May 14, 20239 min read

Secrets At Clearwater Castle by Emma Davies. Review

Book Description:

A heart-warming, gorgeous story of family secrets, lost loves, and one woman’s fresh start in the most unexpected of places. Heartbroken Lowri Morgan, a young Welsh widow, is finally packing up her beloved husband’s belongings, her young daughter Wren asleep at her side. Then, hidden amongst the very last pile of papers, Lowri finds an official-looking letter – and her whole world shifts… Her husband had a secret inheritance, one he’d never mentioned or done anything about. And now, it seemed, somewhere called Clearwater Castle was hers – and, in time, little Wren’s. How could he have hidden this from her and why? And what on earth was she going to do? Arriving in Clearwater village, Lowri doesn’t find the fairy-tale home she’d pictured. The castle is near-derelict, a tiny cottage in the grounds barely liveable, and her responsibilities – as outlined by the ruggedly handsome but prickly local stonemason Huw – are overwhelming. This is not the future she’d imagined for her and Wren, but as the only link left to her husband, she’s determined to make the best of it. Lowri never asked for a new start, but it seems fate has decided she needed one. As she and Huw reluctantly begin to work together, sparks start to fly between them. Can they find a way to save Clearwater Castle and bring life back to the village? What will they find out about themselves – and the mystery of the hidden inheritance – in the process? And will Lowri, heartbroken once already, find the courage to give love one more chance? Fans of Susanne O’Leary, Liz Eeles and Tilly Tennant will adore this totally uplifting and page-turning romantic mystery.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'Secrets Of Clearwater Castle' by Emma Davies.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 10th May 2023.

This is the seventh book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'A Year At Appleyard Farm', 'The Little Island Secret', 'My Husband's Lie', 'After The Crash' and 'Death In Disguise' (First book in the 'Adam And Eve Mystery Series') and 'Death On The Menu (Third book in the 'Adam And Eve Mystery Series') and would recommend them all!! This book is also the first book in the 'Clearwater Castle' series.

I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis. I am a huge fan of Emma and if this book is half as good as 'A Year At Appleyard Farm', 'The Little Island Secret', 'My Husband's Lie', After The Crash', 'Death In Disguise' and 'Death On The Menu' it is bound to be an epic read!! The synopsis stated that 'Fans of Susanne O’Leary, Liz Eeles and Tilly Tennant will adore this totally uplifting and page-turning romantic mystery.' I am a huge fan of all three of these extremely talented authors so am interested to see if it will live up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of 23 chapters. The chapters are medium to long in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is set in Pembrokeshire,. Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿, UK . The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture. I absolutely love that this book is set in Wales which I must admit was another thing that drew me to it and I cannot wait to see if I recognize any places mentioned.

This book is written in third person perspective with the main protagonist being Lowri Morgan . The benefits of third person perspective are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.

WOW!!! JUST WOW!!! YET AGAIN EMMA HAS CREATED AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING START TO WHAT PROMISES TO BE A STUNNING NEW SERIES!! I LOVE HOW YOU CAN JUMP FROM GENRE TO GENRE ABSOLUTELY PERFECTLY AND WHETHER IT IS A ROMANCE, WOMEN'S FICTION OR MURDER MYSTERY YOU SLAM DUNK IT EVERY TIME AND THIS BOOK IS NO EXCEPTION!!!

Another huge success by Emma Davies!!! This book is beautifully written and filled with vivid descriptions to the point where I can hear the trees rustling in the wind and taste Frank's divine dishes while curled up on the sofa reading. The cover and synopsis suit the storyline perfectly.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVED IT!!! AN ABSOLUTELY GRIPPING COSY MYSTERY!!!!

I will start by repeating that you Emma are a lady of many talent! The first book of yours that I fell in love with was 'My Husband's Lie' which was a psychological fiction filled with mystery and suspense, I then read 'A year at Applewood farm' which was filled with romance, I moved onto 'The Little Island Secret ' which was a gorgeous romantic holiday fiction and the last book I read by you was 'After The Crash' which was a romantic mystery. I then moved onto the first and third in the 'Adam And Eve Mystery' series 'Death In Disguise and 'Death On The Menu' which are both amazing cozy mysteries, somehow I think I may have missed' Death On The Dinner Plate' and now I have just finished this absolutely addictive page turner and yet again you have outshone yourself!! Does your talent have no boundaries? Not many people can jump from one genre to another and even less do it well but you have done an absolutely fantastic job Emma!!!! Congratulations and I am looking forward to your next successful surprise!!

