Review: The House on Sunset Lake by Tasmina Perry

The House on Sunset Lake

Publisher: Headline Review

Release date: 25 August 2016

Rating: **** and a half stars

Back cover blurb: 1995. Savannah, Georgia, where the sunsets are long and golden and the air is hot and heavy with promise. Student Jim Johnson isn't happy when he has to abandon his plans of a carefree month of inter-railing to spend the summer in the Deep South with his mother and his father, a down-on-his luck author who has been sent to Savannah to rediscover his muse. But when Jim meets the beguiling Jennifer Wyatt, the daughter of the owners of Casa D'Or, the mysterious plantation house on the shores of a lake, Jim knows he has made the right decision in coming along. Until an event happens that shatters Jim and Jennifer's lives for ever and sets both their lives on a different course. 2015. Twenty Years later Casa D'Or stands abandoned and neglected, a victim of tragic events that everyone wants to keep buried. But when Jim Johnson's boss buys it as the latest acquisition to his hotel chain, Jim is forced to return to the house and restore it to its former glory. Fate throws him back into the orbit of Jennifer Wyatt, the woman his heart has never truly got over, but as he tries to put the ghosts of the past behind him, he unearths a chilling secret that makes him wonder what he has ever really known about the people he loves.

Jim Johnson is a hotshot property developer for Omari hotels, he is approaching Forty with a beautiful girlfriend, and the promise of the ultimate job, CEO of Omari.

But the job comes at a price, Jim's boss Simon Desai wants Casa D'or to be the ultimate luxury hotel addition to the Omari portfolio.

Casa D'or is a former plantation in Savannah, Georgia.

Jim is familiar with the area and the luxurious house having been forced to spend a summer there when he was younger. He found and lost his first true love, Jennifer Wyatt there, and isn't sure that he'll be welcomed back to the area with open arms.

But his job depends on it.

Jim is forced to contact the owner of Casa D'or and in doing so opens up a door to his past that he was longing to keep firmly closed. I can't say too much more as this a novel to be discovered...

There are many things that I loved about the House on Sunset Lake, the setting, the beautiful storyline and it's wonderful (and some not so wonderful characters.

The House on Sunset Lake is a beautifully written novel that will leave you wanting a sequel to find out what just the future might hold for Jim Johnson and his family and friends.

 The House on Sunset Lake is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

  Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  

Review: The Last Kiss Goodbye by Tasmina Perry

The Last Kiss Goodbye by Tasmina Perry

Publisher: Headline Review

Release date: 28 January 2016

Rating: **** and a half

Back cover blurb: Everyone remembers their first kiss. But what about the last? 1961. Journalist Rosamund Bailey is ready to change the world. When she meets explorer and man about town Dominic Blake, she realises she has found the love of her life. Just as happiness is in their grasp, the worst happens, and their future is snatched away. 2014. Deep in the vaults of a museum, archivist Abby Gordon stumbles upon a breathtaking find. A faded photograph of a man saying goodbye to the woman he loves. Looking for a way to escape her own heartache, Abby becomes obsessed with the story, little realising that behind the image frozen in time lies a secret altogether more extraordinary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Kiss Goodbye is the first of Tasmina Perry's novels that I have read. Yes, I know she has written loads, but lets just say I'm behind (and it isn't my usual genre...). So I was pleasantly surprised when I opened up this novel and began to read.

 

Abby Gordon is an archivist involved in sourcing photos for an exhibition when she stumbles across a photograph of a young man about to embark on a expedition, saying goodbye to his lover. Abby discovers that the couple are, Dominic Blake, missing presumed dead since the expedition in the 1960s and Rosamund Bailey.

After inviting Rosamund to the exhibition, Abby learns that Rosamund is still extremely upset by Dominic's disappearance, even all these years later, and sets about trying to help her find the truth behind it.

Meanwhile Elliott Hall, a journalist is looking to woo Abby. But she isn't in the mood for love. In fact she could do without relationships altogether and is seeking a divorce from her adulterous ex-husband, Nick.

But with his journalistic skills, Abby realises that Elliott may be able to help both her and Rosamund find the truth about Dominic Blake once and for all.

Slipping back and forth between the 60s when Ros and Dominic meet, and the present day, the Last Kiss Goodbye is a beautifully written novel and gains a solid 4.5 stars from me, it so could have been five, because I loved this novel, I really did, but -

 

I was left a little disappointed by the ending and a decision made by Abby - I really thought she had grown as a character during the novel and her actions surprised me. Maybe I'm just not romantic enough, you should probably have a read for yourself and find out!

 

The Last Kiss Goodbye is available from 28 January 2016.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online.

 

  

 

Many thanks to the publisher who sent me an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.