Book review of The Last Christmas by Liz Fenwick

The Last Christmas by Liz Fenwick

The Last Christmas by Liz Fenwick

When a final goodbye in Cornwall is only the beginning…

Meredith Tremayne Russell has spent her life mapping the world, first in intelligence during WWII, and later as a professor. But at ninety-eight with time running out, she faces a journey she cannot chart, a return to her old Cornish home to sell it and to scatter her beloved husband’s ashes. 

With her is her twenty-five-year-old granddaughter, Grace, a dyslexic who believes she is a failure in a family of academics. For Grace the trip is a welcome escape from her mother’s demands. But when she unlocks her great-grandmother’s abandoned art studio, she finds a legacy of a passionate artist and a French resistance fighter.

As Meredith relives the frozen December of her 1946 wedding, she understands her final mission isn't to say goodbye to her old home, but to draw one last map—showing Grace how to navigate a life of her own making.

The Last Christmas by Liz Fenwick

My review

This is a beautifully written book, set in Cornwall just before Christmas, but that takes us back in time too. To begin with, 98-year-old Merry is vibrant and full of life, returning to Cornwall from America, with her granddaughter Grace, to put her family home on the market. She is a strong character, in sound mind who has lived an extraordinary and independent life. However, it soon becomes apparent that Merry has decided this is one-way journey for her.

Merry is no ordinary grandmother, and as the memories of those she has loved and lost blur with the present day, her flashbacks enable us to piece together her life during the Occupation of France, her Christmas Eve wedding just after the end of the war and her life in America alongside her husband Jake. Making maps was her skill, even in childhood, and the final map she needs to create is one of the most important, to help her granddaughter Grace see where her future might lie.

Grace is a square pin in a round hole, the only non-academic in a family who struggle to understand her creative mind. The pressure to succeed has worn her down and diminished her confidence. Her first trip to Cornwall allows her to discover her French Great Grandmother’s artwork and sow the seed of where she might find her own happiness, all the while helping Merry prepare for her final Christmas. It was bittersweet to watch Grace blossom as Merry diminished.

This is an emotional read, that puts us in Merry’s mind as she prepares to join her beloved Jake, who is never far from her side. Far from being morbid, I found the presence of Merry’s ‘ghosts’ both reassuring and comforting, in a book that dealt with loss in a beautiful and sympathetic way. 

This is a book to cosy up to on a winter evening, that will make you remember those you have lost, but in a positive way.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HH9QRQYL (ebook)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HH9QRQYL (Amazon US)

 https://www.lizfenwick.com/store-1/p/the-last-christmas (paperback)

Liz Fenwick

Author Bio

Liz Fenwick, dubbed ‘the queen of the Cornish contemporary novel’ by The Guardian, is an award-winning author of emotional, immersive, feel-good fiction. Her books are filled with history, mystery and love. She loves stories that pull her into their world like they did when she was young so that’s what she writes. When she’s not writing, she’s procrastinating on Instagram, plot walking, reading and painting. She lives in Cornwall with her husband and two mad cats.

Social Media Links

@liz_fenwick (insta & twitter & threads) 

@lizfenwickauthor  (TikTok)

The Last Christmas by Liz Fenwick

Giveaway to Win 3 x Paperback copies of The Last Christmas (Open to UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Gleam box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Win 3 x Paperback copies of The Last Christmas (Open to UK Only)

Book review of The Club for Rebellious Ladies by Siobhan Curham

The Club for Rebellious Ladies by Siobhan Curham

 

The Club for Rebellious Ladies by Siobhan Curham

Who wants to be taught to be a wallflower, existing only so a rich man can bag a meek trophy wife? Not us. In our secret club, we have our own dreams. One day, we’ll run away to Paris, make our own money and fall in love for real.

Provence, 1919. When Elodie Sinclair is sent from Boston to a glamorous finishing school for socialites in training, she is determined to do all she can to rebel. Setting up The Wildflowers Club with best friends Genevieve and Lucille, the women make secret plans to escape their insufferable conversation classes. But just weeks later, a terrible scandal leaves the women reeling. And Elodie Sinclair is presumed dead.

