After wading through the almost 20 different character names in the first chapter, I lost all impetus to read the rest of the book. I made it to the end of the second chapter but could not continue. This book was not for me.

The first book I read by Julie Houston was A Village Affair earlier this year (primarily about Carrie Beresford), and more recently, Sing Me A Secret, (primarily about the Sutherland sisters). This book features these characters, plus many more from previous books about Westenbury.

It did take me some time to get to know all the characters, there seemed to be a larger number of main characters in this book compared to the previous couple I had read. I enjoyed finding out how everyone had got on after the last book, but life quickly changed for many of the residents again with a car accident, an illicit dalliance, marriage breakdowns, false accusations and troubled teenagers.

There are many laugh out loud moments (especially with the children and the lovely lollipop lady), but also some darker moments, especially with the ‘county lines’ story.

I enjoyed my visit to Westenbury, and I’m sure that many other readers of the Westenbury series will enjoy their return visit too.

This was my first read from this author. Book was fine, sweet and cute. The writing is great. I love books about small towns.
3.5 stars for me.

I might have liked this book more if it hadn’t taken me so long to get into the story and keep the characters straight. There were so many characters in this little village and they all appeared without much introduction at all. It’s as if we were suddenly dropped into this village and were expected to understand the backstories and relations among all these people. Oh, and we’re blind since there weren’t many physical descriptions of the characters.

I stuck with the book and after I was about halfway through the book, I started being able to distinguish who was who and what their relationship was to the other characters. Then I found myself much more interested in how things were progressing. Characters would still pop up and I wouldn’t remember who they were and I’d go back to being confused again.

There were lots of references to the personal histories of these characters. I’m not sure if those histories were explained in the earlier book, but it was still confusing. I’m not sure why an author would want to so confuse her readers. I’m not sure how many people will want to persevere with the book to get over the period of trying to figure everything out.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

I've read all of Julie's books & have loved them all. I wait in anticipation for the next book to be realised & this book did not disappoint! I want to shout out the ending as it was so good but I won't spoil it for you all. All I hope is that Julie is busy writing the next book......please!!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

A really interesting warm and funny book.

A book that has you wanting to finish it all in one sitting to find out what happens next and how it ends.

Set back in the lovely village of Westonbury in Yorkshire and the villagers are mourning the loss of a woman who has lived in the village for years.

Grace wants to move forward in her life, without her husband, whose off in search of his new life. So she returns to teaching and teaches pre school children.

Learning to cope again with disasters in work and with the most troublesome pupil in her classes’ dad.

Will she be able to sort these issues out, will she be able get closer to him than she thinks AND can Grace fill the vacancy within the village.

There are a great number of characters in this book. It is a small village so everyone has some sort of friendship or relationship with everyone else. I read the previous book in this series, but it has been long enough that I cannot remember much about anyone.

Grace is the central character in this story. Grace has been called back to school to teach. It comes at a perfect time. At least that is what she believes.

Her husband has left her, again. She is raising two children. One is a son from an affair she had. The second is a little girl with special needs.

The village is so small that it appears there are very few private matters in anyone’s life. I have lived in small towns and I understand the idea. But this would have been helped if there were some more explanations about village history.

I simply could not get excited about this book.

I did not like Grace. In fact, it was difficult for me to find any adult who was very likable for me.

I got the impression that Grace was happy to behave like a woman with little reason to be in a marriage. In her defense, apparently her husband had a problem remembering his marriage.

I wanted to enjoy the book more and I believe it would have helped me to have more initial explanations about relationships and previous events. Even as I read, I felt things hopped from one scene to the next without a lot of preparation.

This book was not for me. I realize I am in a minority. But, for me this was not a good fit. I have to feel a connection to the main characters and I simply could not get there this time.

I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley. I thank them for the opportunity. I am voluntarily writing this review and all opinions are completely my own.

Lots of lovely characters. Maybe too many to remember who was who, but still enjoyable. As with a Village Affair, the odd giggle slips out now and then!

I LOVED this book - I've read all of Julie's books set in Westenbury and, I really think this is the best one yet It was funny, serious, emotional and there were a few twists and turns along the way. I hope there are going to be more books to follow because I can already see two extra stories starting to unfold.
Julie is such a good author and I really recommend that you read this book if you love books with heart!

