What have I been reading lately? Well, to be honest, not a lot! I’ve been too busy writing. But I did take a much needed week off prior to Christmas and managed to read a book or two, which I’m only just getting around to writing about now.
The Maxwell Sisters – description
From the author of the bestselling The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots comes a heartwarming romantic comedy about three extraordinary women on a journey to find love and rediscover family.
All families have their problems. No more so than the Maxwells of Tawny Brooks Winery. Situated in the heart of the Margaret River wine region, this world-renowned winery was the childhood home to three sisters, Natasha, Eve and Phoebe.
Today all three women are enmeshed in their city lives and eager to forget their past – and their fractured sibling relationships. Until Phoebe decides to get married at home . . .
Now the sisters must all return to face a host of family obligations, vintage in full swing and interfering in-laws who just can’t take a hint. As one romance blossoms and others fall apart, it seems they are all in need of some sisterly advice.
But old wounds cut deep. Somehow, the Maxwell sisters must find a way back to one another – or risk losing each other forever.
My review
Having previously enjoyed other titles by Loretta Hill I was eager to discover if the story of the three Maxwell sisters would deliver the same brand of heart-warming romance I had come to expect.
The Maxwell Sisters certainly did not disappoint. The three sisters Natasha, Eve and Phoebe, are all very different and this makes for an interesting read paired with the opportunity for some laughs. Hill weaves each of their stories into the novel in such a way that it feels natural to jump between each sister’s point of view.
This story is very much about family, but not just the relationships between the sisters, their parents and extended family as well. The family interactions range from painfully amusing to touching, and I felt she created a very believable cast of characters complete with funny quirks. Hill also paints the setting beautifully, obviously having spent some time researching life on a vineyard and all that it entails.
Once again, Hill demonstrates the ability to deliver warmth and laughs while tackling bigger life issues. When we meet Natasha, she’s separated from her husband, Eve is facing career issues and Phoebe is trying to plan a wedding. She also touches on the theme of aging families and how this can change the dynamics of family relationships. It makes Hill’s novels relatable and real, and proves that a story can offer depth even while we enjoy a few laughs.
The Maxwell Sisters effortlessly immerses the reader in the setting and the story, and you won’t want to put it down. It’s a perfect summer read which I would highly recommend.
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
About Loretta Hill
For her bestselling novels The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots, The Girl in the Hard Hat and The Girl in the Yellow Vest, Loretta Hill drew upon her own outback engineering experiences of larrikins, red dust and steel-capped boots. Her new novel, The Maxwell Sisters, will publish in January 2015. She is also the author of the ebook novella One Little White Lie, which was a no.1 bestseller on iTunes.
Loretta always wanted to be a writer. As a kid she filled pages of exercise books with stories to amuse her friends. Her father, who never wasted his time on fiction, didn’t see much worth in this pass time and pushed her to pursue a ‘sensible’ career. Fortunately, she had inherited some of his talent for numbers and decided to give it a go. She graduated from the University of Western Australia as structural engineer and took her first job with a major West Australian engineering company.
A few years later she met a lawyer at a Black Friday party hosted by a friend. She was dressed as the devil and he just came as himself. They are now happily married and living in Perth with their two young sons and infant daughter.
Despite her career in engineering, her interest in law and her journey into motherhood, Loretta continued to write. Not because she had a lot of time but because it was and always had been an addiction she couldn’t ignore.
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