Artist Abigail Carey has always dreamed of a life in the country and, when Winfield Hall comes up at auction, she’s desperate to make the place her home. The only trouble is that businessman, Edward Townsend, has exactly the same idea.
With its position high on the Sussex Downs, Winfield is a stunning house, but it hasn’t been a home for a long time and there’s a lot of work to do to restore it to its former glory. It’s going to take a lot of time and money, so Edward and Abi decide to take a risk and share the house, each living in their own wing.
But can these two strangers agree on a vision that suits them both? And will free-spirited Abi ever get the rather reserved Edward to reveal the secret he’s been hiding for so long?
The House in the Clouds is the first novel in a brand new trilogy from the bestselling author of The Rose Girls and The Book Lovers series.
My Thoughts
⭐⭐⭐⭐
The House in the Clouds is the first book in a new trilogy by the wonderful Victoria Connelly, and what a start to this series it is!.
Winfield house – known as the house in the clouds by the local residents due to it’s high location in the Sussex Downs, has come up for auction, attracting the attention of both Abigail and Edward. Both parties fall in love with the house and are determined to make it their own, resulting in a bidding war. Edward eventually wins the bidding war between them, but when he takes a long hard look at the house and the sheer amount of work that the house requires, he contacts Abi and suggests they share the property, with each of them having their own wing of the house as their own.
Abi is an artist who has built her own business up from the ground around her artwork. She has a somewhat carefree element around her, but Winfield house stirs up some much needed inspiration she has been needing for some time now, especially after she has just stepped away from the business to focus on a fresh start. With her sister and her nieces living locally, this seems like the perfect ‘fresh start’ she desires.
Edward is opposite to Abi in many ways. He has a very serious attitude surrounding him most of the time. Having worked in a bank for many years, he struggles to settle in to his new life following being made redundant. The house seems like the perfect way to settle in to his new life.
Abi and Edward are different in so many ways, but the more we get to know them it becomes apparent that they have much more in common than they initially thought. Both characters have a rather mysterious past that they are hiding from one another, something that really adds to the layers of this brilliant book.
The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Edward and Abigail, something I really enjoyed as it allowed us to get to know them both on a much deeper level. Both characters have interesting, well developed personalities, which make them all the more relatable and realistic to the reader. The story flows beautifully from start to finish, leaving me desperate to get stuck in to the next instalment in this delightful new series.
You can purchase a copy of this book by following the links below
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0947KVVNS
US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0947KVVNS
About the Author
Victoria Connelly lives in a 500-year old thatched cottage in rural Suffolk with her artist husband, a springer spaniel and a flock of ex-battery hens. She is the million-selling author of two bestselling series, The Austen Addicts and The Book Lovers, as well as many other novels and novellas. Her first published novel, Flights of Angels, was made into a film in Germany. Victoria loves books, films, walking, historic buildings and animals. If she isn’t at her keyboard writing, she can usually be found in her garden either with a trowel in her hand or a hen on her lap.
Social Media Links
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Twitter: @VictoriaDarcy
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*Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources and Victoria Connelly for providing me with a gifted copy of this book in return for my honest review. All thoughts are entirely my own and not influenced in any way.*
Victoria Wilks 