2025. Looking for a fresh start after her drawn-out divorce, Rae Morgan finds herself in a crumbling clifftop manor house in Provence. The mysterious elderly owner, Madame Devereaux, speaks of a glitzy charm school and the tragedy that closed its doors. Though she refuses to say any more… until Rae finds a slip of yellowed paper titled The Wildflowers Club Vows left with the keys. Intrigued, Rae knows there is more that Madame Devereaux wants her to uncover.

Elodie Sinclair’s diary is hidden somewhere within the walls of the tumbledown chateau. If Rae finds it, she’ll discover a devastating secret hidden for a generation, and a spirited woman desperate to escape…

A totally gripping, sweeping and heartbreaking romantic tale full of mystery, lost love and enduring female friendship. Fans of Kate Quinn, Marie Benedict and Evie Woods will adore it.

The Club for Rebellious Ladies by Siobhan Curham

My review

This is another well-written, page-turning, dual timeline novel from one of my favourite authors, but with a difference. The focus isn’t on events from the historical period, rather it’s the social customs and norms of the time that are in the spotlight.

When life at a private French finishing school becomes unbearable for Elodie, she sets up a secret club, where a select few find freedom in opposing all the rules a lady in 1919 should obey. Their dreams are not to become dutiful wives, but to follow their north stars, push the boundaries and do all they can to achieve their passions. For Elodie, this was to make a name for herself in the Paris art scene, but when tradgey strikes in Provence, it leaves behind a mystery to be unpicked.

The Club for Rebellious Ladies by Siobhan Curham

Enter Rae, who finds herself in Provence in 2025, following her passion to bring to life a forgotten manor house. As work progresses, the former school slowly begins to reveal secrets from its past, including a diary detailing the exploits of The Wildflowers Club. As Rae tries to delve into the past, all sorts of adventures, in Paris and Provence, await her.

This book contained a delightful mix of forbidden love, loss and determination, with a huge emphasis on the importance of following your dreams. Add in heroines who will not be tamed, unlikely heros and decades of buried family secrets, and reading it left a huge grin on my face.

It will make a great companion to your summer holiday.

Purchase Link

Amazon 

Siobhan Curham

Author Bio

Siobhan Curham is an award-winning author, ghost writer, editor and writing coach. She has also written for many newspapers, magazines and websites, including The Guardian, Breathe magazine, Cosmopolitan, Writers’ Forum, DatingAdvice.com, and Spirit & Destiny. Siobhan has been a guest on various radio and TV shows, including Woman’s Hour, BBC News, GMTV and BBC Breakfast. And she has spoken at businesses, schools, universities and literary festivals around the world, including the BBC, Hay Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Bath Festival, Ilkley Festival, London Book Fair and Sharjah Reading Festival.

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Book review of New Chapters on the French Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet

New Chapters on the French Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet

New Chapters on the French Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet

Can a grieving chef and a group of writers find their own happy endings?

Eight months after his wife Jacqueline died in a tragic car accident, Michelin stared chef and proprietor of Villa Celestia, Guy Lyon’s life has been in freefall. Consumed by grief and plagued by questions as to why she was in a taxi that fateful day, the doors to Villa Celestia have remained closed.

When a good friend, Sandy Thoreau, asks to rent the villa on the French Riviera for a fortnight to hold a women’s writers retreat after being let down, Guy reluctantly agrees.

All the women at the retreat are looking forward to being inspired. Helena and her friend Mandy are writing debut novels, Isobel is editing a cosy crime story, Liz is desperate to kickstart a new book, self-published author Lorraine is looking for advice and Becky, well Becky is a law unto herself.

Over the course of the next fortnight, two of these women will change the course of Guy’s life forever and new chapters - hopefully with happy endings - will begin for all of them.

The perfect tonic and escapist read to the South of France full of warmth and second chances.

New Chapters on the French Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet

My review 

Having been a fan of Jennifer Bohnet’s writing for more years than I can remember, opening a new book is always a treat that leaves me with a comforting, homely feeling. This book had everything I was looking for, and more, enabling me to escape to the south of France, in the company of some fascinating women.

