Hopeless romantic Milly Rose has had her fair share of heartbreak. Obsessed with all things Disney, she refuses to give up on finding her Prince Charming – he’s out there somewhere, isn’t he?
When Milly is given a job to investigate the origins of an historical building in the village of Clovers Rest, she’s not sure what to expect. What she discovers takes her breath away - a beautiful real life Cinderella castle, complete with turrets, a magnificent drawbridge AND a very handsome owner…Cameron Heartstone.
As Milly and Cameron begin to unearth the secrets of Clover Castle, they can’t ignore the intense chemistry building between them. But they’ve both been hurt badly before. Can they take a big leap of faith and find their own happily-ever-after?"
Rating: 4/5
You can buy Fairytale Beginnings as an eBook now.
I was really excited to read Holly Martin's latest book, which also happened to be her first book with her new publishers Bookouture. Fairytale Beginnings has an utterly beautiful cover, really eye-catching as most of Bookouture covers are, and certainly made me look forward to starting the book. Before I had begun reading, I didn't realise that the book would definitely have fairytale elements to it, something which did surprise me somewhat, but as I carried on reading, I got more into the story, and let my mind escape a bit and enjoy what I was reading, which I definitely did!
Milly loves a good fairytale, Disney princesses and everything romantic, so her job surveying castles is just perfect for her - she loves to find out all the history and admire the old buildings, wondering what went on inside the walls. The latest castle she is sent to, Clover Castle, belongs to its latest owner Cameron Heartstone. The castle is picturesque, and perfect to Milly - it has beautiful turrets, a drawbridge and perhaps even its own ghost - but Milly isn't sure she will be able to get her company to back it financially as Cameron so badly needs. The pair soon realise they have a good chemistry between them, and find it harder and harder to ignore. Will Clover Castle be able to stay in the Heartstone family, and will be able to say goodbye to both the castle and Cameron when the time comes?
I'll be honest and say that at first, I did struggle with the book, and suspending my beliefs for a little bit. As I said previously, it really does read like a fairytale, and some of the parts just weren't my cup of tea. However, I had heard such good things about the whole story from other bloggers who I trust the opinion of, so I vowed to persevere with it and get to the end. Luckily for me, it got much better, and I just learnt to read past the bits which weren't my cup of tea, mainly the ghostly bits if I am honest. I could have happily read the book without them, but I understand that other people might really enjoy that sort of thing, which is fair enough! Perhaps it was just that this was so different from the other books by Holly that I've read, it maybe what I wasn't expecting.
The characters in the book were well written as they always are in Holly's books. Milly is fabulous as the main character who we follow throughout the book. She's a bit unusual - dressing in lots of pink, sparkly things despite her job and qualifications, and is in love with the whole Disney love story idea. She was fun, a very sweet person and you can see why she loves her job going around castles, and finding out the story behind them. I really enjoyed reading about her job, and there's quite a lot of good explanation about it all, so it's clear Holly Martin has really done her research for this book. You can see why Milly fell for Cameron too, the chemistry between the pair is brilliantly written, and I enjoyed reading their banter, and their exploration of Clover Castle!
Cameron was a wonderful character too, and you can see how Milly thought her very own fairytale might come true when she met him! I liked how he liked her for who she was, regardless of her love of Disney and all pink, sparkly things, and how passionate he was about looking after the castle. The pair are really the main characters of the book - we do meet some of the villagers who pop up occasionally - eccentric yet kind-hearted, and we also see Cameron's PA Olivia who I couldn't stand from the beginning. I guessed what she was up to quite quickly, but still enjoyed reading the story unfold before my eyes.
The book was really enjoyable to read, and once I had got past the elements of it that I couldn't quite warm to, there was a beautifully written romantic story within, and I certainly did enjoy it a lot. The setting of Clover Castle and all of the secrets within were intriguing, I wanted to keep reading and find out how much of the legends were true, and whether or not the elderly villagers and their wild predictions would come true! It was really an escapist read, something to enjoy and lose yourself in, knowing you were probably going to get a happy ending ! Holly's writing is, as always, a joy to read and describes everything in such a clear way, you feel like you're outside staring at Clover Castle with Milly! A wonderful, fun summer read.
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