Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for this heartwarming and funny new release from Julie Houston. Thank you to the team at Head of Zeus for inviting me to join the tour, and for my copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Book Description
Joining the family business was never going to be easy...
Frankie Piccione is done running away from her responsibilities, well for now anyway. Having escaped Westenbury after suffering a shattered heart, it's time to take up her place on the family board. Piccione's Pickles and Preserves needs Frankie. Frankie knows she can make the business work. But with her brother Luca and the new, rather attractive, Cameron Mancini watching her every move, she's going to have to come up with something special to get them off her back and recognising she belongs on the board just as much as they do.
With the help of her Aunt Pam and best friend, Daisy, Frankie is thriving with her new sense of purpose. Until someone from her past walks right back into it...
Perfect for fans of Heidi Swain, Milly Johnson and Marian Keyes.
My Review
This is such. wonderful and addictive read that I could not put down.
Frankie Piccione has spent the last two years travelling to escape a devastating break up. She has final decided to organise her own life, and after being offered a job within the family company Frankie decides this is the next steps she needs to take for her future.
Frankie is determined to make a success of her new position but her confidence takes a dive when she realises how much her brother is watching her and with the new guy Cameron watching her to Frankie becomes nervous. Luckily she has her Aunty Pam who has become like a mother to Frankie over the years to help and support her.
Pam hasn't always had an easy life but having Frankie in her life has really made her make the most of everything. Pam has always been a hard worker which is how she worked her way up to being on the Board at Piccione Pickles and Preserves. She is now retired and making the most of her retirement.
With the help of Aunty Pam, Frankie finally feels like she is beginning to succeed in life. She moves in with her friend Daisy and has a good social life.
Things take a drastic turn for Frankie when she realises her ex boyfriend is back in town can she stay and continue with the success she has already made for herself, or will the news make her want to run again.
What follows is the story of life for Frankie and Aunty Pam.
This is such a wonderful and uplifting read that flows well and will keep you engaged in the lives of the Piccione family.
I loved how the story was told from a dual perspective of the lives of both Frankie and Aunty Pam. It also goes between the present and the past which really gives you a great insight into the pasts of both of them. You also get a glimpse of what life was really like during the 1970s when Pam was growing up and what family really meant.
I enjoyed getting to know Frankie and about her adventures while she is escaping heartbreak. She is very relatable and its great to read as her self confidence grows.
I simply adored Aunty Pam. She was such a wonderful character to read. She had some difficulties in her life which you do read about and this gives you an insight into how she became so close to Frankie. The relationship the two of them have is so close and they really do have more of a mother daughter bond than Frankie has with her own mother.
The family firm of Piccione Pickles and Preserves sounds like a traditional Italian family business with true Italian values which can seem old fashioned but are so fun and quirky to read.
This is a story full of family, friendship and lost loves, and one not to be missed.
Published by Head of Zeus 3rd June 2021
Purchase Links
About the Author
Julie lives in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire where her novels are set, and her only claims to fame are that she teaches part-time at ‘Bridget Jones’ author Helen Fielding’s old junior school and her neighbour is ‘Chocolat’ author, Joanne Harris. After University, where she studied Education and English Literature, she taught for many years as a junior school teacher. As a newly qualified teacher, broke and paying off her first mortgage, she would spend every long summer holiday working on different Kibbutzim in Israel. After teaching for a few years she decided to go to New Zealand to work and taught in Auckland for a year before coming back to this country. She now teaches just two days a week, and still loves the buzz of teaching junior-aged children. She has been a magistrate for the past nineteen years, and, when not distracted by Ebay, Twitter and Ancestry, spends much of her time writing. Julie is married, has a twenty-four-year-old son and twenty-one-year-old daughter and a ridiculous Cockerpoo called Lincoln. She runs and swims because she’s been told it’s good for her, but would really prefer a glass of wine, a sun lounger and a jolly good book - preferably with Matthew Mcconaughay in attendance.
Social Media
Twitter: @JulieHouston2
Facebook: @JulieHoustonauthor
Instagram: @juliehoustonauthor
Follow Head of Zeus:
Twitter: @HoZ_Books
Instagram: @headofzeus
Facebook: @headofzeus
Website: www.headofzeus.com
Thank you for visiting my Blog today, and I hope you enjoyed my review.