New Chapters on the French Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet

Sandy’s writing retreat in Antibes brought together six writers at different stages in their careers all hoping for inspiration, fun and advice as they switched off from their daily lives and made the most of having the time to write. Friendships were forged as ideas flowed, fed as much by the stunning setting of the villa as the delicious food served by mysterious chef Guy. It was easy to imagine I was on the retreat with them.

They all brought some interesting back stories to the villa, and I couldn’t wait to see how these played out. While some lived a wild and exciting life, time had stood still for some of them, and others were just turning the page for new beginnings. Add in a lovely twist of a second plot that delved deep into the past bringing new relationships to light, and I was in my element.

Never underestimate the magic of the Riviera and meeting the right people at the right time. If you are looking for a feelgood read for some pure escapism, add this book to your reading list now.

Purchase links

French Village Diaries is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk at no extra cost to you.

Ebook – all digital retailers 

 

Jennifer Bohnet

Author Bio  

Jennifer Bohnet is the bestselling author of over 14 women's fiction titles, including Villa of Sun and Secrets and A Riviera Retreat. She is originally from the West Country but now lives in the wilds of rural Brittany, France.

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New Chapters on the French Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet

You can read my reviews of some of Jennifer’s previous novels here:

A French Inheritance

Secrets Beneath a Riviera Sky 

A French Adventure 

Christmas on the Riviera 

Summer on the French Riviera 

Villa of Second Chances 

Summer at the Château 

A French Country Escape 

Book review of Treaty of Blood by Michael Jecks

Treaty of Blood by Michael Jecks

Treaty of Blood by Michael Jecks

Once they'd had enough of war... Now they've had enough of peace

1359, Northern France. With the ink still drying on the Treaty of Bretigny, an agreement most believed to be nothing more than a stalemate between King Edward III of England and John II of France, the country is left riddled with both English and France armies – exhausted, adrift and directionless.

An atmosphere ripe for rebellion.

Berenger Fripper returns to the only life he truly understands, among the troops of Hawkwood’s company. But danger and treachery lurk around every abandoned French farm or village. When the company comes across the promise of riches hidden in a monastery, the motley crew finally feel as though their luck is changing…

But as quickly as they find the treasure, quicker still it’s stolen from under their noses, and as they seek revenge on the unknown thief, they find themselves swept up in the might - and the politics - of the Great Company… Will any of them get out alive?

Treaty of Blood by Michael Jecks

My review

We are back once again with the company of Englishmen from the previous books in this series, trying to make their fortunes on the battle grounds of France, as they serve their king and try their best to stay alive.

This book is a gritty telling of some of the bloodiest times in the history between England and France, bringing to life the horror of battles fought in remote areas of the countryside. Once again it sparked my imagination, especially where I can visualise the locations as they are today. Walls and ancient bastides may not be able to divulge what they witnessed all those centuries ago, but immersing yourself into the pages of a good book can flesh out what history has told us.

Treaty of Blood by Michael Jecks

As I’ve read my way through this series, I can’t say these men have become my friends, they are not those sorts of characters, however something about them has ignited something within me. The dangers of their chosen path meant there were many times I was reading through held-in breaths, almost willing the chapter to finish and the action to calm a little. Maybe reading at bedtime wasn’t my best idea!

This book is certainly one for the summer wish lists of the historical fiction fans out there.

Purchase links

French Village Diaries is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk at no extra cost to you.

Ebook – all digital retailers  

 

Author Bio  

Michael Jecks is the author of over 50 novels inspired by history and legend. He is the founder of Medieval Murderers, and has served on the committees of the Historical Writers’ Association, the CWA and he Detection Club. He was International Guest of Honour at the Bloody Words festival in Toronto, and Grand Master of the first parade in the New Orleans Mardi Gras.

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You can read my reviews of Fields of Glory and Ashes of Rebellion, also by Michael Jecks here:

Fields of Glory

Ashes of Rebellion

Treaty of Blood by Michael Jecks

 

  

Book review of The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

Inspired by the true story of a woman who used knitting patterns to encode intelligence during World War Two.  

Guernsey, 2010. After a stroke, an elderly woman shocks her family by speaking perfect French – a language they never knew she possessed. As her granddaughter unravels seventy years of silence, a hidden wartime story emerges...

