A Village Vacancy by Julie HoustonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
I can't decide about my feelings when it comes to this book. I've read three of Julie Houston's previous books in what I would describe as a series although it isn't listed as such, all set in the same small village.
This book sort of centres on Grace's love life, although the plot barely involves Grace. If Grace were working class she'd be described as a feckless single mother, but because she's a middle-class teacher it seems fine that she had an affair with a much younger man, the son of her former school-girl crush, which resulted in a baby, then got back with her husband after he had an affair, adopted a baby and now, as this book opens she realises that she and her husband are no longer in love and need to separate.
Returning to work as a part-time teacher Grace is given the most challenging class in the local school. Then an erotic encounter becomes an embarrassment when her one-night stand turns out to be the married father of one of her most unruly pupils. If it wasn't for the friendship and support of her son's grandfather, the impossibly handsome and recently widowed David, Grace doesn't know how she could cope.
All the ins-and-outs of Grace's love life are mixed in with serious issues affecting even the smallest villages in the UK. Okay there was reliance on quite a few coincidences to drive the plot and I thought some of the big reveals were either telegraphed or actually stated earlier in the book, so not much of a surprise TBH.
But overall, a fun read with plenty of humour.
I was invited to read a free copy of this novel by the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
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