I have enjoyed Della Galton's writing for many years now, and she has delivered an uplifting, entertaining, escapist book here. I want to go to that hotel! Her setting is idyllic, and the characters well written. a bit of much needed escapism for this time.

A lovely story that had me enthralled from start to finish. I was trying to work out who the person was trying to wreck the reputation of the hotel. Very good and well written.

This is an excerpt of the book review on my blog https://trails-of-tales.com/

......First of all, you would be hard pressed to dislike the description of a hotel that has a Lighthouse AND an Amphitheatre. I wanted to pack my bags straightaway and go stay at The Bluebell for a fortnight. Well, I would have liked to stay there for an eternity…. if it were free.

Author Della Galton has truly created a comfortable and homely environment in The Bluebell. And even though the setting of the hotel is a big part of it, the charm is really the hotel staff and their dedication to The Bluebell.

In any story with too many characters, there is always a risk that at some point the story might lose its readers and leave them utterly confused. But ‘Sunshine over Bluebell Cliff‘ emerges a winner when it comes to establishing the unique identities of its multiple characters. The characters have been so well identified with their quirks that the reader can follow along with ease.

On that same note, I would also like to mention that the author through her writing skills was able to bring together all the characters into a family, a big unit which of course added to the warmth of the story.

There were two narrative threads traveling parallely through the story. One was Clara’s relationship with the hotel, its staff and those around. The other was her interactions with her own family. The author maintains a balance between these two threads by keeping them sufficiently separate and simultaneously not letting either one stand out like an unnecessary part of the story.....

......‘Sunshine over Bluebell Cliff‘ turned out to be a perfectly paced ride for me. The right amount of mystery steeped with love. The ending left me with warm, melting feeling of contentment. And that is a good feeling!!

This was such a heartwarming story! It was a lovely uplifting read in these times. I loved the mystery aspect of it as I wasn't expecting it but enjoyed it a lot. I also really loved the descriptions of Dorset as its a place I enjoy holidaying. Loved the story and the dog stole my heart.

A well written story with terrific character development. I enjoyed the twists and turns and will highly recommend this book to loved ones.

I've been a huge fan of Della Galton's writing for years - her stories are always warm and her characters believable. This lovely story is no exception. Sunshine Over Bluebell Cliff is an uplifting, escapist read (and who doesn't need to escape the real world at the moment?). I liked it very much.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Sunshine over Bluebell Cliff by Della Galton

This book is all about the Bluebell Hotel where the owner has to go abroad on a family emergency and the new manager Clara is left in charge whilst someone is sabotaging the hotel .

This book is full of intrigue twists and turns, fun characters and eccentrics humour and sadness all rolled into one . It Keeps you engrossed from beginning to end. Great well written book.

A wonderful feel good book.

Clara took over as the manager of the Bluebell Cliff Hotel, but unfortunately someone was sabotaging her hotel to shut it down. She suspected the owner of competitor hotel, Adam. But he slowly won over her friendship and heart.

My first book by this author, extremely emotive and well described was the prose. It was slow going initially, but soon became quite engrossing. Mystery and humor uplifted the story and Della's writing made it all come alive.

A lovely read.

Della Galton is a much-loved contributor to the country’s most popular magazines and her novel Sunshine Over Bluebell Cliff is full of all the warmth, intrigue, magic and heart which her shorts stories and serials are renowned for.

It is the dream job Clara King has been waiting for: she has been left solely responsible for a fabulous new cliff top hotel for the entire summer. Clara cannot believe her luck. She has such plans and such ambitions for her latest project and she simply cannot wait to get started. The Bluebell Cliff Hotel is going to look even more magnificent by the time all of her plans are put into action – however, the owner is barely out of the country and trouble has already started. It looks like somebody isn’t exactly overjoyed to have Clara running the hotel and they are absolutely hellbent on ensuring that Bluebell Cliff does not remain a profitable enterprise for much longer! Looks like Clara has challenges on her hands she hadn’t even envisaged!

With the hotel’s future at stake, Clara will not rest until she figures out who is the person determined to bring the Bluebell Cliff to its knees. Not one to give up without a fight, Clara needs all of her resolve and strength to figure out who the saboteur is intent on causing maximum distraction – because the alternative simply does not bear thinking about! As if Clara does not have enough to worry about, it is not just her professional life that is in chaos, but also her personal life. So much for a quiet summer…

Can Clara manage to save the hotel and rescue it from financial ruin? Will she rise the occasion and realise that when it comes to a crisis, there is nobody who can match her? Or will she continue to doubt herself?

Sinking into a Della Galton novel with a glass of something cold and refreshing by your side is a little slice of heaven. Sunshine Over Bluebell Cliff is a wonderfully written tale sprinkled with romance, danger, humour and warmth that eagerly kept me turning the pages and engrossed and entertained throughout. A gripping tale about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, meeting challenges head on and believing in yourself, Sunshine Over Bluebell Cliff is a superbly told tale from the always exceptional Della Galton.

