A warm emotional novel about a group of older friends having adventures in their later years. It is a sequel and I struggled with getting to know the characters.

This book is part of the series, but it could be read and enjoyed as a standalone novel. However, if you enjoy characters who are a bit nontraditional, you may want to read them in order to get a greater appreciation for these ladies. At the core, this is enjoyable read about friendship and second-chance romance.

Another beautifully written book by Judy and she never disappoints showing that old age is no barrier. This book focuses on 92 year old Cecily who recalls her love for Eddie when she was younger, a love she has never got over especially when he wants to see her again after many years. It also however brings back characters from Silver Ladies do lunch, which I haven’t read but didn’t feel that I needed to as this book can be read as a standalone (although I will be reading it as Judy’s writing is so good). The story is not only about love but about friendship, forgiveness, resilience and community and I enjoyed every minute of it. I thought Poll was a great addition to the story as she gave me some genuine laugh out loud moments. No matter what age you are I would highly recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood books for an advance copy of this book however views are all my own.

This is the second book in the Silver Ladies Series but it can easily be read as a standalone. If you would however like to read the first book it’s called The Silver Ladies do Lunch and yes I’ve read it and loved it. Anyway back to this book. One of the first things I loved about this book is that the author has given us a character list at the very start of the book. This is so helpful to refresh your memory if you’ve read book one and even if you haven’t it helps to familiarise yourself with the characters. I absolutely adored the characters in this book and what they were getting up to. As you can guess from the title these are not young ladies but are all well into their seventies with Cecily being the ‘young’ age of almost 92. But to these silver ladies age is just a number . I laughed and I cried at times with these amazing ladies and was quite sad when I came to the end of this fabulous read.

Another lovely read from Judy Leigh championing the older generation !
The silver ladies are a formidable bunch all very different but all united in their friendship and loyalty to each other, their friends and the community, Cecily in particular is the matriarch of the group a former teacher and the eldest of the bunch and in The silver ladies seize the day she takes centre stage!
Cecily in her youth was a young impressionable girl with high morals who met and fell in love with the attractive Eddie, who unfortunately betrayed her in the worst way possible! Scorned and betrayed Cecily flung herself into her teaching career, but never forgot her first love thinking of him daily and wondering what could have been!
Throughout the book we are introduced to the other silver ladies, all having been through their own trials and tribulations but never giving up, living life to the full despite life experiences and aging bodies, they embrace life, live, friendship, community and second chances!
A real feel good read extolling the virtues of the wisdom of experience and longevity!
Thank you NetGalley for this early read

I loveee Leigh's books! Her books featuring ladies on the wrong side of fifty have reassured me time and time again that 'it's never to late' and 'there's life in the old dog yet'!

Cecily is testament to that. She's ninety-one years old and still hasn't given up on love!

Written with warmth and humour, Leigh takes us on another journey of friendship, fun and being fabulous, no matter what your age.

The ladies were charming, as always and the story was an absolute pleasure to read.

In her youth, Cecily lost the love of her life when he married another – and, in her quieter and more contemplative moments, she wonders if he ever thinks of her too. But when Eddie’s granddaughter gets in touch to tell her that he most certainly does – and that he’s now living alone, and would love to see her again, she has a difficult decision to make. Might romance still be possible at 92? Can she really set aside all the hurt he caused all those years ago? And she’s not sure if she needs the complication – she has a good life, surrounded by friends, and really doesn’t feel she needs or wants anything more.

And while this book centres on Cecily’s story – and it was one I really loved – there’s plenty going on in her friends’ lives too. As it’s been a while now since she became a widow, Josie’s wondering if it’s now time to call a halt on the conversations she has with her husband while tending his grave – and she’s thrown a bit off balance by the return of her first love to the village, the attraction still there, but she feels far from ready to move on. After the worries about her marriage and wondering if she’s enough, Lin’s marriage to long-suffering Neil, thank goodness, is now back on an even keel: Minnie, still living in Oxford, has had her life hijacked a bit by her recuperating sister Tina, but has been making some decisions about her future. And then there’s young mother Florence, who they all helped and supported in the last book – once more, it seems things might be getting a little difficult for her despite the calming and supportive presence of her lovely partner Adam.

