One Lucky Summer

Jenny Oliver

Jul 2021 · Sold by HarperCollins UK

About this ebook

The best kept secrets are waiting to be found...

‘A lovely read ... leaving you with a warm glow and a smile your face’ Jo Thomas

‘The perfect summer read ... I loved everything about it!’ Bella Osborne

‘Fresh and original, haunting and evocative’ Jules Wake

‘A delicious ice-cream of a book’ Josie Lloyd

With an air of faded splendour, Willoughby Hall was an idyllic childhood home to Ruben de Lacy. Gazing at it now, decades later, the memories are flooding back, and not all of them are welcome...

In a tumbledown cottage in Willoughby’s grounds, Dolly and Olive King lived with their eccentric explorer father. One of the last things he did was to lay a treasure hunt before he died, but when events took an unexpected turn, Dolly and Olive left Willoughby for good, never to complete it.

But when Ruben uncovers a secret message, hidden for decades, he knows he needs Olive and Dolly’s help. Can the three of them solve the treasure hunt, and will piecing together the clues help them understand what happened to their families that summer, all those years ago?

A glorious summer read with a delightful cast of characters from the bestselling author of The Summer We Ran Away.

Praise for One Lucky Summer:

‘A lovely read. A real journey, with wrong turns along the way and a delightful arrival at their destination. It's like a summer outing leaving you with a warm glow, and a smile your face’ Jo Thomas, author of Chasing the Italian Dream

‘This is the perfect summer read. Full of fun, mystery and warmth. I loved everything about it!’ Bella Osborne, author of The Promise of Summer

‘Fresh and original, haunting and evocative’ Jules Wake, author of The Spark

‘A delicious ice-cream of a book. Loved it! Essential holiday reading’ Josie Lloyd, author of The Cancer Ladies' Running Club

‘[A] must read’ Bella

‘A twisty, wistful novel perfect for long sunny afternoons’ New

Praise for Jenny Oliver:

‘You know you’re in for a treat when you open a Jenny Oliver book’ Debbie Johnson, bestselling author of Maybe One Day

‘The perfect summer read’ Sarah Morgan, bestselling author of The Summer Seekers

Ratings and reviews

Ruben de Lacy has returned to his family's home Willoughby Hall for one final time before selling it. Shallow, wealthy and good-looking Ruben is surprised when his ex-girlfriend Jenny arrives with their twelve year-old daughter Zadie in tow - apparently he had agreed to look after Zadie while Jenny and her new husband Barry go on their honeymoon. Looking after a young chubby daughter with dubious dress sense isn't Ruben's idea of a good time. Then he stumbles across a little plastic box which is part of a treasure hunt which had been set up years before and never took place. The treasure hunts were a very big thing in his childhood and he can't envisage doing this without the two girls whose father created the hunt in the first place; Olive and Dolly. Olive has just been dumped by her very boring and respectable boyfriend Mark. Dolly has just been suspended from her job as a police officer for disobeying orders. For their own reasons they both agree to return to Willoughby Hall for one last treasure hunt. But returning to Cornwall forces each of them to face what happened the night the treasure hunt was laid, to address feelings that have been suppressed for decades, and to make peace. It's going to be a heck of a summer! I've got to say that I thought this was going to be more of a romantic comedy, a la Katie Fforde, based on the cover. Whereas, this is more women's fiction. There's a lot of remembering the past and giving voice to past feelings, about owning emotions and letting them go. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable to watch all three of them finally lay the ghosts to rest and look forward to the future. Recommended for lazy summer reading in the garden. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

About the author

Jenny Oliver is a bestselling author of contemporary fiction. She has been an elf in the Disney Store, a personal trainer, journalist, editor and, by far the best, a writer. Twice nominated for the RNA Best Contemporary Novel award, Jenny’s books explore the ups and downs of relationships and an unwavering belief in happily ever after. In her spare time, she can be found cajoling her family out to car boot sales, trying to reign in her competitiveness on the netball court and subtly eavesdropping on strangers’ conversations as inspiration for her next book.

Follow her on Twitter @JenOliverBooks, Instagram @JenOliverBooks, and Facebook @JennyOliverBooks.