WOW! From the first page I was absolutely hooked…Would highly recommend to get you in a feel good mood!’ (5 stars) Netgalley reviewerUplifting and full of heart – this is an utter treat of a book! The perfect feelgood read for fans of Heidi Swain, Cathy Bramley and Sue Moorcroft, from the bestselling author of Summer at the Kindness Cafe. Beth Williams hasn’t been home for ten years. After … Williams hasn’t been home for ten years. After falling pregnant at sixteen, she ran away from her family and the imposing Scottish estate where she grew up, working hard to build a life for herself and daughter Isabelle – but now she’s returning to Glendale Hall.
As Beth tries to mend her broken family ties, and fights to bring the community of Glendale back together, she realises that the story she has told herself for a decade might well be a very different one from the truth. Even though she ran from Glendale it has never left her heart. And, she soon realises, neither has Drew – Beth’s first love.
Will Beth be able to forgive her mother and grandmother (and herself) for what happened ten years ago? What will Drew say when he discovers the secret she’s been keeping from him for so long? Can a festive trail bring the village back together?
Will returning to Glendale bring back the old magic that she’s been missing – or will Beth be forced to run away from it all over again?
A charming, magical novel that will warm your heart – the perfect read to curl up with this winter. Fans of Trisha Ashley, Debbie Johnson and Cathy Bramley will love this gorgeously romantic read.
Readers are loving Coming Home to Glendale Hall:
‘5☆ A Heart Warming, Cosy Romance, Full of Festive Cheer that will Melt Your Heart!’ Dash Fan Book Reviews
‘It’s a feel good, heart warming read bursting to the seams with family bonds, romance and hope and goodwill.’ By The Letter Reviews
‘Full of charm, heart, humour, pathos and emotion, Coming Home to Glendale Hall is a brilliant read I absolutely adored.’ Bookish Jottings
‘An amazing, emotional roller coaster festive second-chance romance and just – wow! – what a great read.’ Splashes into Books
‘all the ingredients you’d want in a wonderful festive fiction treat; warmth, tradition, family, joy and hope…An utter treat full of heart and guaranteed to lift your spirits.’ Bee Books Beauty
‘I adored the beautiful storytelling, the outstanding seasonal descriptions and attention to detail, but most of all I adored the poignant and emotional underlying message.’ The Writing Garnet
‘an idyllic setting for a winter romance novel. The story is about family and friendship, rediscovering roots and the magic of first love.’ Waggy Tales Blog
‘I loved this book, it’s so cosy and happy…the sort of book you can curl up on a cold day to read. 5 stars all the way’ (5 stars) Netgalley reviewer
‘I just could not put this book down, it had me sad, happy and every other emotion you can think of. I loved every minute of it.’ (5 stars) Netgalley reviewer
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In my opinion, this is one of the best full-length holiday-themed books I’ve read in a long time!
This is a book of family, community, mistakes, forgiveness, loss and love set in Scotland during the holiday season. The characters are well developed and the story realistic. For me, this was a page-turner that I didn’t want to put down and didn’t want to end. In my opinion, if you are only going to read one holiday story this is it!!
A good Christmas read that enjoys realistic characters with honest reactions.
Pregnant at 16, Beth leaves home when her grandmother tells her that everyone in the house agrees she should have an abortion. She surprises herself at how strong she really is. She makes her and Izzy’s home in London and doesn’t return home for ten years.
Gran has become so sick that if Beth and Izzy to not return home now, they may never see her again. Izzy’s father, Drew, didn’t know Beth was pregnant when he left Ireland for America. Coming home after all this time, makes Beth very nervous. It doesn’t take long to discover that Drew has also come home for the holidays.
Walls crumble between the members of Beth’s family. Will they fall as easily between her and Drew? What about when he discovers he is a father to a 10-year-old? Will they ever spend time together?
This book is an easy, but interesting read. It is refreshing in that the characters do not immediately change when learning a new fact that affects them greatly. The author uses more appropriate reactions, allowing the characters to process this information. Drew truthfully states that it will take him time to process information. This leaves the reader wondering if everything will be happier ever after for all the characters or only some.
