Miranda’s Mount (UK edition) Girl vs. Earl (US edition) – Phillipa Ashley.

Miranda Marshall loves her job as property manager of the beautiful castle and old fort, St. Merryn’s Mount. Steeped in history and home to the Cornish aristocratic family, the St. Merryn’s, this beautiful castle is not just a museum, but, a welcoming place for visitors to have fun in the beautiful Cornish countryside and get to learn a little about the Mount's past. Working her way up from taking tickets at the entrance, for the last three years Miranda has held the role of property manage and has helped grow the business dramatically during that time, attracting more visitors and organising regular family fund raising events, which are bigger and bigger successes each year. Miranda is Lady St. Merryn’s eyes and ears on site and even though she seems to be slowing down a little recently, Miranda’s boss still has a keen interest in everything to do with the family home.

We first meet Miranda at the end of a busy day when she is doing the final rounds following the days visitors who have all left on the last ferry back to the mainland. She is surprised by a man who appears to be an intruder, brandishing a cutlass which he has taken off the wall in the Armoury. After Calling security to detain him even though she doesn't believe he looks like a madman, Miranda finally comes to realise that this is no intruder but Jago St. Merryn, rightful heir to the Mount and son of Lady St Merryn. Jago has been away from Cornwall, travelling the world for over ten years and is seldom mentioned by Lady St Merryn. After his father’s death, Jago left the running of the family home to his mother who had welcomed the task at the time after years of living in the shadow of her cruel husband, the previous Earl.

Jago is handsome and dashing in a Johnny Depp kind of way and Miranda is instantly drawn to him, in-spite of his wielding a cutlass and his silly antics in the armoury. Soon she learns, however, that Jago has a plan for St Merryn’s Mount and he is back to execute this as his mother is ready to take somewhat of a back seat in the running of the estate and let him take over. Before long it is clear that his intentions are not what Miranda or any of the people who work there want to happen.

This is a funny, witty love story filled with interesting characters, not least of all the family estate itself. St Merryn’s Mount is based on the estate of St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall and plays a huge role in this story. I was so drawn to this lovely place that I had to take a peep at the St Michael’s Mount website, just to see what it looked like (http://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/). I was not surprised when I saw a photo of it as Phillipa Ashley does a great job of describing the island fort and her love of the Cornwall countryside is clear.



This is the fifth Phillipa Ashley book I have read and believe it to be the best one so far. She delves into the personalities and motivation of the main protagonists decision making and there are also many other well drawn players in this story to get to know. They are humorous, sometimes not quite what they seem and the dialogue is believable and flows easily.

If you want an enjoyable escape to Cornwall for a few hours entertaining reading, then this is the book for you.

Miranda's Mount is published in the US with the title Girl vs. Earl



9.7/10

Just Say Yes - Phillipa Ashley

We first meet Lucy Gibson as she is trying to duck past the mob of paparazzi lying in wait for her outside her front door. In the last few days she has become public enemy number one after she turned down her boyfriend Nick’s marriage proposal on live TV. Lucy needs to find some peace, especially as one of the articles mentions the name of the law firm where she works as a marketing assistant. After seeing the firm’s name in the press, one of the partners at Able & Lawson suggests Lucy take a month off work, until things die down a little. Things only seem to be getting worse, however. When Lucy sees a close up photo of her bum without a visible panty-line, on the middle-page spread of one rag, brandishing the headline “NICKERLESS” across the page, she decides she cannot take any more.

Her best friend, Fiona, has the idea that they should leave London and escape to her hideaway cottage in the Cornish countryside where she often goes to write her crime novels. So they head off with Fiona’s “kitchen-sized” dog, Hengist, to the sleepy surfer town of Tresco Creek.

Not long after they arrive at Creekside Cottage, Lucy encounters Josh Standring, the owner of Tresco Farm and the other three cottages next to Fiona’s, which he runs as holiday lets. Mistaking him for paparazzi they don’t get off to the friendliest start, but, over the time Lucy is there, she and Josh get to know each other better – or so Josh thinks!

This is the first Phillipa Ashley novel I have read and I quite enjoyed it. The ending is predictable and most of the characters a little shallow for my reading taste, but overall, the story flows easily and it is a quick read. Even though there is some retrospective story-telling at first, it is not confusing at all and provides an important perspective to the story. I liked the Lucy at the end of the book much better than the Lucy at the beginning when she first met Nick. As she grew from being a ditsy girl who needed a man to define her, into a more independent woman she became more realistic to me and I found myself empathising with her much more.

This book is entertaining, light hearted and would make a good summer read.

8.5/10