I’m pleased to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for lovely summer read One Lucky Summer by Jenny Oliver. Thank you to Sian from HQ for giving me the opportunity to read and review this gorgeous, feel good book.
About the book:
With an air of faded splendour, Willoughby Hall was an idyllic childhood home to Ruben de Lacy. Gazing at it now, decades later, the memories are flooding back, and not all of them are welcome…
In a tumbledown cottage in Willoughby’s grounds, Dolly and Olive King lived with their eccentric explorer father. One of the last things he did was to lay a treasure hunt before he died, but when events took an unexpected turn, Dolly and Olive left Willoughby for good, never to complete it.
But when Ruben uncovers a secret message, hidden for decades, he knows he needs Olive and Dolly’s help. Can the three of them solve the treasure hunt, and will piecing together the clues help them understand what happened to their families that summer, all those years ago?
About the author:
Jenny Oliver is a bestselling author of contemporary fiction. Twice nominated for the RNA Best Contemporary Novel award, Jenny’s books explore the ups and downs of relationships and an unwavering belief in happy ever after. In the past she has had jobs ranging from an elf in the Disney store, a personal trainer, journalist, editor and now, by far the best, a writer. In her spare time she can be found cajoling her family out to car boot sales, trying to reign in her competitiveness on the netball court and subtly eavesdropping on strangers’ conversations as inspiration for her next book.
Follow her on Twitter @JenOliverBooks Instagram JenOliverBooks Facebook JennyOliverBooks or go to the website jennyoliverbooks.com to find out more about Jenny, her books and read her blog!
Jenny’s new books – The Summer We Ran Away and the first in her YA series Chelsea High – are out now!
My Review:
One Lucky Summer by Jenny Oliver is an utterly charming read that’s perfect for this time of year. I loved escaping between the pages of this book, with its heartwarming tale of family secrets, love and friendship.
Ruben de Lacy has returned to his family home, the once idyllic Willoughby Hall, hoping to complete the sale that will see him say goodbye to his childhood home forever. But fate has other ideas and Ruben, much to his chagrin, suddenly finds himself in charge of his twelve year old daughter, Zadie, whilst her mother goes away on honeymoon.
But then a freak accident leads to Zadie and Ruben uncovering the first clue to a treasure hunt, a discovery that brings long hidden memories flooding back. Ruben soon realises that he needs to contact Dolly and Olive, his childhood friends who lived in a tumbledown cottage in the grounds of Willoughby Hall. Can the former childhood friends piece together the clues and finally solve the treasure hunt? And will solving the mystery help them to understand what exactly it was that happened to their families all those years ago?
One Lucky Summer is a lovely but emotional read that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. It is a beautifully written story of family secrets, love and friendship. The burgeoning relationship between father and daughter is a pure delight, with Ruben growing as a person as he slowly learns the true meaning of being a father at long last.
Jenny Oliver’s writing is gorgeous and One Lucky Summer is a charming summer read that I would recommend.
One Lucky Summer by Jenny Oliver is available to purchase now.
Check out what these other lovely bloggers have to say about this book:
Cal Turner Reviews 