The Postcard from Italy by Angela Petch - #CoverLove

Hello and welcome to this week's cover love feature. It's the place where I quite literally, judge a book by its cover, prior to reading the blurb. Let's be honest, there are occasions when we pick up a book because it has a great cover.

This gorgeous cover is of The Postcard from Italy by Angela Petch.

As I sat casting my eye around for a suitable cover, the rain was pouring down and I could barely see out of my window. It is no surprise really then that this leapt out at me and I could dream of sunnier times. Also, I enjoyed a wonderful holiday in Italy a few years ago and this cover reminded me of the view from our apartment balcony. Happy days!

I would love to hear which covers have caught your eye recently.

Italy, 1945. "Where am I?" The young man wakes, bewildered. He sees olive trees against a bright blue sky. A soft voice soothes him. "We saw you fall from your plane. The parachute saved you." He remembers nothing of his life, or the war that has torn the world apart… but where does he belong?

England, present day. Antique-shop-owner Susannah wipes away a tear as she tidies her grandmother’s belongings. Elsie’s memories are fading, and every day Susannah feels further away from her only remaining family. But everything changes when she stumbles across a yellowed postcard of a beautiful Italian stone farmhouse, tucked away in Elsie’s dressing table. A message dated from World War 2 speaks of a secret love. Could her grandmother, who never talked about the past, have fallen for someone in Italy all those years ago?

With Elsie unable to answer her questions, Susannah becomes determined to track down the house and find a distraction from her grief. Arriving at what is now a crumbling hotel by the sparkling Italian sea, she feels strangely at home. And after an unexpected encounter with handsome wine waiter Giacomo, she can’t tell if it’s his dark eyes or his offer to help solve her mystery that makes her heart race.

Together they find a dusty chest tucked in a forgotten corner of the building. The white silk of a World War 2 parachute spills out. And the Royal Air Force identity tag nestled in the folds bears a familiar name…

With Giacomo by her side, and before it’s too late for her grandmother, can Susannah discover the truth behind a shocking wartime secret at the heart of her family? Or will it tear her apart?

The House Beneath the Cliffs by Sharon Gosling - #CoverLove

Hello and welcome to this week's cover love feature. It's the place where I, quite literally, judge a book by its cover, prior to reading the blurb. Let's be honest, there are occasions when we pick up a book because it has a great cover.

This gorgeous cover is of The House Beneath the Cliffs by Sharon Gosling.

Sharon released her latest novel last week, The Lighthouse Bookshop, and it was a difficult decision for me when choosing between the two.

However, this one piqued my curiosity the most. Clearly the book features one of the houses depicted on the cover, but which one and why? I guess I will just have to read it and find out, and I can hardly wait.

Have you ever bought or borrowed a library book based solely on it's cover? Did it live up to your expectations?

A remote yet beautiful village. A tiny kitchen lunch club. The perfect place to start again.

 

Anna moves to Crovie, a tiny fishing village on the Moray Firth, for a fresh start. But when she arrives, she realises her new home is really no more than a shed, and the village itself sits beneath a cliff right on the edge of the sea, in constant danger of storms and landslides. Has she made a terrible mistake?

Yet as she begins to learn about the Scottish coast and its people, something she thought she’d lost reawakens in her. She rediscovers her love of cooking, and turns her kitchen into a pop-up lunch club. But not all the locals are delighted about her arrival, and some are keen to see her plans fail.

 

Will Anna really be able to put down roots in this remote and wild village? Or will her fragile new beginning start to crumble with the cliffs . . . ?

In the Heart of Hidden Things by Kit Whitfield - #CoverLove

 Hello and welcome to this week's cover love feature. And isn't this cover absolutely gorgeous? It is being published today and I suspect that the cover alone will have many of us reaching for it.

I am looking forward to reading this. Watch this space. I hope to be back with a review very soon.

Everyone knows that if you fall afoul of the People, you must travel the miles to Gyrford, where uncounted generations of fairy-smiths have protected the county with cold iron, good counsel and unvarnished opinions about your common sense.

But shielding the weak from the strong can make enemies. Ephraim Brady has money and power, and the bitter will to hurt those who cross him. And if he can’t touch elder farrier Jedediah Smith, he can harm those the Smiths care about. 

The Smiths care about Tobias Ware, born on a night when the blazing fey dog Black Hal roared past the Wares' gate. Tobias doesn't understand the language or laws of men, and he can't keep away from the Bellame woods, where trespass is a hanging offence. If Toby is to survive, he needs protection. 

It should be a manageable job. Jedediah Smith has a head on his shoulders, and so too (mostly) does his son Matthew. Only Matthew's son John has turned out a little… uncommon. But he means well. 

It wasn’t his fault the bramble bush put on a berry-head and started taking offence. Or that Tobias upset it. But John’s not yet learned that if you follow the things other folk don’t see, they might drag those you love into the path of ruin.