Goodness, it’s been far too long since I reviewed one of Choc Lit‘s lovely books – their authors must think I’ve gone off them (don’t worry, I haven’t – I’ve just been a bit up to my eyes!). I’ve wanted to read a book from Angela Britnell for ages, and this tour came around at just the right time – One Summer in Little Penhaven was published for kindle on 21st May, available from Amazon in the UK and US, and also available as an audiobook and in other e-book formats.
And why was I tempted by this one? Because it looked so thoroughly lovely! My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation, and to the publishers for my advance reading copy.
Could one summer change your life?
When high-flying American lawyer Samantha Muir finds out she’s lost her partnership whilst on an assignment in London, she has a dramatic reaction.
Rather than returning home, she resigns, leaves her business suits behind and jumps on the first train to Cornwall at the encouragement of a friendly stranger.
The village of Little Penhaven, where Samantha eventually ends up, is a world away from her life in Knoxville, Tennessee – and local farmer Cadan Day is certainly a world away from any man she has met before.
But could the Cornish village and Cadan play a part in Samantha’s summer of self-discovery?
Every so often (ok, maybe very often, life’s been a bit like that recently!) there’s nothing I enjoy more than a lighter romance to escape into for an afternoon, and this book was everything I wanted it to be.
A Tennessee lawyer escaping from life and its disappointments, the attraction of a Cornish bad boy (or might he just be misunderstood?), their complicated and chaotic families, a village setting overflowing with the kind of quirky characters I love, a touch of crime and some well-timed Krav Magna (lest you wonder, it’s a self defence programme…), just enough simmering heat for my taste, a little Poldark, and lots of chocolate – what more can you possibly ask for?
The story’s just excellent, and so is the writing. The challenges to the happy ending I hoped for came thick and fast: the main characters certainly won my heart, and I really enjoyed their verbal sparring. And if you’re looking for a hot hero, with some real sadness in his past and a finger hovering over the self-destruct button, they really don’t come much better than Cadan.
The Cornish village where most of the book is set was beautifully done, and it was rather a nice change to be away from the coast – and I really liked the accident of fate that brings Sam into its heart, helping out at jumble sales, repairing kitchen cupboards and bleaching the bird bath.
This was such a lovely read – I very much enjoyed it…
Here are all the other stops on the blog tour…
About the author
Angela grew up in Cornwall, England and returns frequently from her new home in Nashville, Tennessee. A lifelong love of reading turned into a passion for writing contemporary romance and her novels are usually set in the many places she’s visited or lived on her extensive travels. After more than three decades of marriage to her American husband she’s a huge fan of transatlantic romance and always makes sure her characters get their own happy-ever-after. Over the last twelve years she’s been multi-published and sold over 25 novels. She also writes short stories for women’s magazines. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Romance Writers of America and the Music City Romance Writers.
If you’d like to find out more of what Angela gets up to (Advance warning: this may include references to wine, chocolate, Poldark and the hunky Aidan Turner) check out her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Thank you for the incredibly generous review, Anne and we clearly have the same taste in men and chocolate 🙂