‘Seaside, strawberries and a sexy hero – what’s not to love?’ Mandy Baggot, author of My Greek Island Summer Hetty Colman loves her life in the cosy seaside town of Swallowtail Bay, organising children’s birthdays, anniversaries and retirement parties. But after her recent break up from long-term boyfriend Ben, she’s been searching for something new. So, when Hetty overhears locals wondering how … locals wondering how to return the old strawberry festival to its former glory, she jumps at the chance to relaunch it. There are just two problems – she only has four weeks to organise it and absolutely nowhere to host it!
When Hetty manages to convince the aloof, yet extremely handsome, John Thornhill to use the grounds of his rundown manor, things start to look up. But as Hetty and John grow closer and Ben tries to win back her affections, can Hetty make the festival and her love life run smoothly at the same time?
Fans of Rachael Lucas, Cathy Bramley and Jenny Colgan will fall in love with this hilarious summer read from Katie Ginger!
‘Simply delicious – summer escapes don’t come any more tasty!’ Jane Linfoot, author of The Little Cornish Kitchen
‘A hilarious romantic comedy that left me with a big smile on my face’ Holly Martin, author of Sunrise over Sapphire Bay
‘So beautifully written. It made me want to move house right now and set up by the sea!’ Tilly Tennant, author of The Waffle House on the Pier
‘A delightful and delicious read for hopeful romantics everywhere’ Sandy Barker, author of One Summer in Santorini
Readers LOVE Summer Strawberries at Swallowtail Bay!
‘I wish I could give this book more than five stars, this is definitely my favourite of Katie’s books to date.’ *****
‘Hetty is a dynamo! I enjoyed having a heroine who knew her goals, set them, and goes after them.’ *****
‘An absolute pleasure to read, I loved delving into these pages and was smiling as I reached the end.’ *****
‘Sheer delightful escapist fun.’
more
Summer Strawberries at Swallowtail Bay is the second book in Katie Ginger’s Swallowtail Bay series. The first book was an absolute delight so I jumped at the chance to read this one when I saw it on NetGalley. The story follows Hetty, an event planner who is determined to return the town’s annual Strawberry Festival to its former glory. But there’s one big problem – she has no location to hold the event. With only four weeks until the festival, she desperately tries to convince John Thornhill, an elusive aristocrat, to let her use his family’s land. The Thornhills are not very popular with the villagers and like to keep to themselves. Will John agree? And more importantly, if he does, will the festival be successful?
This is a delightful and uplifting read, with a gorgeous setting, lovable characters, and a sense of family and community. The story is well-written and has a good pace that will keep the reader engaged and turning pages. Hetty was my favorite character. She was kind-hearted, confident, feisty, and not afraid to take risks. I thought the relationship between her and John progressed at a realistic pace. They had wonderful chemistry, and I enjoyed following their journey to a happy ending. This story will leave you with a smile on your face and make you wish you could take a vacation to the lovely seaside town of Swallowtail Bay. This is the third book I have read from Katie Ginger, and I have to say, it’s definitely my favorite so far. If you enjoy sweet, heartwarming stories, then I highly recommend her books.
Thank you to Katie Ginger, HQ Digital, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A lovely book with a go-getting female protagonist.
Favorite Quotes:
Stanley was the limpy seagull Hetty had adopted and fed regularly from a special little plate. They’d both grown very fond of him as they imagined his deformed foot meant all the other seagulls teased him and wouldn’t let him join their gangs.
His family didn’t need any more egg on their faces. They had a whole omelette there already.
She hadn’t mentioned camping to Macie yet. Hetty and Macie had a shared loathing of this particular outdoor pursuit. Neither of them could understand the appeal of sleeping on the ground and were terrified that ants might crawl into their knickers in the middle of the night. Admittedly, it would probably be more traumatic for the ant, but it would leave an emotional scar on them too.
I thought rule number one was always go to the toilet before a kids’ party started because you definitely won’t want to go in there afterwards?
A man who even after a year gave her the kind of kisses that made cartoon stars appear over her head and the world burst into song.
My Review:
This was a delightful diversion and pleasant and sweet read, something light and frothy to relax with and ease the tension from my shoulders after reading too many thrillers in a row. The writing was smooth and amusing, the characters were earnest and endearing, and the storylines were easy to follow and engaging with a bit of family drama that plucked at my curiosity as to how it would all play out.
Summer Strawberries at Swallowtail Bay is part of the Swallowtail Bay series. I hadn’t read any of the other books before this one, but it wasn’t necessary as this one works well as a standalone. This is a fast-paced, well-written, fun-filled story with a determined heroine and a gorgeous hero, what’s not to love?
I adored this book from the get go. Hetty is such a gorgeous and lovable character. I instantly warmed to her and envied how confident, kind and sweet she was. She could hold her own and stand up for herself while still being so very lovely. She made me smile and I just felt that wonderful connection where I wanted to be like her. Her job as an event planner intrigued me too. It made me smile how passionate she was and how she was so capable of handling all the situations that came her way; some are rather amusing and that will have you giggling. The team of her and her best friend Macie was awesome. I adored Macie too and loved the banter they shared and how close they were. There were lots of wonderful girly moments between them that were so much fun and I could certainly relate to their emergency stash of chocolate.
John Thornhill, though quite serious and stressed at first, immediately captured my heart. I felt for him with all the pressure he was under because of his families problems. He is extremely endearing in how he is there for them all the time and wants to help. I loved that he wasn’t perfectly confident and that their was this awkward side to him when it came to knowing what to do with love. Seeing him come out of his shell and witnessing his and Hetty’s banter, made my heart a flutter. I could see his cheeky grins and loved it when he relaxed and let his personality shine through. Just like Hetty, he was utterly gorgeous.
It was so exciting being back in Swallowtail Bay and getting to catch up with characters we met in the first book too. Stella, Lexi and Raina make many appearances and so you feel like you are visiting old friends and truly get that sense of community. Swallowtail Bay just sounded so magical in the Summer time too and I would very much like to move into Hetty’s quaint cottage.
The whole concept of the food festival had me smiling with glee and excitedly anticipating all the food stalls, fun fair and activities and it didn’t disappoint. The build up had me turning every page eagerly and the food festival itself was awesome. Certain hiccups keep you on your toes and you will be rooting for Hetty to handle them and push forward in making the event a success, but seeing the whole town and tourists come together for such a cool and cute and delicious festival was really wonderful. I very much wished to go too.
This gorgeous story will wrap a hug around your heart. Hetty is the perfect leading lady going after her dreams with gusto, dealing with troubles and heartache with a determination to make things better and never lose hope and who will inspire you to always follow your instincts. Her friendships will make you happy and her love story with make you swoon and seeing all the beautiful characters find their way will make you hug your book/kindle- both Hetty’s family and John’s family go on a journey of finding themselves and it will tug at your heart strings.