Tag Archives: Georgia Hill

THREE CHRISTMAS AND A SUMMER BOOK REVIEWS

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The Christmas Love Letters by Sue Moorcroft, reviewed by Morton S Gray

Classic Sue Moorcroft.

I enjoyed being back in Nelson’s Bar, Norfolk reading about Ruthie, Maddy and Raff. A Christmas novel with twists and turns in the present and the revelation of secrets from the past too as Ruthie shares her treasured love letters.

A romance between Maddy and Raff seems inevitable, as they help Ruthie heal wounds from her past, until Maddy receives a message about her own mystery and the world changes.

Sue Moorcroft has a skill of carrying you along with a story and leaving you wanting for more.

A story to tug at your heart strings.

The Recipe for Hope by Fiona Valpy, reviewed by Jane Cable

I fancied a Christmas story, and for me this one was close to perfect. For a start it’s a novella, just a touch in under two hundred pages, and for a relatively simple festive romance it doesn’t need to be any more. And the cast of characters is small, and yet still a community is created for Evie to fall into when she escapes to France to avoid Christmas.

What really made this book stand out for me was the way I almost instantly slipped inside Evie’s heart and mind, and cared about her. I finished the book hours ago, and still she’s with me. On top of that, the customs and settings of rural south west France are described so beautifully, and with love. As is the food. The icing on the cake was a proper, real world, grown up ending. Five stars from me any day of the week.

New Beginnings at Christmas Tree Cottage by Georgia Hill, reviewed by Morton S Gray

A great read that will have you thinking about Christmas and maybe buying Baileys!

I loved reading this book, which was a complete tonic in a stressful time for me. I always say that a book that can produce an emotional reaction is a good book and this one produced not one, not two, but three heart affecting scenes that had me thinking and reaching for the tissues. A cosy read, but with serious underlying themes of starting again after loss.

The characters are likeable and relatable, particularly Jago, trying to be the responsible son and brother, whilst nursing his own demons and heartaches, Honor, the primary school teacher with a big venerable heart and the amazing vicar, Verity, who is mad on ABBA. Merryn is a very wise little girl beyond her years. Georgia Hill weaves her story around community of Lullbury Bay, with each person living there having a distinct role and backstory. It sounds like somewhere I would enjoy living. I’d even take part in the yarn bombing brigade!

Highly recommended to get you in the mood for Christmas.

Secrets of the Shell Sisters by Adrienne Vaughan, reviewed by Jessie Cahalin

Magical tale of secrets, second chances and sisterhood

Set on Ireland’s ancient east coast, the Morgan sisters are in crisis. Cassandra runs the family hotel and it’s struggling, as secrets from her past threaten to resurface making things worse. Greer is fleeing a failed relationship with a powerful man, but if she returns will she stay? And then there’s Orla – fey, funny and mysterious – insisting messages from the shells must heeded or what will become of them all?

Returning to Rosshaven was a delight, especially as this story, while fresh and original, is cleverly intertwined with characters from the first book, Summer of Secrets.

A beautifully written tale of relationships, lost love and second chances, laced through with a touch of Irish magic – so deftly delivered it feels as natural as the sea itself.

This is romantasy at its best and I loved it.  

CARIADS’ CHOICE: AUGUST 2022 BOOK REVIEWS

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Phil Rickman’s The Fever of the World reviewed by Georgia Hill

This is book 16 in the Merrily Watkins series featuring a beleaguered vicar and “Deliverance Consultant” – or exorcist – and set in the Welsh Marches. There’s a mysterious rockfall death, an examination of Wordsworth and his experiences as a young man in the Wye Valley, the odd Druid (a very odd Druid) and it’s all wrapped around with Covid’s cold, clammy hand. Phil has a cult-like following (I’m one) and his Merrily books are a fabulous and impossible to categorise mix of crime, the supernatural and folklore. Go read!

 

Jen Gilroy’s The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls reviewed by Jane Cable

I’ve been meaning to read this book for a long time and I enjoyed it so much I’m disappointed with myself for putting it off. It was absolutely delightful to escape to a small town community in the Adirondacks, the kind of place I suspect many of us have a secret hankering to live.

Jen Gilroy draws both the people and the place so beautifully, even the most minor of characters come alive in her skilled hands. I was pulled into Annie and Seth’s stories from the moment we meet them both. I knew they both had journeys to take and I knew how those journeys would end, but that’s the point of romantic fiction, isn’t it? No huge surprises, but a really interesting and emotional story that felt as though it was about real people. A place and a time to lose myself in with characters who become to feel like friends.

