I absolutely love it when a new Ali McNamara book comes out! Summer of Serendipity is stunning and full of joy! The settings, characters and dialogue are absolutely perfect!

I generally do not get pulled into reading light reads, but occasionally such a book draws me in. This is my first book by the author, Ali McNamara, so I jumped right into the book with great gusto. The book did not disappoint me; there were plots and subplots and the entire setting was eerie and magical.
Serendipity or Ren as she is lovingly known as, is a property hunter for her clients and one such search leads her to the beautiful west coast of Ireland and to the perfect "Welcome House" which is open for everyone and belongs to no one.
The book then follows Ren as she goes about hunting for the owner and the history of the house. She does keep meeting the manager of local hotel, Finn and romance blossoms. Ren's assistant, Kiki plays her part beautifully providing humor to an already delightful story.
The author, Ali has done a fabulous job to bring a light summery read which is absolutely magical. I wonder if there really is a "Welcome House" somewhere in this world...

I’m a huge Ali McNamara fan and rarely dislike any of her books, and although I didn’t dislike this it certainly wasn’t as good as her others. Serendipity Parker, also known as Ren is visiting the West Coast of Ireland in the search for the perfect house for one of her clients. Her assistant Kiki is along for the ride and they are staying at a local hotel run by Finn. In all honesty I didn’t particularly like Ren that much, like I said I didn’t dislike her she just wasn’t as engaging as other characters. Kiki on the other hand was a ball of energy and was a lot more readable.

As usual Ali McNamara is on the ball with her wonderful descriptions and this seemed like a beautiful part of the world to visit. Although I wasn’t bowled over by Ren I liked her enough to want to see her do well. Sadly for me this felt a little too cliched and for some reason the storyline, although reasonably entertaining just didn’t sit right with me. Overall not a bad read, just not one of my favourites of hers

I love to be drawn in from the first page and this book certainly did that.

This is my first book by the author, Ali McNamara and I was not disappointed.

A fabulous summer read.

A lovely book full of magic and wonder, set in the beautiful countryside of Ireland. A perfect read for Spring/Summer, full of love and hope.

Eep, happy Monday and I'm rather excited to be starting off this week's blog tour. The weather this past couple of weeks has been glorious and naturally has got me thinking about summer holidays. If you're planning one, I'd ceratinly recommend today's book to keep you company on the plane or by the pool...

Welcome to Ballykiltara; a gem in the midst of the remote Irish countryside and the venue for Ren and Kiki's next business deal. Se(Ren)dipity Parker and her friend Kiki work as property scouts, finding the perfect homes for their clients to buy. Within just a couple of days of arriving in town, it seems as though they might well have found what they are looking for.

The Welcome House, however, has other ideas. Known in local legend as a safe house, where people who need it can go and stay, the cupboards are always stocked with food etc, the girls struggle to find out who to approach about selling the property. Perhaps they'll need to stay in town a little longer than they'd originally thought to uncover some information about the house and it's history.

Peppered with little nuggets of history, Ren's visit to Ireland is filled with chance encounters and a little bit of mystery. But which one of the locals can help her solve it? The writing style throughout this book is lovely and I'd definitely make sure you pack it into your case for any summer trips you might be planning.

I generally do not get pulled into reading light reads, but occasionally such a book draws me in. This is my first book by the author, Ali McNamara, so I jumped right into the book with great gusto. The book did not disappoint me; there were plots and subplots and the entire setting was eerie and magical.
Serendipity or Ren as she is lovingly known as, is a property hunter for her clients and one such search leads her to the beautiful west coast of Ireland and to the perfect "Welcome House" which is open for everyone and belongs to no one.
The book then follows Ren as she goes about hunting for the owner and the history of the house. She does keep meeting the manager of local hotel, Finn and romance blossoms. Ren's assistant, Kiki plays her part beautifully providing humor to an already delightful story.
The author, Ali has done a fabulous job to bring a light summery read which is absolutely magical. I wonder if there really is a "Welcome House" somewhere in this world...

I really enjoyed this book. It’s an easy read and I was intrigued by the plot. It kept me guessing to the end as every time I thought I had figured it out something else happened. I liked the main character and loved the setting. Although I admit I never figured out who sent the letter!

Review: What a truly spectacular book.

I have never been to Ireland before and after reading this book I sure feel like I have. As you turn the pages the magic of Ireland just floats of them. Such a beautiful written story and the characters are brilliantly put together, you can tell that Ali knows them well and has given them their own background stories parts of which are not in the book and don't need to be.

What I love about Ali McNamara is that all her books have some kind of beautiful magic in them that you can belive in. It makes the story that much more believable. It is fantasy, romance and rom com all in one. I adore Ali's books.

