#Bookamping – Reading in the sunshine

Submitted: 2nd June 2017

Well that was a shock waking up this morning to not only sunshine but heat as well! That’s made me think of some lovely books I’ve read recently which will more than put the sunshine in your reading too – let’s call it bookamping – sitting on the grass, reading books in the sunshine with a glass of something nice and cool beside you.

So which books set in the sunshine should you look out for this summer?

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Plot 1 – Sun and mystery in Ireland – The Summer of Serendipity

With a title like that who can resist this charming read! Set in Ireland( Fictional Ballykiltara inspired buy Killarney) , with a charming visit to Bamburgh in North East England! – there’s a house in a small Irish village and no one seems to know who owns it. Serendipity is keen to find the owner – and not as she’s an estate agent looking for a client’s new home – she is rather taken with the house and determined to uncover its secrets. This is a house which is somewhat of a local legend as it it’s know as The Welcome House for it always has its doors open for those in need of shelter…(as does a book tent such as this one)

Pitch 2: Cotswold Charm – Practice makes Perfect

Have you been to Larkford? Well it’s fictional but is set in the very real and wonderful Cotswolds and has some very cute doctors it would seem! Book two in the series but a standalone with no extra pegs needed for it to stand alone. The local doctor’s surgery has been hailed as an NHS model surgery and that brings all kinds of problems and worries. A great cast of characters make this a fun read and when you’re reading in the sun, if you’ve been burnt by a grisly crime thriller or stung by a twist ending you didn’t see coming, the doctors in this book will sort you out

Plot 3 – Italian interest – An Italian Affair

Book Tent three has some Italian charm inside so pour a glass of limoncello and get reading. Four women in this book tent are looking to escape their lives and so spending time in an Italian town may just be what they need. But what if the new holiday brings more surprises that they’re expecting? The sunshine radiated off the page in this book for me – A house in the Italian hills….not far from Positano on the Amalfi Coast no less…with the smell of lemons in the air, the heat of the sun on your back…. wear shades with this one!

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Plot 4 – Rome romance? – The Rome Affair

The glamorous capital city of Italy is brought to startling life in The Rome Affair. And there’s some right Italian romance going on here! One character is only 26 but she’s been married three times and has just met someone else! Another woman is living la dolce vita in Rome, leading tourist groups around the Eternal City when she finds a stolen designer handbag in her dustbin. She comes to meet the owner of the handbag and well, let’s just say there’s a secret or two there! The lady who owns the bag is no other than socialite Viscontessa Elena dei Damiani Pignatelli della Mirandola. These Italian women have secrets galore!

Plot 5 – Isolated on Elba – The Thousand Lights Hotel

The Thousand Lights Hotel’s strapline is “The summer started the way it always did..but ended like no other…: Well THAT is certainly true..Oh it’s a love story and the discovery of a lie, a new life, a new past- so many secrets on such a tiny island! Elba might be known for Napoleon but it has a lot more history and dark secrets than you could ever imagine! Emylia Hall evokes an island of magic and dark shadows…and it’s a winner for both location and story.

So five plots to choose from…which one are you going to go bookamping with this summer?

They will all be featured on the Booktrail soon but if you fancy winning one? Just send a picture of your bookamp ( a book set up like that in the picture) and your preference for which book you quite fancy reading in the summer this year! The competition will close Sunday 4 june – plenty of time before the books come out!

Send your bookamping pics to: