It wasn't just Adira's Escape to Lilacwell, it was mine too. Feeling low this book was excellent escapism for me, I really enjoyed the three main characters and their banter.

Adira being Hebrew for strong, thankfully she wasn't just that. She shed a few tears here and there when she was overwhelmed or sad and that's what I liked about her. And her being friends with both Rory and Cassie... I'm hoping for a sequel :)

It was a bit flat regarding diversity when it comes to skin color, sexual orientation, religion, history, cultural background, income (or lack of), and chronics, but I could add that to a lot of reviews on books I've read recently...

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Book: Escape to Lilacwell
Author: Sasha Morgan
Rating 3,5 stars

Positive thoughts:
The story was a wonderful adventure, fun experiences with lovely small town vibes. A clean romance with heart-warming characters and scenes. I enjoyed the plot and every turn the story took me. I enjoyed reading about the characters, and how they ended up too. I was literally rooting for Fletcher and Lilly.

Negative thoughts:
I'm not a fan of long paragraphs and I had trouble with them in this book (I was lucky the story was interesting or that would have put me off straight away). I sometimes felt that some scenes were not necessary especially with the secondary characters. I was hoping to see more of Adira's past, we read so much of her search, I was expecting some big reveal (perhaps we'll get in in the second book with Rory and Cassie?)

Overall:
I really enjoyed this clean romance, although it was quite bland on the romance side, the experiences Adira goes through fill the gap. If you like the small town vibe and where every one knows every one and just wants to help out and to the best for the people, this is a good book for you. If you like a road trip adventure that takes you to your destination where you find your happiness, this is a book for you.

Romance: 3/5
Spice: 0,5/5
Suspense: 1/5
Humour: 2/5
Foul language: 0/5


Tropes:
- small town romance
- forced proximity
- road trip adventure
- drop your job for the adventure
- grumpy – sunshine

Adira Summers has worked very hard to make sure she has a good job that will ensure her life is plain sailing and she has no financial problems. Her parents are delighted when she starts working in London as a barrister. She is well respected but she soon knows this is not the job that will fulfil her. Once the decision is made she buys a Campervan called Sheila and decides to take a year out travelling. Her grandmother is full of joy for her. The job she has left was too stressful and it is just lovely that she is now beaming with happiness.
She decides to drive north first of all. She already loves her new ‘home’ and the sense of freedom that it gives her, at long last doing something for herself, not at the beck and call of her demanding boss. She passes by areas of outstanding natural beauty and interesting historical buildings. She is in her element just tootling around and staying wherever she wants to. She finally takes a turn off the highway and comes across a field with a river alongside. The gate is open and so she settles down in a picturesque village in Lancashire called Lilacwell. She meets Fletcher, the owner of the estate and he is happy to give her permission to park Sheila. She is even commissioned to help Cass start a new business that flourished and thrilled the locals.
Jasper Hendricks, who is working in Dubai, has received a worrying phone call from Lilly, the housekeeper. His 85 year old uncle is struggling to keep up with the work on his estate, despite hiring a manager. Something is not right and needs to be sorted out. Jasper has always known that his uncle will be leaving the estate to him, so he takes compassionate leave to fly back home and find out what is going on. What he sees is heartbreaking. The house and the whole estate is in a deep decline: windows smashed, leaking roofs, broken gates and even worse, his uncle looks so frail. Jasper makes a decision; he must step forward and offer to take over the renovations needed to restore The Laurels and the land to its former glory. First though he must return to Dubai and speak to the boss about the circumstances of his resignation and then work throughout his notice.
Adira left her job to travel around the UK in Sheila, but she falls in love with Lilacwell and the local community. Nevertheless she decides to head off towards Scotland, leaving behind the choice of two jobs. She wanted an adventure but at what cost? The Laurels is where she feels loved, wanted and happy. She reaches Scotland where she receives a phone call and everything changes in a wink.
Sasha Morgan is an author previously unknown to me and I enjoyed this novel so much. I will certainly visit her back catalogue. The storytelling was lovely, authentic and engaging. Her characters were well imagined, diverse and relatable. I despised Zara and all of her mean shenanigans. She was despicable and hateful. She misrepresented pieces of information and was definitely an unreliable narrator, causing unhappiness and angst. She was also vain and self-serving. I thought the storyboard was well handled with plenty of threads that enhanced the main story. I loved the fledgling romance, tender and fragile.
Thank you for my copy of this novel received through my membership of NetGalley and from publisher Canelo Escape, sent to me in return for an honest unbiased review. I enjoyed this novel and my review reflects this. I recommend this novel as an uplifting and heart-warming read with a really lovely, satisfying ending. My review is worth a 4.5*

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Good book, I liked it and enjoyed it.

This is a fun, entertaining read for the summer. Adira takes a break from the path her parents have put her on and escapes to the gorgeous setting in the countryside. She steps sideways it seems and takes the opportunity to reassess her priorities and do something completely different. As a character, she is easy to like and it is very credible that the people she meets form strong friendships with her. Of course, she is not the only one who decides to reassess their high powered career and Jasper has to decide where his heart lies.
An enjoyable read with a gorgeous setting.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book

I love this author books and this was a delight to read! It had some beautiful relationships with characters and the overall story was loved between Alisa and her grandmother. A lovely summer read.

What a lovely story.. Ailsa with the help of her grandmother turned her back on a high powered career I London to have a grown up gap year. She found her own happiness in a lovely village. You had a fab love element, white magic, stubborn old people and the Dubai part too. Fab

This was a lovely read. I could have done without any mention of the gross Zara though. Everyone else in Lilacwell was enjoyable to read about. The setting was nice and the story flowed well.

Fed up with the rat race, Adira has given up her hight paying, high stress job as an attorney in London. She intends to stop and smell the roses, and buys an old campervan to travel Britain. She hasn’t gotten very far when her old camper gives up the ghost in the village of Lilacwell. It seems like a disaster, but then Adira meets Jasper, who’s come to the little village to care for his fading uncle and the family’s decrepit estate. Adira finds herself falling for both the village and Jasper, but is she willing to give up her dreams of travel and the open road for a chance with Jasper, who might be heading back to Dubai at any time? We have all dreamed of taking off to see the world, and Adira and her quirky camper had me itching to hit the open road. Fun

So excited to read this gorgeous summer romance! Full review to follow on here and on my blog. Love the premise and characters look really interesting and of course the scenery! Thank you so very much for the privilege and opportunity.

She wanted an adventure. What she found was so much more…

Adira Summers has spontaneously quit her high-flying career as a barrister in London. She needs to escape from the rat race and, encouraged by her bohemian gran, has bought a campervan to do so.

Taking off for a tour around Britain, disaster strikes early on when her van breaks down outside the quaint village of Lilacwell. But things look up after she meets handsome Jasper, who is visiting to check on his ailing uncle and his crumbling estate, The Laurels.

As Adira falls for Lilacwell, she is torn between forgoing her travel plans to stay, or continuing with her adventure. Jasper must also choose between returning to his job in Dubai or moving back for his uncle – and Adira.

A gorgeous and summery romance for fans of Mandy Baggot, Holly Martin and Sue Moorcroft.