Although Ren is our main heroine I feel The Welcome House is also a main character. Like any house it has its own stories to tell and this one is also part of a local legend. Following Ren on her journey is like reading an Enid Blyton story with a romantic twist I could not put it down. Ren has a succesful business but works hard, her friend Kiki who I just adore gives us the feeling that Ren doesn't have much of a life outside work. Will this trip to Ireland change that especially with the handsome Finn. Read the book and find out. 

Cant praise this book enough I loved it. A brilliant Irish page turner.

I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful story and found I couldn't put it down at times. I do love a charming tale set in the British Isles, and Summer of Serendipity is set in the Emerald Isle itself (that's Ireland in case you didn't know!) which is somewhere I've always longed to visit. Ali McNamara literally made me feel like I'd been transported to a wonderful part of that country – leaving me even more desperate to holiday there myself.
I honestly don't think there was anything about this story that I didn't like. The characters were such fun, believable and I just wanted to be friends with them all. As soon as I discovered the main character's name was Serendipity, I had a feeling I would fall in love with this tale and that's exactly what I did! Not only that but the cover is an absolute delight too – it matches the story perfectly.
All in all, a wonderfully written tale. I shall look forward to reading more by this author.

If your looking for a book to completely lose yourself in this summer then look no further than this latest novel from Ali McNamara.

I read Ali's previous book and sadly felt that the magic elements were a little too make believe for my liking, but I'm so glad I've given Ali another chance with The Summer of Serendipity.

The Summer of Serendipity sees our main character, Serendipity Parker - or Ren as she likes to be known - and her colleague Kiki Fisher head to Ireland for their latest job. Ren is a property seeker and is looking for the perfect home for her latest client.

No sooner as the pair arrive at their hotel we are introduced to their love interests - Finn and Eddie respectively - which sets the book up nicely.
Ren and Kiki immediately start their search but to know avail, that is until they take a boat trip across the lake during some down time.

As they are being rowed, Ren spots what appears to be the perfect house and ask's their boat man, Jackie, how they can locate said house. The girls are informed that the house is known as The Welcome House, which has been around for as long as anyone can recall.

Once back on dry land they ask Finn and Eddie more about the house, and more importantly who owns it. The girls are informed that no-one knows who the owner of the house is and after locating it and discovering it to be unlocked and stocked with the bare basics, Ren makes it her mission to try and uncover the secrets of the Welcome House.

What follows is a tale of discovery - Ren looks in to the history of the house and stories of Irish legends as well as discovering more about her self and her heart where Finn is involved.

The Summer of Serendipity is a fun ( I adored Kiki and her witty one liners! ) and gorgeous summery book that reminded me a little of the early Cecelia Ahern novels!

Serendipity Parker (Ren) is a house hunter - searching out perfect houses to match with her clients wishes - who has a commission to find a house with a view of a lake in The Ring of Tara in Western Ireland. Along with her friend and assistant Kiki she out looking for the perfect spot.

Checking into a lovely country house hotel she soon comes across the manager Finn and there is an instant attraction....but she is here to work isn't she! Kiki has other ideas and immediately takes a liking to Eddie the general porter plus many other tasks.

When Ren finds the perfect house called the Welcome House she thinks it will be easy, there is no-one living there and surely someone must know who owns it so that she can make an offer. Things are not that simple though the Welcome House is a local legend - anyone can stay there if they need shelter and there is always food available in the fridge....surely all she needs to do is find out who is putting it there

A lovely story full of Irish legends and mystery from the ancient monks to the ghostly ferry boatman, plenty of intrigue, humour and great characters - well worth reading

The Summer of Serendipity was a magical fab summer read I loved it and was hooked from the first few pages.
A mix of Irish Myths and the magic that takes place.
I loved getting to know all the characters and would love a sequel to find out what happens next to them all, I was gutted to finish it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read as it combines romance, intrigue and more than a little bit of magic. The idea of someone being paid to locate houses for their clients appealed to me immediately. I could honestly see myself doing just that job.

The setting is a lovely small Irish town. From the descriptions I could almost see the setting in my head as I read. The characters we meet along the way are extremely well written. The magical element running throughout the story made this an even better read for me as I do enjoy stories with a touch of magic.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.

The Summer of Serendipity is most probably the most magical book I have read in such a long time (and that's saying something as I'm a huge Harry Potter fan). This book has spent shivers down my spine throughout and I was constantly gripped on the story - trying to find out who is behind the mysterious Welcome House.

One of the many reasons I wanted to read this book in the first place is because of the location. This story is set in Ireland, and having a boyfriend who comes from there (and being half Irish myself), I felt a connection to it. I've also been to County Kerry and it is honestly the most beautiful place ever. So those two things came into play massively with my wanting to read this book.

