4.25 “Let’s have a spring fling?” Stars

Sarah Bennett’s Butterfly Cove series was one of my favourites of both 2017 and the genre, so to say I was a teeny bit eager to pack my bags and head off to discover what treats Lavender Bay held for me, is a bit of an understatement. And those treats come in the form of Beth, Eliza and Libby: lifelong friends who may have miles separating them but haven’t lost the tight bond they share.

“It didn’t need to be anything serious, a spring fling, maybe leading to a summer romance if they were both so inclined.”

Beth’s return to Lavender Bay isn’t under the happiest of circumstances but it quickly becomes evident that one resident in particular is over the moon to see her—Eliza’s older brother Sam *insert happy sighs here*. And whilst he and Beth and their burgeoning feelings are at the heart of this story, it isn’t just theirs with introductions to the residents, their relationships and the wealth of possibility they will bring to the series along the way.

“When we kiss, it feels like you are one hundred per cent in the moment. That the butterflies dancing in my belly are fluttering around in yours too.”

I was dropped right into the centre of the bay, quickly falling in love with the scenery, the characters and the stories unfolding around them. For a large part of the book, Beth and Sam’s relationship simmered in the background with the focus laying on the girls’ friendship, their personalities, families and pasts, and for me this worked well in creating build-up for Beth and Sam who have a natural ease around one another highlighting their fun natures, but also that wariness crossing the line between friends and lovers brings.

“You’re mine, Sam Barnes, do you hear me? For as long as this fling between us lasts. You. Are. Mine.”

Spring at Lavender Bay is a delightful read full of love, life and pursuing your dreams and I’m looking forward to seeing where life will lead Libby and Eliza. One word of warning though, if you’re cutting back on the sweet stuff beware, because Sam has mad baking skills and I could murder one of his concoctions right now.

Review will be up on my blog 26/02 : thecosiestcorner.blogspot.com

What a lovely start to a new series by Sarah Bennett, I haven't read many of her novels but the ones I have got my hands on I have really enjoyed. As always with Sarah's books, the covers are beautiful and really draw you in. There are so many colours and of course the red shop in the middle really stands out. I love the lavender on the sides of the cover and the sea in the foreground - so stunning and pretty!

The story itself is just as lovely as the cover. The characters are all wonderful and there's a real sense of a tight-knit community in the air! They all seem really friendly and it made me wish I could live somewhere like this amongst friends and people who genuinely care about you. The story follows main character Beth, who finds out that she's been left a shop in her hometown. Of course, this comes as a huge shock to Beth but she's touched that Eleanor (the shop owner) has passed it down to her and vows to turn the shop back around.

You can tell that Beth is happy to be back in Lavender Bay and it was really nice to read about her learning to love her hometown again. And of course, it was interesting to read about Beth and Sam's relationship! Sam seemed like a lovely lad and I was hoping it would all work out well for Beth - but I needn't have hoped! It was a great start to a new series and one that I throughly enjoyed.

Overall, a really enticing and lighthearted novel. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for a chance to read this novel, which I have reviewed honestly.

I received a copy of Spring at Lavender Bay by Sarah Bennett from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this was a quick read that made time move by. I didn't love the main characters, Beth and Sam, but I did find their dynamic to be interesting. What I did like most was that the plot wasn't perfectly pat and "just so" - kind of like life - but the characters still prevailed (obviously...it's a romance).

Fun read; I liked it.

Lovely easy read book , actually more of a 3 3/4 stars but I cant click that but better than a 3 !! . The characters were easy to like and I could see Lavender Bay like I had been myself. The main character Beth finds herself moving back to her home town after her close friend Eleanor has died and with her life in London not going how she had imagined it. Her two best friends Libby and Eliza are there for a shoulder to cry and of course the lovely Seth. Looking forward to reading the next 2 books and seeing what the future holds for Libby and Beth .

Much to Beth's surprise she inherits the estate of the woman who more or less raised her. She had expected nothing, but their were no relatives and Eleanor thought the world of Beth. Eleanor called her store an Emporium, it had a little bit of everything including a great deal of dust. If Charlie hadn't broken up with Beth, she wouldn't have even entertained the thought of running the store, but he had and now she was back home where her friends were, as well as the people who remembered her when she was with Eleanor.. Should she sell or should she stay?

This is the first book in the lavender bay series and I loved Sarah's first series and can really see enjoying this series to as full of romance and finding out who you really are and finding a new life for herself and being with friends and in a place she loves and not following her mums dreams. Very well written with great characters and wonderful story line and has you thinking and very heartwarming.
Beth was born in lavender bay and when her mother moved away to start a new life she moved in with a neighbour to finish her schooling. She wants to please her mum and moves to the city but although she has a boyfriend is very unhappy. Her boyfriend finishes with her and Eleanor who brought her up passes away leaving everything for Beth so she moves back to the bay and can she make a go if it with old and new friends and be happy and find out what really is best for her or not.
This is a must read as such a great book highly recommend it. Well done Sarah can't wait for the next book.

The characters here just never connected with me. The story was too messy and not properly developed. Beth teetered back and forth from just plain rude to whiny and childish. Sam had an unnatural way of talking about Beth as a child while at the same time trying to get into her pants as an adult.

Nothing clicked here for me. I sound rather have read about Libby and Mr Stone.

Spring at Lavender Bay by Sarah Bennett is set in England and is an engaging story of friendships, family relationships and love.
Beth is working in London at job where she is not particularly happy but is doing all her supervisor asks in anticipation of a promotion to supervisor. She has no real friends as she often works nights and weekends to please her team leader, Darren. Her longtime boyfriend has also decided he is not ready to be in a relationship and moved on. When she goes home to Lavender Bay for the funeral of Eleanor, the woman who helped raise her she learns she has also inherited the woman’s home and business, a quirky seaside emporium. Beth is not certain she can run the store but with the help of her lifelong friends Libby and Eliza and Eliza’s mother Annie the store and apartment above are transformed. Eliza’s brother Sam has also come home to help run the family pub as his father has been ill. Sam is the one person who has always been honest with Beth and vice versa. Will they become adversaries or allies in their reality? Will they decide to stay long term or leave to pursue the dreams they gave up to return to Lavender Bay?
I enjoyed this book very much. It kept me interested and reading on until the end. There are a couple of surprises along the way. I give this book 4 of 5 stars because of issues that slow down the reader. There is the expected English phrasing and some unfamiliar sayings but the real issue is words missing, words run together without a space such as “theother”, and word separated by spaces such as “wit h” which can be confusing and the reader must stop a second and figure it out. I think this book will have the most appeal to twenty to thirty something women but as a senior I did enjoy reading it.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.