Synopsis
Life in London has lost its sparkle for Stella Simpson.
So when she gets the opportunity to escape to the country for a year, it seems too good a chance to miss. In the beautiful Somerset countryside, the majestic Roseford Hall has been painstakingly restored and is now ready for its grand opening. And as the writer in residence, Stella gets to see it all – from the rowdy resident peacocks, the hidden secrets of the Hall, to befriending the Lord of the Manor himself.
At the other end of Roseford, single father, Chris Charlton is facing his own refurbishment woes. Rocked by a tragedy two years previously, his plans for crumbling Victorian wreck Halstead House are as stuck as he is.
As Roseford Hall prepares to welcome a new era, and Halsted House’s future is under threat, Chris and Stella find themselves drawn to one another. Can they finally leave their pasts behind, and will Chris and Stella be able to embrace their new beginnings together – or apart…
My Review
I have been a fan of Fay’s work for a while now. I love the way in which she writes such uplifting and feel good story. I haven’t read every book that she has written to date but I am getting there. I read the synopsis for ‘New Beginnings At Roseford Hall’ and it certainly sounded like another cracking read from Fay. So without further ado, I grabbed my Kindle, grabbed a cup of tea and settled down for what proved to be a fun afternoon of reading. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘New Beginnings At Roseford Hall’ but more about that in a bit.
I absolutely loved the character of Stella Simpson. I warmed to her from the start and it didn’t take long until I considered her to be a friend of mine. I felt all protective of her and towards her. When we first meet Stella, she seems to be a bit stuck in a rut in that she does the same thing day in and day out with no variation. She doesn’t seem to have much of a social life but she says that she is happy with things the way they are. I don’t think that Stella is being honest with herself and she knows that changes need to be made but she seems to be unwilling to step outside of her comfort zone for fear of being hurt or because she fears that she will fail. I could identify with Stella in that respect because that’s exactly where I am at. I know that changes need to be made to move forward and step outside of my comfort zone but it seems a wee bit scary. Anyway that’s enough about me and back to Stella. Stella is a lovely young woman, who really does deserve a ‘happy ever after’ ending. What happens? Well for the answer to that question and so much more then you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
It didn’t take me long to get into ‘New Beginnings At Roseford Hall’. As soon as I started reading, I knew that I was reading something special and that I would thoroughly enjoy every single minute of the story. I think that part of the reason why I ultimately became addicted to this book was the fact that I was drawing parallels between Stella and my own life. I had to keep reading to discover how things turned out which would give me hope. I hope that makes sense. The more of the book that I read, the more I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn. I became so wrapped up in the story and in the lives of the various characters that I lost all track of time and just how quickly I was getting through the story. All too quickly I reached the end of ‘New Beginnings At Roseford Hall’ and I had to say goodbye. I found ‘New Beginnings At Roseford Hall’ to a delight to read from start to finish and I absolutely loved it.
‘New Beginnings At Roseford Hall’ is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less from Fay Keenan. Fay has one of those easy going writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. In fact reading one of her books feels more like a chat between friends rather than reading a book. I hope that makes sense. Fay clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the very vivid way in which she describes them. She describes them so well that the characters just seemed as real as you and I. I love the way in which Fay makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action. This was one of those books that made me chuckle and left me feeling as though I had had a hug from a mug of hot chocolate- all fuzzy and warm inside.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘New Beginnings At Roseford Hall’ and I would recommend it to other series. It has been said that this book was the first book in a new series and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.
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