but broken objects. But first he must find her—and she doesn’t want to be found.

Orla Kendrick lives alone in the ruins of a remote Suffolk castle, hiding from the haunting past that has left her physically and emotionally scarred. In her fortress, she can keep a safe distance from prying eyes, surrounded by her broken treasures and insulated from the world outside.

When Luke tracks Orla down, he is determined to help her in the way Helen wanted to: by encouraging her out of her isolation and back into the world. But Orla has never seen her refuge as a prison and, when painful secrets and dangerous threats begin to resurface, Luke’s good deed is turned on its head.

As they work through their grief for Helen in very different ways, will these two broken souls be able to heal?

Purchase Links 

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07YKW2D3B

US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YKW2D3B

Aus: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07YKW2D3B

Victoria Connelly studied English Literature at Worcester University, got married in a medieval castle in the Yorkshire Dales and now lives in rural Suffolk with her artist husband, a young springer spaniel and a flock of ex-battery hens. She is the million-selling author of two bestselling series, Austen Addicts and The Book Lovers, as well as many other novels and novellas. Her first published novel, Flights of Angels, was made into a film in 2008 by Ziegler Films in Germany. The Runaway Actress was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Romantic Comedy Novel award.

Victoria loves books, films, walking, historic buildings and animals. If she isn’t at her keyboard writing, she can usually be found in her garden either with a trowel in her hand or a hen on her lap.

Social Media Links – 

www.victoriaconnelly.com

Instagram: @victoriaconnellyauthor

https://www.instagram.com/victoriaconnellyauthor/

Facebook: @victoriaconnellyauthor

https://www.facebook.com/victoriaconnellyauthor

Twitter: @VictoriaDarcy

Tweets by VictoriaDarcy

MY REVIEW

I adored this book! It shows the power of gaining strength from others which allows you to heal and move on from tragic events – ones you think you will never get over.  And it’s also made me want to start a collection of ‘broken things’! Finding beauty in things that are imperfect – very difficult in this world we live in where ‘perfection’ is what is craved.  And those imperfections are what keeps Orla hidden away after an appalling tragedy.  Even her own mother thinks it’s for the best that she is kept out of public view! So Orla just has the company of her dog, and her imperfect collection of china  – forever fearful of the outside world.  But through her photography she reaches out to many others, one of those being Helen who admires her work and dreams of setting up as a photographer herself.  The women build up a friendship through internet messages – until one day the messages stop coming.

Luke is married to Helen and is devastated by her sudden and tragic loss.  He feels rudderless without her and finds out so much about her that he didn’t know about through her journal.  So through photos, he tracks down Orla to pass on a gift that Helen bought for her and that starts an amazing bond between them both that starts the healing process. Isn’t it amazing how some are quick to want to help heal others before even beginning to heal themselves? Sometimes the ones doing the saving are the ones that need saving themselves!

As Orla opens up about her past, you totally understand why she is so reluctant to trust others but as she starts seeing the goodness in people she gains more confidence and starts thinking about rebuilding her life once more.  And through helping Orla, Luke is made to face up to life after Helen and it was emotional at times watching them both go through the healing process. It’s a beautifully written book and the characters are so well crafted that you can’t help but not take them to your hearts.

It’s a lovely touching novel and inspiring to watch the progress they both make in helping one another through the tougher times of grief and fear.

★★★★★

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#BlogTour THE GARDEN OF LOST MEMORIES by RUBY HUMMINGBIRD #BookReview @bookouture @BOTBSPublicity

Hugely excited to be taking part in the Blog Tour today for the wonderful THE GARDEN OF LOST MEMORIES by RUBY HUMMINGBIRD. My thanks to the author, publisher and Sarah of https://twitter.com/BOTBSPublicity for letting me be part of the tour and putting it all together!

Book Description:

Just because you feel ordinary doesn’t mean you aren’t extraordinary to someone else.
Sixty-two-year-old Elsie knows what she likes. Custard creams at four o’clock, jigsaw puzzles with a thousand pieces, her ivy-covered, lavender-scented garden.

Ten-year-old Billy would rather spend his Saturdays kicking a ball, or watching TV, or anything really, other than being babysat by his grumpy neighbour Elsie and being force fed custard creams.

