Review: Fairytale Beginnings

Fairytale Beginnings
by Holly Martin
Contemporary Romance
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

Love is an open door…except when it keeps slamming in your face.

Hopeless romantic Milly Rose has had her fair share of heartbreak. Obsessed with all things Disney, she refuses to give up on finding her Prince Charming – he’s out there somewhere, isn’t he?

When Milly is given a job to investigate the origins of an historical building in the village of Clovers Rest, she’s not sure what to expect. What she discovers takes her breath away - a beautiful real life Cinderella castle, complete with turrets, a magnificent drawbridge AND a very handsome owner… Cameron Heartstone.

As Milly and Cameron begin to unearth the secrets of Clover Castle, they can’t ignore the intense chemistry building between them. But they’ve both been hurt badly before. Can they take a big leap of faith and find their own happily-ever-after?

Review:

This story does deliver on the sweet, heartwarming romance with the two very likable leads, and the wonderful setting of an old, charming castle.  I thought that the romance was cloyingly sweet at times (this is coming from someone who normally revels in it!) but some circumstances in the story could get too cutesy and predictable.  Because of this I didn't enjoy the first half of the story as much, but the second half picked up and was much more enjoyable.

Milly is a fun character - with bombshell good looks, but very smart and devoted to her job.  She is easily distracted by the owner of Clover Castle - Cameron - but then again he's gorgeous to look at so it's understandable.  I was surprised by how quickly I bought into Milly and Cameron's relationship because it does move very quickly, but I thought they worked so well together as a couple that it was believable that they would fall head over heels in love so fast.  And the fact that they tried to resist each other for a bit made it easier to root for them to get together.  As was the troubled romantic relationships Milly and Cameron has each experienced in their past.  They were damaged by that experience, so it's lovely that they could heal each other.

The second half of the story was more intriguing because there were obstacles to Milly and Cameron's happiness in the form of Cameron's two-faced PA, Olivia.  I thought it was fairly obvious early on that Olivia was not what she seemed, so there was no suspense in that character reveal for me, but I did enjoy reading how Milly and Cameron dealt with her.

While this is a very sweet story with a quality of innocence, there is a bit of sexy-times in this book, but nothing explicit.  It's really a very heartwarming and fun read, full of miscommunications and light drama.  The setting of the castle and the old traditions of the nearby village is wonderfully eccentric and enjoyable as well.  This is a great read for the summer!

(I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review.  I was not compensated for this review.)