The French Escape by Suzie Tullett - 5* review

Available here from Amazon.co.uk

It’s fair to say that Flick has had a terrible year. Her beloved father died, she had the wedding of her dreams and only hours after the ceremony her husband ran out on her. 

Brenda, fed up with her daughter living like a hermit, decides to drag Flick off to France to stay in a chateau. What could be better than an idyllic escape?

But when they arrive Flick discovers the chateau is all but abandoned.

The only upside of her French escape is the handsome and mysterious neighbour, Nate.

Nate loves his life living in the cottage on the grounds of the abandoned chateau but that is about to be put in jeopardy…

Can Nate and Flick ever learn to come to terms with the past and find love again?

Poor Flick, she's on a road trip with her snoring mother Brenda, and her late father's ashes in France - destination: unknown.

When the satnav signals their arrival, Flick tries to locate the location of their hotel, only to find they're staying in a neglected chateau in their own sleeping bags. To say the trip is intended for Flick to recover from the traumatic year she's had after being jilted at her wedding, it isn't selling itself straight away.

As they get to know the local villagers and the mysterious neighbour, Nate, the chateau starts to appeal more to Flick, especially as it's renovated and the former glory starts to shine through.

Secrets unfold and lives are changed as Flick and Nate both try to learn to live and love again. 

With warm humour and beautifully enticing description of Breton life and the enchanting woodland setting, The French Escape is just what it says, a perfect dose of escapism that will make you laugh and cry as the pages turn.

Plot, pace and characters are sharp and well written, and I love the developments in the book, both with the chateau and the people themselves. I also adore Brenda, she's such a...mum, and I want to give her a hug.

Also, just to give a quick shout out to this cover as I absolutely adore it!

A hugely well deserved 5* to Tullett.

Thank you to Bombshell Books for providing me with a copy of the book via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Book tour review - The House Across the Street by Lesley Pearse

The House Across The Street by Lesley Pearse is published on 6^th September in hardback by Michael Joseph priced £20.00. This year is Lesley’s 25^th anniversary year in publishing.

Twenty-three-year-old Katy Speed has always been fascinated by the house across the street . . .

The woman who lives there, Gloria, is the most glamorous neighbour on the avenue, owning a fashionable dress shop in Bexhill-on-Sea. But who is the woman who arrives in the black car most Saturdays while Gloria is at work? Sometimes she brings women to the house, and other times the women come with children.

Hilda, Katy's mother, disapproves of Gloria. She wonders where these mysterious visitors have come from, and what they want. Does Gloria have sinister reasons for secretly bringing strangers into the heart of the community?

Then one night, the house burns down. In the wreckage, the bodies of Gloria and her daughter are found. Katy is sure the unexplained strangers must be responsible, until her father is arrested and charged with murder.

Surely the police have arrested the wrong person?

Is the rest of the street safe?

Can Katy find the truth before it's too late?

Katy Speed is a young woman growing up in what seems like a sleepy town, Bexhill-on-Sea, and like a lot of young women in the 60s wants to explore a new way of life with the new fashions and modern attitudes of London.

The only thing standing in her way is her mother, Hilda, who really seems like a very cold fish of a mother and not at all pleasant, and Katy feels too much loyalty to her kind and downtrodden father to leave.

The woman across the street, Gloria Reynolds, fascinates Katy. She is glamorous and mysterious, and owns her own dress shop. Katy is intrigued by the woman who visits Gloria in the black car, sometimes on her own, or with other women and she wonders what exactly Gloria does.

One night there's a devastating fire in Gloria's house that sees her and her daughter brought out in body bags the next day. Katy is devastated, so is her father which Katy and her mother both find a little odd, until her father is arrested for the murder of Gloria.

Katy is convinced he didn't do it and is determined to find out who did and clear her father's name - especially as her mother is adamant he can rot in jail. 

This all happens at a time when Katy and best friend Jilly are mid-move to London to start their new life, but Katy uses this to her advantage to further her investigations into the stranger that visited Gloria and proving her father's innocence, but she doesn't realise the dangerous territory she's entering into until it's too late.

As always I adored this offering from Lesley Pearse. It was filled with tension, intrigue and definitely kept me turning the pages with it's punchy pace.

The character of Katy is filled with tenacity, as I always find Pearse's protagonists - I love a good, strong female lead, and her determination and quick wit keeps her going through the toughest scenario imaginable.

The family dynamics explored are interesting and I was sad to read the reasoning behind Hilda, Katy's mums, strange and cold behaviour, and was pleased by the ending.

As always the book and plot were wrapped up beautifully, and shows yet again that Pearse really is a master of her craft.

Thank you for another wonderful book, Lesley Pearse, and huge congratulations on this landmark in your career.

Read the tour stop I did on Lesley's #25in25 tour recently, with a fact about one of her novels...in this stop it was about the book Georgia. Lesley Pearse 25 in 25 tour 

Many thanks to Ed_pr for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.