If it was up to them, they’d have nothing to do with each other. Unfortunately, you can’t choose who you live next door to.
But there is always more to people than meets the eye…

Elsie doesn’t know that Billy’s afraid to go to school now, or why his mother woke him up in the middle of the night with an urgent shake, bags already packed, ready to flee their home.
Billy doesn’t know that the rusting red tin he finds buried in Elsie’s treasured garden is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode her carefully organised life. And that when he digs it up, he is unearthing a secret that has lain dormant for twenty-eight years…

This moving tale is for anyone who has ever felt the pang of loneliness, or worried that their broken heart might never be the same again. Fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Keeper of Lost Things and The Library of Lost and Found will fall head over heels for this life-affirming novel that shows us that if you’re willing to take a risk, happiness is only ever a heartbeat away.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ruby Hummingbird is a novelist based in the English countryside. She loves nothing more than writing uplifting and heartwarming fiction that gets her readers reaching for the tissues. When she isn’t storytelling, she can be found tending to her beloved sunflowers or sipping on hazelnut lattes.
@HummingbirdRuby

Buying Links:

Amazon: https://bit.ly/2WQVYiJ

Apple Books: https://apple.co/33QZRpk

Kobo:  https://bit.ly/3amwGNh

Google Play: https://bit.ly/3bqY3Wr

MY REVIEW

Stick a garden in a book and I’m immediately interested! Throw in a wonderful character in the form of Elsie and the unlikeliest of friendships of forming, and I’m smitten!! I adored this book and really took these characters to my heart!

Elsie lives alone, is elderly and gets through each day with her routines, doing her best to avoid the ‘chit chat’ of neighbours or people she bumps into at the shops.  She’s also prone to making judgements about people before knowing the real story, and she finds herself doing that with her new neighbours.  10 year old Billy lives with his mum next door and they’ve moved away from his Dad. He’s scared, frustrated and being bullied at school so he often lashes out at the wrong person and definitely isn’t a fan of being left in the care of Elsie when his mum has to go out to work.  She seems strange to him, sees her talking to herself and would rather be anywhere else but there! But something magical happens when she gets him to help her in her beloved garden that has become a little too much for her to cope with.  And this healing power of a garden was one thing that really connected with me. It gives you the chance to focus on something else in the world and it does Elsie and Billy the power of good, especially with the outside world causing them so much suffering.

When they uncover a tin buried in the garden, it leads to an extraordinary journey for the both of them and it was just so uplifting to see them heading out together to piece together the pieces of memories left behind in this tin.  Elsie is reluctant to visit one place but Billy goes by himself and makes a new friend and he starts to believe in himself again and feel less angry at the world.

This is a story that pulls on the heartstrings and shines the spotlight on how important it is not to judge people on first impressions.  I enjoyed watching the story of their pasts unfold, and how coming together helped them all move on.  Wonderful!

★★★★★

#BookReview The Secret To Happiness by Jessica Redland

ABOUT THE BOOK

Danniella is running from her past, so when she arrives at the beautiful seaside resort of Whitsborough Bay, the last thing on her mind is making friends. After all, they might find out her secrets… Alison is fun, caring and doesn’t take herself too seriously. But beneath the front, she is a lost soul, stuck in a terrible relationship, with body confidence issues and no family to support her. All she really needs is a friend. Karen’s romance has taken a back seat to her fitness business. But she doesn’t want to give up on love quite yet. If only those mysterious texts would stop coming through… When the women meet at their local bootcamp, a deep friendship blossoms. And soon they realise that the secret to happiness is where they least expected to find it…

published by BOLDWOOD BOOKS

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon UK

MY REVIEW

How have I let this author pass me by?! My first Jessica Redland book but definitely not my last and I’m already looking forward to catching up with the others she has written if this one is anything to go by! I found myself totally swept up in the lives of these women – cheering on their achievements, despairing with them at the down moments in their lives, and just wanting to meet up with them all and sharing a drink or two!

This is a book about 3 women – Karen, Alison and Daniella – who live very different lives but are brought together as only fate can determine and soon find themselves supporting one another in more ways they can ever imagine.

Alison is feeling trapped in her life with Dave – he was there for her at the beginning when she needed him, but now he’s constantly on at her about her weight (I have to admit to wanting her to thump him on more than one occasion!!) and taking her for granted. So she comfort eats to stop feeling so bad – and so the cycle of hate and pity continues. But one day she finds herself helping a jogger who has fallen over, and this new friendship spurs her on to make changes in her life.

The jogger she helps is Daniella – a very guarded woman who is hiding something but she’s not opening up to anyone – when she does eventually find the strength to talk about her past your heart just breaks for her.

And then there’s Karen – running a PT business with her other half, Ryan – she seemingly has it all, but there are cracks beginning to show and she’s another woman with a tragic past and the support of her new friends Alison and Daniella is a great comfort to her when she seems to attract a stalker and the walls start tumbling down around her.

I loved the support network on show in this story! The way the women were all there for one another – there was no judging, they were just there to cheer one another on and to lean on when needed. I did find myself getting a little infuriated by some of the decisions the women were making , but the more you found out about their pasts then the more it became clear why they were so willing to make certain moves.

None of the women were perfect and it was good to see them in real life situations and dealing with things in ways the reader could relate to and I found myself outraged and delighted in equal measures as certain situations played out! A proper uplifting read!!

★★★★

My thanks to Boldwood Books/Netgalley for the ecopy in return for a fair and honest review.