A real pleasure today to be joining the blog tour and sharing my review of On a Falling Tide by Georgia Hill. Published for kindle in November 2019 by BLKDOG publishing, it’s available via Amazon in the UK and US (available via KU too), and is also in paperback and other major e-book formats (all details on the publisher’s website). My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the author for my reading e-copy.
I was so delighted when I saw this book was touring – just for once, I’d totally taken my eye off the ball and missed publication entirely. Way back in January 2016, I was thrilled to discover Georgia’s dual-time historical writing with While I Was Waiting – you’ll find my review here. Since then, I’ve rather neglected her: mind you, I’m sure I’d probably have enjoyed her romcoms too, Millie Vanilla’s Cupcake Cafe and The Little Book Cafe. But “two haunting love stories” is really much more my personal cup of tea, and this was a book I was rather looking forward to…
Two women. Connected by heartbreak, separated in time. Can Charity save the man she loves, or will Lydia’s vengeful spirit prove too strong?
Two haunting love stories and a hundred and fifty-year-old curse …
When the beloved grandfather who brought her up dies, Charity is left struggling to cope. Alone and rootless, she’s drawn to the sleepy fishing village of Beaumouth near Lyme Regis and begins to research her family tree. A chance encounter with attractive boat-builder Matt sparks a chain of mysterious and unsettling events and leads Charity to uncover the story of a young girl who lived in the village over a hundred years before.
In 1863 all Lydia Pavey wants to do is follow in Mary Anning’s footsteps and become a ‘fossilist.’ Instead, she is being forced into marriage to a man she barely knows.
Charity’s obsession with Lydia becomes all-consuming and she risks losing everything. With a longed-for family tantalisingly in reach, will Charity find the happy ever after she’s yearned for and, most importantly, can she save the man she loves?
You’ll know I unfailingly enjoy a well-handled time slip story, and I certainly enjoyed this one. In the present day story there’s a heroine you take to your heart in Charity, damaged and fragile, rebuilding her life while staying on the Jurassic coast, finding a new support network and the possibility of a rather lovely new relationship.
The secondary characters are excellent too – her close friend, the jealous ex, the pub landlady, the elderly historian, the young man at the museum – all fully three-dimensional (even the wonderful dogs!) and adding real depth and interest to the story.
The time slip is triggered both by location and a “find” on the beach (after a particularly dramatic moment), and the story becomes richly atmospheric – a tale of a curse, bitterness and revenge, tense and threatening at times – as we discover the life of Lydia back in Georgian times, struggling with its expectations and within its constraints.
I will confess to a marginal preference for the present day story – although the glimpses of Lydia’s life were particularly well done, and I really liked the transitions, I thought they sometimes slowed the pace a little – but I did particularly like the way Charity became obsessed with seeing the events of the past through to conclusion, whatever the risks involved for herself and others.
It really is a compelling read, great story-telling with a wonderfully drawn location, moments of high drama, plenty of chilling episodes, two strong and convincing love stories, and the threads expertly interwoven throughout. And I must add that I loved its conclusion, quite perfectly done – but I won’t tell you any more, you really do need to discover it for yourself.
Giveaway
With thanks to Georgia and Rachel, I’m delighted to offer one lucky reader the chance to win paperback copies of both On a Falling Tide and While I Was Waiting (open to UK & Ireland). Here’s the rafflecopter for entry:
Terms and Conditions UK & Ireland entries welcome. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
About the author
Georgia Hill writes best-selling romcoms and historical fiction with romance at the heart. Although she writes in two genres, they have more in common than you might think; she puts serious issues into her romcoms and lots of humour into her historical novels. She lives by the sea in the south west of England with her two beloved dogs – a spaniel and a delinquent cockapoo puppy, her husband (also beloved and not at all delinquent) and a ghost called Zoe. She loves Jane Austen, elephants, Belgian chocolate (all donations gratefully received) and Strictly Come Dancing.
Her stories come from everywhere and anything, so be careful what you tell her as you may end up in a book. She also finds inspiration in the folklore and history of the many places in which she’s lived. To put it politely, she’s had a portfolio career having worked in the theatre, for a charity and as a teacher and educational consultant before giving in and finally acknowledging that making up things was what she really wanted to do. She has a nasty addiction to moving house but is trying to overcome this. After one house move too many, she lost all her notebooks and decided to stop talking about writing and actually do some. She’s been happily creating believably flawed heroines, intriguing men and page-turning stories ever since.
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