I received an ARC from Hera Books and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review.
Oh, my days! Lawd help me, this was only my second Christmassy read of the year so far and I’m already a big snottery mess of festive mush. Attractive, aren’t I? *snorts*
“Your home isn’t a place, it’s the people you share it with.”
*sigh*
Never a truer word spoken *shakes head*, I mean written!
*sings*
Regrets, I’ve had a few…
Now, don’t laugh, but these lyrics were on repeat in my head when I read this story along with…
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
That’s some mash-up for you there, isn’t it? *laughs*
This is a tale of family, friendship, community, secrets, forgiveness, and second-chance love backlit by the *sings* most wonderful time of the year!
(Sorry *blushes*, I don’t know what’s gotten into me!)
As Beth is about to find out, anything worth having is worth fighting for. Don’t live with regrets! We all deserve love and happiness.
*blubs*
TMI alert – I think my hormones are giving me a rumble. I apologise for the mush *palms face*.
There are so many wonderful characters in this story, for a plethora of reasons. But little Izzy stole my heart. Her heart and wide-eyed innocence shine through.
Plus, as it’s a Christmas story, and in good old panto fashion, we have a couple of characters to boo and hiss at!
I was having full on conversations with the characters via my kindle screen. Did they listen? Pfft, what do you think? *rolls eyes*
Victoria Walters can definitely tell a story and I wish I could bottle the feelings it left me with at the end.
Finally, this quote *points down* says it all:
“…always remember to show the people we love how we feel before it’s too late.”
Okay then, I won’t bore you lot any longer. Just add this gem to your festive reading list!
Coming Home to Glendale Hall is a great romance/women’s fiction novel. The setting worked perfectly in this book. I loved that it was set in a small village in Scotland and that it was during Christmas. It really gave me a cozy feeling. I will not go too much into the plot of the story, because the synopsis gives a great summary of the story. This book was about family coming together and forgiveness. The main character Beth Williams has stayed away for ten years for a reason. But regardless of your issues with your family, you’ll always come when they need you. This was also the case for Beth, she goes home with her daughter after being gone for ten years. I absolutely loved the relationship Beth had with her daughter Isabelle (Izzy). She was a single teen mom but did everything in her power to give Izzy a good life. Beth is very strong and independent and I loved her character a lot. When Drew – Beth’s first love is visiting as well, things get a bit complicated.
This book had so many great elements. It was just a well-rounded contemporary romance with strong aspects focusing on the community and family. All the characters were great and elevated the story. This book definitely made me feel good and smile. I was happy that the romance didn’t overwhelm the story. The author gave the right amount to satisfy my romantic heart. I definitely didn’t want the story to end, because I really enjoyed spending time with the characters and seeing them grow. Every character in this book went through major character development, which I loved a lot. I would’ve liked maybe a chapter or two told from Drew’s POV, just to get an insight into his thoughts. But it wasn’t something I needed to fully enjoy this book. I can’t finish this review without mentioning that I love the cover, it really fits this book.
This one was a hard one for me to rate. Although it was a good, clean story with interesting people. And it was a good Christmas story, it also felt like one realllly long story. It felt like it went a bit too long at least for me. It could have cut quite a few pages and still could have been a good story. Also the romance/non-romance between Beth and Drew got old for me after a while. If they got interrupted one more time as they started to really begin to communicate, I was going to scream. I actually felt like Drew was a nice guy but he also came across as kind of weak. That was something that I didn’t like.
There were several issues that got hammered on over and over again that just was repetitive and slowed the story.
On the up side of the story, Beth’s daughter Izzy was a good cast choice. She was well written, charming and also strong minded. Another really good person in the story was Heather, who was an old school chum of Beth’s. It wasn’t very hard for them to re-connect and have each other’s back either.
This was an emotional story with secrets that had been held for years coming out. There were secrets from her grandmother and even her mother and father.
I did like how the village pulls together and some unique ideas come out on how to save it. And Beth is leading the charge. The story has a really good ending and that part I did enjoy. There was a lot of hope for the future for the main characters as well as some others.
“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”