Honeycote [Paperback]

This is a really fun read. I picked it up because a friend said it was as good as Jilly Cooper's Riders but I think it's even better - there are at least two characters - Patrick and Mickey - who are even sexier than Rupert Campbell Black and lots of people to relate to. There are so many great characters and loads of different plots with masses of sex and suspense and a really satisfactory ending.

The thing I always hated about Jilly Cooper's novels was the awful puns. This book has all the things I loved about Ms Cooper's books and more but those dreadful puns were mercifully missing - what a relief.

The characters are just as much fun, the setting (the Cotswolds) and section of society are very similar, but the writing is several times better and considerably less irritating. I devoured this is a couple of days and it left me wanting more, I especially wanted to know what happened to Keith, Mayday and Kay after this novel's conclusion - I want a sequel and I want it soon! The perfect holiday novel, let's hope every summer brings another!

~Story~

The Liddiard family have lived at Honeycote House for years. Mickey is married to his wife Lucy and he adores her, apart from the small problem that he seems to have with cheating on her. Mickey's brother James meanwhile has been hopelessly in live with Lucy since the day he met her. He doesn't want to betray his brother but he will also not go out of his way for Mickey's infidelities coming to light. Kay Oakley is the mistress to Mickey and is married to Lawrence who she only got with for his money. All around the Liddiards there seems to be trouble and strife; will they all manage to come out the other side as a family?

~Opinion~

Having never read Veronica Henry I had no idea what to expect. I also wasn't aware that Honeycote was part of a series, luckily for me I picked up the first book. The start of the book is great and tends to draw you in to the characters from the first few pages. We get a great perspective from the author of the setting of Honeycote House and it seemed very picturesque.

Initially, I only found I had one problem with the story, there were quite a few characters and for some reason their names just didn't gel with their personalities. I can't explain why but for me I struggled until at least the halfway point to gel the names to each character. Thankfully that was really the only criticism I had. I adored the Liddiards even though they were all far from perfect.

Veronica Henry certainly doesn't shy away from creating multiple stories and characters, and although some people may not like that I absolutely loved it. Yes there were multiple things to see develop but it gave you even more as a reader to get your teeth in to. I managed as usual to either love or loathe certain characters very soon after starting to read and that pleases me because I feel like the author is making me feel emotion either way.

Around the halfway point things really pick up and we see a chain of events start that affect every member of the family and believe me there are quite a few of them. In addition to Mickey and Lucy we see their three children Patrick, Georgia and Sophie. We also have James Liddiard and his girlfriend Caroline, The Liddiard daughter's friend Mandy and his dad, as well as numerous village characters that are all an integral part of the story.

Her writing style flows easily ad it was a pleasure to read, none of the chapters were a struggle and I thoroughly enjoyed it and left wanted to find out what happens next for all of them. Thankfully the next book in the Honeycote series is on my to tread list so I wont have to wait that long.

Veronica Henry manages to create a chick lit book that has great characters, storylines that make you want to laugh or cry and some good old fashioned smut. Just my kind of book!