I love Ali McNamara’s books so I was delighted to have received a copy of her brand new novel, Secrets and Seashells at Rainbow Bay, to review on the blog. And boy was I in for a real treat!
Secrets and Seashells at Rainbow Bay
Synopsis
Amelia is a single mother, doing her very best to look after her young son, Charlie – but money is tight and times are tough. When she first hears that she is the last descendent of the Chesterford family and that she has inherited a Real-Life Castle by the sea, Amelia can’t quite believe her ears.
She soon finds that owning a castle isn’t quite the ticket to sorting out her money problems that she’d first hoped: she can’t sell, because the terms of the ancient bequest state that any Chesterford who inherits the castle, must live there and work towards the upkeep and maintenance of the family home.
So ever-practical Amelia decides to uproot her little family and move to this magnificent castle by the sea.
Living in a castle on the beautiful Northumberland coast is fun at first, but organising the day-to-day running is a lot more complicated than Amelia first imagined. Luckily, she has help from the small band of eccentric and unconventional staff that are already employed there – and a mysterious unseen hand that often gives her a push in the right direction just when she needs it most.
It’s only when she meets Tom, a furniture restorer who comes to the castle to help repair some antique furniture, that Amelia realises she might get the fairy-tale ending that she and Charlie truly deserve…
My Review
As you can probably imagine, this book is full of the type of stuff that will warm the cockles of your heart! Yes, I know that sounds totally cheesy and cliched but it’s so true. The moment I started reading, I was hooked. I loved Amelia and really felt for her during the struggles she’d suffered as a single mother. And when I found out the true extent of this, my heart broke all the more.
Those of you that know me, know that I adore light hearted fiction that tugs at your heart. This does exactly that, but it makes you smile throughout too, making it the perfect summer read. I probably said this about Ali’s last two books that I reviewed (Summer of Serendipity and Daisy’s Vintage Caravan), but I’m desperate to see this book made into a movie, or even a TV series. It would be AMAZING!
I love that it’s also a little magical, with the ghost stories that are intertwined into this lovely novel. I’d actually like to read Clara’s story. Hey Ali – how about that for a future novel?
Whose Clara? Well, you’ll just have to get yourselves a copy of Secrets and Seashells at Rainbow Bay to find out. Seriously, you won’t be disappointed!
I for one, cannot wait for the next offering by Ali McNamara!
About Ali
Ali McNamara attributes her over-active and very vivid imagination to one thing – being an only child. Time spent dreaming up adventures when she was young has left her with a head bursting with stories waiting to be told.
When stories she wrote for fun on Ronan Keating’s website became so popular they were sold as a fundraising project for his cancer awareness charity, Ali realised that not only was writing something she enjoyed doing, but something others enjoyed reading too.
Ali lives in Cambridgeshire with her family and two Labradors. When she isn’t writing, she likes to travel, read, and people-watch, more often than not accompanied by a good cup of coffee.
www.alimcnamara.co.uk | @AliMcNamara
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