Great book which turns out to be so much more than a romance. Cornwall is lovingly described, as are the characters. There are some modern strands such as ecology, but also class, locals sticking together and old fashioned pleasures. A good read with a twist at the end of the tale.

Flora, a country girl at heart, has successfully managed to live most of her adult life in secluded oblivion in London of all places! She has managed this largely due to her career as an artist hiding away in her studio...along with childcare throughout the required years from her mother. During these years she has been in love with Hugo, but they have been divorced for the last 15 years.
This is a tale of discovery, of family and of sacrifice that comes to a head one summer when Flora is back in Cornwall, where she and Hugo grew up.
I found the story a bit slow to start with and it wasn’t really ‘grabbing me’ but it was definitely worth persevering as I really enjoyed it in the end.
I thought it had a lovely authenticity to the characters, particularly in how people with different personality types interpreted the actions of others and I saw the over thinker in me more than once in the pages.
Overall it was a lovely read and I would definitely recommend it.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK for the advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

I was pleased to be pre-approved to read this book by the publishers and NetGalley, because I’d previously enjoyed a couple of Catherine Alliott’s books , especially My Husband Next Door. The title tells you what to expect: a lovely Cornish summer holiday. Not quite so lovely for divorced Flora, as she’s never got over losing her husband and he turns up with his second wife. Poor Flora can’t even hate the new wife, as she’s really nice and tries very hard to be friends. I say, ‘poor Flora’ but really, she’s been wasting her life and it’s time she moved on. She’s only able to do so when there are some surprising revelations about her ex and his marriage.

I found this book disappointing; rather padded out and less funny than the others I’d read. It’s still a pleasant read and the complicated family relationships (ghastly mother-in-law, how the children cope), make it interesting. It will be published on 13th June.

Flora, along with her friend Celia returns to Cornwall to paint a portrait, unsuspecting that her ex-husband and wife will be there.
The book is written from Flora’s viewpoint with this beautiful area, events and characters beautifully described. You can almost feel you are there with waves breaking on the rocky Cornish shores. The hunt scene with galloping horses, riders’ heightened emotions, and thrilling tumbles makes the writing leap off the page.
Much of the first half of the book is written retrospectively, Flora remembering events back to her school days, meeting her ex husband and all that happened before their divorce. There seems such a number of characters being introduced at the same time, it becomes difficult to remember who is who, and the story seems to move a little slowly at times.
The story becomes more interesting as you begin to know the characters and enjoy their interaction and humour. The relationships Flora has with her ex husband and wife, parents in law, along with other characters form the basis of the story which gathers pace in the second half of the book. Well written story with an unexpected ending.

I have been a fan of Catherine Alliott since the very first books. I was delighted to receive an early preview copy of this book from Netgalley.
The description of this book suggests that it is a hilarious romantic comedy. Although there were a few amusing moments, the subjects raised in the book were far from heartwarming, and were quite dark and heavy in places.
I found the character Flora to be irritating at first. She could not get over her divorce to Hugo, even though it was over 15 years ago. She neglected her relationship with her friends and family, as all she could talk about was Hugo.
When Flora is commissioned to paint a portrait of her ex Father-in-law she finds herself in the middle of a conflict, and she has to decide who to trust.
There were some good characters in this book. I found the first part of the book to be a little slow but it soon picked up pace in the second part of the book.
I did like this book, but I do not think that it is a romantic comedy, as suggested. It
covers some controversial topics.

Really enjoyable fun read, would definitely recommend as easy to read and doesn’t need too in-depth concentration

It is the first time I have read a book by this author and I really enjoyed it. It did take me some time to warm to Flora and I did feel like shaking her at the start but she did grow on me. Really enjoyable, light summer read with a happy ending.

What a complicated plot! Flora goes to , as she thinks, paint a portrait of the man who was her father in law. A kind and long suffering man, he is married to the ghastly Belinda, but has 'other interests'.
As soon as Flora, and her friend arrive, it is obvious that there will be problems when she finds her ex husband and new wife are there to stay as well.
Ther eis a much more serious side plot going on with her ex husband and his business, and poor Flora has to bear the brunt of this.
I dint think it was one of Catherine Alliot's best novels, but enjoyed reading it.
Thank you for a review copy.

thank you for allowing me to read this book. it was very easy to read. i enjoyed the story line and the characters. look forward to reading more from this author.

