Friday 28 July 2017

Review | The Summer of Serendipity ~ Ali McNamara


The Summer of Serendipity
Ali McNamara
Little, Brown Book Group
July 2017
Rating 4/5



One summer, property seeker, Serendipity Parker finds herself on the beautiful west coast of Ireland, hunting for a home for a wealthy Irish client. But when she finds the perfect house in the small town of Ballykiltara, there's a problem; nobody seems to know who owns it.
'The Welcome House' is a local legend. Its front door is always open for those in need of shelter, and there's always a plentiful supply of food in the cupboards for the hungry or poor.
While Ren desperately tries to find the owner to see if she can negotiate a sale, she begins to delve deeper into the history and legends that surround the old house and the town. But for a woman who has always been focussed on her work, she's remarkably distracted by Finn, the attractive manager of the local hotel.
But will she ever discover the real truth behind the mysterious 'Welcome House'? Or will the house cast its magical spell over Ren and help her to find true happiness?


If your looking for a book to completely lose yourself in this summer then look no further than this latest novel from Ali McNamara.

I read Ali's previous book and sadly felt that the magic elements were a little too make believe for my liking, but I'm so glad I've given Ali another chance with The Summer of Serendipity.

The Summer of Serendipity sees our main character, Serendipity Parker - or Ren as she likes to be known - and her colleague Kiki Fisher head to Ireland for their latest job. Ren is a property seeker and is looking for the perfect home for her latest client.

No sooner as the pair arrive at their hotel we are introduced to their love interests - Finn and Eddie respectively - which sets the book up nicely. 
Ren and Kiki immediately start their search but to know avail, that is until they take a boat trip across the lake during some down time.

As they are being rowed, Ren spots what appears to be the perfect house and ask's their boat man, Jackie, how they can locate said house. The girls are informed that the house is known as The Welcome House, which has been around for as long as anyone can recall.

Once back on dry land they ask Finn and Eddie more about the house, and more importantly who owns it. The girls are informed that no-one knows who the owner of the house is and after locating it and discovering it to be unlocked and stocked with the bare basics, Ren makes it her mission to try and uncover the secrets of the Welcome House.

What follows is a tale of discovery - Ren looks in to the history of the house and stories of Irish legends as well as discovering more about her self and her heart where Finn is involved.

The Summer of Serendipity is a fun ( I adored Kiki and her witty one liners! ) and gorgeous summery book that reminded me a little of the early Cecelia Ahern novels!


No comments:

Post a Comment