I thought that maybe after reading about the Irish History in this book for a while would start to bore me a little but honestly it just made the whole story that bit more interesting - I simply couldn't put it down!

I found Ren's character really intriguing, I wanted to find out why she was so hesitant with everyone - and of course I wanted her and Finn to get together! Finn was your typical cheeky Irish chappy and he, I found, bought a little something extra to the story. I found every characters side story interesting and really enjoyed getting to know them better.

The book had everything - humour, drama, suspense, mystery and of course romance.

This is the first book I've read by Ali McNamara but it certainly won't be the last - I'm already looking into what else she's wrote!

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for a chance to read this novel, which I have reviewed honestly.

This was a great read, and especially as I was in Ireland at the time. Ther story kept me guessing until the end and definitely had the 'feel good' factor about it. I enjoyed every evening when I snuggled into bed with this book.

The Summer of Serendipity is a charming and engaging read set on the west coast of Ireland. Ren, short for Serendipity, and her assistant/friend Kiki embark on a journey to Ireland in hope to find the perfect house for a client (Ren runs a property business finding THE perfect house for each of her clients). After a few unsuccessful viewings, the two find just what they are looking for. The only problem is that no one seems to know who the owner of the house is.

The story quite quickly moves away from the actual property find to the enigmatic Welcome House. The house and the whole setting itself are beautifully described and the author made it incredibly easy for the reader to feel part of the chase for the owner of the Welcome House. I don’t know an awful lot about Irish legends, but if I could hazard a guess, this book is exactly what I would imagine them to be like.

Ren and Kiki are very likeable characters – in fact the whole character cast of the charming village of Ballykiltara is fantastic. Each and every one adds more mystery and sparkle to the storyline. And of course, it wouldn’t be a true Ali McNamara book without a fair bit of romance thrown into the mix.

The Summer of Serendipity was a very enjoyable read. I’d love to read a sequel to this book to find out how Ren’s (and also Kiki’s) further life pans out.

This is the first book that I have read by Ali McNamara but I really rather liked it. All the characters were sweet and I loved the Irish setting. A most enjoyable read.

2.5 stars

The promising combination of Ireland, romance & intrigue draw me to this book, but those promises were not really fulfilled.

The setting is lovely. The main character, Ren, goes house-hunting for a wealthy client, in County Kerry, near the Lakes of Killarney. As I travelled there a few years ago, the place holds a special place in my heart and I was happy about all the reminders I found in the book.
However, I am sad to say that was the only aspect I could really respond to.

My like/dislike of the protagonist(s) is always the clincher for me in any chick-lit books. Also, I am not keen on novels that are fully packed with physical description and overemotional passages, where every move, heartbeat and teardrop is described and explained over agonizing lengths (surely "chocolaty-brown eyes" must be the most overused cliché of the genre!).
Thankfully, the author keeps physical description to a bare minimum; regretfully, so does she everything else. We are introduced to two main characters of whom practically nothing personal is disclosed until the end. Ren and Finn act buttoned-up and secretive toward each other, but we readers are not told anything either. I guess this is to raise tension & mystery, but it proved to be totally unnecessary and it backfired, for I felt curiously detached from characters and story all the way through. Also the plotlines of modern romance & Celtic history does not mix well.

It was not a bad read, when all is said and done, but it failed to really interest and engage me.

The Summer of Serendipity was a great read that I didn't want to end! I fell in love with Ballykiltara and The Welcome House, I could really picture the place in my mind thanks to Ali McNamara's beautiful writing style.

Ren and Kiki are property hunters, they help other people find their perfect home. Whilst in a search for a home for a wealthy client who wants a holiday home on the West coast of Ireland which is how they ended up in Ballykiltara. Ren struggles to find a house right for him until she discovers The Welcome House on the edge of a lake.

Local folklore soon tells Ren and Kiki that the house is magical and provides shelter for those in need so is absolutely not for sale. What follows is an exploration into ancient history going back to times of the monks and Vikings and also a journey through Irish folklore. I've read a few books relating to Irish folklore and I love it, it's such a fascinating premise and I love to read about it.

I love the characters of Ren and Kiki, they work well together and I would love to hang out with these two drinking Guinness! All the other characters in the book are great as well but especially Finn, he was one of my favourites!

I liked the little update we had of some characters from Breakfast at Darcy's, I loved that book but it's been a while since I read it so may have to read it again soon! Even if you hadn't read the book you won't get lost in this one as it's not really a sequel, just certain characters pop up again since it's in the same setting.

I highly recommend this book, I enjoyed every second of it! Now I need to go and grab a paperback copy to add to my collection of Ali McNamara books!

Thank you to Netgalley and Sphere for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.