Blog Tour for Searching for Steven by Jessica Redland

 

Thank you to Rachel for the chance to be a part of the blog tour for this delightful book by Jessica Redland.  Welcome to my stop!

 

Searching For Steven

What if you already know your future… but not the path to take you there?

When Sarah Peterson accepts her Auntie Kay’s unexpected offer to take over her florist’s shop, she’s prepared for a change of job, home and lifestyle. What she isn’t prepared for is the discovery of a scarily accurate clairvoyant reading that’s been missing for twelve years. All her predictions have come true, except one: she’s about to meet the man of her dreams. Oh, and his name is Steven. Suddenly Stevens are everywhere. Could it be the window cleaner, the rep, the manager of the coffee shop, or any of the men she’s met online? On top of that, she finds herself quite attracted to a handsome web designer, but his name isn’t even Steven… During this unusual search, will Sarah find her destiny?

 

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

 

You already know I loved Raving About Rhys and now I can tell you I’m in love with Searching for Steven too.  Jessica does is again with a light-hearted romantic story, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

We’re back in Whitsborough Bay to join Sarah in her search for love.  Being brought up in a loving home with two darling parents, has made Sarah determined to find everlasting love the way they did.  She wades through life and boyfriends, not really finding the spark she’s looking for until a fortune teller’s message and an aunt’s gift changes her direction.

The setting for this novel takes us back to Whitsborough Bay. The seaside town is enchantingly described.  Forget the Cotswold, Jessica makes the northern English coast sound like the most idyllic place to be.  It’s the perfect backdrop for a romance story, yet not too much of the narrative is lost to unnecessary descriptions.

The main character, Sarah, is really well-drawn.  We get a look into Sarah’s, past, present and possible future.  As Jessica’s stories often span a time period of over a year, the reader also has a chance to witness the main character’s evolution. There were times I would call Sarah, self-centred, whiny or mopey but it’s all part of her growing up and taking control of her life.  She’s not perfect but she’s perfectly likeable (most of the time!).

The secondary characters are cute and very useful plot devices.  Sarah’s best friends are Elise and Clare.  They are polar opposites and irritate each other to no end!  Their sparing, for the most part is very entertaining.  Good luck to Sarah choosing a maid of honour between those two. That could seriously be the beginning of world war three. They are cleverly used as the angel and the devil sitting on Sarah’s shoulders and push Sarah to consider her circumstances from different perspectives.

The male MC is so dreamy.  I just want to snatch him right out of the story. We see mostly his positive sides as this story isn’t so much about their relationship as it is about Sarah’s growing up and taking control of her own destiny.

My favourite things:

• The beach setting
• The real romance story develops over a 12 month+ period.
• Aunty Kay’s backstory is wonderfully heart-breaking.
• The crazy interactions with the various Stevens.  There is one hilariously cringe-worthy scene with Steven the plasterer.

Not so favourite:

• I’m not keen on Jade’s engagement which seems included mostly just to bother Sarah. But minor matters!

 

You don’t need a clairvoyant to reveal that this is another clear winner from Jessica Redland.  I look forward to reading more in the Whitsborough Bay series.

4.5 dreamy espresso shots for Searching for Steven.

 

 

Author Bio

 

Jessica had never considered writing as a career until a former manager kept telling her that her business reports read more like stories and she should write a book. She loved writing but had no plot ideas. Then something happened to her that prompted the premise for her debut novel, Searching for Steven. She put fingers to keyboard and soon realised she had a trilogy and a novella!

She lives on the stunning North Yorkshire Coast – the inspiration for the settings in her books – with her husband, daughter, cat, Sprocker Spaniel, and an ever-growing collection of collectible teddy bears. Although if the dog has her way, the collection will be reduced to a pile of stuffing and chewed limbs!

Jessica tries to balance her time – usually unsuccessfully – between being an HR tutor and writing.

 Social Media Links 

Twitter:  @JessicaRedland

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/JessicaRedlandWriter/

Website and blog:  www.jessicaredland.com

 

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