I felt that this 2nd book in the series is even better than the 1st! The characters were so "real" and a few really annoyed me in the way they carried themselves!!
Mr. Bygrove is a perfect example, I could picture him as he blustered as a Mr Faulty......full of his own self importance! Absolutely brilliant!
There were lots of other twists in the story which made me want to keep reading and I cannot wait until there is a 3rd in the Beach Hotel series.
Many thanx to NetGalley, the author and the publishers for allowing me to read and review this book

Rich in historical detail and vividly depicted. Everything you could want in a family saga.
Many thanks to Hera and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

★★★★ 4.5 stars

Can she choose between her duty and her heart...?

Sagas set during this era are some of my favourite kind. Maybe perhaps because it marked such a change in times between the old Victorian era and a new Georgian one, not to mention a whole new century in which women were now coming out from behind their menfolk and being recognised for their own abilities. A time when women were allowed to own property, hold positions of respect and even the prospect of their voices giving them the vote. World War One was a time of great change. Many were still coming to terms with the change in monarchs from the old Queen to King Edward followed just a decade later with King George V. With this change, came more change. Gone were the frills and bustles of the old times. Skirts were being worn a tad shorter. Hats were not quite so cumbersome and far more quaint. With the war, times were difficult and cuts had to made everywhere.

Such was the case at the Beach Hotel, much to the irritation of its pompous manager Douglas Bygrove. War was simply getting in the way of him doing his job...of which no one knew exactly what that was...but he saw it as his duty to welcome prominent figures of council or parliament or even just the richest, most important people of Littlehampton. He made it is his business to know who was who and welcome them into his hotel. His hotel? Purchased with his wife's inheritance which surely made it her hotel in which he appointed himself manager and treated her no more than a skivvy. He is pompous and odious and an irritating little man.

But this story is not about him, although he features enough throughout you'd think it was about him (he's that vain too). No, this story is about Lili, who left her village in the Welsh mining valleys in search of something more than being stuck in Dorcolan for the rest of her days, scrubbing floors and marrying a nice Welsh boy who probably spent half his days down the mines. Lili didn't want that for herself. And so she took herself to Littlehampton after gaining a job as a chambermaid at the Beach Hotel. But as the war came, so too did change. Their men enlisted and if they didn't they were soon conscripted leaving only the womenfolk behind. And despite this and their staff shortages, the staff at the Beach Hotel kept things running smoothly like a well-oiled machine under the careful managerial eye of Helen Bygrove, the manageress. Although if Douglas Bygrove had anything to say about it, and he did quite a lot of that, it was to his credit that they had managed to keep things alfoat at all.

That aside, Helen organised several charity events to raise money for the war effort by way of hospitals and the like. One of which was for the Belgrave Hospital for wounded soldiers. At this event Lili was asked to perform a few songs and she captured the attention of one soldier with her lilting songbird voice. Corporal Rhodri Morgan who had been injured with a bullet to the leg leaving him with a permanent limp. Rhodri was also Welsh and Lili could hardly believe that she travelled so far from home only to meet another Welshman. However, Lili had been courting another before he left for the Front. And Lili is nothing if not loyal. She would not betray Norman by stepping out with another man.

And then she receives word that Norman is missing in action which usually means one thing - that he's been killed and his body has yet to be located. Devastated at this news and conflicted with her her growing attraction for Rhodri, Lili is torn between her feelings for him and her loyalty to Norman. But nothing can stop them from being friends, can it?

But that all falls by the wayside when she receives a letter from her eldest sister Carys informing her that their mother is gravely ill and she is needed at home. Granted immediate leave from Helen, Lili makes her way back home fearing what she may find upon her return and how ill her mother truly is. She realises that she must make the difficult choice between following her heart and her dreams to make her own life or to fulfil her duty as a daughter and return to a place she had tried so hard to escape. Lili is nothing if not faithful and loyal, sometimes to her detriment. Should she make this sacrifice for duty or for love?

I thoroughly enjoyed this installment at the Beach Hotel, far more than the first one. There are some irritating characters once again, some get their comeuppance, some may still be waiting. There is a little about the Front but it features only as a backdrop. The mainstay is life at the hotel. My favourite part would have to be the conscription debacle of one such man of the age of forty. Oh my that was hilarious. I can't wait to see how that pans out in future installments.

As always, I love this type of story. It is a nice gentle easy read, a perfect escape from the harried busyness of today. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Beach Hotel and will be sure to check in again next year when I look forward to my visit to Littlehampton once again.

I would like to thank #FrancescaCapaldi, #Netgalley, #HeraBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #AllChangeAtTheBeachHotel in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

Thank you for the chance to read this ARC in return for my honest opinion.

Having read the first book in the series I was really looking forward to this one.
And I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

We were taken back to WW1 and the genteel clientele of the Hotel, the staff and their lives and inevitable heartbreaks.
This centred on Lili who had left a sheltered life in the mining valleys of Wales to go to hotel as firstly a chambermaid but hard work had allowed her to rise within the staff.
The book showed how women left behind as their men enlisted - some voluntarily others not - but the work still needed to be done.

It was lovely to revisit old characters and to meet new ones - some of the clientele needed to remember there was a war on.

The book is well researched and a delightful read.

I cant wait for the next instalment - the end of this indicates there might well be one. Even if it’s just to find out if the odious manager Mr Bygrove, though one feels that if there is a way he could wriggle out of actual warfare he would find a way - sadly.

this is the second book in the series, will definitely go back and read the first one. it is about a young girl, Lili who is called home to help her mother with an illness. really enjoyed the story.

This book was enthralling from the start. Lils story hooks you from the start and I almost felt I was her..
The author brings tiny details to life and you feel the excitement and heartache as you turn the pages.
An excellent unputdownable read from start to finish.. Simply brilliant!

A second visit to the Beach Hotel and its staff, where the war is taking its toll on the employees, with enlistments, losses and, for Lili, the news that her sweetheart is missing in action. But Lili is torn when she meets a new man who she is sure she could love if only things were different...The day to day life of the hotel is told well, from the point of view of the staff, and who could fail to dislike the odious manager Mr Bygrove. I hope he gets his comeuppance when book three comes out!

I really enjoyed this book.
The story was a bit slow in places but it was like looking into someone's life from a friends view.
I'm so glad Mr bygrove was enlisted as hopefully it will knock the chip off his shoulder.
I'm glad it had a good ending as I'm a sucker for a happy ending
I hope there is going to be more in this series

The second book in the series and a great follow up following the story of Lili s young girl from wales, who has left the family home to carve out a new life, things don’t go quite to plan for lili and she has to make a choice of staying or returning to her family home. Another great family saga from Francesca Capaldi.

What a delight! The second in the hotel series proved equally as enjoyable as the first.
This time the book centres on Lili Probert who comes from a large welsh family who didn’t take kindly to her moving away to work at the Beach Hotel in Littlehampton. Lili is a popular member of staff with patrons and her colleagues. She gets some bad news regarding her sweetheart Norman who is fighting on the front.
Mrs Bygrove decides to put on a concert to raise funds for the war, Lili is secret delightedly to be asked to sing at it. This brings her to the attention of a certain corporal.
When Lili is called back home due to her mother having shingles she is downhearted to find that her siblings think she should stay at home to help her mother. Will aunt Megan come to her aid?

There are some lovely twists along the way. I loved the descriptions of some of the characters like bumptious Mr Bygrove.
I actually found myself getting really annoyed, so good were the descriptions of Cary’s.
Needless to say. I loved it, Look forward to the next one.

Firstly thank you Netgalley for this Arc

Family saga at its best brilliant first book in this series