Who wouldn't want to be in Wildflower Bay, an away from it idyll on the cusp of change with a snip of the hairdresser scissors. Rachael Lucas has done it again, she's made me travel to Scotland without leaving my chair, she's introduced her people to me and I felt like I knew them, she's included young and old in such a gentle manner, she's touched on familiar dynamics and dynamites - all in one book. Oh yes and she made me cry, and as I hovered over one page I felt my chin wobbling and my eyes blurring so I couldn't see the pages. Not that it's a bad thing because Rachael writes from the heart and it shows.
This little island has some big secrets…
Isla knows exactly where she wants to be in life by the time she hits thirty, and she’s on course – until disaster strikes. Cornered into taking a job helping out her aunt in a grim little hair salon by the sea on the island of Auchenmor (location for Sealed with a Kiss) she’s determined to get through her eight weeks there without making any waves.
Finn’s best friends have left him high and dry with the announcement that they’re having a baby, and he’s realising that it might be time to grow up – but has he left it too late? He’s been running from the secrets in his past for far too long, but with Isla’s help, maybe it’s time to face up to the truth about his family history.
Ruth’s looking back over a life well lived – does she hold the key to both Finn and Isla’s happiness?
You know how when you look at 8 weeks it seems for ever and the fact that you aren't sure you want to be there makes it worse, well Isla for all her counting the days until she can leave is that woman and also the one who has fallen head over heels with the island and its islanders. She has been taken to their hearts and her heart belongs there. As she leaves behind the shallow life she once led for a more sedate world her life will never be the same.
Well done Rachael for another cracking book, your gentle story telling and enchanting descriptions are an ideal way to help you drift away from the noisy world. Thank you so much for that little luxury and also to Lucie Twiggs of Pan Macmillan for my proof copy. It's been my joy and an absolute pleasure to read such a gorgeous book that will stay with me for a long time.
Wildflower Bay by Rachael Lucas is published by Pan Macmillan on 11 August 2016, why not ask your favourite independent book shop to order you in a copy?