Sunshine at Daisy's Guesthouse

by Lottie Phillips

A summer of new beginnings... Daisy Ronaldson’s whole life is turned upside-down when her husband dies from cancer. So when she discovers that he left her a wish: to turn their big English country house into a guest house, she’s in shock... At first it seems like just too big a challenge, but in the rush of making beds, painting rooms and preparing breakfasts, with her helpful (and handsome) friend James, Daisy realizes that her heart is beginning to heal. In fact, she might even be falling in love again!

Genres: Chick Lit

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2018

About the author

Charlie Phillips, writing under the pseudonym Lottie Phillips, worked as a teacher before turning her hand to fiction. She was brought up in Africa and the Middle East and then – as an adult – travelled extensively before moving to London and finally settling in the Cotswolds with her son.

When she’s not writing, you will find her scouring interior design magazines and shops, striving toward the distant dream of being a domestic goddess or having a glass of wine with country music turned up loud. As a child, she always had her nose in a book and, in particular, Nancy Drew.

She also writes psychological thrillers under the pseudonym Louise Stone, including the best selling novel, S is for Stranger.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy and Hugh met at university, he proposes to her whilst on holiday in Amsterdam. When she said yes and he said “we’ll be together forever” she didn’t realise she would lose him 20 years later to cancer.

A year after Hugh had died Daisy is given a letter from Hugh from his best friend James. Hugh tells her to open their home as a guest house and fulfil their dream. Daisy is reluctant to share her home with strangers but friends Tom, Lisa and James offer to help and they are soon receiving their first guest.

We meet some great characters and the guests soon become part of their extended family.

This book was so beautifully written, it had the ability to make me cry one second and to laugh the next!! Would love such a close loving bunch of friends like that for myself.

A must read book that I cannot recommend enough. A lovely warm story where you will fall in love with the characters and want them all to have their own happy endings.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

[Sally Coles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daisy is devastated when her husband dies from cancer and so when she receives a letter that he wrote to her telling that he wants her to continue their dream of turning their big country house into a guest house she is not sure that she can continue on her own. There is help at hand though from her friends and especially the gorgeous James who hands her further letters from her husband.......... but can she really move on and be happy again?

A lovely warm hearted book that makes you fall in live with the characters and really root for them to find happiness

[Frenchorchidea · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely and cute read! First time reading a Lottie Phillips book and I am not disappointed at all! This read is quite a quick read. It's not boring at all. Many events are taking place throughout the book. The main subjects of this lovely story is grieving (main character lost her husband who died from cancer), friendship, second chances and opening a bed and breakfast. It's fun but also serious and sensible. There is also a bit of romance going on and I really liked it. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the next book from Lottie Phillips! I really recommend this book!

[Nicola Clough · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by this author the cover and description really caught my attention and it's simply brilliant such an easy read with great characters and full of romance and heartbreak but mainly about moving forward after heartbreak. It's a summer of new beginnings such a charming read and amazingly brilliant from the first page.
Daisy has her lift turned upside down when her husband dies and he leaves her a letter with a wish to turn the house they live in to a guest house but is it to much of a challenge for her. She has helps from her friends and James who is handsome but she can't move forward she believe if she goes into the study she can speak with her husband and he is there. James keeps giving her letters from her husband about her moving on and can she realise her heart is beginning to heal. The one wish for her was to have children and when she gets one letter from her husband and it changes her life forever. Can she move forward and be happy or not.
Simply fantastic book highly recommend reading it worth more than five stars for sure.

[Anna || BooksandBookends · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy didn't set out to run a guest house. She'd been with Hugh, the love of her life, since University and thought that they would be together forever. Unfortunately, the big C had other plans for Daisy but her amazing friends rally round and make her life more exciting. With Hugh's best friend harbouring secret letters from her husband, it seems Hugh knew Daisy better than even she thought.

Hugh is the reason for Daisy turning their property into a guesthouse as they had planned to do so whilst he was healthy in order to fulfil their dream. Though it's not something she wanted to do alone, her friends rally around to help make it a success. With some very quirky guests and unexpected love, this was a beautifully written and easy read.

It's a fun easy chick-lit read with equally emotional and uplifting aspects. The characters are well written and the romance aspect of the story isn't too rushed and makes sense for the characters involved. I ended up desperate for all of the characters to find their own happy endings!

A thoroughly enjoyable read that I recommend highly. I can't wait to read more from Lottie Phillips.

[Meg Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not one of life's criers...really I am not...this book though! I sobbed...pretty much from the first of chapter 3 until the end!!!

Do not miss Daisy's journey!