Not trying to be anything fancy, this is feelgood romance at its best.

 

Faith Hogan’s The Gin Sisters Promise reviewed by Morton S Gray

I loved Faith Hogan’s novel The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club and that was what attracted me to this title. Having finished this one, I’m off to find her other books.

A story full of love, pathos, family misunderstandings, secrets and laughter. Initially I wondered if I would cope with the three sisters’ storylines, but I soon became absorbed in their lives, loves and losses.

The book made me think about legacies and the family tangles and feuds we get into over the years.

I wanted each of the sisters to get their happy ever after and it seems their father did too. Definitely a thought-provoking novel which made me experience a wide variety of emotions from laughter to tears. Highly recommended.

 

Clare Marchant’s The Mapmakers Daughter reviewed by Kitty Wilson

Probably my favourite book of the year so far. Both timelines fully held my attention and I loved both Frieda and Robyn’s stories. Clare Marchant’s writing is so skilled that she takes you deep into the heart of Tudor London, all the senses stimulated and I really felt if I was there, hearing, seeing, smelling all that was going on around her characters. The detail she weaves though is not merely evocative, her books are so well researched that I learn things that I did not before and she always makes me want to dive into further research the minute I finish reading.

Her writing is taut and deftly woven, everything moves the story on, informs the reader and weaves together a truly spellbinding story. The jeopardy she creates had me gasp out loud, my heart pounding with fear – all whilst safely tucked up in my own bed, such is the skill with which she writes. Honestly, I thought this book was flawless and I suspect it will remain one of my favourites for years to come. Absolute perfection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CARIADS’ CHOICE: APRIL 2022 BOOK REVIEWS

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Pamela Hartshorne’s Time’s Echo, reviewed by Georgia Hill

What a fabulous read! Itchy-footed Grace goes to York to sort out a house that has been left to her. She’s immediately drawn into the story of Hawise who lived in the city over 400 hundred years before and who met a tragic end. There are twists and turns galore, some truly evil baddies, a theme of drowning which is cleverly explored and some gentle romance. The Tudor details are assured and you just know Pamela really knows her history. It’s all concluded in magnificent style. I absolutely loved it and, for me, it ranks with books from the mistress of the timeslip, Barbara Erskine.

 

Carol Thomas’ A Summer of Second Chances reviewed by Jane Cable

A genuinely heart-warming book, full of wonderful  characters, both human and animal, at times I actually laughed out loud.

But at the core of this book is a gorgeous love story . When Henry returns to Dapplebury on his father’s death he hopes he will meet the girl he left behind. But with so much water under the bridge, will his childhood sweetheart Ava give him a second chance? Will her protective friends even let her?

What I especially loved is that every character, however small their part, is beautifully drawn which made the village come alive around the story. Definitely recommend as a book to curl up with.

 

Carol Drinkwater’s The House on the Edge of the Cliff, reviewed by Jessie Cahalin

The House on the Edge of the Cliff had me on the edge of my seat throughout the narrative. The contrast between Grace as a teenager and as an older woman is wonderful: innocence and experience are artfully conveyed with layers and layers of emotions.

I loved the excitement the frenzied Paris Riots that opens doors to Grace, but the wild beauty of Provence lured me and Grace. I stepped into the mesmerising blue of the sea and the sky.

‘I was a girl climbing out of a closed box for the first time, happening upon a sky that was not blue but BLUE, vigorously tinted, fervently, thrilling blue.’

The novel moved clearly from the past and the present and tension clattered along at great speed.  I longed to discover the truth of the secret Grace and Peter buried long ago. Tempting ripples of tension dropped into the novel, but my assumptions crashed on the rocks.  Wow!

Another tempting narrative from Carol Drinkwater.  The emotions and tension kept me on the edge of my seat.  And the beautiful tapestry of language did not disappoint.  I always enjoy travelling to France with Carol Drinkwater and engage with her characters.  A thrilling read!

 

Georgia Hill’s The Great Summer Street Party: Sunshine and Cider Cake, reviewed by Morton S Gray

I loved the characters in this book, which made me want them all to have happy outcomes. Berecombe definitely sounds like somewhere I would like to live and be part of the community. I would no doubt spend a lot of time in Millie Vanilla’s café if I did. (I was excited to realise that there are other books set in this fictional village and will definitely be reading those too).

