I am delighted to share my review for The Southern Belles by Katie Simpkins. This is the fist book in The Brighton Belles series and it was one I really enjoyed.

My thanks to Emma at damppebbles Blog Tours for my spot on the tour and for arranging my e-copy of the book.

Ley me show you what it is all about…

Not Just Any Old Riches to Rags Story.

Heiresses, Evelyn, Georgia and Olivia Belle, nicknamed The Southern Belles by the tabloid press, have everything they’ve ever wanted. Then, suddenly, on Evelyn’s 30th birthday, their father dies in a tragic road traffic accident, leaving a massive hole in his business’ finances. With the world’s media, and the National Crime Agency looking on, their family home, cars and all other assets are sold at auction, leaving the sisters penniless, homeless and jobless.

Shunned by their celebrity friends, the Belle sisters must learn to fend for themselves for the first time in their lives. Evelyn, the eldest, knows how dire their situation is, and asks their father’s solicitor, who has kindly paid for their first two months’ rent on a rat-infested bedsit in Brighton, to look into their Father’s case, while they hunt for jobs to make ends meet, which inadvertently leads to them meeting new guys, falling in love, and learning along the way that the world doesn’t owe them a favour, and that money doesn’t buy you happiness.

This was such a good book to read after several darker or more serious books that I had been reading. The Southern Belles is a book that was a lighter read but one that also had some more serious aspects to it.

The Southern Belles is a riches to rags story that deals with making the most out of what you have got. The Belles are 3 sisters Evelyn, Georgia and Olivia Belle who are still reeling after the death of their father. When the reading of his will shows some worrying financial irregularities. These see the girls being kicked out of their home with very little money.

The story is about how the sisters deal with life in the real world. No celebrity friends, no spotlights, no yachts or high-life parties. The decisions they make from now on are based on what they can afford.

The old friends soon ignore them, well most of them do. There is one however who takes every chance she gets to have a dig, try to belittle and laugh when ever she can.

The sisters soon realise that they have to take opportunities where they can and find they have talents and abilities. They all find jobs and it seems that luck is on their side. Each sister is very different and family is the key to all their decisions. Some of these decisions will be tougher than others.

Through the story I quickly grew to like the girls and how they were different to how I expected them to be. They are not the stuck up rich girls I was expecting.

The story takes some surprising turns as I read about their successes, failures and also their love lives. Their is a goodromantic theme to this story as well as other topics.

It was an easy book to disappear into and I really enjoyed it. It has set the scene very well for more books in The Brighton Belles series.

If you are a fan of heartwarming stories that have a romantic feel as well as dealing with changes in life-style then this is a book you should consider picking up. I am looking forward to reading more in this series and I would definitely recommend it.

Katie Simpkins is the pseudonym for 42 year old dental technician Duncan Brockwell, from a town near Brighton, called Burgess Hill. Duncan works at Elite Dental Studios in his hometown during the day, and writes in his spare time. He is the author of The Southern Belles, his debut novel. Since writing The Belles, he has completed a further four novels, the first sequel to the Belles, The Varndean Vixens, two crime dramas, Blood Bunker and Blood Lust, a horror novel, Hellingly, set in an abandoned mental asylum, and is currently writing his first action / adventure called Trailblazer, set in the American Midwest in 1976, about an aging country singer who is being pursued  by the mob, the FBI and a nutty sheriff, while on tour with his band and getting to know his estranged daughter, Nancy. He is also attempting to write a comedy TV series script for The Southern Belles for a producer at Voyage Media.

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