What a lovely book to read. Set in an idyllic setting. Which added to the joy of the book. It was easy going. Lovely to read. The book was well written. Great storyline and characters. The book flowed well. Highly recommended

So good. Loved this book
This is my first book by della galton it was brilliant. Loved how the story kept me guessing who the senator was I'm so glad it wasnt Adam Greenwood. Also loved the fact that the love story in it was in the background of the story not right in ur face.

5☆ An Uplifting, Heart Warming, Fun and Charming story, Perfect Read for a lil bit of Escapism!

Clara is the manager of The Bluebell Cliff for last 3 months.
Kate owns it, but she has just had some bad news & needs to go home to Australia to be with her mum.
She trusts no one else and asks Clara if she will look after and run the The Bluebell Cliff, for her whilst shes gone.

Kate offers Clara to Bungalow Sit and look after her 3 legged Fur Baby Foxy too. As she will be closer to work & it won't disrupt or upset Foxy. Clara jumps at the chance to help out... I mean how hard could it possibly be?

Sunshine Over Bluebell Cliff is such a wonderfully uplifting, heartwarming and charming story, the perfect book to whisk away a lil escapism.
It has a lil bit of mystery, plenty of drama, shenanigans, dilemmas, twists, humour and a dash of Romance but most of all oodles of charm.
The Bluebell Cliff is quaint yet grand and Della creates the perfect ambience, I wish I could visit as I would love to experience all it has to offer.
The characters are an eclectic bunch and so well written.
I just want to give a special mention to how beautiful the book cover is.
I love Della Galton's books and once again she has written an absolute Gem. I really hope there will be more from The Bluebell Cliff Hotel!

Thank you to Rachel Random Resources for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

My Review:

Della Galton is a new author to me and with the current world circumstances I was searching for an escapist novel. Luckily, Sunshine over Bluebell Cliff was next on my blog tour list.

Clara is 34 and works at a seaside hotel on Dorset’s Isle of Purbeck. She’s had her own fair share of problems in life, including an ex boyfriend who just wasn’t the one despite an offer of a round the world trip (which would have been romantic had each ticket not been buy one get one free).

Ciara’s way out is a no-brainer: herself and her career. So it’s goodbye love and hello work and responsibility. But it seems she’s in the deep end when her boss suddenly leaves the running of the hotel to her. Not just that, she has to house and dog sit, too.

Foxy the dog has had many chances at life and the three-legged canine provides company for Clara as she navigates life from a different angle.

There’s a cast of unique characters, laughs fun and a mystery to solve. All set against a stunning backdrop of Dorset coastline. I loved the fact the book was set where it was because I spent many a Geography lesson at school learning about this particular area and it was one that my teacher would paint vivid pictures of in my mind, I also had the pleasure of spending many a family holiday there, getting as close as I could to the towns and geographical features I had studied.

I also visited the area as an adult and was still mesmerised by it.

Della Galton makes the area come alive through her descriptions.

Thanks to Della Galton, Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

4 stars.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for asking me to read and review.
This story was a wonderful read.
It is well written with some great characters and as a reader you feel you are right there with them. The plot draws you in and keeps you turning those pages.
A brilliant, heartwarming read.

So this was a lovely read! The story follows the main character called Clara trying to discover who is trying to ruin the reputation of the hotel she works in and why!

Clara is suddenly left in charge of the hotel when her boss has to take a last minute, unplanned trip! Clara is so happy to do this as she loves her job so much!

However with someone so intent on damaging the hotels reputation, she must work hard with her team to stop their attempts and being successful and find the culprit so they can stop them and find out why!

Along the way she has some family dramas that she is trying to keep together, she meets a really rude man who owns the hotel next door and looks after the cutest little rescue dog!

Now one bit in the book really did make me laugh out loud! I found it so funny I had to tell my husband who also laughed! And that is Mr B’s real name! You’ll have to read it to find out what it is! But it’s brilliant.

I did find it a little slow in places, however that didn’t stop me thoroughly enjoying the book, I kept speculating who I thought was behind all the set ups, and I really wanted to find out who it was!

I loved the story and also the kunekune pigs hehe they really are as naughty in real life as described in the book! Pigs are my favourite animals!

I found myself really routing for Clara but where I didn’t know where it was going I wasn’t sure whether it would be a happy ending of whether everything would fall apart for her when her boss got back!

The setting of this book is absolutely stunning, a small hotel on the top of a cliff with a lighthouse! Seriously I want to go there! The descriptions of the surrounding were just spectacular!

Most of all I LOVED the ending where we got to find out where every single character was a few years down the line! I thought that was BRILLIANT! It ended the book in a perfect way and felt complete!

Overall a Heartwarming, funny, easy-to-read, beautifully set novel to escape from current life! I’d love to give this book 4 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️!

Clara's dream job takes a turn for the unexpected when her boss has to make an urgent trip overseas, placing Clara in charge of the Bluebell Cliff, a boutique hotel that hopes to "make dreams come true". Unfortunately, it seems someone would rather it all ends in a nightmare, and Clara must juggle family drama and idiosyncratic staff with the hunt for a saboteur.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. In some ways, it delivered as a light and fluffy romance with a hint of mystery, the perfect escape for those stuck at home. Dorset sounds so beautiful, they could use this book as a travel brochure, and the wide cast of interesting characters added depth and colour to the story.

