"Coming Home to Island House" is the latest release by bestselling author Erica James. An enchanting tale, the book is a vivid portrait of one family struggling to come together in the face of crisis. In 1939, Romily Temple returns to her beloved Island House after touring Europe. With the spectre of war looming on the horizon, the Devereux family must confront the spectre of their own bitterness and overcome years of estrangement in order to reunite in this week-long drama.

With lush settings and deep insight into the human condition, "Coming Home to Island House" is an entertaining, powerful and timely novel about love, family, and resilience. Whether a reader of romantic fiction or an adventure lover, this captivating read is a must for any reader. Highly recommended.

I haven't read Erica James for a while, so 'Coming Home to Island House' was a refreshing change. Set against the uncertain backdrop of 1939 and the gathering stormclouds of World War 2, 'Coming Home to Island House' nevertheless maintains a positive and uplifting tone as an apparently disparate family is reunited under one roof. Central to the reconciliation is Romily Temple-Devereaux, the newly-widowed wife of Jack Devereaux. Intially viewed with hostility by Jack's remaining family and local villagers alike, Romily's warmth, courage and determination gradually works its magic, breathing life back into the old family home.
My only complaint was with Jack's eldest son, the pompous, spiteful Arthur, a particularly nasty character, wholly unlikeable and entirely capable of gainful murder - until he's not! Reappearing at the end of the book as a guest at his sister's wedding, can we really believe that Arthur has made such an incredible transformation purely as a result of becoming a dad? Hmmm.
On the whole however, I really enjoyed this book and give it 4 stars.

This is a beautifully moving book exploring a stunning setting, family divisions, loyalties and love. This is an engaging and entertaining family drama.

It didn't grab me immediately, it took me about half the book before I cared about it. But it ended up being a good read so if you have the patience to stick with it then you'll be glad you did.

I loved this. The characters were exquisitely described and I felt I really knew them. A saga that takes place over a number of years you really get invested in the family and others who live there. Absolutely great!

I am a huge fan of Erica James' books and this one is no exception. They are my go-to comfort books which is a category only a few authors fall in to (Santa Montefiore, Katie Fforde, Tracy Rees etc. so she is among esteemed company). Coming Home to Island House is a joy and a delight to read and exactly what I need when I need a comfort read.

I read this book over the summer, and I knew I was in for a treat the moment I started reading,

Erica James has a way of bringing her characters to life, and creates a captivating plot every time. Coming Home to Island House is no different, and it is truly an enjoyable read.

Set in the late 1930's/early 1940's, at the beginning of WWII, the threat of war is imminent in the background, and this does play a huge part in the overall plot of the story. With war comes sacrifice, but at what price? With Jack's offspring Coming Home to Island House, Romily Temple faces challenges she has never dealt with before. Writing a novel is her forte, but putting back together a broken family? That's certainly something she never expected to face, but for the love of her life she is determined to make his last wish a reality.

With each character there comes a different story, and the way Erica Jame has incorporated each into the plot is brilliant, and doesn't detract from the overall novel, but instead adds the little details that every reader loves. Those tiny things that make a character shine, that tells even more about them than you'd think.

An enticing tale of love, loss, and courage, Coming Home to Island House is definitely a must-read!

​Every so often I feel the need to take a break from reading my usual genre of crime/thriller fiction and look for something different to read.

Sometimes, when I do this, I come across an amazing gem of a book and discover a new to me author whose work completely captivates me.
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Coming Home to Island House is such a book and Erica James is such a writer.

This story takes place during 1939/40 and is set against the backdrop of the runup to and the first few months of WWII.

The characters are all well described, each having their own distinct voice. Even with such a large cast of characters I was never in any doubt whilst reading who was speaking.

The descriptions of place and time were so vivid and realistic that I felt transported to the gardens of Island House enjoying the sunshine of a summer day or feeling the bitter cold of a late winter snowstorm.

The storytelling was at a perfect pace. It moved along gently as I got to know the characters. Picked up the pace for all the action moments and then slowed down again just as I needed to draw breath and take on board all that had happened.

If you are familiar with Agatha Christie's St Mary's Mead, the village home of Miss Marple, then you will recognise the template for this country village. Not because this is a copy or a pastiche but because these are typical examples of pre-war rural England.

Erica James has caught perfectly that mix of class and snobbery, the judgemental attitudes and the requirement for a person to know their place that was so prevalent before the war.

By putting an outsider into the middle of all this and having people who grew up in but have not been part of village life for many years return home it is possible to see how much has stayed the same and how much changes in this brief period.

By the end of the book, I was not ready for the story to finish. I want to know what happened next to all the characters. There is still so much to know about all of them.

