#BlogTour-‘The Villa Of Sun And Secrets’ by Jennifer Bohnet

About the book…

‘The Villa Of Sun And Secrets’ by Jennifer Bohnet is out on 08/082019 from Boldwood Books. Many thanks to Megan at Boldwood for my gifted ebook copy of this summer read.

Carla Sullivan’s 50th birthday is fast approaching when her whole world is turned upside down. Discovering her feckless husband is having yet another affair and following her mother’s death, she is in need of an escape. Finding an envelope addressed to her mother’s estranged sister Josette in the South of France gives Carla the perfect plan.

Seizing the moment, she packs her bags and heads to Antibes to seek out the enigma known as Tante Josette. But as the two women begin to forge a tentative relationship, family secrets start to unravel, forcing Carla to question her life as she has always known it.

A heart-warming tale on the beautiful French Riviera, which will keep you guessing. From the bestselling author of Summer at Coastguard Cottages, The Little Kiosk by the Sea and Rosie’s Little Cafe on the Riviera. Perfect for the fans of Jill Mansell and Fern Britton.

Many thanks to Boldwood Books for the blogtour invite and the gifted ebook copy of ‘‘Villa Of Sun And Secrets’ which is available now in paperback and ebook editions.

The Villa of the title is Villa Mimosa, set in the South of France, a 50% share of which has been left to Carla after her mother’s death. Her mother,Amelia, was one of a set of twins, who hadn’t spoken to her sister,Josette, for more years than Carla can remember. Carla merely knows that having offered her Aunt Josette the chance to say goodbye to her mother was not welcomed, nor did she return for the funeral.

On discovering the latest in a string of affairs by her husband, courtesy of a diamond necklace intended for his mistress, and a sealed letter from her mother to her aunt, Carla tries to take her life under control and leaves, hoping to reconnect with Josette and lay some family ghosts to rest.

Little does she realise that this journey will be the catalyst for the revelation of more than one deeply buried family secret.

However , some things need to see the light of day in order for healing to begin and it is about time that Carla learns it is never too late to start over…

This is marketed as a quick, light hearted read with complex family relationships put under the microscope. I have to admit that I struggled to connect with Carla as a character, the way that she put up with constant infidelities and then suddenly had enough did not seem to ring true to me.

She appeared to have been spending her entire life as a doormat and David, her husband was spectacularly awful.He treated her like that because she allowed him to, and then was suddenly 50 something with no future and saw herself as ‘past it’.

This was difficult to reconcile with her sudden abandonment of Britain to live in France as she seemed such a passionless creature.  I could not see how they had stayed married so long, it certainly was not for the children, twins Maddy and Ed who were grownups living their own lives. But even they were quick to cast judgement left and right despite having left home as quickly as they were able to.

Even the revelations of family secrets, which seemed a bit inexplicable,didn’t particularly phase Carla . So on the one hand there were quite huge revelations, yet there was a lack of authentic reactions to this news in this reader’s opinion. The book presents itself as a light hearted read, yet is dealing with heavy themes so that it went from light to dark very quickly, creating a sense of dissonance that left me puzzled.

I am absolutely sure that this is my fault as a reader, and that this will appeal more to others who read extensively in this genre. It felt, to me, like there were two stories and characters in this book that couldn’t make their minds up what they were doing-sort of like a mashup between a light hearted tv programme and a serious drama that didn’t work on either score. It was confusing and I wish I liked it more than it did. I am very grateful to Boldwood for the blogtour opportunity and I am sorry that this is not as positive a review as could have been wished for. I didn’t not like it but after I finished, I struggled to remember names of family members and quite easily moved on to my next read.

As I say, I am sure that other readers who are more experienced in the field of women’s fiction will have a better perspective than me and I would definitely recommend reading the reviews that accompany the blogtour,as they are all excellent bloggers who will offer a different point of view.

About the author…

Jennifer Bohnet is the bestselling author of over 10 women’s fiction titles, including Rosie’s Little Cafe on the Riviera and The Little Kiosk By The Sea. She is originally from the West Country but now lives in the wilds of rural Brittany, France.

Links-http://www.jenniferbohnet.com/

https://www.boldwoodbooks.com/