The Little Village of Happiness by Holly Martin – Blog Tour

A Huge thanks to Holly Martin for an advanced copy of this wonderful book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

Synopsis

Willow McKay needs a fresh start. Her recent break-up may not have left her heartbroken, but it’s certainly wounded her pride. Desperate for a change, an advert offering free homes in a picturesque village on the Cornish coast sounds like just what she needs. Without thinking twice Willow packs up her life and heads to the village of Happiness.

But when Willow arrives, she finds ramshackle cottages, shops lying empty and villagers that seem in need of cheer themselves. It’s nothing like the pretty picture the advert had boasted. It seems Happiness was too good to be true. That is until she meets the handsome estate manager Andrew Harrington.

His passion for restoring the village to its former glory is contagious and soon they are working together, forming a secret society to bring happiness back to Happiness. And as sparks fly between them Willow can feel herself falling. But Andrew is holding something back.

Will they succeed in transforming the old village to its original beauty before it’s too late? Can the gift of happiness really save a village, and can it save Willow herself?

My Thoughts

After reading, reviewing and falling in love with The Summer of Chasing Dreams I was delighted to be asked to join the blog tour for The Little Village of Happiness and I’m so pleased that I did as Holly has once again written a novel that gave me all the fuzzies.

Sick of being the local pity case, Willow ups sticks and moves to a village in Cornwall called Happiness with the offer of free rent in return for bringing something to the run down and broken village.  Within a week, Willow has made new friends and is beginning to put the sparkle and hope back into Happiness and into herself but will secrets and the past ruin things?

I read this book in one sitting.  I just couldn’t put it down.

The setting is stunning.  The beautiful Village of Happiness is set on the Cornish coast in the shade of a tumble down castle.  I moved there with Willow and wanted to stay forever.  Despite some of the run down buildings and lack of oomph, the village has beautiful views, cute cottages and a whole host of quirky neighbors.  The ‘supporting’ characters really give this book its warmth as they are often hilarious and fiesty.

The main protagonists, Willow and Andrew, are delightfully sweet and have huge hearts.  Both nursing broken hearts from the past and wanting to steer clear of anything requiring commitment, the spark between them is immediate and undeniable form the beginning.  Willow is such a kind and thoughtful character and Andrew is dedicated to the village and its inhabitants.

I love the added story of a hidden disability too.  It’s written with sensitivity and positivity and will hopefully inspire other readers to thing their preconceived ideas.

A perfect summer uplifting romance.

Author Bio – Holly Martin

Holly lives in a little white cottage by the sea. She studied media at university which led to a very glitzy career as a hotel receptionist followed by a even more glamorous two years working in a bank. The moment that one of her colleagues received the much coveted carriage clock for fifteen years’ service was the moment when she knew she had to escape. She quit her job and returned to university to train to be a teacher. Three years later, she emerged wide eyed and terrified that she now had responsibility for the development of thirty young minds. She taught for four years and then escaped the classroom to teach history workshops, dressing up as a Viking one day and an Egyptian High Priestess the next. But the long journeys around the UK and many hours sat on the M25 gave her a lot of time to plan out her stories and she now writes full time, doing what she loves.

Holly has been writing for 8 years. She was shortlisted for the New Talent Award at the Festival of Romance. Her short story won the Sunlounger competition and was published in the Sunlounger anthology. She won the Carina Valentine’s competition at the Festival of Romance 2013 with her novel The Guestbook. She was shortlisted for Best Romantic Read, Best eBook and Innovation in Romantic Fiction at the Festival of Romance 2014. She is the bestselling author of 18 books