If there were to be a sequel I would be delighted.

A story based around the very complex Devereux family at the outbreak of World War

A feel good uplifting read about the lovely Romily bringing her late husbands children back together again and helping them face the challenges of wartime Britain.

Island House was set in a lovely setting and I loved the little village and the characters and could visualise the family and landmarks in the story. I love a book that comes alive in my imagination and this book was easy to picture from the first page. A brilliant read that I would definitely recommend

This was a smashing book - I couldn't put it down and stayed up all night to finish it. A real page-turner. I loved the characters so much I felt I'd lost friends when the book ended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't read an Erica James book for a while but this was so good. Set it wartime Britain it follows a family brought together by the death of Jack. Each of the family members are so different and so well written. Characters from the village are brought into the story. Will admit to this book reducing me to tears on more than one occasion. Highly recommended

I have read many Erica James novels all of which I have enjoyed, and I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. I did still enjoy it, and there were lovely characters within it, but I simply didn't find it had the depth that I normally expect from this author.

This is a feel-good read full of drama, romance and laughter. The storyline is about three generations of family, being brave and opening up to new love.
A romantic and splendidly atmospheric novel. My thanks to the author, the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Erica James’ prose is full of beautiful descriptions of people and places which soon become familiar and a sharp perception of character, both their virtues and their flaws.

Coming Home to Island House has at its centre, Romily - an ahead-of-her-time rebellious spirit, almost perfect in looks and deed. This makes the book likeable but ultimately a little less believable. I adored Romily - but where was the fault, the weakness, the chink in her armour. Yes, she was a little older than most romantic heroines, but not by much, and she had suffered a loss but even taking into account her many life experiences, she was without fault in everything she did, on the page. No-one is that self-possessed no matter what they've been through.

It’s a very easy read by a very smooth writer who ladles on the charm and the necessary wartime heartbreak. If anything, it may have been more interesting had the book been set after the country had recovered from war, doing without the heightening of life which it brings. The varied, strong personalities of the Devereaux clan would have then had less reason to regret and come together and it may have brought about more ingenious ways of making them reconcile.

One character is somewhat polished into another altogether by the end and this was a disappointment. I found myself wanting to read on to discover what happened with the ‘baddie’, how on earth such an unlikeable streak could be resolved, or even if it could and why he had behaved quite as he had. However, his storyline was a bit of a cop out in the end. And I still don’t really know why he was quite as rotten as he was.

The children (and the dog) are written with such care and delicacy, they almost make you want a spin off to see what they get up to as they grow up. A fun tale, beautifully written, with some bittersweet moments but a little too neat for me.

A pleasant enough book to read with some very interesting and complex characters. However it felt like I was reading forever and still not seeing the end of the book in sight. Not much of a gripping storyline either that kept you wanting to read to find out what happened next.

Not my normal kind of book but feisty female characters who didn't do what you expected them to, kept me hooked all the way through.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. A basic story about a family coming together set with a backdrop of WW2. Well developed characters that you care about. Friendship was at the heart of this story.

Whilst I enjoyed this story overall, it didn't really grab me. and I found it a bit slow to get going at the beginning. Once it did get into it, the story moved along well and it was a nice easy read with some interesting plot turns.

I found this book to be a very slow burner, I seemed to read for hours and still be below 50% of the way through. However it eventually picked up pace and the end result was a thoroughly enjoyable book.
Set in the late 30’s early 40’s we meet the Devereux family who are thrown into tormoil when forced to spend a week together after the passing of their father. For the first time they meet their new stepmother and we learn the history of the all characters. The story focuses on WW2 and the relationships of the siblings, it features love, heartbreak and tragedy.
A fantastic read that I would recommend to anybody. I have given it four stars purely because of how lengthy the book is and how long it took to grip me.

Coming Home to Island House opens with Romily Temple flying past a coffee shop in her sports car, setting three of it's nosy, busybody inhabitants off gossiping about her living in sin with the owner of Island House - Jack Devereux.....

From this opener, I knew I was going to love Romily Temple! Romily has just returned from a tour of Europe where she was promoting her latest crime novel (being a rather famous writer in her own right), to find her newly wedded husband Jack Devereux gravely ill.

Before it is too late, Jack enlists the services of his lawyer friend Roddy to call all of his estranged children back to Island House so he can make amends before he passes.

What follows is a story of heartbreak, love, selfishness and selflessness - and amongst all of this, the outbreak of world war two, and the impact it has on the family.

This book is wonderful, and one which I won't forget for a long time. It breaks your heart one moment, then warms you and cuddles you in the next. It's a story of families, understanding, so many different things, and it did have quite an effect on me...

You won't regret reading this book I promise.