Book Review: One Last Summer by Victoria Connelly
Today it’s lovely to welcome Victoria Connelly and the blog tour for her latest novel, One Last Summer.
They have the whole summer ahead of them. Is it enough to rekindle the friendship they once shared?
Harriet Greenleaf dreams of spending the summer in a beautiful ancient priory on the Somerset coast with her two best friends—but her dream is bittersweet. On the one hand, it’s a chance to reconnect three lives that have drifted apart; on the other, she has a devastating secret to share that will change everything between them forever.
First to arrive is Audrey—the workaholic who’s heading for a heart attack unless she slows down and makes time for herself. Then Lisa, the happy-go-lucky flirt who’s always struggled to commit to anyone—or anything. Ever the optimist, can Harriet remind them of the joy in their lives and the importance of celebrating good friendship before it’s gone?
Through the highs and lows of a long, glorious summer, these three women will rediscover what it means to be there for each other—before they face the hardest of goodbyes.
Harriet, Harrie to her friends, books the Priory, a getaway in Somerset for six weeks.
She hopes that she can reconnect with her two oldest friends, Audrey and Lisa. Harrie holds a secret though, one she is not sure she’s ready to share.
Audrey is busy running her own school and is not taking the time for herself. Even when she arrives for the six-week holiday she has promised Harrie, she still can’t stop working.
Lisa has Yoga but isn’t really fulfilled by her day job.
One Last Summer is one of those novels that I knew from the first page was going to make me cry. And it did.
I immediately got very emotionally involved with all the characters. All three of these women have things they are needing to work through – work/life balance, getting older, mortality and relationships.
by 
Book Extract: The Stars in the Night by Clare Rhoden
A big lovely welcome to Clare Rhoden and the blog tour for her novel, The Stars in the Night.
Harry Fletcher is a confident young man, sure that he will marry Nora, no matter what their families say. He will always protect Eddie, the boy his father saved from the gutters of Port Adelaide.
Only the War to End All Wars might get in the way of Harry’s plans…
From the beaches of Semaphore to the shores of Gallipoli, the mud of Flanders to the red dust of inland South Australia, this is a story of love, brotherhood, and resilience.
Clare has shared an extract today.
***** beginning of extract*****
January 1921
The unrelenting summer was mute with loneliness, brutal with drought. Neighbours dropped by now and then,or nodded to Nora at church. There was nothing new to say. There was no news,or only delayed bad news. Not even bad news was special now. They all chewed the remnants of a shared disaster like a flash flood, with tales of more destruction coming in belatedly from outlying areas.
Like a flood, war’s effects were unpredictable and astonishing. Great gaps in the congregation showed where places had been saved, places no one would ever fill. No shadow of that lad’s life on the land; no body and no grave. Swept from sight and sense, and only words left in his place, the same words going around over and over again till even the words died somewhere else, robbed of the life they once had. Nora often found her mind wandering when she should have been listening. A month had passed since her father had sailed back to England, shaking off the financial disaster of his failed war investments. Nora began to fear that her future, too, held only longing and loss. Time perhaps to think about another life. But as each week melted into the next, she put off any decision.
At dusk on the last day of January, as the last bloody rays of sun flooded the long drive, she stepped onto the verandah. The eucalypts along the fence looked like petrified coral. Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight. Shepherds must like hot weather. She waited. The trees exhaled, freshening the air. The first creaking whisper of coolness teased the dust on the grass. The earth seemed to stretch and yawn. Insects jabbered at the coming night.
Nora leaned on the post, aware of the turning of time. Then she saw him coming down the drive, the strap of his swag crosswise on his chest. A self-willed, obstinate, lone merino ram, pride and despair of the flock, returning from the hill paddock in his own good time. Shepherdess’s delight. She nearly shouted his name. The next moment she realised that the waiting was over, that the future was here, and it frightened her. But it was her time.
by NK Chats To… Beth O’ Leary
Hi Beth, thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me about your book, The Flatshare and what inspired it?
Thank you so much for having me! The Flatshare is a story about two people who share a one-bed flat but don’t meet: one works nights, the other works regular hours. It was inspired by my own experiences of moving in with my boyfriend when he’d just started work as a junior doctor and was working lots of night shifts. We would go days on end without seeing one another – he’d get home from work just after I’d leave in the morning and vice versa, so we passed like ships in the night. It got me wondering what might happen if two strangers lived that way…
What’s your writing process like from idea to final draft?
For me, the basic concept is often what comes into my head first: in this case, two people sharing a bed but not meeting. The main characters come next, growing out of that: so here, I asked, why might two people be willing to do that? What sorts of people would they be?
I generally do a rough plan after that point, which features some key moments I want to happen in the novel, but then I rarely look at that plan again once I get writing. For me, first drafts tend to snowball – I write very quickly, almost with the sense that I’m trying to keep up with the story, and then when I hit the end of the book I go back and do a lot of work from that point onwards. The first draft gets the raw, emotional stuff down, the clay of the story – the second draft is all about shaping that into something.
Do you have any writing rituals and somewhere special you like to write?
Well, I wrote The Flatshare on my commute to and from work, so after a while that became my writing ritual – it took me ages to get used to writing full-time at a desk at home after that! I often listen to music while I write, and tend to create playlists for stories. These playlists are especially useful when I’m editing, because they get me back into the character’s heads even when I’m looking at the book more analytically.
by Novel Kicks Book Club: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Hello April.
Better still, hello to British Summer Time.
This month, the book club title is The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris.
This is a book I have been meaning to read for a while. As usual, I have posted a question below to start the discussion. If you’ve read this, I’d love to know what you think. If you haven’t, there is plenty of time to read it. Come join me in the comments below.
Anyone can take part in this book club and you can be in your favourite chair with a cup of tea.
About The Tattooist of Auschwitz:
I tattooed a number on her arm. She tattooed her name on my heart.
In 1942, Lale Sokolov arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for survival – scratching numbers into his fellow victims’ arms in indelible ink to create what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust.
by Kindle March Book Haul
HarperCollins, May 2019
There have been lots of great novels already released this year and plenty more on their way.
I am looking forward to reading many of these books. I wanted to do a book haul for titles that I have ready to read on my kindle.
The Furies by Katie Lowe sounds absolutely amazing.
In 1998, a sixteen-year-old girl is found dead on school property. Her body is dressed in white and posed on a swing. The cause of death is unknown.
There are four girls that know what’s happened. They’ve managed to keep their secret. Until now.
I don’t know why but I am getting a little bit of a Virgin Suicides vibe from this novel and I can’t wait to read it.
This is due to be released on 2nd May 2019.
Half a World Away is the new book by Mike Gayle. I have adored this man’s novels for many years and always get a little excited when he released a book.
Hodder & Stoughton, June 2019
HarperCollins, April 2019
The general summary of this novel is Kerry Hayes is a single mum, a cleaner, and is Mariah Carey’s biggest fan.
Nick is a successful Barrister. He has a wife, a daughter and has a big house in Primrose Hill.
These two are strangers who have nothing in common and who may as well be living worlds apart.
It wasn’t always this way. They are both about to discover who they really are.
The Rules of Seeing by Joe Heap is another book I am looking forward to reading. The cover is beautiful.
The release of the paperback is on 18th April. The basic story surrounds Jillian (Nova to all but her mother,) who has lived thirty-two years in the dark.
She is now learning to see. The sky is blue, and green and grey. A whole spectrum of colours that are as changeable as her mood.
The one thing she can see is that Kate is going to change her life forever even though they have only just met.
by Book Club