Finding all those characters a bit confusing if you didn’t read the earlier book? There’s a helpful character list at the start, but you really won’t need it – the book is all about the friendship between the women, and you’ll soon become wrapped up in it and feel you’ve known them all for years. And the whole book is just so joyful – yes, of course there are people behaving badly, and life brings the unexpected at times, but the love and support between them all fills your heart. There are new characters too – one a particularly straight-talking surprise, who turns out to be a perfect addition to their group – and things going on within the community, the individuals all as well drawn as the ladies themselves. And if you did read the earlier book, you’ll be delighted to know that Nadine once more makes her presence felt!

I just love these women, who refuse to give in to their aches and pains and troubles and constantly show how determined they are not to throw in the towel and to squeeze every drop of fun out of their lives – I often wish I’d grown up in Middleton Ferris too, and could be part of their friendship group. Their unfolding stories are wonderful and thoroughly engaging, their friendship something to be really treasured – and the author’s fantastic storytelling, bringing them all so vividly to life and with plenty of laughter along the way, makes you feel entirely part of it all. And it’s most certainly not only a book for those of us of a similar age to the Silver Ladies – it honestly couldn’t fail to be enjoyed by readers of any age. I really loved it – one you really need to add to your reading list, and a real personal favourite.

Oh my! This book is gorgeous. Between the locations and the array of romantic moments, I loved everything about it.
When Rose, the self-proclaimed love doctor, learns that her friend has met and become engaged to her fiancé in the space of less than a month, every alarm bell rings in her head, and she embarks on a mission to make Luna see the light.
Rose has created an extensive set of rules curated to ensure that mistakes are avoided and the heart is protected. The most urgent of them is that a couple should know each other for at least a year before things get serious between them. With years spent counselling couples, Rose believes in her rules and never deviates from their structure.
I completely agreed with Rose and her rules because they made absolute sense to me. However, I’m also a great believer in the mantra that rules were made to be broken, so maybe I’m not the best judge. When Rose finds herself in a situation where she meets the incredibly handsome Ben, who happens to be the best friend of Luna’s groom, sparks begin to fly and become complicated by the added presence of Marco’s clairvoyant Aunt Aurora and her late husband.
I loved everything about this book, from the inclusion of many tropes to the relationships between the best friends. The romance felt real despite being accelerated by circumstances. I was fully invested in Rose’s mission until I found myself more interested in Rose failing and Luna finding happiness.
Rose and Ben captured my imagination, and despite the rules being put in jeopardy, I wanted to see a happy ending for them all.
A Very Italian Wedding has everything that I could have asked for, from beautiful characters and hilarious wedding guests to an incredibly happy ending. I loved it and cannot recommend it enough.

I adore this series, as no doubt'll soon be perceived,
They're such fun reads, just what I need!
With older protagonists leading the way
Showing age is no obstacle, come what may!

This time there are romances for several of the crew
Along with some angst and turmoil, too.
Is seventy years apart too long for a fresh start?
Will they choose to follow their head or their heart?

Standing up to bullies, thwarting their machinations,
Welcoming others despite affectations!
New friendships, secrets and surprises throughout
Make this a favourite of mine, without any doubt!

For my copy of this brilliant book I say a huge thank you
As I share with you this, my honest review

Thanks netgalley for allowing me a copy of this book. So I will start by saying although not essential, it might be beneficial to read The silver ladies do lunch before reading this one. Quite an enjoyable read about a group of older folks in their advancing years and about their lives,love,loss, families and friendships. 3.5*

Nadine the pig is back!Wait .... maybe I should have started with the gang from Middleton Ferris is back, not just the pig!

We first met the Silver Ladies in the book The Silver Haired Ladies Do Lunch which I reviewed here. From the blurb for this book, you would think that Cecily's story is the one that takes up most of the page time, but it's only one strand of multiple stories. Minnie is umming and ahhing about taking the next step with her American beau whilst hosting her sister at her home in Oxford. Josie's first love has come back to the village to live but she's not sure about whether she can even think about dating him again. Lin still can't cook a thing. And then there is Florence, a young mother who is struggling with juggling everything she has going on her life, without the additional stresses which get added in this book.

It is, however, Cecily's story that is the most moving when she is the centre of the story. Cecily was the village teacher for many years. After returning she became friends with some of her former students. Now 92, she doesn't have regrets as such for she has lived a very fulfilling life, but in the back of her mind there is always Eddie, the man who she was engaged to but had to watch as he married someone else. When she is contacted by Eddie's granddaughter, she has to decide if she wants to see him again, or if the hurt of what happened all those years ago is too much. Some days she very much wants to, but other days she does not. Of course, everyone else has an opinion on what she should do.