Who doesn’t love a heroine with a past to battle and overcome like Ashley? A nice light uplifting read that was perfect distraction for me when I was recently unwell. The living history project aspect of this book was of great interest to me. I now have to go and buy part two of this story as I am intrigued to find out what happens to Ashley, Eddie and of course the backstory of Ruby and Chet.

Lovely read.

 

 

 

 

 

CARIADS’ CHOICE: FEBRUARY 2022 BOOK REVIEWS

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Paula Brackston’s The Little Shop of Found Things reviewed by Georgia Hill

Paula Brackston’s The Little Shop of Found Things appealed straightaway. Xanthe and her mother escape a troubled past to open an antiques shop. Xanthe is able to ‘read’ objects and a silver chatelaine reaches out to her with its story. She is compelled to travel back in time to 1605 in order to solve a cruel injustice. Paula throws a lot into the book: time travel, psychometry, antiques knowledge, ley lines, some gentle romance and a truly terrifying ghost. The depiction of the turbulent early seventeenth century is gritty and unflinching in all its misogynistic, violent glory and some parts of the book aren’t for the faint-hearted. The historical detail is superb, and the writing is richly detailed. I galloped through it. Recommended, especially if you are interested in early seventeenth century history.

 

Amanda James’ A Secret Gift reviewed by Jane Cable

Now who can resist a bit of Cornish magic? I certainly can’t but when Amanda James’ heroine, Joy, is first given the secret gift she really thinks she can. But meeting a young homeless man on the verge of suicide changes that, and begins to change Joy too.

This is a colourful book with an engaging cast of characters and a Cornwall I recognise. And as a resident of the county, that is a rare thing to find. It’s a place where real people live, and for me that gave the story a fantastic grounding, an effective counterpoint to the mystical, magical elements. But hey, this is Cornwall after all, so they could very well be real too. Read it and find out.

 

Emily Blaine’s The Bookshop of Forgotten Dreams reviewed by Angela Petch

Like eating whole bars of chocolate with whipped cream, I read this book as a kind of guilty pleasure. But how ridiculous is that attitude?

We all need love stories brimming with frisson and impossibility. And as an author, having a heroine who “thought about books every minute of the day… and talked about them just as much…”, who owns a quirky bookshop in a little town in France, and is a feisty heroine, … what’s not to like? She wraps books up as little mysteries and sells them as little temptations. I want to go to her town and buy several.

Enter the dastardly hero – a man who is a film idol, a heart throb, “the mad dog of the movies…” unstable with a fiery temper – is masterful – but a bit too much… and who is exiled to Sarah’s town by legal requirement.  Will 1 + 1 = 2??? Highly unlikely. Sarah thinks of men as “a little bit like heights. I knew they existed, and they fascinated me, but as soon as I got anywhere near them, vertigo would throw me so off balance…”.

It’s a steamy book – oo la la! I had to fan my heaving bosom several times and it’s very enjoyable. A glorious escape.

 

Georgia Hill’s On a Falling Tide reviewed by Natalie Normann

This is my first book by Georgia Hill, and it won’t be the last. I absolutely loved this book, and couldn’t put it down. It’s a dual time line story, following Lydia in 1863 and Charity in the present. The changes between the two time periods works seamlessly. The story kept surprising me. Every time I thought I had figured out what was going on, there was another twist, and I did not see the last one coming at all. That’s some seriously good writing. Highly recommend this book.

 

 

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES’ READING ROUND UP: APRIL

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Kitty:

Firstly, I thoroughly enjoyed The Cottage in a Cornish Cove, a romantic comedy set in Cornwall and written by a fellow Sister Scribe. Cass Grafton’s descriptions of the county made me feel as I were home, I could see Polkerran beautifully in my mind and the descriptions of community were so well done that I could hear the characters calling to each other as they made their way around the village. Her gentle humour is woven throughout and I was genuinely willing the hero and the heroine together.  I particularly loved how she starts each chapter with a quote from classic romances with each one giving a snippet of what we can expect from the chapter.

I picked up expecting The Charm Bracelet by Ella Allbright a romance and what I got was so much more. The concept behind this novel, the charm bracelet with each charm marking a major event in, and telling the story of, Jake and Leila’s lives, is fabulous. I fell in love with Jake from the very first page and absolutely adored the way his character developed from boy to adult and was willing the relationship on with my whole being. There is however a twist to this tale and this was what made the book so special for me. The author has turned my heart inside out and this story will stay with me for a long time.  Highly recommended.

