Written by Sharley ScottI loved it! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
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My thanks to Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for the invitation to join this book tour, and to author, Sharley Scott, who provided me with a free digital copy of this book to review.
The blurb:
Hooked by the beauty of Torringham with its quaint harbour and stunning coastline, they purchase Flotsam Guesthouse which needs more than a lick of paint to keep it afloat. Soon, Katie finds that renovating and running a guesthouse is taking its toll, especially when dealing with challenging guests and madcap neighbours, Shona and Kim. Katie comes to learn that trouble is afoot whenever Shona begs a favour.
However, when her adored daughter moves back to their old hometown, she wonders if they’ve made a huge mistake, especially when cracks begin to show in her marriage.
Her seaside idyll is crumbling along with her relationship. Should she let Flotsam Guesthouse founder while she salvages her marriage? Katie needs to decide where her priorities lie. The only issue is, she doesn’t know.
Women's fiction
Humour
My thoughts:
Told in the first person from the perspective of Katie, the new co-owner of the Flotsam Guesthouse in the fictional seaside town of Torringham in Devon, this is a very humorous story about the trials and tribulations of running a guesthouse.Katie and her husband Jason have given up their busy lives hundreds of miles away, to move to Devon, where they will live and work together, for the very first time, running a guesthouse. In theory it sounds wonderful, as previously they had few precious moments to spend together. They see this as a way of finally being able to spend some quality time together.
The reality of running a guesthouse, and all that comes with it, takes its toll on their relationship very quickly. They are tired and sniping at each other in private, whilst trying to maintain a pleasant and accommodating appearance for their guests. Now they are looking for excuses not to spend time together... until a few words from a wise man makes them rethink how they are behaving towards each other.
The story centres on Katie and Jason in their first season as B&Bers with the comings and goings of holidaymakers - or 'grockles' as the locals call them - and a few local faces. It is filled with wonderful characters, some I loved, such as the lovely Kim and Shona - although Shona can be a bit of a handful! Others irked me, such as the Marriners, Margaret, Louis and Ava, Jim and Maureen,.. and the drunk lads... my list gets longer the more I think about it!
Maureen and Jim, the previous owners, set out to cause mischief because they believe that Katie & Jason paid too little for the B&B, and this appears to be their snide way of punishing them. The guests expectations are sometimes ludicrous, and Katie is forever worrying about the reviews they might leave. After all, she has no control over the weather or the noisy gulls! Their first season as B&Bers is definitely a steep learning curve!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel and did not want it to end. It is well-written, and I was completely captivated by it. This is another story that I would award 6 stars! It was very witty, a little sarcastic, and appealed greatly to my sense of humour. It made me think about the lovely B&B we use on our way up to Scotland, and wonder whether the owner's calm outward appearance belies the secret frenetic activity going on behind the scenes.
I'm delighted to see that Ms Scott is currently writing another book in this series, and I'm looking forward to reading that as soon as it's published.
| Author Bio – Sharley Scott |
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While 'Bedlam & Breakfast at a Devon Seaside Guesthouse' is fictional, I am a guesthouse owner. Thankfully, we have been blessed with lots of amazing and kind-hearted guests, who are nothing like some of the characters featured in this novel and the subsequent books in the series. I would be a lot greyer if they were. Likewise, Jason is quite different to my husband, who I sometimes nickname Victor Meldrew. He is lovely though and has a fab sense of humour, although some of his dryness has rubbed off on Jason. Bedlam & Breakfast is set in South Devon, in the fictional town of Torringham, which is loosely based on Brixham. If you've been to Brixham you may recognise some of the local features, including the seals, fishing industry and the fantastic lifeboat crew, but the businesses, people and a number of settings are fictionalised. The same applies to the B&B owners featured. Many guesthouse owners undertake work when they move into a property and our current B&B was not an exception. While, thankfully, our previous owners were nothing like Jim and Maureen, this also means we don’t get to live next door to the fabulous Shona and Kim. But we do have many lovely B&B friends. B&Bers are a wonderful and hardworking bunch, although the ones we know have a penchant for parties in the low season. That's why I had to end Bedlam & Breakfast at a party. |
| Social Media Links – | |
| Facebook Author Page | https://www.facebook.com/SharleyScott3 |
| X | https://twitter.com/SharleyScott |
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