The House By The Sea by Santa Montefiore: A Review

The House By The Sea (The Mermaid Garden) by Santa Montefiore

When Was It Released?: 21st July 2011
Where Did I Get It From?: The Publishers
Who Published It?: Simon and Schuster UK
Number Of Pages: 496 Pages

The House By The Sea, which in the US is titled The Mermaid Garden, follows two stories. The first set in Italy, follows fragile Floriana, who was abandoned by her mother, and her journey of falling in love with Dante, the son of a prestigious family. They first meet when Floriana is captivated by the beauty of La Magdalena, the beautiful home where Dante and his family spend their summers. Their relationship faces many obstacles from the outset including the issues of a rich and prestigious man dating a poor orphan girl.

The second story set in Devon England centres on Marina and her husband Grey who are trying desperately to save their hotel from financial issues. Marina comes up with the idea of hiring an artist in residence, Rafa, to try to attract more customers. The family and guests fall in love with Rafa who is hiding a deep and dark secret.
The House By The Sea has everything that you could possibly want from a novel; romance, mystery, intrigue, beautiful destinations and memorable characters. It is such a beautifully written story with such descriptive detail that I found myself carried off to the destinations of Italy and the English coastline. I found the pace to be slow, which surprisingly I quite enjoyed, as it made the novel an extremely relaxing read that I wanted to delve into for hours and savour along the way. The way the novel is split into two different stories, which are intertwined although we do not find out how until the end, was really intrigued. I was constantly trying to figure out how the two stories were related and could not guess until very near the end. I enjoy when a novel leaves me guessing with the elements of mystery and suspense and The House By The Sea managed to do this beautifully while keeping me intrigued throughout.

All the characters within The House By The Sea are each facing their own inner turmoil’s, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading about. I felt as though this added extra depth to each character making me intrigued and sympathetic to each of them. I fell in love with Floriana who still manages to hold her head high and strive for happiness even after being abandoned by her mother. I felt her emotions throughout the novel and was willing her to get a happy ending. I also enjoyed reading about the character of Marina, who is suffering emotionally from being unable to conceive children. Once I saw underneath the rough façade that she has and into her true character I was deeply moved by her.

My only issue with this book was the length at almost 500 pages it is a long read. Generally I do not mind when books are of this length, however with The House By The Sea I felt that the length mixed with the slow pace of the novel worked against the storyline. This is defiantly not a book that you can read quickly instead it needs to be savoured and taken time over. I also really get annoyed with novels having different names in different countries. I find it gets very confusing, as I will think I have not read the novel and then realise I have but with a different name.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about exotic locations full of description. It is a beautifully written novel and I am very happy that I stumbled across it. This is my first Santa Montefiore novel and I cannot wait to read the next.

California Dreamers by Belinda Jones: A Review

California Dreamers by Belinda Jones  

When Was It Released?:  21st July 2011
Where Did I Get It From?: Jaime at Hodder & Stoughton was kind enough to send a copy in exchange for a review
Who Published It?: Hodder & Stoughton  
Number Of Pages:  303 Pages

Ever wished you could make over your life? Well this is the idea behind Belinda Jones latest novel California Dreamers. I have read many of Belinda Jones’ previous novels and loved that they are able to take me away to the exotic locations. I was excited to be transported to California again to find out exactly what was going to happen in Stella’s life.

Stella, a make up artist from London loves nothing more than helping other people change their image, but for herself she has no idea where to even begin. When Stella is given the opportunity to join glamorous Hollywood actress Marina Ray to do her make up on the set of her new movie, Stella cant resist the chance. After all California is the land of sunshine and opportunity. It seems Stella and Marina have more in common than they first though, with them both hiding secrets about the navy men in their lives. But are they really friends though, or does Marina have an ulterior motive?

Belinda Jones always manages to transport me to exotic destinations, making me feel as though I could actually be wherever she is describing. This is no exception with California Dreamers, where I truly felt at times as though I could have been in California. Her use of description is fantastic throughout, truly bringing the whole story to life. Within the novel the navy, and in particular relationships within the navy are prominent. Both Belinda and Marina have been involved in relationships with men from the navy. I really enjoyed the way in which this topic was focused upon, it is something that is hardly ever featured within women’s novels. I found this very refreshing and thought it shed a whole new like on a situation I am very unfamiliar with, especially because Belinda Jones herself has had first hand experience of this.

Throughout the first half of the novel the character of Milo is likeable, showing himself to be far away from a typical Hollywood actor, appearing instead to be extremely grounded. In the second half of the novel, however he seems to be glossed over a little, where he place a much less important role. I would have liked to see more of Milo throughout the entire novel. Stella is a good main character, I enjoyed the way the novel is told from her perspective and related to her emotions regarding wanted her life to take a different turn. At times I liked Marina, she has many moments of pure selflessness and then at other times I found her annoying when she took Stella for granted. The star of the novel was Bodie, Marina’s dog was absolutely adorable and really brightened up any slow moments within the novel.

I did find the novel became a little slow at times. The premise of the novel was a good one which could potentially have been great if there was a little more to the storyline. I also would have enjoyed to learn a little more about the two male characters who are in the navy Jonathon and Jeff as I felt as though I did not get to know them well enough to like them. Finding out more about the make up aspect of Stella’s job may also have added another layer to this novel. I felt that even though Stella is a makeup artist there was very little focus on the job.

I did enjoy reading California Dreamers, however I did find that it was not up to Belinda Jones’ usual standard of her past novels. That being said this is still a fun, glitzy read that can be enjoyed on the beach, as a great holiday read or curled up on the sofa with a cup of cocoa. I would still recommend giving California Dreamers a chance especially if you have enjoyed previous novels of Belinda Jones. Here’s looking forward to the next instalment from Belinda Jones.