It’s a few years now since I met author Bella Osborne at Romance in the Court – she was so thoroughly lovely (and excellent company) and I’m rather ashamed that it’s taken me this long to get round to trying her writing. But I’m delighted today to be joining the blog tour for the first part of her latest, Wildflower Park – Build Me Up Buttercup – published by Avon for kindle on 28th December. The other three parts will follow, with the complete book available in May. So just 90 pages, but packed with strong characters and a delightful story… my thanks to the publishers and netgalley for my advance reading copy.
Life’s not always a walk in the park…
When Anna is dumped by her fiancé, she moves in to her own place on the edge of the gorgeous Wildflower Park and pledges to stay off men and focus on her career, but a handsome new colleague seems to thwart her attempts at every turn. And when she receives an accidental text from a mystery man, could it be the new start she needs? Or someone she really shouldn’t be falling for?
Anna’s neighbour Sophie is a stressed-out mum-of-two with a third on the way. Her husband is a constant frustration, and their children are a regular source of newly-invented swear words and unidentifiable sticky surfaces.
Luckily, Anna and Sophie have each other – and Wildflower Park proves to be a sanctuary as they map out a path to find the happiness they both deserve…
Fantastically funny, this irresistibly heart-warming novel will charm fans of Milly Johnson and Jill Mansell.
The first thing I must mention is that I was so impressed by the way this book was written – the comedic moments sparkle, the dialogue cracks and fizzles, there’s a warmth around the emotional content, and the characters are really wonderfully drawn. I really enjoyed Anna’s friendship with Sophie – and I particularly loved the whole storyline around Maurice the cat and his former owner. Anna’s ex, Liam, shows his true colours for the umpteenth time, and the texts from a mystery man are a lovely touch, adding to the possibilities of Anna finding a happy ending. The only thing that I didn’t like quite as much was that there’s a fairly major focus on the world of work, and that’s rather a distant memory for me – although I must admit there was much I recognised about the conference call complete with individuals joining and leaving and the barking dog!
I’ll confess that I’m not the world’s biggest fan of the new trend of releasing books in episodes, each part ending in a cliffhanger – I find the whole experience a teeny bit frustrating, and I’d far prefer to sit down and read a whole book. But I know the author’s books are often released in this way, to the delight of her many fans – and I could see quite clearly why they keep coming back for more. This maybe just wasn’t quite the right book for me – but I really did like the writing, and I’ll certainly look forward to trying another by the author. But maybe a whole one next time…
With apologies, I’ve just noticed that my Twitter ID on the blog tour poster is incorrect – but here it is, so you can follow all the other stops…
About the author
Bella has been jotting down stories as far back as she can remember but decided that 2013 would be the year that she finished a full length novel. In 2016, her debut novel, It Started At Sunset Cottage, was shortlisted for the Contemporary Romantic Novel of the Year and RNA Joan Hessayon New Writers Award.
Bella’s stories are about friendship, love and coping with what life throws at you. She likes to find the humour in the darker moments of life and weaves these into her stories. Her novels are often serialised in four parts ahead of the full book publication.
Bella believes that writing your own story really is the best fun ever, closely followed by talking, eating chocolate, drinking fizz and planning holidays.
She lives in The Midlands, UK with her lovely husband and wonderful daughter, who thankfully, both accept her as she is (with mad morning hair and a penchant for skipping).
For more about Bella, visit her website at or follow her on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Welcome back, Anne. A grest review to kick off your blogging. Happy New Year.