Paris, 1941. After her brother is declared missing in action at Dunkirk, eighteen-year-old Lenny Gallienne vanishes into Churchill’s secret army. In a bookshop on Rue de la Pompe, she poses as a simple shop girl while encoding intelligence from Nazi headquarters into knitting patterns. Each sweater smuggled to prisoners contains flight paths. Each scarf holds radio frequencies. Each mistake means execution.

Fellow agent, Harry Dennison is the only person who knows her real name. But when the SS close in, Lenny faces an impossible choice in the Metro tunnels beneath Paris – one that will haunt her family for generations. Because in the resistance, the most dangerous secrets are the ones you keep from those you love most.

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

My review

Set partly in Guernsey, as well as London, Scotland and occupied Paris, this dual timeline novel tells an emotional story of determination, espionage, heartbreak and above all family bonds.

Lenny is pushed to her limits, physically and mentally, but shows a resilience to adapt and keep going whatever her superiors and the Germans throw at her. Desperate to find a way to remember the morse code, Lenny practises it over and over again, in her knitting. This ingenious idea, born out of the practicality of a woman doing her best to be accepted into the male-dominated SOE (special operations executive) world, sparked a whole new adventure for her in this book, before circumstances led to the unravelling of her dreams.

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

The knitting element to this book intrigued me and really added that new edge to a genre I’m well-read in. I’m not a knitter but do know my knit and pearl stitches and just loved how something so simple as knitting was used in the storyline, although, I would have liked to have seen it play a more important role out in the field.

This book was an enjoying step back in time for those, like me, who love a book set during the Occupation of Paris.

Purchase links

French Village Diaries is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk at no extra cost to you.

Amazon link UK / US

 

 

Author Bio  

Jenny O’Brien writes complex thrillers and heartbreaking historical fiction, as well as intriguing romances. Silent Cry, initially self published, topped the Amazon kindle chart in both the UK and the USA. Most of her books have followed suit. 

Jenny has over 40 years experience as a qualified nurse. She turned to creative writing as a hobby when her children were born. 

Born in Ireland, she now lives in Guernsey with her husband and children.

BOOK NEWS 

The Resistance Knitting Club comes out in February, 2026. A blend of Jenny’s two hobbies - knitting and reading. For more check out The Resistance Knitting Club Facebook Page. Join the conversation as well as share your crafting projects. 

Social Media Links  

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The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

Book review of The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

🥖🥐🥖🥐 Grab your passport for the first in the European Escapes series 🥐🥖🥐🥖

No home. No job. No boyfriend.

When Lia loses her job straight after a break-up, she escapes to the Molins’ family-run boulangerie in Toulouse – the place she was last happy, far away from her cheating ex.

Sworn off men, she isn’t prepared for the spark she feels for charming cheesemaker Jean-Luc, nor for things heating up at the family’s country home in Gascony when handsome, self-assured vineyard-owner Théo asks her out.

Torn between the two and her connections to the Molins family, Lia has some tough decisions to make.

Lia loves being back in France with the people she cares about, helping in the boulangerie. On discovering it is under threat of closure, she is devastated and resolves to do everything in her power to help it stay open.

Will she succeed? And will she be able to choose between the two handsome Frenchmen and live her happily ever after?

For fans of Gillian Harvey, Rebecca Raisin, Jo Thomas and Veronica Henry.

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

My review

This book cleverly illustrated the good and the not so good in the life of a family run boulangerie in France, plus a whole lot more that kept me turning the pages, wonderfully absorbed in Lia’s adventures in France. 

Following a tough time, Lia takes the dramatic decision to return to the boulangerie in France, where she had spent a short but happy part of her youth. She is warmly welcomed by her former host family, and with the maturity that comes with age, now sees their lives in a different light. In some ways, everything is just as she remembered: the bedroom, the scent of freshly baked bread (that I am sure I could also smell), and the love of the family. She now also appreciates the important role the boulangerie has in the neighbourhood and the difficulties for the family as they juggle the unsociable hours and long days with family life.

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

As the pressure mounts for the Molins family, Lia wants to do all she can to help them out. Learning who to trust when you are new to an area is never easy, but I certainly enjoyed meeting the local characters alongside Lia as she took her first steps helping in the shop. I am a great believer in always saying yes to new opportunities, especially if they take you out of your comfort zone and Lia did just this, which gave us an exciting and entertaining read, full of French promise.

