I’m beginning to lose count of the number of times I’ve featured the lovely Isabelle Broom on Linda’s Book Bag (including twice as one of my books of the year) but you see, I love both her books and her as a person too! It gives me enormous pleasure to participate in the blog tour for Isabelle’s latest book The Beach Holiday and I’d like to thank Alainna Hadjigeorgiou for inviting me to take part. It’s a total pleasure to share my review of The Beach Holiday as part of the tour today.

You’ll find my interviews with Isabelle and reviews of her books here.

Published by Hodder on 22nd June 2023, The Beach Holiday is available for purchase through the links here.

The Beach Holiday

A somebody. A nobody.
A love story waiting to be written . . .

All aspiring novelist Honor has ever wanted is to be successful. It’s the only way she can impress the father who abandoned her, the boyfriend who gave up on her, and the nagging voice in her head that tells her she’s not good enough.

Still, wanting to tell a story is not the same as having a story to tell, and Honor knows she needs to find a new source of inspiration.

When she’s invited to spend a summer abroad in The Hamptons, Honor realises it could be the dream setting for a book, especially when a chance encounter provides her with the perfect leading man.

But blurring fact and fiction is a dangerous game, and Honor soon discovers that writing her way to success might come at the expense of her own happy ever after . . .

My Review of The Beach Holiday

Honor is spending a couple of weeks with her father.

The Beach Holiday is everything a reader wants in a transporting, escapist and romantic read. I so enjoyed heading to The Hamptons with Honor, although there were times when I rather wished this was a murder story with me as the murderer getting my hands on Honor’s father…

Indeed, I loathed JB and whilst Honor may come to understand him better and even forgive him for his actions, I won’t. I think it says something about the effective (and affecting) quality of Isabelle Broom’s writing that I had such a deep seated response! 

Desperate for the approbation of her father JB, Honor is a seemingly straightforward character, but scratch below the surface and there is insecurity, a quick wit that provides much humour in the narrative, talent, loyalty and the capacity to feel deeply. I loved the way Isabelle Broom built the layers here, especially as she illustrates how little we truly know what others are thinking and feeling. We construct our own public narratives whether we are as ordinary as Honor or as glamorous as Cellan. There’s real insight and sensitivity in The Beach Holiday. 

Cellan is a cracking hero because he isn’t simply mean and moody as so many romantic heroes are. Instead he’s multi-faceted, relatively well-balanced with a few demons of his own. His strand of the story felt all the more poignant and realistic given that there was a celebrity facing challenging trial by media as I read. The impact of media, of betrayal and of the way we all ‘own’ famous people is woven into The Beach Holiday in a way that entertains but feels poignant, relevant and modern too.

Exploring fame and the pressures and consequences that brings, The Beach Holiday affords a glimpse into a life of glamour that makes it perfect summer reading because the reader is treated to a world they are unlikely to encounter in real life. However, with books and writing as another pivotal story arc, reading The Beach Holiday also feels familiar and just like coming home too. I loved these elements.

The build up of sexual and romantic tension between Honor and Cellan is wonderful. It’s natural, and sizzles with expectation and anticipation whilst providing the catalyst for some really funny moments too. I laughed aloud on several occasions.

I found the plot fast paced and engaging, but as Honor feels about her own writing, it was getting to know and understand the people in The Beach Holiday that really gripped me. As they work through themes of family, trust, self-respect and confidence I felt there was succour as well as entertainment to be had. 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Beach Holiday. It is just the story to escape into and see how the other half lives. It might just make you grateful for what you have rather than what you think you want, but you’ll need to read it to find out and it’s such a smashing book that I recommend you do!

About Isabelle Broom

Isabelle Broom was born in Cambridge nine days before the 1980s began and studied Media Arts at university in London before a 12-year stint at Heat magazine. When she is not travelling all over the world seeking out settings for her escapist novels, Isabelle can mostly be found in Suffolk, where she shares a home with her two dogs and more books than she could ever hope to read in a lifetime.

For more information, visit Isabelle’s website. You can also follow her on Twitter @Isabelle_Broom or Instagram and find her on Facebook.