#Review: A Class Act by Julie Houston @JulieHouston2 @BoldwoodBooks @rararesources #blogtour #BoldwoodBloggers #publicationday #romance #romcom #familydrama #TheBeddingfieldSeries #AClassAct

It’s such a pleasure today to be helping launch the blog tour for A Class Act by Julie Houston – the first in a new series – and sharing my publication day review. Published today (30th July) by Boldwood Books, it’s now available as an e-book (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. My thanks, as always, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading copy (provided via netgalley).

I’m such a fan of Julie’s writing – she’s a fantastic storyteller, and I so enjoy the way she balances lots of laughter with the most perfectly handled emotional moments – and couldn’t have been more delighted to hear that she’d joined Boldwood Books. I’ve read so many of Julie’s books that I won’t even try to run through them all again this time – but if you pop her name into my search box, you’ll find all my many reviews. I really loved her last series, set in Westenbury and following the lives of the Quinn triplets – Eva, Rosa and Hannah – after they unexpectedly inherited Heatherly Hall. If you missed it, it’s a series I’d really urge you to try –  The Village Vicar, The Girls of Heatherly Hall, and A Wedding at Heatherly Hall (all free via Amazon Prime). But now we have the excitement of the first book in a new series, and is there ever a better place to start – time to meet the Allen sisters, and spend some time in the Yorkshire village of Beddingfield…

Robyn Allen is finally getting closer to her dream of West End stardom. And along with her role dancing in the latest hot musical, she’s being wined and dined by an equally hot man – the wildly successful and well-connected Fabian Carrington. But one slip up and her dreams are shattered, and Robyn has to hobble back to the Yorkshire village of Beddingfield, and the life she hoped she’d escaped.

 

Moving back into her mum’s house with her recalcitrant teenage sister Sorrel, next door to her older sister Jess who’s fed up with picking up the slack, is not how Robyn pictured her year. But there’s more to come.

 

Sorrel needs a new school, and the school needs a new drama teacher. Despite having vowed never to teach again, Robyn knows she has to support her sister.

 

So together Sorrel and Robyn vow to take on St Mede’s – home to jokers, tearaways and trouble-makers, but with a hidden heartbeat ready to be inspired. And who knows, the kids might have something to teach Robyn about life too…

 

Welcome to the village of Beddingfield and the first book in bestseller Julie Houston’s new series set in Yorkshire. Funny, fabulous, heart-warming and hilarious, you’ll never forget the Allen sisters and their one-of-a-kind community. Perfect for fans of Jo Bartlett, Cathy Bramley and Philippa Ashley.

Very much a book of two halves, with a bit of a gear change in the middle – but it was a structure that really worked, and a story I thoroughly enjoyed. A lot of that was down to Robyn, at first living above a Soho kebab shop, working as a waitress in a high-end restaurant to keep her head above water while pursuing her dream of a lead role in a West End show. She’s extremely likeable, and her passion for her chosen path is something it’s easy to share – along with her successes and her setbacks. Her relationship with highly successful (and rich) barrister Fabian introduces her to a lifestyle entirely outside her experience, but also finds her experiencing  prejudice – both race and class based – from people who really should know better. She has a clear sense of right and wrong, and a pride about her heritage that she fiercely defends – and Fabian’s questionable moral choices where his career is concerned make things even more difficult.

And then, the story moves to Yorkshire – with Robyn unexpectedly back in the heart of her family. Her teenage sister Sorrel has rather gone off the rails, facing exclusion from school – her mother is unable to cope with life, her father dips into their lives only now and then (he’s quite impossible – but a character I rather loved!), and her usually capable older sister Jess is at her wits’ end. Robyn takes on the challenge – finding Sorrel a school place at St Mede’s, but only on condition that she joins the beleaguered staff as a teacher of drama and dance. And that’s where I really must stop telling the story – but there are plenty of surprises along the way, the possibility of a new relationship, considerable challenges to be faced up to, the occasional real triumph, all tied up with the daily issues faced by a family I entirely took to my heart.

This is the first in a series, and it really couldn’t have got off to a better start – those family dynamics are just wonderful, filled with warmth, every individual so well drawn, and with a few intriguing storylines to be picked up later and further developed. There are a number of serious issues unflinchingly and sensitively handled, some darker edges to the story, a few moments of particular poignancy – but also plenty of opportunities for the author’s trademark humour, often laugh-out-loud, especially during Robyn’s time at the school. The romantic elements of the story, along with their complications, are particularly well handled – with more than a few unexpected twists and turns. And much as I loved experiencing Robyn’s time in London – the very real depiction of her world, the obstacles to any kind of success – I particularly liked coming home to Yorkshire, and know I’m really going to enjoy my time in Beddingfield.

This was such a well told story, heartwarming and uplifting, with characters I really loved. I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series – and I’d recommend this book really highly.

About the author

Julie Houston is the author of 13 previous novels published by Head of Zeus/Aria, and writes warm and funny books about characters who are still learning about life.

She lives in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire where her novels are set, and her only claims to fame are that she teaches part-time at ‘Bridget Jones’ author Helen Fielding’s old junior school and her neighbour is ‘Chocolat’ author, Joanne Harris. After University, where she studied Education and English Literature, she taught for many years as a junior school teacher. She now teaches just two days a week, and still loves the buzz of teaching junior-aged children. She has been a magistrate for the past nineteen years, and, when not distracted by Ebay, Twitter and Ancestry, spends her time writing.

Julie is married, with two adult children and a ridiculous Cockerpoo called Lincoln. She runs and swims because she’s been told it’s good for her, but would really prefer a glass of wine, a sun lounger and a jolly good book – preferably with Matthew Mcconaughay in attendance.

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