And the pig? Well, she's part of a story about the plight of farmers in the countryside around towns and cities in the UK.

I generally like Judy Leigh's books a lot. I like the humour, the Britishness of the characters, the locations and the fact that she is generally telling stories about more mature women. Yes, men too, but mainly women. Those are the reasons why I automatically say yes to her books. She also writes under another name but I haven't said yes to those ones yet, mainly because I already have way too many auto-read authors.

Having said that, despite this book being full of all the things I enjoy, I didn't love this one as much as other books I have read by her, and I felt the same about this group of characters in the previous book. I think there are just so many stories being told at once, with each one having it's own central characters and then secondary characters which may or may not intersect with other stories. I think that we could easily have done without one of the stories and still had a complete book.

Of course, it could just be a case of it's not you, it's me! Either way, when the next Judy Leigh book is announced I will be volunteering to read it because I just can't help myself.

Here are some links to other Judy Leigh books I have read previously.



The Golden Gals' French Adventure

The Golden Oldies' Book Club

The Silver Haired Sisterhood

The Silver Ladies Do Lunch

The Vintage Village Bake Off


I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and British Isles Friday hosted at Joy's Book Blog. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy.

Rating 3/5

The Silver Ladies Seize the Day by Judy Leigh

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Cecily Hamilton is months away from her ninety-second birthday. She’s lived life to the full, choosing work over romance, friendship over love. And now she has a host of silver-haired friends living nearby, ready to fill her time with picnic lunches, prosecco and cheer!

Cecily thought she was content. She thought her cup was full…

But when the granddaughter of Cecily’s first and only love arrives on her doorstep, claiming that her grandfather, Eddie, is still in love with Cecily after all these years, Cecily wonders if there might be room for a little romance after all. Especially since, one by one, her friends keep falling head over heels for old flames and new.

Can the oldest silver lady of the bunch really hope for her own second chance at love? Is it finally time for Cecily to seize the day?

My Opinion

It was lovely to catch up with the Silver Ladies. Judy Leigh has once again shown that her older characters are still able to have fun. A heart-warming and fun read with some great characters. Judy Leigh is definitely an author that I would highly recommend reading.

Rating 4/5

BLOG TOUR REVIEW


Review for 'The Silver Ladies Seize The Day' by Judy Leigh.

This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions setting the picture perfectly in the readers mind. The title, description and cover works perfectly with the storyline.

Yet another fantastic book by the extremely talented Judy Leigh!! One of the things I absolutely love about several of Judy's the fact that the characters in this book are all of the older generation which I really enjoyed reading about as it makes a change from the majority of the books that I read where the main protagonists are in their 20's and 30's. these women all have different life experiences, have learnt different lessons and have different outlooks on life but they form an unlikely friendship which fills the story with laughter, love and fun! I absolutely loved having these strong female protagonists, being female myself. It wasn't just Cecily, Minnie, Lin and Josie I loved though but there was an absolutely wonderful array of larger than life characters that surrounded them that made me smile and laugh and feel good after an awful month!! Judy captivated their individual personalities perfectly and her evocative writing skills made each of them jump out of the pages and come to life. This gorgeous book is ram packed with laughter, lost loves, tears, community, humour, friendship, fun, joy, sorrow and all the emotions and fun you can think of and Judy captured them all perfectly with her evocative descriptions! I enjoyed watching their personalities and friendships develop and change throughout this book as well as seeing them enjoying life!! This book really does go to show and prove that age should never be a barrier to living your life!! I would love to see this book turned into a movie with Dame Judie Dench being involved, of course!! It really did turn my frown upside down and whisked me off to Middleton Ferris in Oxfordshire seeing everything and everyone come to life in front of my eyes. I absolutely devoured this book in one sitting of several hours as I just could not put it down and I most certainly didn't want to leave the location or characters behind for a moment! I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone! I am looking forward to reading more books by Judy who has fast become one of my favourite authors!

Clear your schedules and get ready to blow your worries away in this fantastic, fun and unputdownable escapism!

