A lovely light hearted summer read.

I love Sarah Bennett's books and this was another brilliant book with superb characters that captured me from the start.

Iggy was totally my sort of girl, happy to get stuck in and absolutely in love with her heritage and doing her best to make it successful with her brothers.

This is a story about the importance of family and a deep routed passion behind keeping the beloved family home Bluebell Castle.

A brilliant story that is perfect for hot sunny days whilst your by the beach or enjoying a sneaky few hours in the garden with a book

⛲ Izzy's HUGE garden project becomes a romantic adventure😍

🌞 With a heroine trying to find her right place in the shifting dynamics of her close family, Sunshine Over Bluebell Castle offers lots of romance, heaps of forays into gardening on a large scale, and some twisted family dynamics. The celebrity gardener who stumbles into the scene and quickly falls for the castle grounds' potential and Izzy, the family's wild rose, shuns his celebrity and finds some restful anonymity as his attachment to the estate and people grows. With a requisite villain to stir things up and a⏰ ticking calendar of projects to complete before hosting two grand events, there's plenty of activity surrounding the romance and, ultimately, a good time is had by all.🌞

👥 The romance stays sweet and mostly closed door, but it also focuses on the emotional crossroads Will and Izzy have reached. Professionally, Will has had enough of fame, media appearances and leaving the actual gardening to his excellently capable staff. Izzy has been the main manager of the estate grounds but her brother's upcoming marriage may make her superfluous. Izzy is concerned her celebrity boyfriend is too good a catch for her (if he even wants to be caught!) and Will is insecure about his working class background. Helena, Izzy's ☁ black cloud, absentee mom, is a classic troublemaker and returns to the castle with a hidden agenda and stealth jabs. Drama, drama, drama! On the other end of the spectrum, Will's neighbor and gardening mentor Mrs. Tyler makes a cameo appearance and brings the support and☀ sunshine with her.

🗞I do wish the novel had included some maps of the castle property and maybe the before and after diagrams of the grounds and their transformation; I had some difficulty envisioning it all.

👍 😊 Overall, a feel-good, sweet romance with mild adversity and some fun, supportive secondary characters: a lovely summertime read😎

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book provided through the publisher and NetGalley; this is my voluntary and honest review.

Many thanks to Netgallery and HQ Digital for the chance to read this book.

This is the second in the series and although there is overlap of characters this can be read as a stand alone.

Iggy is one of a set of triplets who live at the beautiful Bluebell castle. The estate is in financial difficulty although a priceless painting was discovered during the first book to help with this. Iggy is tasked with turning the grounds of the estate into such something that people would come and visit. She enlists the help of Will Talbot a celebrity garden whose personal life is endanger of overshadowing his talent. There is an instant connection between them which develops as the work on the gardens progresses.

I really enjoyed this sweet story. I was routing for Iggy and Will from the start. My favourite characters though are the Aunt and Uncle who don’t mince their words. We all have family members like that!!!

In the previous book, the author introduced us to the Ludworth family. We learned a lot about their history and we concentrated on the life of Arthur in particular.

In this story we were lucky enough to be guests in the beautiful castle once again where we focus on Iggy, Arthur's sister.

I love the banter between the family members and the way they all work together in order to achieve their goals, right?

You should leave the past behind, right? But sometimes you need the past in the present to secure the future. :) Certain revelations explain the behaviour from some people to others or rupture completely the fragile relationship they had.

Not only the sun is responsible for the high temperatures. Sparks are flying everywhere. Will they sizzle and die or turn into blazing fires?

A lovely summer read. 5 stars.

Thank you, Sarah Bennett and Rachel's Random Resources.

I'm beginning to think it's time I be a little more cautious when it comes to picking out a book with a cover like this: so bright and eye-catching with cute illustrations. This is the second time in recent months that I was disappointed from what I hoped to be a romantic read. The potential just wasn't there.

Igraine 'Iggy' Ludworth has been working really hard on the gardens of Camland Castle. Ever since her brother Arthur had inherited it, it is essential that the Castle be restored as soon as possible, or their lack of financial resources would lead them into trouble. The deadline is getting nearer, and Iggy's to-do list continues to stay long. Eventually, she decides to ask Will Talbot, a gardener and a celebrity, for help. They started off on the wrong foot, but as they got to learn more about one another, love begins to bloom.

