This was a book which I was really looking forward to , having previously enjoyed immensely the previous books I have read by this author.
I was bitterly disappointed. The book was hard going, plot was unbelievable, and the characters were weak.
Why did Isabelle not move the fridge to a position where there was a plug ? This book was not what I expected from this author
Thanks to Netgalley, and Hodder and Stoughton for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

Moyes is one of my favourite writers. This book is one of her first and in true Moyes fashion is heart warming and gripping, It is a gorgeous read and will stay with you long after you read it

'Night Music' by Jojo Moyes is a very enjoyable read, that's perfect for lockdown.

Isabel Delancey is widowed and left financially very unstable, with two children to raise. A violinist, her life up to know has been focussed on making music, rather than managing the practical things in life.

Matt and Laura McCarthey live next door to the Spanish house, a 'folly' of a mansion, set down a heavily rutted track. For years they've been looking after the owner, with the expectation the house would be there's.

Of course the two families come together in different ways. Romances, as well as dramas ensue.

I have previously read the 'Giver of Stars' by Jojo Moyes. That was a book that made me question where the line is between literary fiction and so called chick lit. This book was very well written, but falls more towards the latter category, due to the number of tropes it draws upon. However, in a time when I can do without too much complexity/tenseness in a book, this was perfect.

I've always been a really big fan of Jojo Moyes' work -- especially Night Music, which was the first novel of hers that I read.

It's a different kind of story than I expected it to be, but I loved the way it brought us into Isabel's world.

It is an ok book but did not keep me enthralled.

We have Isabel who is a widow and is in financial difficulties so she has to sell her London house and move to Spanish House which she has just inherited. It is a run down house and needs a lot to be done to it.

She and her two children move in and her neighbour says he can do up the house to her liking. Is he doing it right or making matters worse we will see.

Are things as they seem in the house and what other family secret is there.

Nice book but maybe not her best bit of work.

This was a reread for me as I’d read this several years ago from the library. I love Jojo Moyes, particularly Ship of Brides and the Me Before You series, but I’d forgotten this story. I don’t think it’s as great as my favourites, and certainly her latest novel The Giver of Stars was incredible. This was more of a three star read, We follow Isabel, who has a musical gift that she has lost touch with - something that happens when we have work, children and homes to juggle. When her husband dies, Isabel finds their financial affairs in disarray and mountains of debt. In order to get the family in a better position, Isabel abandons their home and moves to a crumbling old pile in the countryside. The house really is a wreck! Isabel is trying to live off their savings but can’t continue indefinitely. She realises she needs help, but after the shock of her husband’s financial affairs she wonders if she can trust anyone.

Isabel eventually turns to the neighbours and finds that her presence has triggered long standing obsessions. However, despite this she does find a shred of hope within the journey. I didn’t click with Elizabeth as a character because I’m fiercely independent and can’t imagine not knowing about the family finances. There were times when I found her naivety annoying. Even simple household things seem difficult - such as the fridge. I wouldn’t recommend this one to new Jojo Moyes readers. However, it does show elements of what makes her a great writer - her skill in creating characters, her empathy for people in tough situations, and her ability to find hope in difficult situations.

The book appears to have been previously published in 2009. Not read many of Jojo's earlier offerings but hoping they are going to be as good as this one.

Night Music by Jojo Moyes is the story of Isabel, a recent widow in financial difficulties, who inherits the Spanish House. The Spanish House is a nearly derelict house in the middle of nowhere but Isabel sells her house in London to move there with her two children. Her next door neighbour is a local builder and lothario who had been scheming to inherit the house by encouraging his wife to act as an unofficial home help to the elderly gentleman who had owned it. The story then explores how Isabel and her children cope with this new life, deal with the renovation work by her scheming neighbour and make new friends. I am a massive fan of Jojo Moyes but there are still a couple of her earlier novels, including this one, that I had not yet had a chance to read. This story starts off very slowly and it took me a while to connect with any of the characters but, as with any story by Jojo Moyes, it was such an easy read that I found myself sucked in. Once half way through the story, I was invested in how Isabel would make this new life work. This is a lovely easy read that is full of interesting characters that you become completely emotionally invested in - a great read.

A thoroughly enjoyable read.
When a bereaved mum and her two children move from London to a quite country village they encounter one problem after another. Are the people around them who they say they are?
Will they find the new life they crave?

This story was really well written and the author develops the characters well as the story unfolds.
As the characters settle into their new lives and you see different sides to them you will fall in love with the family even more.
The story deals with love, loss, betrayal and second chances. It shows how nothing is forever and things can change in an instant.
I loved the music theme that ran through the book, even encouraging me to get back into my instrument after many years away from it.

I have read several books from this author and have enjoyed them all. This is different from others but that makes it all the better. It’s an easy read, but you won’t want to put it down, you will want to know how it ends for all the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and most importantly the author, for the chance to read this book, in exchange for an honest review.

The opportunity arose via Netgalley to read this early work by JoJo Moyes and I was very interested to see how it compares to her more well know and later novels.
This is a very easy read and the characters are well written but a little unlikeable. The story though is well crafted and the images portrayed of the scenery and the history of the village life is very enjoyable.
The main characters move from London following the death of the husband and inheritance of an old family home. There is much change ahead for the family and the village they move to and love and greed show there ugly heads in many ways.
This is an enjoyable novel and I would recommend reading this before the more well known ones, so you are able to see how the authors writing style has developed.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’d like to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Night Music’ by Jojo Moyes in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Laura McCarthy has been preparing two meals a day for elderly Mr Pottisworth who isn’t as helpless as he’d have people believe as once Laura’s left he goes to his cupboard to get a chocolate bar, trips over a dish of creamed rice, hits his head and dies. During the funeral Mr Pottisworth’s solicitor speaks to Matt and Laura about his Will in which they’d been expecting to be left the house and grounds but they’re shocked to be told they’ve been left to a distant next of kin, Isabel Delancey, recently widowed and with a lot of debt.