The comfort of the baked goods, the love of the family, plus the simmering heat of romance and the spark of an idea that could change her life forever, all set with the beautiful city of Toulouse as a backdrop - I couldn’t have asked for anything more from this book. 

Purchase links

French Village Diaries is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk at no extra cost to you.

Amazon link 

Ebook – all digital retailers  

 

Susan Buchanan

Author Bio  

Susan Buchanan writes contemporary romance, women’s fiction and romantic comedies, usually featuring travel, food, family, friendship, community – also Christmas!

Her books are Sign of the Times, The Dating Game, The Christmas Spirit, Return of the Christmas Spirit, A Little Christmas Spirit, A Taste of Christmas Spirit and Just One Day – Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn, The Leap Year Proposal, You Can’t Hurry Love and The Boulangerie on the Corner.

As a freelance developmental editor, copyeditor and proofreader, if she’s not reading, editing or writing, she’s thinking about it.  

She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors. 

She lives near Glasgow with her husband, two children and a crazy Labrador. 

When she’s not editing, writing, reading or caring for her two delightful cherubs, she likes going to the theatre, playing board games, watching quiz shows and eating out, and she has a penchant for writing retreats.

Social Media Links  

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The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

Giveaway to Win a signed and dedicated paperback of The Boulangerie on the Corner (Open to UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Gleam box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Win a signed and dedicated paperback of The Boulangerie on the Corner (Open to UK Only)

Book review of Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks

Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks

Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks

Beware the red and blue hoods - the signs of revolution

1358, Northern France. In a land ravaged by war, King John II is the prisoner of the King of England. His son, the teenaged Dauphin, must battle to impose control over the fractured kingdom. But King Charles of Navarre wants to wrestle power for himself. He leads Parisians and the Jacquerie to open rebellion, upending the social order, pitting noble against commoner in a brutal struggle for power.

A free company of English men and boys, led by John Hawkwood, previously of Sir John de Sully’s Vintaine, must navigate the treacherous landscape with only their wits, combat skills and each other to rely on.

From the smouldering ruins of small French villages, to the blood-soaked battlefields, their journey is fraught with danger, dogged by a mysterious enemy intent on revenge. As they face the harsh realities of medieval warfare, their bonds are tested, and their fates intertwined with the destiny of a nation.

Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks

My review

In Ashes of Rebellion, we follow the same troop or vintaine of Englishmen that we met in the first book in this series, Fields of Glory, set in 1346. I’ve somehow missed books two and three, Blood on the Sand and Blood of the Innocent, but it didn’t take me long to get the lie of the land and remember the names of significant characters. 

Following the Battle of Crécy in 1346, the English marched on to the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 and this book picks up their journey from there, feeding my appetite for our shared history along the way. When we are out and about exploring France by bike, one of my favourite things to do is to detour via a medieval town and imagine the lives of those who wandered the same narrow, cobbled streets, hundreds of years ago. This book fuelled my imagination, escorting me back through the centuries, bringing to life the hardships and dangers that lay around every narrow street corner and every shadowy forest path.

Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks

Well-written historical fiction, like this novel, makes events so much easier to visualise than from a school textbook, especially as the noises, smells, and even their superstitions and fears were all vividly described. 

In order to fill in the gaps of my knowledge, I will go back and read books two and three, and if you enjoy gritty historical fiction, I’d recommend adding this series to your reading list too.

Purchase links

French Village Diaries is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk at no extra cost to you.

Amazon link 

Ebook – all digital retailers  

 

Author Bio  

Michael Jecks is the author of over 50 novels inspired by history and legend. He is the founder of Medieval Murderers, and has served on the committees of the Historical Writers’ Association, the CWA and he Detection Club. He was International Guest of Honour at the Bloody Words festival in Toronto, and Grand Master of the first parade in the New Orleans Mardi Gras.

Social Media Links  

Facebook 

Twitter 

Instagram 

Newsletter sign-up 

Bookbub 

You can read my review of Fields of Glory by Michael Jecks here.

Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks