Book Tour: The Guestbook - Holly Martin

The blurb:

Welcome to Willow Cottage – throw open the shutters, let in the sea breeze and make yourself completely at home. Oh, and please do leave a comment in the Guestbook.

As landlady of Willow Cottage, the young widow Annie Butterworth is always on hand with tea, sympathy or strong Norfolk cider - whatever her colourful array of guests require.  A flick through the messages in the leather-bound cottage guestbook gives a tantalizing glimpse into the lives of everyone who passes through her doors.

This includes Annie herself - especially now celebrity crime writer Oliver Black, is back in town. He might grace the covers of gossip magazines with a different glamorous supermodel draped on his arm every week, but to Annie, he’s always just been Olly, the man who Annie shared her first kiss with.

Through the pages of the Guestbook Annie and Olly, along with all the guests that arrive at the seaside retreat, struggle with love, loss, mystery, joy, happiness, guilt…and the odd spot of naked rambling!

Forget sending postcards saying ‘wish you were here’ - one visit to Willow Cottage and you’ll wish you could stay forever.

My opinion.

From the moment I read the blurb and saw the cover, I knew this was a book I'd HAVE to read. I'd heard so many great things about Holly (and her books ;-) ) already, so when the opportunity came to be a part of this book tour, I jumped. And I'm so happy I did.

I absolutely loved reading this book. Holly tells the story of Willow Cottage, its owner Annie and all it's guest. The great thing is though, that she lets THEM tell their story - through Willow Cottage's Guestbook.

Every guest has their own fond, which makes it easy to see who's writing without having to turn back pages. It's amazing how Holly can introduce characters by just a few lines and still make you feel like you know them through and through. It took me a while to really understand who Annie was - the first impressions the guests wrote weren't really helpful - but I ended up really liking and respecting her. She's a very strong, very kind woman with so much love for both her friends and her guests.

The main story in The Guestbook is Annie's. Through the messages of her friends staying in Willow Cottage and her responses, and through some eye-witness reports written by extremely nosy guests, we see her story unfold.

It's a very heartwarming and funny story about love... and all the pain and joy that comes with it. 

  

Now YOU can get involved too, here is our very own Guestbook online, take the time to visit and leave a comment, join in the fun and tell us what you thought of your experience. Meet new friends or be nosey and see what others have got up to before you!