Follow your yellow brick road…
Alice Dorothy Matthews is on the road to paradise! She’s sold her house in London, got rid of her nasty ex, and arranged her move to Portugal where friendship and romance awaits. All that’s left to do is find a place to call home.
But Alice’s dreams are called into question when complications with friends, work, and new relationships make her Portuguese paradise feel far too much like reality.
Will Alice’s dream of a new home in the sun come true?
Connecting stories – The House That Alice Built – New Beginnings at the Little House in the Sun
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Title: New Beginnings at the Little House in the Sun
Series: Sequel to ‘The House that Alice Built’
Author: Chris Penhall
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: August 25, 2020
Publisher: Choc Lit / Ruby Fiction
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Find a comfortable chair in the backyard, at the pool, even on the beach, anywhere you can feel the warmth of the sun as you imagine yourself back in Portugal with Alice as she begins her new, done with the jerk of an ex-husband life back in Cascais once again. This time for good – or that’s the plan, at least. Funny how plans often take on minds of their own, isn’t it?
‘New Beginnings at the Little House in the Sun‘ is the sequel to ‘The House that Alice Built‘, and we’ll continue the adventure with Alice as she shakes off the dust (and the now ex-husband) of her life in London and heads for, hopefully, happier times in her new chosen home of Cascais. Yet, while it might be warmer, sunnier, and filled with promise – the grass (or the beach) isn’t always better on the other side, for far too soon the adventure, the fairy tale feel turns to reality once again.
I love Alice’s resilience, her belief that things will be better… eventually. After all, she’s gotten out of a bad marriage, found a new love, a new place to live her best life, new friends so what could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot actually, kind of like life nothing is really perfect only better depending on the way we deal with it. When the house she has her heart set on is sold before she can even put in an offer, when her friend decides to sell her flat (where Alice is cat-sitting) leaving Alice without a place to stay, and when her new boyfriend begins acting a bit off it’s not unheard of to begin to have second thoughts about this move to paradise.
It didn’t take long for me to be completely caught up in Alice’s life once again. Sure, things aren’t going exactly as planned but that doesn’t mean all is lost. And watching this cast come to understand, deal with, and work through what’s being tossed their way was a delightful experience. It really is a cliche thought, but life truly is what you make it – and Alice is making this new life her own, just not exactly how she thought it would happen.
‘New Beginnings at the Little House in the Sun‘ grabbed my attention and never let go until the final page. It’s fascinating to step back into the lives I knew from the first novel and go a bit deeper, understand a little more, and perhaps see more clearly past that first rush of something, someone, or someplace brand, sparkling new and settle into the comfortable, the reality, into that life that was wished for. With a touch of mystery, some funny, some emotional moments, and some suspense-filled ones as well, I had a blast back in Portugal with Alice and friends. I would suggest, if at all possible and you haven’t yet, to pick up ‘The House that Alice Built‘ first for there is a lot of background at the beginning of this grand adventure that will make the sequel all the more enjoyable… in my opinion, at least.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher, ChocLit/Ruby Fiction. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*
Available for your favorite e-reader, mine is the Kindle
