Book-Mad-Mum

  This book has been one of my favourite reads in a long, long time. I am a massive fan of Michelle Frances’ books having read all but two of hers but this one just knocked everything else out of the park! When Nancy and Lara move to a new village buying a big house, they could be accused of drawing attention to themselves when in fact all Nancy wants to do is to give her asthmatic daughter the chance of a less polluted lifestyle in a rural setting. They just want to blend in and become part of village life, however, the other residents have different ideas. On Lara's first day at her new school, they both realise that “fitting in” is going to be quite a challenge especially when she is later accused of trying to drown another child at a birthday party. This is when the bitching and backstabbing of the “mummy mafia” on the class Whats App group goes into full throttle and other people get drawn into the drama. As someone whose primary school life was made miserable by a bully t

  Esme has run The Willows guest house for as long as anyone in Ballycove can remember, but as her eye sight fails and she has a fall just before the start of the summer season she is forced to sit back for the first time in her life and let her friend Marta take charge. From her chair in the entry hall, not much passes Esme by and she shares her pearls of wisdom with the guests who are staying for many different reasons. There's Cora, the wife visiting indefinitely... without her husband; Niamh, the city professional with a life-changing decision to make; and Phyllie, the grandmother whose family is slipping away from her. Esme's guests provide the colour that helps her keep her grip on the world. All of them have something they want to escape – or to hold on to. But Esme can help them find their way before the summer is over? Although Ballycove is a fictional coastal village in Ireland, this story took me right back to my childhood holidays in Ireland with my family and

  Beca left her hometown in Pembrokeshire as a teenager because she was sick of everyone knowing her business and she moved to the “big smoke” to seek her fortune. Returning to her hometown many years later Beca buys a farmhouse from the proceeds of her successful cleaning company, with plans to foster children so that she can give them a taste of the countryside. Picking up where she left her friendship with her best friend Griff, Becca starts to put her plans in action. When she makes a visit into town, she is saddened to see that the Icecream café once owned by her grandparents has now been sold to her nemesis Ed Wilde who has turned it into a coffee shop.   Jo Thomas’ books always feature fantastic scenery, glorious food and a love story to die for and this book certainly doesn’t disappoint!