I seem to be saying this about a lot of writers recently, but I have loved Catherine Alliott’s novels right from the first one, The Old-Girl Network. In A Cornish Summer, her narrative voice is very distinctive and the sense of place is vividly evoked; she creates a believable world and pulls you in. This story of a dysfunctional family, and the secrets that they keep, is told through Flora’s eyes. She is finally forced to confront her inappropriate feelings for her ex-husband, and move on with her life. The characters are well written and the subject matter is quite serious at times; this is no light-hearted romance novel, but it will make you want to go to Cornwall for your holidays! Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a review copy.

A really enjoyable summer read, set in glorious sunny Cornwall.
Some quite dark storylines twisted together to make a compelling read that doesn't always go where you might expect.
Definitely a recommendation.

I’ve always loved Catherine Alliott’s books; they sometimes had a rather large cast of characters to cope with but there was always humour in them and the heroine getting herself into scrapes. I’m really sorry to say that I was disappointed with A Cornish Summer.

I’m not actively anti-hunt, although I don’t agree with it, but I found that the parts on hunting and horse-riding went on for far too long and included terms and expressions that I didn’t understand. Unfortunately, I became a bit disinterested and skim read quite a few pages.

It was a good storyline and I enjoyed it to a certain extent, but I didn’t find any of the promised hilarity and it was a bit too heavy for my holiday reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

What an epic cast of characters, and some of the ending that I definitely didn't see coming.

It felt like there really were a lot of words and characters to get to grips with, although once you had an idea of the family dynamics, most of the book slotted into place nicely in my mind, it just felt at times a tad too long.

That being said there were sections where I couldn't tear my eyes away from the page, the main action scenes, one involving a hunt, and one a far more serious happening a lot later on in the book. There are old friendships, new interests, all within this huge novel, set over a summer in Cornwall.

This is the summer where Flora finally learns to be not quite as hooked on her ex-husband and starts thinking of herself again. I wasn't really that keen on Flora, or indeed many of the characters which may explain why I took a while reading this. I think I just didn't really connect to her at all, and given the whole book was from her point of view, it wasn't the quickest of books for me.

I did enjoy the story, and I loved hating Belinda, while Roger was really lovely and Babs rather cheeky. And Edward although we didn't see much of him, there is one stand out scene he is involved in that had me giggling a lot.

I can't really talk much about what happens in the book, purely as it felt like most of the first half was providing much needed background and leg work to make the much stronger second half fly. I loved the last quarter or so of the book, and really felt pleased for various of the characters with their resolutions.

Although not my favourite book by Catherine Alliott, it is still a good story and there is some lovely writing and great characterisation to enjoy.

Thank you to Michael Joseph and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I loved this book and did not want to put it down. Brilliant descriptive verses about the Cornish landscape and good background for the main characters. The story did not go where I thought it was heading, and I loved the final outcome.
Good storyline, and description of characters.

It took me a while to get into this book as I found the story a bit of a slow burner with numerous characters which I found confusing but I was glad I continued reading because the twist half way through made the book more enjoyable and if I was rating the book on the second half I would definitely give it a five star .

Although the burb said it was hilarious I felt the story explored very serious issues.

The realisation that secrets can be so well hidden and the truth almost always comes to light was beautifully portrayed in this book which was set in the stunning Cornish location.

Overall I feel this book was let down by the slow start but nevertheless it redeemed itself when all the ends came together and I was left with a warm feeling for the main characters who all managed to find their own happiness in the end.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for my chance to read this enjoyable book.

Got just a few pages into this and then she started talking about hunting as if it was just a jolly day out. As someone who finds it abhorrent I couldn’t continue reading.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an arc copy of this book.

Loved, loved, loved this novel!!! I loved the location, the characters, the storyline - everything fitted together perfectly and I can't believe I hadn't really read much by this author before. It was written beautifully and was unputdownable. This is perfect for summer

Loved this romping romance set in Cornwall. All the usual suspects, Country house types and then the ordinary folk, with modern day family problems . Not everyone ends up happy ever after, but there is closure for all. Quick read, but entertaining and pure escapism - great summer read.

Parts of this book are excellent, and it certainly made me want to revisit Cornwall, so would be a good holiday read for anyone going there for a holiday. Unfortunately, it lost me after a very protracted passage about a hunt, (and I'm not anti hunting); and the final straw was the appearance of the craggy, good looking professor and the inevitable misunderstanding between wealthy people versus environmentalists. Ultimately disappointing, when it could have been so good.

I'm sorry I really can't get into this book at all. Far too many characters to remember who is who and a fox hunt that is never ending and confusing, I may go back to it and try again but I have too many books to read to keep at one which I find a slog.