Needless to say Emma absolutely gripped my attention from the beginning of this book to the very end. Her absolutely amazing and evocative story telling skills ensure the story and characters spring to life around the characters so they can see, feel and hear everything that is going on around them. There is never even any point in me telling myself just one more chapter with any of Emma's books as she always manages to end each and every chapter in each and every book she has written in a way that means the reader just has to read another and then another and before you know it you have devoured the whole book in one sitting and as usual this is exactly what happened to me when reading this one. I was absolutely glued to my kindle constantly and could not put it down until I came to the very end of the book and even then I carried on and read the first chapter of 'The Little Cottage On The Hill' that Emma includes at the back of this book so make sure you don't miss out on that if you have never read it!! In this story Lowri Morgan has to sell her home two years after her husband tragically died in a car accident. While she is going through his belongings she is surprised to discover that he owned an estate in Wales which included a castle! I was absolutely landed to discover this being a Welsh girl myself I always love any storylines set in Wales as I get very excited when I recognise any places of names mentioned!!!! The fact that this castle is in Pembrokeshire is even better as it is in the next County to be so YES I definitely recognised many names which I just could not shut up about (according to my partner anyway lol) Anyway, to continue with the plot!!! When Lowri discovers this she realises that she now owns the estate and decides to move there rather than in with her sister (cant blame her there!). Lowri and her young daughter Wren arrive at Clearcastle to the shocking discovery that the castle and the house that she was planning on moving into are both in dreadful states!! Lowri plans to develop the properties but ends up finding herself in a property development battle. This is an addictive page turner and a rollercoaster ride of emotions from heart-warming to heart-breaking, happiness, anger, betrayal, intrigue, deceit and absolutely every emotion that you can think of!! There are secrets to be uncovered, romance to be found, friends to make and so much more on this journey into the Welsh countryside so pack your bags and go on a stunning adventure and let me be the first to say Croeso I Cymru!!! This book is perfect to read curled up by a fire or relaxing on a beach. Emma, I absolutely LOVED this book which is an absolutely, perfectly start to what promises to be an absolutely epic new series!!! I would LOVE to see this book turned into a movie which is sure to be a huge hit. Keep up the amazing work and I cannot wait for your next success whether it's another romance or the next part in this fantastic series!!

It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead protagonists but also any characters that may make repeat appearances during the series too.

This book is filled with a fantastic range of characters who all have their own unique personalities, are well rounded and realistic. They all came jumping out of the pages as I was reading thanks to Emma's amazing writing skills and many of them started feeling like friends that I am looking forward to meeting again in the next book in this series. I became completely invested in Lowri and Wren and loved watching them on their journey to Wales and meeting new people, making new friends and settling in to Clearwater. It wasn't smooth sailing for them but Lowri is definitely a strong woman, as well as an amazing mother, and my heart went out to her on several occasions. I absolutely adored Elin and Seren who were both full of life and became good friends to Lowri. They were both bubbly, lovable and people I would love to meet in real life!!! Huw, who is keen to help Lowri rebuild is another main and fantastic character that I also became invested in and I loved watching the interactions between them all and watching their friendships, and maybe more ;) blossoming from the first page to the last. However, I was not a fan of all of the characters and some really wound me up!!! However, regardless of whether you love or hate them they all play their parts perfectly to make this a stunning storyline and also, if you love all the characters it wouldn't be as interesting especially if they all got along!!! Lowri, Wren, Seren, Huw, Elin and many others are most certainly the type of characters whose personalities stay with you for a long time and I've already started missing them... Hint hint Emma 😉

DO NOT PICK THIS BOOK UP INTOL YOU HAVE CLEARED YOUR SCHEDULES AS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ⚠!!

Yet one more HUGE CONGRATULATIONS Emma on yet another beginning to what promises to be a stunning series that I am already hooked on!!! This is exactly why you are one of my favourite authors and I cannot wait to see what you come up with next!!!!!

Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the first chapter of Emma's ''The Little Cottage On The Hill' which promises to be just as addictive as this book and is one I'm definitely looking forward to reading myself!!

Overall an absolutely addictive, hilarious, fun, light hearted cosy mystery which will keep you up until 2am turning the pages

Genres covered in this novel include Literary Fiction, Women's Domestic Life Fiction, Murder Mystery, Women's Sagas, Women's Friendship Fiction, Romantic Comedy, Humorous Fiction, Women Writers & Fiction, Contemporary Romance Fiction, Sagas, Women's Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Domestic Life Fiction, Mystery, Romance Fiction, Contemporary Women's Fiction, Friendship Fiction, Cozy Mystery, and Crime Fiction amongst others.

I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Agatha Christie, Clare Chase, Helena Dixon, Martin, M.C. Beaton, 'The Thursday Murder Club', Susanne O’Leary, Liz Eeles, Tilly Tennant and anyone who loves an amazing cosy mystery and especially you reading this!! .

383 pages.

This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited and £8.99 in paperback via Amazon at time of review 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.

Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews

#SecretsOfClearwaterCastle #ClearwaterCastle #EmmaDavies #Bookouture #BookoutureAnonymous #BookReview #BlogTour #BooksOnTour #Goodreads #NetGalley #Amazon #AmazonKindle #Bookstagram #Bookblogger #KindleUnlimited @SecretsOfClearwaterCastlee @ClearwaterCastle @EmmaDavies @Bookouture @BookoutureAnonymous @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86 @Goodreads @Netgalley @Amazon @AmazonKindle @Bookstagram @BookBlogger @KindleUnlimited https://kcmw86.wixsite.com/bookworm86 https://m.facebook.com/Bookworm1986/?ref=bookmarks https://m.facebook.com/Bookwork86/?__tn__=%2As-R https://www.instagram.com/bookwormwhitlock86/ https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/34299953-kirsty-bookworm86 https://mobile.twitter.com/kcmw86 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/profile/amzn1.account.AFZ2XZBSFHIHXBXGZLBQ666XVK4A?ie=UTF8&ref_=ya_mb_l_prf

Author Bio:

Emma once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun, humorous, and not necessarily true anecdote about herself for their website. She wrote the following: ‘I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.’ Well the job didn’t work out but she’s now a forty something mother of three and happy to report the rest of her dream came true. She now lives in rural Shropshire with her three children, and two guinea pigs where she writes full time from a shed in the garden.