I enjoyed revisiting the village of Westenbury. It took me a bit to reconnect with the various characters and what happened before to each character, but it was an enjoyable recollection. I found myself shaking my head at Grace, and her obvious love of men. She is now a single parent with a child of her previous lover and an adopted child with special needs. I remember Grace and her then husband adopting this little girl in order to heal their marriage. The book opens with a shock for everyone, including myself, the reader, and a great part of the story revolves around this particular event and the subsequent ripples it creates throughout the small community. I love the friendship between Grace, Juno and the others. This is another excellent read from Julie Houston.

I would like to thank Julie Houston, Aria & Aries and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Unfortunately I couldn't carry on reading this book. It was certainly no fault of the writer, just me and my little quirks, one of them been fancy names I cannot pronounce, the other is lots of characters.
I haven't read the previous book so obviously an introduction of characters is needed which I fully understand. It was just far too many names to try to digest at the very beginning which put me off.

I struggled to get into this book. For me, the major stumbling block was the sheer number of characters to wrap my head around. I realise that starting a series with book 2 is a rather foolish endeavour, so this is reader-error, rather than book-error. The writing itself is great and I'm sure there are many readers who will love this book. I'm just not going to be one of them.

Characters the galore, but once you figure out who is who the book is fresh,spirited, and funny book. I was totally confused as to who was sleeping with who and whose kid belonged to what man, but what I did was go read her first couple books, which are considered stand alones as well, but the development of the characters I appreciated a lot more!

However, after the first six or so chapters you will start to figure out the dynamics of the village! This book is so well written and put together once you get who the characters are that I was rooting for Grace! Poor Grace seemed to come out on the bottom each and every time that I kept wondering is she ever going to have her day in the ☀️! If you want to find out get this book and see or it might surprise you what the author has in store for this quirky lady!

Thanks to all the wonderful authors and publishers who work diligently for us the readers!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

DNF.
Gave up after 20%. Found it very confusing to begin with, too many characters introduced with obviously big connections between them all that are rapidly glossed over. It appears that whilst not officially listed as being part of a series it is connected to several other books written by the author. It's probably best to read them in order as this doesn't start off well to be read as a stand alone book. Normally I'd go back and read them in order but this didn't engage me enough to do that.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I actually enjoyed this book, good storyline, good characters and well worth a read.

I absolutely love Julies books and this is no different. In fact, this might be my favourite book yet. I know I say that every book but this is definitely a great read. I have been completely torn between wanting to devour page after page and wanting to slowly enjoy each event as they have unfolded. </p>


This is another book with a beautiful setting, which I really wish I could escape to. Plus we have more fantastic characters. Our main character Grace will make you shake your head with disapproval throughout the book. She is a maneater and single mum oif a child who has additional needs. I honestly feel that this alone makes this a unique read and I wish more authors would touch on these aspects. </p>


The cover of this book is as gorgeous as previous books. It definitely makes you want to pick up the book. The cover is cute and sophisticated and definitely screams ''read me''.</p>


>I have to say Houston has covered the topic sensitively and as a reader you really do have a journey throughout this one. I can hand on heart say that this is a read which should be on everyone's TBR and is so highly deserving of a higher rating than five stars. </p>

Another fabulous escape to Westenbury.

#NoSpoilers Julie Houston's latest addition to the Westenbury tales is fast and funny. Her storytelling doesn't pull any punches and is peppered with characters that you wonder about and miss long after you've finished reading.

A cracking story and a great read.

Highly Recommend.

In Which We Reunite With Grace....
A return to Westenbury where we reunite with Grace. Grace Stevens has now bid her husband an overdue farewell and is juggling life as only she knows how. Another entertaining entry in the life and loves of Grace Stevens, both amusing and enjoyable.

It was nice to be back in the village of Westenbury again. It did take me a while to remember who was who and what happened before to what character but once I did I enjoyed it.
I have to shake my mature head at Grace who is in trouble again mainly because she likes men too much. She’s now a single parent with a child of a previous lover and an adopted child with special needs. As far as I can remember Grace and her husband adopted this little girl mainly to heal their marriage, how anyone let them adopt a child I don’t know.
The book opens with a shock for everyone including the reader and most of the story revolves around this event and the ripples it creates throughout the community.
I love the friendship between Grace and Harriet and Juno and the others. Another good read from Julie Houston. I know these are stand alone books but if you read the others first you will enjoy it more.

A village vacancy is a nice story to spend a long weekend with. The characters and their lives pull you in enough to make this a good read.