This whole book reminded me of my very bad experience with The Little Bookshop at Herring Cove. My expectations in the romance department just wasn't met. I felt nothing for this couple, and their interactions are sometimes so cheesy, it's awkward and absolutely unrealistic; it feels forced. And honestly, the more I got to learn about Will and Iggy, the more I disliked them. It all started with insta-lust, and there Will is trying to be gentlemanly, giving Iggy the time she needs to be more open in their relationship (or more of when she will share his bed), and then we find the next moment, him asking her when she is going to have sex with him. Pressure much? Then we also have Iggy being so unapologetic about her mistake at the end of the book. Of course we have a happily ever after, but the way the book handled Iggy's mistake, it's like it's trying to enforce the stereotype: the man always has to be the one to make up, to show his manliness and how much he deserves her.

Well, excuse me if I struggle to find anything healthy about this relationship.

The 2 stars are to praise the author's writing. I really like her flawless way of describing appearances and the goings-on. If only the plot and protagonists match up to her writing skills, this would have easily gotten a 4 or 5. I feel there isn't a lot of instances for Will and Iggy's relationship to build properly. However, I do like the other characters within the Ludworth family.

I was given ARC from Netgalley for a honest review of this book. I will admit that I did not read the other books in the series so I might have missed some plot lines and character development. With that said, I would say this book was just average for me. I found both the characters and plot line to be average. There is potential in the series but her editor has some work cut out to accomplish this. I would grade this book C/C+.

This is the second bluebell castle book. This one is equally as good as the first if not better. This is the perfect escapist read, although only my second read by this author- I find her books absolutely fab. Would definitely recommend this book.

This was a charming, light read full of budding romance. While perfect for a quick read, it is very predictable to the point where I found myself wondering how the characters didn't see the "big twist" coming. And I wanted more character interaction at the end to resolve the conflicts, but found it jumping right into the epilogue with everything solved and no serious talks.

Thank you to HQ Digital for providing me with an ARC of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

If there's one thing that Sarah Bennett always does right, it's transporting you right into England creating a beautiful atmosphere, and making sparks fly. The best thing? She does all of those things brilliantly in Sunshine over Bluebell Castle.
I was offered an ARC by Netgalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are strictly my own.

The Story

The summer she will never forget…
Time’s running out for Iggy Ludworth to restore the wild gardens of Camland Castle in time for the Summer Fete, so she ropes in hotshot gardener Will Talbot…


But she regrets her decision as soon as he sets foot in the historic grounds – not only is Will arrogant and bossy, he’s totally gorgeous!


And very soon, sparks are flying amongst the bluebells. Yet with summer nearly over, will their summer fling convince Will and Iggy to go the distance?


The Opinion

This is one of those cases where I read the first page of a book, and just fell in love with it right away. Sure I first went and bought the first book in this series just because I wanted to know what happened before the book started... But, honestly, you don't really need to do that to be able to follow along with the story.
Maybe to start off with: I love the concept of the family history. More than in the books I'd previously read by Sarah Bennett, Sunshine over Bluebell Castle really delves into history. Not only with the castle, but also with the different parts of the property the family history, siblings' ancestor's obsession with King Arthur ...

Something that I am starting to recognise as a typical thing for Bennett's series, is the emphasis on the relation between siblings. I'm obviously not part of triplets, but it was really nice to see how close a connection these three have. Not to mention their non stop support for each other. That was maybe my favourite part of the book.

Well, you know next to the richness of the story, the gradual development of the romance with such a lovely deep burn... And other small details, such as the wealth of information on the development of large gardens, the upkeeping of an estate... And the fact that we got to see both character's perspective on the happenigns? And some further insight into the family back ground?

Honestly, this was just one of those cases where all the elements were so good, and fell together perfectly as well!

The rating: 4/5

I feel like it's pretty clear that I really enjoyed this book. It was such a perfect escapism-read, that had me dreaming away at the beautiful description of the countryside. The combination of established romance and new sparks was just perfect. If you're in need of something like that Well, I guess I just can't recommend this book enough, then, can I
-Saar

Iggy, the oldest of the Ludworth children (who would have inherited if she as a boy) is doing her best to save Camworth Castle, the family home. She's got plans for the garden (people love to visit gardens!) but initially is at a loss as to how to execute and then stumbles on Will Talbott. Will's an ace in the gardening world but he HATES publicity. He takes the job and well, you know what's going to happen! This is a lovely series = and if you read the first one you'll be pleased to know that you do get glimpses of Arthur and Lucie. If you haven't you'll be fine but you, like me will find yourself looking forward to the next one (who will it feature? I bet I know!). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A fun read.

Following on from Spring Skies over Bluebell Castle we’re now into summer and following Iggy. I think I’ve picked up a trend that the love interests for our characters will be coming from London and discovering the delights of a quiet countryside town and castle.