The characters are strong, realistic and I became completely invested in each and every one of them. They all had their own problems, secrets, feelings and all had unique personalities and I just absolutely loved getting to know them all. I felt each of their love , friendship, pain, heartbreak, happiness, anger, sorrow and so much more. I loved the main protagonists who were both such strong females but were also very realistic having their individual strengths and weaknesses which I enjoyed getting to know more about. I love seeing strong female leads in books being female myself and these two were both fantastic women. I loved seeing their personalities change and develop as individuals as well as watching them bond with each other as the storyline went on. Judy does an absolutely amazing job of bringing the story to life and the characters leap out of the pages as your turning them thanks to her evocative writing skills!! It is so hard to say what I feel about the characters without giving anything away so I won't say anymore about them as I don't want to go into too much detail at the risk of spoiling it for other readers but Judy really has done a brilliant job at bringing each of the characters as well as the story to life and I am missing them already. Well done Judy!!!

Overall a stunning escapism book filled with strong women, friendship and a mountain of fun!!

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new installment in series

I enjoy Ms Leigh's books and enjoyed this one. However, having not read the first books of the series, I was a bit lost. I highly recommend starting with the first books. That being said, the characters were engaging and the plot was very lively and amusing regarding the antics of mostly senior ladies. There is some romance, some grief, some what-if's and perhaps more romance in the various senior's future!

Thank you to the publisher who lent me an e-arc via Netgalley with no obligation. This review is optional and my own opinion.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

So lovely to catch up with the Silver Ladies.

It was emotional in places. It was lovely to see Cecily and her friends being there for each other, helping out when needed, keeping secrets, sharing the good and bad times. As well as enjoying being together and having fun, and even find love again.

The story had so much going on, it was hard to put down. The sense of the community coming together in times of need also was evident in the story.

I highly recommend this book.

I've read a few of Judy Leigh's books and enjoyed them, this was no exception. I wish I had realised this was a sequel though, as I felt I didn't really get the full measure of all the characters. At the beginning of the book there is a recap of who is who, but it was too lengthy for me to take in. I read on and just went with the flow.

Cecily is nearly 92 and she's a retired teacher who had her heart broken 70 years ago. It was this story that made me want to read the book, but it is only a small part of the story. As the title implies the Silver Ladies seize the day and each of the ladies in the group have their own road they have travelled. They have decisions to make as to whether they stay on that road, or go along another one.

I loved the character of Cecily and she is the one I felt I got to know the most. As the book flips between each of the silver ladies I was a little disappointed when we left Cecily, although she did have a part in each of the others stories too.

A nice gentle read. It's not all roses around the door in the village though, there are a few nasty encounters. A well written observation of life and all that goes with it and some hope and encouragement that life is still for living as we age.

This continues the story of the Silver Ladies, a group of friends who are all of a certain age (or more) but it can be read as a standalone book . The main focus is on Cecily, a retired teacher approaching her 92nd birthday, thinking back to the 1950s when she was engaged to Eddie, before something happened to cause them to split.
This story is full of friendship, mainly of the group of older ladies, but also the younger villagers. Cecily comes across as a very strong character, which makes her self doubt stand out more, but what is certain is the way the whole village respects and cares for her. Again it might not be a totally realistic view of life in a small community, but it's certainly one to aspire to. 4.5* rounded up to 5*, a book to lose yourself in and one that us older readers can relate to.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

Lovely and enjoyable book about senior people. It makes a change to read a book about the older generation who are very important to us.

Cecily is about to celebrate her 92nd birthday and is happy with life as she’s lived it – work and friendship were more important than love and romance. But when the granddaughter of her first love shows up, claiming that Eddie still loves her, and her silver-haired friends are falling for new (and old) flames, she wonders if life is offering her a second chance at love.

I am relatively new to this author, but I’ve really come to enjoy her books. She portrays older women as women who still have friendship, meaning and yes, even romance in their lives. They experience setbacks and disappointments just like everyone else, and often have skills beyond society’s wildest imagination. The ladies in this book are a great representation of that portrayal, and I cheered for each of them as the book progressed. Yes, the story was predictable, but it was fun to follow along as it reached its inevitable conclusion.

I have read several of Ms. Leigh’s books, and have most of the rest of them on my to-read list. I look forward to reading the next book soon, whether it’s a new book or one from her backlist.

Thank you Boldwood and NetGalley for this ARC!

I loooooooooooved (yes that was a lot of "o"s). This is not by any means my typical pick, Im not really a light-heartened type of reader, but I think that has definitely changed for me. This was cute, sad at times, funny, everything you'd want in a delightful beach read. Amazing work.

Holly Collins