Review: A Casterglass Garden (Keeping Up with the Penryns #2) by Kate Hewitt

Meet the Penryns…

The Penryn family have always been eccentric—living in a dilapidated castle in the wilds of Cumbria with an orchid-mad father and a classicist mother who likes to re-enact Greek myths, who wouldn’t be? Penniless and proud, Walter Penryn refuses to give up his birthright—until taxes, bills, and the need for a new roof force him to reconsider.

Now the family is restoring the castle, and Olivia Penryn is in charge of reviving the once-profitable garden. Nursing a broken heart and a guilty conscience, Olivia longs to lose herself in roses and lavender, but she’s filled with doubt. She’s never handled a project this massive. When Olivia hires the gorgeous Will Turner to help with landscaping, her bruised heart begins to heal—and hope.

A widower and father of two, Will has plenty of his own problems. Is he strong enough to take on Olivia’s? As his children become attached to this loving, ethereal beauty, he wonders if their wounded hearts can blossom like the flowers surrounding them—or will hidden secrets and old mistakes cost them a second chance at happiness?

 

My Review:

A beautiful tale about learning to love again.

Reading a Kate Hewitt book is like hanging out with old friends.  The Penryns are the kind of fun, quirky people I would want to know.  They have issues, like anyone else, and they learn how to move past them.  Sometimes, it’s a bumpy road, but they always land where they should.  

In this book, Olivia Penryn returns home to Casterglass Castle in Cumbria, to help restore the castle to its former glory, so it can become a public attraction.  She left York after a relationship ended badly and doesn’t want anyone to know the details.  Dating is the last thing Olivia wants.  When Olivia meets Will Turner, a widow raising two little children on his own, she can’t help but be drawn to him.  Will is not looking for a relationship either.  He is still mourning his wife.  As Olivia and Will work together on the Castle gardens, they become good friends.  As fate would have it, they start to fall in love, but are afraid to move forward. 

This book is part of a series and each book can be read on its own.  But I would recommend reading from the start so you get to know the family better.  The are many memorable scenes in this book, but my favorite is when Will and his son have a conversation about Olivia and it convinced Will to finally make his move on Olivia.    

Review: The Liz Taylor Ring by Brenda Janowitz

In 1978, Lizzie Morgan and Ritchie Schneider embark on a whirlwind romance on the bright beaches and glamorous yachts of Long Island. Over the years, their relationship has its share of ups and downs, including a nine-month hiatus that ends with a stunning eleven-carat ring—one that looks just like the diamond Richard Burton gifted Liz Taylor after their own separation. Like the famous couple, despite the drama that would unfold throughout the Schneiders’ marriage, the ring would be there as a symbol of their love…until it wasn't.

Decades later, when the lost ring unexpectedly resurfaces, the Schneiders’ three children gather under one roof for the first time in years, eager to get their hands on this beloved, expensive reminder of their departed parents. But determining the fate of the heirloom is no simple task, unearthing old wounds and heartaches the siblings can't ignore. And when the ring reveals a secret that challenges everything they thought they knew about their parents’ epic love story, they’ll have to decide whether to move forward as a family or let the ring break them once and for all.

 

My Review:

An amazing story.

I was intrigued by this book when I first heard about it and couldn’t wait to read it.  Needless to say, I was more than impressed. 

The story is centered around a diamond ring the Ritchie gave to Lizzie, but it went missing at one point in their marriage, never to be seen again.  Years later, after Lizzie and Ritchie passed away, their grown children learn about a safe deposit box in the Caymans and head down to see what is in the box.  It turns out to be the ring.  Each sibling believes they deserve to own the ring and give good reasons why they should.  But the ring could destroy the family if they aren’t careful.  Is the ring a curse or is it the treasure they always believed it was? 

The author did a fantastic job telling this story.  The characters’ backgrounds were told so well that I truly felt I knew them.  As the story unfolded, I was more drown into it.  I didn’t want it to end.   

 

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing/Graydon House and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Valentine Wager (The Lange Brothers #1) by Nan Reinhardt

 

 

He’s a notorious flirt, so she lays down a challenge she’s sure she’ll win.

When playboy police lieutenant Ryker Lange stops Kitt Boynton for driving on the wrong side of the road, his attraction to the feisty Irish lass is immediate. Yet, despite the sizzling chemistry between them, Kitt quickly turns him down.

Kitt has moved to River’s Edge for a fresh start and is ready to focus on her new marketing job at her cousins’ winery. She’s done with players, and vows she won’t let the local sexy cop distract her, but Kitt, a flirt herself, is definitely tempted. To keep her sanity as she prepares for several Valentine-themed winery events, she and Ryker make a bet: for the next three weeks, neither of them can flirt with the other.

The game starts out lighthearted, but when the town takes sides, Ryker and Kitt must choose between winning a wager or finding lasting love. 

 

 

 

My Review:

A bet that leads to romance.

When Kitt Boynton left Ireland to stay with her cousins in River’s Edge, Indiana, and help out at their winery, she was nursing a broken heart.  She was done with men.  But when Kitt met Lieutenant Ryker Lange, in one of the sweetest meet-cutes I have read in a long time, she couldn’t get him out of her mind.  Rye fell in love at first sight.   With the heated chemistry between Kitt and Rye, it seems most of the town is betting on who will make the first move when they finally give in to the temptation. 

This is the first book in a new series, that is a spin-off of one of my favorite series, Four Irish Brothers Winery.  Along with meeting the new characters, I was excited to catch up with characters that I already came to love.  I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.  The Lange brothers seem to be gearing up to be some characters I won’t be able to get enough of.