Kirsty Whitlock
- Aug 17, 2023
- 6 min read

High Tides And Summer Skies by Jennifer Bohnet. Review.

Updated: Aug 18, 2023

Book Description

New beginnings don’t always mean painful endings . . .

A fabulous, timeless story of friendship set in Devon from bestselling author Jennifer Bohnet.

As time ebbs and flows over the summer both Katie Teague and her godmother Mattie Cranford discover their lives are at a crossroads

Mattie shackled to the family wool shop for over 50 years, feels life has passed her by. She dreams of seeing the world and shaking off a lifetime of regrets.

When Katie is made redundant, Mattie seizes the moment and asks Katie to move back to her home town of Dartmouth and breathe new life into the rundown wool shop and to her surprise Katie agrees.

As Katie settles back into the rhythm of Devon life and renovating the shop, Mattie sets off on a luxury cruise.

But the arrival of Katie’s ex-boyfriend with an unexpected dream job offer threatens to unsettle the calm waters.

Will she sacrifice the shop and Mattie’s happiness - or her own career?

Previously published as Shadows of Conflict

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'High Tides And summer Skies' by Jennifer Bohnet.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Jennifer Bohnet, Book And Tonic, Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random resources Tours.

Publication date 11th August 2023.

This is the first book I have read by this author but it most definitely won't be my last!!

This novel consists of a prologue, 41 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

WOW!!!! What can I say?!?! What an absolutely beautiful book that I fell in love with!!! I cannot wait to read more books by this extremely talented author!

This book is beautifully written with vivid descriptions setting the picture perfectly in the readers mind. The title, description and cover works perfectly with the storyline.

This book is an absolutely gorgeous multigenerational escape!!! It is an absolute rollercoaster ride of emotions filled with heartbreak, jealousy, regrets, romance, anger, family, love, loss, secrets, friendship and so much more. I was completely swept on the storyline and loved having a holiday not only in Dartmouth Devon but also all over the Mediterranean while on a cruise with Mattie and Henri. I have never actually been on a cruise myself but thanks to Jennifer's evocative writing skills it definitely felt like I was on one while sitting at the captain's table, relaxing in Mattie's suite and walking around the gorgeous places she visited with Henri as her guide. It wasn't just the cruise scenes that made me feel like I was on holiday but the whole book including the time in Dartmouth where the majority of the book is set where I could smell the sea air and hear the visitors to Mattie's shop A Good Yarn chattering away!!! Mattie lost her sister Clara just after the war just after Clara's love Hal was killed in the war. This broke Mattie's heart and because of that she hates anything and everything to do with that time, including Americans. However Henri eventually talks her around and during the book there is a lot of talk about the history of Dartmouth which included Operation Tiger. I was fascinated with the history of Dartmouth and the fact that Jennifer has done her research shines through the storyline. It is one of my pet hates when an author does not do enough research on the topic they are writing about as it can lead to unnecessary mistakes which can spoil the storyline for me so a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS Jennifer on researching your history well. This book really is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I was utterly glued to the pages and I could not bring myself to put it down. I was carrying my phone to read it in kindle every chance that I got. I adored the gorgeous ending and would love to see this book turned into a series. I don't want to say anything else about the storyline as I don't want to give to much away but I do want to mention two more things. I absolutely loved the gorgeous little twist at the end which I was definitely not expecting and I also adored the epilogue that was based on a year after the last chapter and told us what happened to the main characters in that time and what they were now doing which I thought was an absolutely brilliant addition and something I haven't seen done in a fictional book prior to today so another Congratulations to Jennifer for adding that!!! I would seriously recommend this book to anyone and everyone!! A gorgeous uplifting romance that will warm your hearts 💝. I am off to add the rest of Jennifer's past and future books to my Amazon wish list as soon as I've finished this review!!

Clear your schedules as this is one gorgeous and unputdownable stunner ❤️

The characters are strong, realistic and I became completely invested in each and every one of them. They all had their own problems, secrets, feelings and all had unique personalities and I just absolutely loved getting to know them all. I felt each of their love , friendship, pain, heartbreak, happiness, anger, sorrow and so much more. I loved the main protagonists Katie and Mattie who were both such strong females. I love seeing strong female leads in books being female myself and these two were both fantastic women. I loved seeing their personalities change and develop as individuals as well as watching them bond with each other as the storyline went on. I also adored their relationships with Leo and Henri grow in strength from page to page. Leo and Henri were handsome and romantic men as well as both also being realistic and strong. Some of the other characters that I loved meeting included Noah Sr, Noah Jr, Elizabeth, Vicky and Trisha but one of the best characters had to be the lovable Bert!!!

I am a huge animal lover so any books that contain animals as part of their plot are always a huge hit for me and I absolutely adored the cheeky and sweet Bert!!! Although the majority of the characters were amazing and I would love to meet them again there were also a few snakes in the grass which I couldn't stand such as Patrick and Ron. However, regardless of if I loved them or hated them they each played their parts perfectly and it wouldn't have been as amazing a read as it was if I had loved them all!!!

Jennifer does an absolutely amazing job of bringing the story to life and the characters leap out of the pages as your turning them thanks to her evocative writing skills!! It is so hard to say what I feel about the characters without giving anything away so I won't say anymore about them as I don't want to go into too much detail at the risk of spoiling it for other readers but Jennifer really has done an amazing job at bringing each of the characters to life and I am missing them already. Well done Jennifer!!!

Congratulations Jennifer on an absolutely gorgeous, escapism filled with everything you could want in a page turner!!! I am looking forward to reading more of your previous and future books. I would absolutely love to see this book turned into a movie!!! This is why I would like to welcome you to my favourite author list and here's to your next success 🥂

Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the prologue and the first two chapter of Jennifer's 'Summer on the French Riviera' which promises to be just as gorgeous as this book and is one I'm looking forward to reading myself!!

Overall an absolutely gorgeous book that will take you to Devon and warm your heart ❤️!!!

260 pages.

This book is just £2.99 to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited and £9.99 in paperback (at time of review) via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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Author Bio

Jennifer Bohnet is the bestselling author of over 12 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.