Because You Loved Me by Beth MoranMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
Marion flees her home in Northern Ireland, her neglectful mother, and her fiancé, to travel to Sherwood Forest seeking answers about her father, who died when Marion was a small child. Looking for directions to the visitor centre, Marion is mistaken for someone else and gets a temporary job taking bookings at a holiday park. The manager of the holiday park, Scarlett takes Marion under her wing and gives her a caravan to live in and a job at the park.
There are two men who seem to be interested in Marion, her co-worker Jake, who has his own tragic family life, and Reuben, the son of the local lord of the manor. But someone else seems to have their eye on Jake, and Reuben already has a very glamorous girlfriend.
As Marion investigates her father's secret past, she clearly upsets someone judging by the threatening note that is thrown through her window, but then the future of the holiday park is put in jeopardy and Marion must do everything in her power to keep it going.
There is so much I have missed out, absentee fathers, Robin Hood re-enactments, assault, murder, illness, abuse, cooking lessons, BBQs, pigs and chickens, a fancy ball, al fresco romps, and more. And, unfortunately for me, that was part of the problem, this felt like Beth Moran threw everything but the kitchen sink at this one. Marion's childhood was tragic, and depressing. There are numerous 'baddies', most of whom are caricatures (and also women - why is that?) when just one would have sufficed. There are multiple issues affecting the caravan park and its inhabitants. I think this would have been better if the stories had been spread across several novels so that each person got their own book.
Overall, a charming romance, despite the numerous sad events depicted.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
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