Victoria Walters Archives - Proud Book Reviews

January 30, 2023December 26, 2022

Dreams Come True at Glendale Hall – Victoria Walters

This book contains:

References to a relationship broken up by parents
Financial stress.

Lorna Ferguson is the middle child of her family and shares a dream with her older brother, Adam, to turn a local art-deco home into a B&B. Like a lot of people, Lorna is also plagued by doubts when things don’t quite go just right although she tries to stay optimistic like Adam.

Unlike the other Glendale books I’ve read, this one felt more like a self-worth and confidence kind of story rather than a romance. Yes, there were elements of romance in it, but the story felt like it more heavily rotated around Lorna and Adam doing up Dove House into a successful B&B.

We go from the house coming on the market again, purchasing the house and then all the drama’s that come with renovating such an old house back into its prime and ready to open as a business.

The biggest thing that I noticed with this one compared to previous books in the series is the style in which it’s written. All the others felt like it had a natural flow, super relatable characters (even if they were more relatable to people I knew rather than me personally) and realistic problems cropping up.

But this time, a lot of the conversations felt a bit stilted and forced, and the biggest financial setback shouldn’t have even been a setback unless the insurance industry in the UK has completely deviated to how Lloyd’s first established it back in the 1800’s (sorry yes, I work in Insurance and Finance designing the training for teams so I know very well what is and isn’t covered by insurance).

While I understand writing it that way to increase the drama, my work brain wouldn’t shut up and let me enjoy the twist. Instead it was shouting at me how wrong it was. And I completely acknowledge that insurance in the UK may be different enough to here in Australia, but this was a fairly basic part of insurance that I’m pretty sure wouldn’t be different… At least, not based on people I’ve spoken to in the industry.

But, if you don’t have that level of insurance knowledge you’ll have a great ride following the highs and lows of setting and setting up Dove House to be a great B&B with a side of just there romance that is super sweet and turns into the happy ending we all know we want.

June 11, 2021June 11, 2021

Always and Forever at Glendale Hall – Victoria Walters

This book contains:

multiple references to car accident deaths.

Anna is the little sister of Brodie, the Glendale minister, but she leads a very different life to him. All because she blames herself for the car accident that nearly killed her when she was 13. She’s spent her adult life travelling and working in lots of different places, but she isn’t happy, and she can’t figure out why, or how to be happy.

Cameron returned home to Glendale to become the farm manager. He’s withdrawn, quiet and not the same guy who left for uni a few years ago. But there’s something about Anna that sets him off and brings out glimpses of the guy everyone remembers from before uni.

Anna loses her job in Glasgow and ends up having to take her brother up on the job offer of housekeeper at Glendale Hall. She doesn’t want to, but she has no where else to go to work and she’s just booked a trip to Ibiza in a couple of months that she needs to fund.

After almost being run over by Cameron, literally, Anna and Cameron find themselves constantly thrown into each other’s paths. From dinner parties, social events, work and even a combined hen’s and bucks party, there’s no escaping each other and their attraction.

This hit me in such a personal way that I really wasn’t expecting.

Just before starting this book some things happened in my own life that are so eerily similar to Anna that it got to me a few times. The discussions around our relationships with our family, our inability to communicate how we’re feeling about certain events or things makes our relationships so difficult.

The way Victoria is able to discuss how small minute body language, lack of discussion etc all impact our memories and interpretations of how others feel about certain events or people. Everything she said felt like it rang so true for how we feel in those situations.

And yet, that moment when you can finally talk about it with other people, and the people involved, breaks the box we feel like we’re in and lets us move past it. The moment is amazing but also so emotionally draining and can be so difficult that it’s awesome we were able to experience that with Anna.

Continue to read further down to find out about the author.

Author Bio

Victoria Walters writes up-lifting and inspiring stories. She’s the author of three novels, THE SECOND LOVE OF MY LIFE, SUMMER AT THE KINDNESS CAFÉ, and COMING HOME TO GLENDALE HALL. She has been chosen for WHSmith Fresh Talent and shortlisted for an RNA award. Victoria was also picked as an Amazon Rising Star, and her books have won wide reader acclaim.

