Orange Blossom Days By Patricia Scanlan

[amazon_link id=”1471151123″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’Orange Blossom Days’ is the latest book by Irish author, Patricia Scanlan.

Anna and Austen MacDonald, an Irish couple, are preparing to enjoy their retirement to the full. But the demands of family cause problems they have never foreseen and shake their marriage to the core. Sally-Ann Connolly Cooper, a feisty Texan mother of two young teenagers, is reeling from her husband’s infidelity. La Joya becomes a place of solace for Sally-Ann, in more ways than one. Eduardo Sanchez, a haughty Madrileño, has set out with single-minded determination to become El Presidente of the complex’s management committee. But pride comes before a fall. Jutta Sauer Perez, a sophisticated German who aspires to own her very own apartment in La Joya, works hard to reach her goal. Then the unthinkable happens.

Patricia is back with a new book, filled with many nationalities from across the world who all share a love for their apartments in the La Joya de Andalucia, in a small Spanish town. The resort provides the couples with the perfect escapes from the stress of live and home, but for some the resort isn’t as perfect as some hoped and new problems arise.

From the Emerald Isle, we have retired couple Anna and Austen MacDonald who have used their nestegg to treat themselves to a second home and escape from the dramatic and needy clutches of their daughter Chloe and her desire for a big wedding. Their intentions to spend time relaxing together don’t always work out much to their dismay, as one of their children is always looking for their attention and money. Texan couple, Sally-Ann and Cal lead separate lives even though they put on an united front, until Cal bursts their bubble and they literally have to go their separate ways. Whilst Eduardo is a stickler for rules and nothing annoys him more than seeing the residents of the resort taking liberties and disobeying the rules, so he runs for president of the resort, hoping that his wife will support him, but Consuela has gotten tired of his controlling ways and goes out to find a life of her own and finally there’s Jutta, the manager of the resort, a strict German woman who runs the resort like a ship, the only thing that gets in the way is her demanding father, her frivolous husband and annoying sisters.

I love Patricia’s books, they are the perfect books to sink into and relax with, filled with warmhearted and engaging characters, her lighthearted tales always make for tender reading. In this book, the wide selection of characters and personalities , give the story plenty of twists and enjoyable turns.

The many nationalities, give the story a clever spin, the lighthearted and witty Irish characters, Anna and Austen are the warmer elements of the story with their gentle nature, they made me smile with their Irish sayings and slangs whereas Sally-Ann was fun and vibrant with a strong heart and finally both Edmundo and Jutta are both driven by their careers and will stop at nothing that gets in their way, to be honest I found them the least likeable of the characters, they were obnoxious and rude.

Filled with warm and relatable characters set against the sunny climate of Spain, ‘Orange Blossom Days’ is a tender tale of love and friendship and is the perfect escapism read.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”1471151123″ target=”_blank” ]Orange Blossom Days from Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.