The Seaside Affair Blog Tour: Review

A Seaside Affair by Fern Britton. 

We’re happy to welcome Fern to our blog today with her blog tour for her new novel, A Seaside Affair. 

The Blurb: 

When the residents of the Cornish seaside town of Trevay discover that their much-loved theatre is about to be taken over by coffee chain, Café au Lait, they are up in arms. It is up to Penny Leighton, hotshot producer and now happily married Cornish resident, to come up with a rescue plan. Armed with only her mobile phone and her contacts book, she starts to pull in some serious favours.

The town is soon deluged by actors, all keen to show their support and take part in a charity season at the theatre. One of the arrivals is Jess Tate, girlfriend to TV heartthrob Ryan Hearst. His career is on the rise while hers remains resolutely in the doldrums. But when opportunity comes calling, it isn’t just her career prospects that are about to change. Trevay is about to put on the show of its life – but can the villagers, and Jess, hold on to the thing they love the most?

This book was my introduction to Fern Britton’s novels and so I didn’t know what to expect. I did also read that there were recurring characters from her previous books but as I discovered, you don’t need to have read the previous novels to keep up with this one. All the old characters are reintroduced in a concise way without holding the plot up.

The book jumps between a few characters and most of the first half of the novel is spent developing them but I found all of them so different and interesting. I had my favourites (I have a soft spot for Ollie,) and I didn’t like characters like Ryan ( I actually wanted to slap him.) 

The story is maybe a little predictable but this novel has such a warmth and charm, I couldn’t put it down. I became attached to the characters and really wanted to know what happened at the end and I liked seeing how all the characters developed. The description of the town and setting painted such a lovely picture that I want to go visit it. 

This is perfect for a summer read if you’re planning a holiday or just afternoons reading in the garden. I loved it. 

A Seaside Affair is published by HarperCollins and is available in hardback and e-book. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.