What if you fell in love during a terror attack?Laura McLove—bored, single, 49—takes a Christmas shopping trip to Paris and does just that, finding refuge in the arms of a handsome Hungarian, Max, who she meets at her hotel reception on a fateful, violent night in December.Six months later, now engaged to be married, she arrives at Max’s family’s villa at Hungary’s Lake Balaton whilst he attends … Balaton whilst he attends to his sick mother in Budapest.
Alone at Levendula—Lavender Villa—she encounters villa caretaker Mrs Szabó and stumbles on a real-life spy ring, a missing manuscript—and a mystery that leads all the way to Hollywood.
Levendula, once famous as an artists’ salon, had been under surveillance by the communist regime. What happened when the secret police came one night in 1972? And where is the missing manuscript? Laura attempts to find out, all the while fiancé Max is delayed, then delayed again in Budapest as their engagement begins to hang in the balance.
Was it true that a single woman of a certain age was more likely to be killed by a terrorist than get married?
And in a world where everyone had been informing on everybody else, does anybody know the truth?
Read HOLLYWOOD BALATON, book 3 of the Laura McLove novels and find out!
Laura McLove also features in The Budapest Artists’ Club, and The Naked Sommelier, but is a stand-alone novel, the third in the series.
Other books by Claire Doyle
The Naked Sommelier (Laura McLove novel 1)
The Budapest Artists’ Club (Laura McLove novel 2)
Hungarian Folk Dancing For Beginners – a Kindle Single
more
Hollywood Balaton: To Catch A Thief on the Hungarian Riviera by Claire Doyle was a beautiful story written like a memoir of a woman’s journey of self-awareness while waiting for her fiancé to join her in a lovely old villa on the Hungarian Rivera. I loved the characters, every one of them, down to the little sparrow in the office. The location itself took on the role of a character also. The descriptions were wonderful. This was an easy, pleasant read I did not want to end. I highly recommend this book.
Very well written, interesting novel. This is the third novel I read from this author. I like her writing style, so descriptive and so full of love for the place she sets her novels. I like all things Hungarian, therefore her subject matters always resonate well with me. Her local knowledge is extensive, making this a good source of information. The author’s use of the language and impeccable editing, her character and scene descriptions set this novel higher up the literary scale than your average romance story. Laura and Max, both into their middle years make interesting reading because less than 1% of romance books broach the topic of emotional attachments and marriage later in life. Unfortunately, not all young love survive the pressures of life and it makes a welcome change to read about the possibility of finding a soulmate in one’s 50s. The novel takes on board a communist conspiracy and manuscript theft, making this quite an exciting read, which I can gladly recommend.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Hollywood Balaton is a wonderful book. Laura and Max meet in Paris during a terrorist attack. She is from the UK and he is from Budapest. They plan to marry and she precedes him to the family home, Villa Levendula in Lake Balaton, Hungary. Laura meets an eccentric cast of characters, falls in love with the charming villa, and becomes fascinated with Max’s late father Viktor and his missing manuscript. The sights, the smells, the tastes, and the descriptions of Lake Balaton are so delicious, balanced by the interesting history of the area during communism. It is a new area not usually heard of in the west. I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written book. It made me want to pack my bags and head to Balatonfured. Perfect escapism in the time of COVID. This is the second book I have read in the series and I’ll no doubt read the rest
Laura McLove Series: I read these books out of order and many months apart but I found each interesting. The stories are well written with multiple storylines, interesting characters and various locations. All are intriguing and multifaceted.
The stories follow Laura from age 46 to 49 through different situations, different countries and different romantic interests. Ms. Doyle’s writing style is interesting and includes multiple facets to her storytelling. The romances aren’t heavily detailed since there’s more to the stories. The past is mixed in with the present and each location is an actual character bringing a depth and historical interest to the readings.
My reviews for two of these books were dropped by Amazon for some reason. I either bought the books, received them from the author or Bookfunnel or Booksprout.
The Naked Sommelier #1 – when they meet, she’s in college at the age 46 after losing her mother; he’s late twenties and French. There is more to Laura’s journey as they explore the vineyards in the US and their future. Wine plays a large part and there’s plenty of knowledge shared.. 4*
The Budapest Artists’ Club #2 – While location is an always important character, Budapest is a large part of the story. The music and dancing of Hungary also weighs in heavily. The love and descriptions and memories that are shared by Laura makes the book hard to put down. This is my favorite of the three. I fell in love with Budapest just from the descriptions of everyday life. I read Hungarian Folk Dancing For Beginners before I read this book and I think it is an introduction to the early relationship making her decision to return to BP understandable; read it too long ago to be sure. 4*
Hollywood Balaton #3 – Lake Balaton and the characters of Füred make this an interesting read. Again, while the love interest is an important part of the story, the location is an important character, too. It is so easy to get lost in the beauty of this area. The veterinarian and the monk are enjoyable characters, my favorites. Laura finally finds what she needs as her journey find closure in this wonderful place. 4*
Hungarian Folk Dancing For Beginners – This is my first read by this author. A perfect read for a quick break or just to relax. An interesting story set in Budapest concerning a man, a woman, dancing, music and a mother. Well written, entertaining and a peek into a cultural ritual performed on Friday nights. This book was purchased on 10 May 2018. 4*