I didn’t enjoy ‘Night Music’ as I found the story slow and protracted and although going by other readers’ reviews it’s been well-received I thought the story old-fashioned and lacking excitement. I’m sorry that having struggled to read half the book I couldn’t finish it as I didn’t like the characters who failed to stir up my imagination, and had no interest whatsoever in what happened to any of them enough to continue reading. This is only my opinion as I promised to give an honest review but I’m sure other readers will enjoy it.

Fantastic read. I have been completely unable to put this one down. I cannot wait to read more by this author.
Full review to follow on publication.

Overall, it is a good book. The only thing I minded is that the first half is so slow that I almost gave up. The characters seemed unlikable and boring and there was a lot of property talk. But then it picked up and got really good. All the drama came busting out and all of a sudden you have all the people cheating each other and fighting over a house....I could already see a Netflix movie happening in front of my eyes. I don't know why, but all that drama made me very happy. I've heard lock downs can do that to people :). Anyways, I found it quite delightful. ⠀
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So, if you're looking for a book settled in English countryside talking about people fighting over an old mansion, you can give this one a shot.

Big thnx to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of e-ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Night Music interweaves perspectives of two families affected by The Spanish House. A melodrama that tackles themes of grief, love, and secrecy that reminded me heavily of a Nicholas Sparks style movie.

The Spanish House was coveted by builder Matt McCarthy, and his wife, Laura. The pair look after their elderly obnoxious neighbour Mr Potterisworth, expecting to inherit the house after his demise, but of course, this doesn't quite go to plan. The house is instead bequeathed to his grand-niece Isabel.

The Delancy family spend their life in London, where Isabel - a leading violinist - is in financial trouble after the debts built-up by her late husband Laurent. Struggling to cope with his death, and the implications surrounding their lacking financial status, Isabel can no longer afford the lifestyle she has been accustomed to including a Nanny, housekeeping and travelling with her orchestra. She inherits The Spanish House, a derelict building in the countryside, and with few other choices, she uproots with her two children, Kitty and Thierry, to live there. Kitty, the eldest child, has to pitch in and help out including helping Isabel support Thierry who hasn't spoken since his father's death.

There's a certain charm to Isabel's fish-out-of-water demeanour, and her interactions with local man Byron and the personality he coaxes out of Thierry is heartwarming to read. As expected, the charms of small village life eventually win over the Delancy clan and the family find themselves becoming valued and rooted members of the community they were once so incongruous within.

This is ultimately a story of personal growth and development, whether that be through Isabel's adjustment to a new life path, or Laura's realisation to what she actual wants, to Matt's deceitful plans, there's always something to uncover and keep you enraptured. Like a piece of music, this story starts slow and builds to a climactic crescendo around the middle of the story when village talk and people's ulterior motives are uncovered.

Right, straight to the point here, if you LOVE Jojo Moyles books then you will LIKE this, if you expect another ‘Me Before You’ ( and all the brilliance that followed ) you wont however get that but you will get a glimpse, a good glimpse, into where her writing was heading and how she built on it to get to ‘Me Before You’
If you have never read anything by this author then I would start with ‘Me Before You’ or maybe ‘The Giver Of Stars’ and leave this one for a later date when you have a day to relax and read a love story with good solid storylines and almost Downtown characters
That’s it!

7/10
4 Stars

I have been a JoJo Moyes fan for a while but this re-release was one that I hadn't previously read.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but this was a really enjoyable read, full of both love and loss.

Brilliant, just such a good read! This book offers so much. Isabel is deeply immersed in grieving the loss of her husband in a tragic car accident when she unexpectedly inherits a house. Struggling to cope financially, this could be the answer for her and her 2 young children. A fresh start in the country.......
However, the house is crumbling and her nearest neighbours also had their hearts set on owning it. Who can Isabel trust? Her neighbour Matt is the local builder, who seems friendly and helpful, but he has a hidden agenda. Byron, his labourer, is a surly and monosyllabic presence. The story twists and turns and I find myself emotionally gripped by where the story would go and what would happen next. Will they overcome adversity, how will this end? Thoroughly recommended reading. I love Jojo Moyes writing and this book will not disappoint!

Sadly not my favourite of Jojo Moyes's books. I have truly loved some of the more recent novels. I really struggled to get into this one, it is uncomfortable reading, with unattractive unlikeable characters. By half way, I was more interested, but knew the outcome before I read it. I'm glad I finished it, but it was tough reading, and not enjoyable.
The main theme is of "property being theft" and what it means to own or mortgage a home. The random threads of this theory didn't feel appropriate amongst so much misery and horrible people, who I didn't care about.
In our period of pandemic living let's have more positivity!!!
This seems to be an old book from 2008 revived.
Happy not to review anywhere else if this is unhelpful.

I’ve read quite a few of Jojo Moyes’ novels, and whilst this was a good story, it didn’t match up to previous novels. It was slow and lacking in plot; far too little happened for quite large parts of the novel, and I found my attention wavering in parts. There were parts I liked, but I don’t think this one is for me.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Another fabulous book.

When her husband passed away, Isabel with her children, decide to move to the house she’s inherited, to begin to start their lives again.

But, on arrival they find that the house, and needs a lot of work, something they weren’t prepared for.

Matt, who thought the house would be left to him, then offers to help Isabel to renovate it. But Isabel is unaware of his wish to own the house,

I found that the story kept me interested.