Cover Image: Swallowtail Summer

Swallowtail Summer

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Member Reviews

Another wonderful story from Erica James about relationships & friendships, all set in the beautiful Norfolk Broads. An interesting storyline that keeps you involved with the characters from start to finish

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An interesting story that keeps you interested from start to finish as you discover secrets that have been simmering under the surface of apparently strong friendships. Definitely recommended.

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A family saga of a story told beautifully as always by Erica James, interesting characters, gorgeous scenery and an enjoyable read.

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Erica James always writes such fab books. This is a delightful summer read where everything isn’t quite as it seems. Great characters and an engrossing read with the odd red herring thrown in.

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A brilliant story about the relationship of friendship. Super characters, set in a lovely part of the country. There are some challenging ideas which make you think. I loved it!

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A lovely summer book, set in the beautiful Norfolk Broads. It is a light hearted read about a group of friends, their loves, relationships and how change can affect all of this. Some of the characters were easier to warm to than others but it was interesting to see how it all worked out in the end. An enjoyable read for a summer holiday. Thank you NetGalley for this early copy and to Erica James for a delightful story.

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A wonderful summer read set in the idyllic Norfolk Broads.

A compelling and poignant read about friendship, family, love, loss and change told through each of the main characters POV.

Initially it took me a while to get to grips with the amount of characters. I did have to go back and forth at the beginning to remember who was who, but soon got up to speed with everyone.

I quite enjoyed this, with such a wide, interesting set of characters, and it follows them in the aftermath of a sudden death of one of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a advanced copy of this.

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A beautifully and endearing romance from one of my favourite authors, Erica James. It seems to encapsulate those warm and lazy summer days of our youth!. Erica’s characters are, as always, well rounded and so believable that I almost felt myself one of that group of friends!
A Romance that is worthy of the name.

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Another fabulous book from one of my favourite authors. The story follows several families that are interwoven by friendship and a shared affinity with a house in Norfolk. So much happens within the story and to the characters we meet. Drama, secrets,deep emotions, life changing events, tears and laughter and most of all love. With a few twists here and there, this may not be the light summer read you may expect from the cover. Thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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A wonderful summer holiday read, especially as we holiday each year in Norfolk with other families! Erica never fails to disappoint and this one certainly doesn’t.

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Well written novel about life and friendship set in the Norfolk Broads. The characters are interesting and well developed and the story had me hooked. A good holiday read.

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62 year old Alastair returns home to Linston End after spending months travelling following the sudden death of his wife Orla.
He and his close friends and their families have always spent their summers at Linston End but they are shocked when Alastair tells them he is selling Linston to start again with Valentina, a woman he met on his travels.
Alastair invites them to spend a last summer at Linston and asks Valentina to join them. What was intended as a happy farewell soon turns into a summer of bitter arguments as old grievances are aired and they find that even the best of friends have secrets. Will they still be friends when the summer is over or will what they discover about each other tear them all apart.

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Erica James has not disappointed in this new book. A lot of interesting characters, set in a lovely part of the country. Loved all thje chartacters, even the baddies. Some page turning dramas as well.

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Thanks to the publisher and netgalleyfor allowing me to review this book.
Sorry, not my sort of special read, slow and meandering I could miss a half a age and not lose the pace.

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I normally really enjoy Erica’s books but had mixed emotions about this one. I found it hard to engage with the characters and didn’t really like some of them. The story seemed overly complex at times, and in other places it seemed to go nowhere . Everyone seemed to have a secret!
It was quite hard to get into the book at the beginning, however the idyllic location of the Norfolk Broads helped .
There are many twists in the storyline which kept the story moving but I felt it fell short of Ericas usually high standards.
Thank you to Netgalley, Orion, and Erica James for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review

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I have read a lot of Eric James book and have really enjoyed them, unfortunately this is not her best. Neither the characters or the story drew me in. So sorry, I will of course continue reading Erica’s wonderful books.

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Good storyline on the whole, but as I found most of the characters either unpleasant or annoying I didn't enjoy reading it as much as I expected.

There were some unresolved threads in the tale - perhaps another novel with some of the same characters is planned?

My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC in return for my honest review.

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A good story that is reasonably easy to read, the plot is good with plenty of different angles to keep your interest in but not so many that it becomes confusing.

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What a fabulous book! This draws us into the lives of 6 old friends and their children, whose lives have been intertwined for decades. Linston End is the beautiful home in the Norfolk Broads where the families have holidayed since they were children. Following the death of his mercurial wife, órla, Alastair goes travelling but now he has returned and has summoned his friends to Linston End where he has an announcement to make which will change all their lives irrevocably. This wonderful book has so many threads running through it like a tapestry that gradually unravels before our eyes. This is a story of friendship, marriage, betrayal, nostalgia, secrets and ultimately the triumph of love. I thoroughly enjoyed this cracking good read. A proper family saga with all that entails! A triumph which I highly recommend. 5 stars from me!

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I really enjoyed this book. Alastair, Danny and Simon have been close friends since schooldays. Summers have been spent with their families at Alastair's lovely house in the idyllic setting of the Norfolk Broads. The story begins with Alastair returning from an extended trip after the death of his wife. He has made a momentous decision regarding his house and his future while he has been away. Now he must tell his friends what he has decided. This is a story of friendship, betrayal and a lifetime of memories and secrets. The ideal summer read! Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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