🎄 Book Review ~ A Skye Full of Stars by Sue Moorcroft

 

Avon Books Uk
7 November 2024
Skye Sisters #2

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

Under the winter stars, anything is possible…

Ezzie Wynter can’t wait for Christmas on the beautiful Isle of Skye. Her island home sparkles at this time of year thanks to the snow-capped mountains and frosty winter walks, topped off with family gatherings with those she loves the most.

But her peaceful Christmas idyll is upended when she hears that the Larson family – the owners of Rothach Hall – are flying in from Sweden for the festivities. As Manager of their grand Scottish manor house, Ezzie suddenly has decorations to hang, food to source and itineraries to organise.

Life only becomes more difficult when Mats Larson turns up. The owners’ handsome, self-assured son is used to doing things his own way – and he is only another headache to add to her overflowing list.

Yet when unexpected visitors arrive looking for Ezzie, nothing else matters as she is left questioning everything she ever knew about herself. But amidst the Christmas chaos, she might also discover that, when all is lost, it’s sometimes those we least expect who come to our aid...

🎄My Review…

This wonderfully festive story gets my Christmas reads off to a fine start as returning to the beautiful Isle of Skye in this second novel of the Skye Sisters trilogy has been a real delight.  

This novel focuses on Ezzie Wynter who is the newly appointed manager of Rothach Hall and together with her sister, Thea, the head gardener, we get a glimpse into the running of this delightful Scottish manor. When Ezzie receives the news that the Larsons, the Swedish owners of the property, are arriving earlier than expected for Christmas Ezzie is determined to prove to them just how efficiently she is managing everything but with the family’s arrival comes a set of problems for Ezzie and also the arrival of some unexpected visitors causes Ezzie to reconsider events from her past.

Whilst it would be perfectly possible to read this second book as a standalone, it does make sense to read Thea’s story in the first book as that way you get to understand the Wynter sisters and discover more about the owners of Rothach Hall and their place within the story. This one introduces us to Mats Larson, the eldest son of the family who, newly divorced, seems to have quite a lot going on in his personal life, which is in danger of spilling over into his time at Rothach Hall. There’s a nice blend of family time spent with the Larsons, along with delightful visits to places on the island and yet it is the burgeoning romantic relationship at its heart which makes this into something rather special. 

Both heartwarming, and heartfelt, A Skye Full of Stars is such a lovely read that I was quite disappointed when the story ended as I would have quite liked to have stayed at Rothach Hall for a wonderfully festive holiday. However, there is the tantalising delight of the third book in the trilogy to look forward to, when we will discover more about Valentina, the third of the Wynter sisters, who will definitely have another fascinating story to tell us. Can’t wait to read it…

About the Author

Sue Moorcroft is a Sunday Times bestselling author, and her novels have been #1 on Kindle UK and Top 100 on Kindle US, Canada and Italy. She writes two books a year for publishing giant HarperCollins and has won the Goldsboro Books Contemporary Novel of the Year, Readers’ Best Romantic Novel award, a HOLT Medallion and the Katie Fforde Bursary. She’s the president of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Her novels, short stories, serials, columns, writing ‘how to’ and courses have appeared around the world.

Review ~ Children of the Chieftain : Banished by Michael E. Wills

Silverwood Books
2015

Aimed at the young reader’s book market, Children of the Chieftain: Banished is a rollicking good story which continues the Viking trilogy which began with Children of the Chieftain: Betrayed. The story opens where the first book left off and follows the exciting adventures of a group of intrepid young people who lives have been irreversibly changed by the Viking raid on their small town on the Isle of Birches in Birka, which is now in modern day Sweden.  In this second story, one of their friends has been captured and sold into slavery in the land of the Rus and the children of the old chieftain, who we first met in Betrayed, set out to do all they can to liberate one of their own people.

What draws me, an adult reader, into these Viking adventures is the fine attention to detail which the author instils into his novels. There is certainly no compromise on detail for a younger reading audience who, I am sure, will find much to enjoy in this thrilling story. Thriving on exciting historical content, this ancient world is wonderfully recreated and is filled with characters who are always believable, not always likeable, but who, collectively, add a real sense of authenticity to a story which abounds with excitement, danger and a real sense of adventure.

I am sure that those readers like me, who have followed the children of the chieftain from the beginning, will find much to enjoy in this continuation and will, by the end of the story, be looking eagerly towards book three, and the conclusion of the story, which is expected in Children of the Chieftain: Bounty.

Younger readers may need help with some of the terminology used and for those readers who are not familiar with Viking vocabulary there is an interesting and helpful glossary at the end of the book which explains some of the terms used in daily life.

Best read with ...wooden cups of ice cold stream water and line caught fish cooked over a wood fire..

About the Author

Find Michael on his website

Follow him on Twitter @MWillsofSarum

Buy on Amazon UK

Read a sample chapter from Children of the Chieftain : Banished 

My thanks to Michael for sharing his book with Jaffareadstoo

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Happy Publication Day ~ The Diamond Ring By Primula Bond

Avon
22 May 2014

Fans of Gustav and Serena who have followed this series from the very beginning will not be disappointed in this third and final piece of the trilogy jigsaw puzzle which opens where book two ended. Gustav and Serena are completely wrapped up, quite literally, in each other and their sensuous appeal really knows no bounds, and yet like a blot on their intimate landscape is Gustav's ex wife, Margot, who is determined to do all that she can to sever the unbreakable connection between these two captivating lovers.

In many ways this final piece of the trilogy has a darker edge to it. There are episodes of anger, deception and betrayal and times when the unbreakable bond between Gustav and Serena is tested to its absolute limit. And yet, running through the story like a silken thread is the undeniable passion that they have for each other and the hope that in the end good will overcome pure evil. As always, the author captures the erotic world of opulent desire and takes the reader on a tumultuous journey, from the allure of Paris, through to the exotic world of the Moroccan souk, and with verve and panache skilfully manoeuvres the plot to its dramatic conclusion.

I'm not an avid reader of erotic fiction, not from any prudish sensibility, but more because I have never found an erotic novel with a story to capture my literary imagination. However, I am delighted to write that with this trilogy, I have been completely won over by the author’s passionate storytelling and have been enthralled in Gustav and Serena’s story from beginning to end.

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My thanks to Avon and Olivia at lightbrigade.co.uk for my e- copy of this book