Victoria is a full-time author. She lives in Surrey with her cat Harry, and loves books, clothes, music, going out for tea and cake, and posting photos on Instagram.

September 5, 2020January 12, 2021

Hopeful Hearts at Glendale Hall – Victoria Walters

Welcome back everyone, I hope you’re all doing well in these difficult times. My city is heading into it’s final (I HOPE!) week of Stage 4 lockdown. Surprisingly enough, work’s been too busy to take advantage of the forced home time to be able to read much.

The third instalment of Glendale Hall is here and it’s not quite what I was expecting. It’s a little bit like Foxglove Farm by Christie Barlow in that it’s about an established couple going through a “rough patch”. But it has its own little quirks and intricacies.

With an ex back in the picture who reminds you of your younger self it can be hard to know your own mind. Especially when things keep going wrong and they keep pointing out how you don’t belong where you are. As suss as that felt to me, I can sympathise with Heather and how she doesn’t recognise the suss nature of it all.

When Heather found her stride I felt so proud, even though she’s just a character and not even one I created! Every little thing she did to move forward felt huge, especially because her loved ones supported her and let her grow. It wasn’t forced, it wasn’t like she’d consciously been doing it. It just clicked and started coming together in such a beautiful way.

Personally, I was hoping for the epilogue to be set on a very different day. I would’ve loved the closure all at once. Although, if there’s a fourth book coming maybe that’ll give me the details I was craving.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review; on Monday I’ll be reviewing Christmas at Lock Keepers Cottage by Lucy Coleman. Continue to read further down to find out about the author.

Author Bio

Victoria is a full-time author. She lives in Surrey with her cat Harry, and loves books, clothes, music, going out for tea and cake, and posting photos on Instagram.

Find out more about Victoria by following her on social media.

February 5, 2020January 12, 2021

New Beginnings at Glendale Hall – Victoria Walters

Welcome back everyone, I can’t believe we’re in February already and that today’s review is the 3^rd one for the month! Especially because it’s only the 5^th!

I haven’t read the first book in this series, but I didn’t feel like I needed to in order to understand and enjoy this book. There are some series where you must read the books in order, or even if they say you don’t need to, you kinda do. Victoria has done a wonderful job of writing this story in a way that truly is standalone yet can also be read in a series.

One of my favourite parts of this story was that it didn’t feel like an obvious romance, while we also knew that it was so Emily had to get her happily ever after. Unlike most romances, I wasn’t 100% sure of who she was going to end up with, or how.

Because of this, it felt like Victoria wrote a novel about loving oneself, how to learn to put yourself first, how to chase your dreams and stand up for what you deserve. I feel like so many young girls are so obsessed with finding love and having a family that they don’t take the time to make sure that person is right for them.

Emily is forced to do just that, and I love her exploration and her confidence to do just that. While also knowing when to say, “I don’t have room for a relationship right now, but if you’re right for me you’ll give me the time I need.”

Given what I found and loved about this book I have a feeling that I’ll go back and read the first book at some stage. It was nice and easy to read while still being engaging, interesting and insightful. It was just such a great mix of everything that makes a romance book great.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review, on Friday I’ll be reviewing Legend of Love by Lisa Kessler as part of my series reviews. Continue to read further down to find out about the author.

Author Bio

Victoria Walters writes up-lifting and inspiring stories. Her moving debut novel THE SECOND LOVE OF MY LIFE was chosen for WHSmith Fresh Talent and shortlisted for an RNA award. Victoria was also picked as an Amazon Rising Star. Her heart-warming new novel SUMMER AT THE KINDNESS CAFE is available to download now.

As well as being an author, Victoria also works as a Waterstones bookseller and buys far too many books there. She lives in Surrey with her cat Harry (named after Harry Potter). Victoria is not only obsessed with books but loves buying slogan tops, mugs and notebooks, and posting them all on Instagram.

You can discover more about Victoria – and find pictures of Harry the cat – by following her on social media.