I kind of get Will’s behaviour but in a way also feel like this rings very true of the media attention Meghan Markle has been getting. We don’t really know who the real Will is in a lot of situations, while others are quick to judge, and blame based on potential lies others are spreading.

I enjoyed his childlike humour, fun and excitement. But I also admired his wisdom in knowing when to leave a woman alone to figure out what’s happening in her head compared to when to push and tell her the truth.

I feel like the mystery of “who leaked Will’s presence to the media?” was a little obvious, and surely the family should’ve figured out who it was before they did. I feel like that could have added more mystery with tension arising between the couples Iggy and Will and Arthur and Lucie. From how Arthur behaved I feel like he would have been defending their mother and fighting for her to stay while Iggy and Will would have been adamant that she was a bad influence.

But that’s my take on it and I don’t know yet if it happened this way to set things up for Tristan’s book or not. I mean, I’m assuming that’s coming yea?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is the second book in the series. I was fortunate to be able to read both and am happy with the ending of this one.
Igraine is the eldest sister of the boys and has a slight infatuation with Will, who's a celebrity gardener. Igraine has been tasked with fixing the gardens surrounding the castle and asks Will to help.
There wasn't too much emphasis on his fame, and we get to know him on a personal level through Igraine. There are a couple of hiccups along the way and the family have to deal with the fall out.
It's a quick easy pleasant read, and it's nice to see Igraine happy.

Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book.
A brill read, read it in less than 24 hours. Had to keep reading to find out what happened to Iggy’s plan to restore the castles gardens to there former glory. Will the famous gardener Will help her to achieve her goal.

I really enjoyed the first book of the series: Spring Skies Over Bluebell Castle and was looking forward to finding out how the triplets manage the good fortune that they end up with in the first installment. I liked what happened in this one, but I was expecting something even more. I will try to explain a little more coherently.
This book is all about the only female, eldest of the three and the woman who should have inherited if the laws of inheritance allowed for it. Iggy is breaking her head over what could be done to get the gardens of Bluebell Castle ready to go public. With this in mind and a bigger than average crush on the famous landscaper/gardener, Iggy decides that Will Talbot is the solution to their problems. I liked Will and I liked Iggy and their personalities separately and even together but I felt their story was a lot more rushed than the previous one. The foundation was laid with Iggy's thought process being described quite early on, but it still did not feel adequate. I wanted more of a buildup to their working together. There are further secrets revealed in this tale, of the past and once again the mother makes an arrival. She is present for more of the story than before and her priorities seem to swing through many phases but she brings her own downfall. 

The way we leave things at the end, I wonder how much of a story is left for the youngest sibling. I will definitely be reading the last of the series whenever I get the chance!

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is completely based on my own reading experience.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
A very good read and one I can highly recommend to others.
I could not put this down.
Thoroughly enjoyable with an amazing cast of characters that you cannot help but engage with.

Lovely feel good story. It was well written and flowed well. Easy to read and hard to put down. Perfect on these summer nights

A lovely summer easy read romance with great characters. Will Iggy get her dream garden and can celebrity gardener Will help? True love never runs smoothly and Helena, Iggy's mum tries her best to ensure that is true.

I love this family! Iggy’s turn to find HEA with Will a famous landscape designer she gets to help restore the gardens on the ancestral estate. The characters are well written. I can’t wait to read Tristan’s story. The only thing I did not like about this book is the cover. I think there should be a photo of a real castle on the cover, not a childish drawing. I received an ARC for my honest review.

This was the right book at the right moment. I needed an uplifting read and this one was perfect.
I loved the style of writing, the cast of characters, the plot, and the setting.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is the second book in the Bluebell Castle series and can easily be read as a standalone.

I fell in love with Bluebell Castle in the first book in the series so was great to be back there. What a great setting for a story and was delighted that through Iggy and Will’s story, we get to see more of the castle and in particular the grounds. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t have one green finger in my body but you don’t need to, to appreciate the wonderful visions that both characters have in turning the grounds around.

Will is a fab love interest although I was a bit dubious for Iggy’s sake as to how true he is with his reputation and fame, you can’t help but fall under his spell either. Iggy is quite prickly to start with but her heart is in the right place with wanting the best for her family and their home and future. When we get to meet her and her brother’s mum, there is no wonder that she has a bit of a chip on her shoulder at times.

Sunshine Over Bluebell Castle certainly had me under it’s spell. I was captivated by the authors descriptions and the blossoming romance between both characters. It makes for an uplifting and heart warming read that I didn’t want to put down. Really looking forward to more in the series.