If You Like Downton Abbey, Read These

If you like Downton Abbey, along with the rest of the civilized planet, then read these

Welcome to our new “If you like Downton Abbey” series.  Every Monday we will bring you more books like Downton Abbey.  Each of the following books are hot off the press and, most importantly, all have a big crumbling estate, an Aga stove (what the heck is an Aga anyway?), and a good-looking protagonist.  Downton Abbey at its finest.  Enjoy!

 

More Books Like Downton Abbey

And here’s Week 2 of  books like Downton Abbey!   Week 3 can be found here, Week 4 is here , Week 5 is here and Week 6 is here.

The Last Summer by Judith Kinghorn

From the publisher, “In July of 1914, lovely Clarissa Granville lives with her parents and three brothers in the idyllic isolation of Deyning Park, a grand English country house, where she whiles away her days enjoying house parties, country walks and tennis matches. Clarissa is drawn to Tom Cuthbert, the housekeeper’s handsome son.”

A touch of Upstairs Downstairs combined with Downton Abbey and World War I, The Last Summer is a fabulous read.  I must say that my vision of Tom, the housekeeper’s son, is one of Matthew Crowley in Downton Abbey!

 

 

Quotes I loved:

“I was almost seventeen when the spell of my childhood was broken.  There was no sudden jolt, no immediate awakening and no aleration, as far as I’m aware, in the earth’s axis that day.  But the vibration of change was upon us, and I sensed a shift; a realignment of my trajectory.”

“Like my mother’s orchids, I had been nurtured in a controlled environment, an atmosphere maintained at a consistent termperature, protected from cold snaps, clumsy fingers and bitter frosts.”

Penguin Books provided a review copy of this book. All opinions and my crush on Tom are my own.”

The House on Willow Street by Cathy Kelly

Thanks to Ireland’s bestselling author Cathy Kelly, The House on Willow Street will also feed your Downton Abbey obsession.  From the publisher, “The Irish seaside town of Avalon is a tourist’s dream of quaint shops and welcoming cafés. Avalon House, perched at the end of Willow Street, was in Tess Power’s family for generations. Now Tess ekes out a living from her antiques shop while the crumbling mansion awaits a new owner. Her marriage and business may be floundering, but her affection for Avalon is undimmed.”

Quotes I Loved

“For the first time in her life, Mara Wilson had met a man who loved her as she was- with the wild, red curls, an even wilder dress sense and an hourglass body, albeit a short one.”

“There’s nothing tougher than negotiating witha four-year-old.”

Gallery Books provided a review copy of this book.  All opinions are my own.

Summerset Abbey

Summerset Abbey by T.J. Brown  is yet another fabulous Downton Abbey-esque read that just came out. Fortunately for us, this book is the first of a series and I’m already ready for the next!

From the publisher, “1913: In a sprawling manor on the outskirts of London, three young women seek to fulfill their destinies and desires amidst the unspoken rules of society and the distant rumblings of war. . . . “

Quotes I loved:

“…in front of her, the sanctuary was so filled with black feathered hats,  it looked as though a flock of ravens might have overrun the church.”

“In all of her years of marriage, she’d discoverd that matrimony was not so much a partnership as it was a campaign.”

#Gr8books Online Twitter Book Club

We hope you will join us on February 6th at 8pm on Twitter to discuss Hemingway’s Girl with the author Erika Robuck.  Here is the info.

Also, we hope you join us on March 5th to discuss Wife 22 with Melanie Gideon.  Click here to enter to win the book.

Simon and Schuster provided a review copy of this book.  All opinions are my own.

What are you reading and where are you going?

 

 

 

book review, downton abbey