 

Jane:

First this month my reading took me to Dorset and the Jurassic coast around Lyme Regis. Georgia Hill’s timeslip On a Falling Tide had some lovely comments made about it by other authors I thought I should try it for myself.

The book travels between the 1860s, where Lydia wants no more than to be a fossil hunter but is expected to marry to further her uncle’s business interests, and the present day where Charity is searching for her roots following her grandfather’s death. The two women are linked by an ammonite Charity finds on the beach, but as the story unfolds what binds  them together runs far deeper than that. To say more would give away too much of the story, but Georgia Hill has created a fantastically malevolent ghost – and a heart warming love story – all rolled into one.

I was looking for a proper comfort read when I was reminded I hadn’t read any of Sue McDonagh’s romances by seeing the gorgeous new cover for her third book. Sue is a proper creative all rounder – she’s an artist as well as a writer so paints her own cover images.

I decided to go back to the beginning so downloaded Summer at The Art Café. The premise is wonderful; Lucy wins a gorgeous motorbike in a raffle and despite – or maybe because of – her husband’s disapproval, she decides to learn to ride it and in the process finds so much more than just the freedom of the roads.

What I loved the most about this book is that the characters settle under your skin without you noticing – they are all so effortlessly real, and that is a true gift. From bike instructor Ashley, to his six year old daughter, to Lucy’s best friends at the café, they all rang true and their journeys were convincing. For me the icing on the cake was that the book is set in my native South Wales, but it would be a delightful read for anyone who enjoys a satisfying romance.

 

My Writing Process – Georgia Hill

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Huge thanks to Jane Cable for inviting me! I write romance – romcoms and historical. I live on the Dorset coast with my two beloved dogs (a sprocker and a delinquent cockapoo puppy) my husband (also beloved but not at all delinquent) and a ghost called Zoe. I love Jane Austen, elephants and Strictly Come Dancing. I’m also a complete museum geek and find inspiration for my writing from the folklore and history of the many places in which I’ve lived.

I’ve worked in the theatre, for a charity and as a teacher and educational consultant before finally acknowledging that making up things was what I really wanted to do. I’ve been very happily living in a fictional world ever since.

My writing

I began writing professionally in 2009, have had 6 novels published, a volume of short stories and have also written short stories for magazines. 

My writing process

I used to walk the dogs, then write throughout the day. Nowadays I find being glued to a screen for too long makes my eyes gritty and my shoulders stiff. I’m far more likely to write for an hour, put some washing in, write some more, make a cup of tea – you get the picture. I’m always thinking about the work in progress, so even when I’m not at the keyboard, I’m wondering about my characters. They become very real. There’s a certain amount of promo on social media to fit in too. Luckily I enjoy that.

Planner or ‘pantser’?

I’m a convert to planning – reluctantly! Using Post-its, I brainstorm the story, working backwards from the end listing the main plot points. Those are written up into bullet points as a crib sheet. This guides me through the story and avoids the ‘what was going to happen next?’ issue. However, characters often take on a life of their own and the crib sheet has to be rewritten as it’s scribbled over so much. If I’m writing one of my dual narratives, I have to plan out more carefully and often end up writing a chapter by chapter synopsis to help me keep track. Helps with the edits too.

Word count?

I keep a tally on the crib sheet when writing the very ‘dirty’ first draft. I tend to write that quickly and usually add about 20,000 words during the second draft so I usually know where I’m going.

Structure?

I have the three act structure in mind and occasionally have even been known to apply it! Instinct guides me more.

What’s hard about writing?

I love writing the first draft. It’s very rough and, as I’m not a skilled typist, has lots of strange typos and very little punctuation. I’m strong on dialogue so the first draft is often little more than that – with ADD DETAIL written in lots of places for the second! I love telling myself the story, which is why I’m a reluctant planner – I like to see where the characters are going to take me. Once their story is told, I lose interest and have to force myself to do the next round of edits – that’s when, for me, the hard work begins.

My advice to other writers

Keep abreast of social media, especially Twitter; you can pick up current trends, tips and useful features. Develop a writing community but choose your writing pals wisely and build up trust; they can be your most valued supporters. Read widely and often. Take a notebook absolutely everywhere. Do your research. And develop a very thick skin!

Links

www.georgiahill.co.uk

Facebook georgiahillauthor

Twitter @georgiawrites

Instagram @georgiahill5681