I am delighted to share my review for one of the books on my #20booksofsummer reading list. A Cornish Summer by Catherine Alliot is one that I read at the begging of June, I really need to get caught up and publish my reviews.

So, what’s this one about…

Flora’s been in love with her husband for twenty years. The trouble is, he’s been married to someone else for the past fifteen . . . 

A summer on Cornwall’s sandy beaches sounds like the perfect getaway.

Except Flora finds she’ll be spending it with her former scheming mother-in-law, ex-husband and his new wife . . .

Can she survive the summer playing happy families?

Could a holiday romance help her finally get over her him?

And will stumbling on the family secret change her mind about them all?

If you like Fern Britton, Katie Fforde and Jill Mansell, you’ll love this irresistible summer read from the bestselling author of About Last Night and Wish You Were Here. 

Purchase from Amazon UK – Kindle – Paperback – Audiobook (these are affilliate links)

This is a book that has a slower more sedate pace to it, well that is until you get a lot further into it. Flora has been commissioned to paint her ex-father-in-laws portrait, though she is nervous about this she does need the money. Flora and her ex, Hugo, have a son, Peter, who is well provided for, Hugo’s family are wealthy, they have status and not all of them look down on Flora.

This is a book that starts with Flora making her way to the estate in Cornwall where she will paint the portrait. She is shocked when she arrives as there are more people there than she was expecting. This launches nicely back in time to when Flora was a teen and how she and Hugo got together. It then flows naturally up to the present day.

The story has quite a bit of description about the past, about the various characters and also Flora’s thoughts. The more I read the more I found myself disliking some characters, and had a suspicion of something being underhanded. This gave an intriguing edge to the story and also there was some unexpected turns of event.

It is a story of family and secrets, and these secrets are not revealed until later in the book. The author has taken a route and twisted things along the way. It has quite a few characters and they were introduced in such a way that I was able to keep up with who was who, and I soon began to work out who I liked or didn’t.

The story was quite engaging for the most part, though there were times where I wanted it to move on quicker as I felt impatient to discover what revelation was going to happen next. But the journey through this book was lovely and I did enjoy it a lot.

This is a story that would appeal to readers who like contemporary fiction with some really nice descriptions. One I would recommend.

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx