I’m delighted today to be joining the blog tour for The Holiday Escape, the forthcoming book from Heidi Swain, and sharing my review – due for publication on 25th April by Simon & Schuster, it’s now available for pre-order in paperback, as an e-book on all major platforms, and as an audiobook. My thanks to Sara-Jade Virtue at @TeamBATC for the invitation, and to Harriett Collins for her help in securing my advance reading e-copy.
After taking far too long to discover her lovely writing, I think I can now very happily call myself a fully fledged Swainette. The Christmas books I read – 2022’s A Christmas Celebration (review here) and 2023’s That Festive Feeling (review here) were just entirely gorgeous. And as for last year’s standalone summer book, The Book-Lovers’ Retreat – it was just such a beautifully told story, filled with tears and laughter, love and very real friendship, a glorious Lakes setting, and the most wonderful character development as each individual discovered what would bring them happiness (you’ll find my review of that one here). And now, another standalone – and one I was really looking forward to…
Her dream holiday is his everyday life. His dream holiday is her normal life. What happens when they collide?
Ally and her dad, Geoff, run the family business, a creative retreat, from their home Hollyhock Cottage in picturesque Kittiwake Cove. They give their guests their dream break, but Ally hankers after glamourous city living, fancy restaurants and art galleries.
Ally’s survival strategy is to escape out of season, take a break abroad and pretend to be the person she always imagined she would be. She meets Logan while she’s away and he turns out to be exactly the kind of distraction she’s looking for.
With her spirits restored, Ally returns home, picks up the reins again and sets her sights on another successful season, but when Logan unexpectedly arrives on the scene, she soon realises she’s in for a summer that’s going to be far from straightforward…
A story about bringing a holiday home – and what happens when what goes on on holiday comes back to bite you…
When they unexpectedly inherited Hollyhock Cottage in lovely Kittiwake Cove, Ally’s parents were able to pursue their dream of setting up a creative retreat – until her mother suddenly and tragically died. It was never Ally’s dream – she promised her mother that she would care for father Geoff and help him build on their early success, and she’s certainly delivered, but feels increasingly smothered and trapped when she really wants to spread her wings, particularly wanting to live and work in Barcelona and make use of her MA in Spanish and History. Instead, for now, she has to be content with taking holidays – when she can pretend to be an entirely different person.
We first meet her on one of her “escapes” – when a chance meeting on the flight over brings Logan into her life for a very special holiday romance, until her fantasy life begins to collapse and, with some real regrets, she needs to run for home. But her holiday experience catches up with her when Logan arrives in Kittiwake Bay, the tenant for the summer in their new holiday apartment – which leaves her with a lot of explaining to do, although it seems he might just have a few secrets of his own.
The romance that slowly develops between them is something rather special, with a sizzle I really enjoyed. But there’s also a lovely focus on family – Geoff’s domain is the cottage’s garden, and the kitchen where he produces the dishes enjoyed by the guests who visit the retreat to attend the different courses they run – and on friendship, as bestie Flora moves in to escape her own less than supportive family and is reliably on hand to share laughter and confidences. And there’s the rekindling of another friendship too, but perhaps a more troublesome one – Tara was Flora’s nemesis in their earlier lives, and it’s difficult to believe that she’s so completely changed over the intervening years.
And Ally never really loses sight of her plan to leave the cove and make a new life for herself, but as the barriers are slowly removed… there’s a great deal more to the story, some real drama and more intriguing storylines (and a little more romance…) along the way, and more than a few wholly unexpected twists and turns. This was a tremendously engaging read – with plenty of well-judged humour, a fine emotional touch, and the most wonderfully drawn characters. And the setting was glorious – that lovely retreat on the beach where secrets were shared – and if only it was really open for bookings, I’d be securing my place on one of those wonderful residential courses without a moment’s hesitation. Filled with warmth and love, with an ending that was everything I wanted it to be, and a perfect summer read – and one I’d very highly recommend.
About the author
Heidi Swain is a Sunday Times Top Ten best-selling author who writes feel good fiction with heart for Simon and Schuster. She releases two books a year (early summer and winter) and the stories all have a strong sense of community, family and friendship. She is currently writing books set in three different locations – the Fenland town of Wynbridge, Nightingale Square in Norwich and Wynmouth on the Norfolk coast.
Heidi lives in beautiful south Norfolk. She is passionate about gardening, the countryside, collecting vintage paraphernalia and reading. Her tbr pile is always out of control!
Heidi loves to chat with her readers and you can get in touch via her website or Twitter.