There were a few niggles, however, that disappointed me. Firstly, there was a lot of telling, not showing. With Clara as the POV character, every scene and interaction is filtered through her experiences in a way that slows down the plot and bulks out the book. Paragraphs are stuffed full of 'she decided', 'she felt', 'she remembered' which puts too much of the action at one level removed.

Secondly, I felt let down by the ending of the mystery sub-plot. A good mystery needs clues and hints for the reader to find or look back on, but here, the solution is half-obvious and half comes out of nowhere so my vigilance in searching for possible motives went unrewarded. The big reveal happens through a phone call when someone else solves the mystery.

I didn't dislike the book, but sometimes the prose felt stuffy and the mystery could well have been handled better, so I'm giving this three stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via Rachel's Random Resources, all opinions are my own

Special thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for including me in the blog tour for this book and to the publisher and author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review!

It’s been a while since I’ve read ‘chick lit’ or women’s fiction but Sunshine Over Bluebell Cliff reminded me of why I enjoyed them. There was a good mix of elements in the book that make it a fun, light and easy read, which is not only perfect for my mood right now but it’s a great palate cleanser between all the fantasy and sci-fi that I am and will be reading!

This book made me weirdly nostalgic for the UK and I think that’s what made my reading experience so enjoyable. Not that I’ve ever been to where this book is set but I lived in Norwich and we had quaint little seaside towns not too far from the city which I used to go to fairly often, and this reminded me of those warm summer days, strolling along the beach and staying in a cozy cottage for the weekend. I loved the concept of this hotel that “helps make your dreams come true” and it sounds like just the kind of place I’d love to stay for a short summer getaway.

All the characters from the staff and guests were a charming mix of quirky. I loved reading about the different guests that they’d host at the hotel and they’d range from awkward and hilarious to very cool! That said, there isn’t a whole lot of character development for many of them, including our main character Clara. She wasn’t an awful character but I didn’t become particularly attached to her. The romance was a slow burn enemies-friends-lovers romance that gave me butterflies watching the chemistry grow between the characters. You can tell how much family means to Clara because of how involved they were in the story and while there was a little bit of family drama, it was also really heartwarming to see their interactions. The mystery was also an interesting addition that had me guessing up until the end (we all know by now that I’m really bad at predicting whodunit)! 😂

That said, while Galton’s writing style is easy to read, sometimes I felt the storyline jumped around a bit erratically and I found that some of the details in the writing about every day things slowed the pace down a little bit. I guess the erratic storyline did add to the chaotic feeling of the story but sometimes it just threw me off. But everything wrapped up really nicely without a cliffhanger of an ending!

Overall, Sunshine Over Bluebell Cliff was an enjoyable and light read that’s perfect as a transition book or if you’re looking for something feel good. While it may not stick with me or be that memorable, I still enjoyed my time at Bluebell Cliff!

What a delightful novel to get you in the mood for Spring.  Not being able to go very far, this book is the next best thing.  It completely transports the reader to a clifftop location along the coast and is mainly centred around the setting of The Bluebell Hotel and the local area. 

The setting was so richly described that I could feel the breeze on my face and hear the waves gently lapping.  The hotel itself is such a  zany collection of characters and mishaps that had me chuckling away as I read.  I found the whole information about the workings of a hotel fascinating to read about and I'd love to stay at The Bluebell.  

Clara is a brilliant lead character, taking over managing the hotel for a while she finds herself facing many disasters which she handles brilliantly.  Her relationships with the weird and wonderful staff are just so warm and I also loved how much Clara's family were involved in the story.  Della Galton has written such a wonderfully colourful and vibrant group of characters.  If this wasn't enough, Clara is developing a love hate relationship with the owner of a rival, local hotel.

Overall, this is a well written, relaxing read that is perfect for a bit of escapism.  I really hope we will be visiting Bluebell Cliffs again in the near future.

The perfect book to curl up with and escape. A lovely coastal setting, intriguing cozy mystery and gentle romance, beset with conflict. Clara copes with running an inspirational hotel, family dramas at every turn and some sinister goings-on, which threaten the hotel's reputation.

This story has a beautifully described setting that makes you want to say there. Full of vivid imagery reading this is a pleasure for the senses. Authentically created characters hide problems and secrets. The mystery is well written and gives the story added depth.

Besieged with conflict, somehow the romance triumphs and the ending is uplifting and satisfying.

I received a copy of this book from Boldwood Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I loved escaping to the coast to the idyllic hotel at Bluebell Cliff with its range of sometimes quirky characters and its strong central characters. Clara made me laugh at times, especially when she took refuge behind her garden shed. Her reactions were often so down to earth and unpretentious. This is a book which explores family values and took a look at the difficulties which even the longest of marriages can get into. You feel like you are looking at people, faults and all.

On top of the romance which is slow burning, there is also a mystery to unravel. With a well written and fluent style, the story takes you by the hand. I thoroughly enjoyed it and there are no loose ends at the end. You get to find out what happens next for everyone. It would be lovely to visit the hotel again, but it can be read as a standalone.

Thanks to the author for a copy of the book.