[Norma B · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book already warmed my heart. before I even started it. A heartwarming romance novel with chuckling stories,.where a young widow survivor turns her sadness into positive. Daisy ( even the name brings a warmth of sunshine) is surrounded by loyal longtime freinds,who help her fulfill her husband's wish for her, one of many wishes he has saved in letters. to her. She keeps him alive in her heart by being able to go in his office and talk to him as well.
The beginning of many unexpected formed bonds in their English country house, Daisy's heart begins to heal...slowly however, and it feels like her one wish may not come true.
Surprise twists in the story,and healed freindships, and a part of her cancer stricken husband's life comes alive in her decision to keep him alive somewhat.
I enjoyed this summer read book given to me by NetGalley and a wonderful opportunity to pre-read this romance novel . The guesthouse is trully a welcoming invite inside how a guesthouse can trully work,and we are shown the tribulations and love of strangers becoming good loving freinds.,and the ones who have been there , a story of true loyal freindships.

[Justkeepreading · Rating 5 out of 5]

😍😍😍😍😍

I have so much love for this beautiful book. I mean how gorgeous is the front cover? It completely sucked me on before I even read the bio. Then when I did read the bio. I knew this book was for me. I love anything along this style of chicklit. But for me this was more than your usual chicklit/romance book. So much more.

In this book we meet Daisy, James, Tom and Lisa. Daisy is living in a stately manor, but has recently lost the love of her life after a battle with Cancer. James was her husbands best friend and he is always by Daisy’s side whenever she needs him an has helped her through the dark days since her husband died. Then we have Jack Daisy’s gay best friend and Lisa Daisy’s other best friend who are by her side through everything. All of which are fantastic characters and you just want happiness for all of them.

When James gives Daisy a letter from her husband stating that he wants her to give their dream of opening up a guesthouse a go without him. In order to help her in the moving on process. Daisy is beside herself and at first says no but slowly gets sucked into the idea by her best friends to give the idea with them a go and see if they can make it work. All in his memory of course.

This opens up the guesthouse to an array of characters all of which have their own personalities and all of which bring their own mix of fun, laughter, funny moments, awkward moments and in some cases love to the book.

I have to say that the guesthouse certainly does sound idyllic and was definitely a place that I would love to have stayed.

The book has an essence of P.S I love you about it. Which I absolutely adored with all the letters and tissues were and are recommended that’s for sure.

This book completely demanded all of my attention right from the very beginning. I adored the way it was written and executed. I loved all the characters and wanted them all to find their own happily ever afters. I adored the ending of this book as it was exactly what I wanted and predicted happening all the way through.

This book has left me with a great big smile on my face and a great big warm hug around my heart. I will be recommending this book to absolutely everybody and I really hope that this book does really well for the author and team as they all really deserve it on a job well done. There is no amount of love and gushing too big for how much I simply adored this book. A must read for all.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, is one I will re read again and again, the tears were flowing before Is read the 2nd chapter!

A wonderful story of love and loss, then love again. A beautiful reminder that some people are taken way too soon but that something good can come of that...

Daisy and Hugh, married and comfortable are hit by Hugh's cancer diagnosis then the grief of loss after Hugh dies. Daisy has her friends Lisa, Tom and James (James was Hugh's best friend). James hands Daisy a letter from Hugh some months after his death, asking Daisy to start the guesthouse they'd always dreamed of, James helps along with Tom and Lisa. Will the happy band of warriors stay tgat happy band when the difficult demanding customers arrive?

What happens when Lisa and Tom start to move on, what is James going to do? Moreover, what does Daisy's Mum have to say about it!

My heart was in my mouth towards the end, will there be a happy ending?

A lovely story really well written, I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daisy is still grieving the loss of her husband Hugh from cancer after 20 years of marriage. Her friends James and Lisa try to get her to move on, but she resists. Then James gives her a letter that Hugh entrusted to him before he died. The letter encourages her to continue with idea they had had years before to turn their mansion into a guesthouse or B&B. James and Lisa and another friend Tom all vow to help her, and they make it happen. A fairly lightweight story covering the guests that come and how the friends' relationships change. A lot of references to Daisy's overweight as her friends try to convince her that curvy is beautiful. As the letters from Hugh keep coming via James, she slowly begins to think she may have another life after all. Fairly obvious ending, but overall a nice light read. I enjoyed it.

[Hayley Marsland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it immensely.

Daisy Ronaldson, lost her husband, Hugh to cancer after 20 years of marriage.

In the form of a letter given to Daisy after his death, Hugh leaves her a wish, to turn their big country manor, into a guesthouse.

Daisy isn't at all sure she is up to the challenge, but with the help of 3 of her oldest friends, from their university days, Daisy realises that she might, be ready to move on with her life again, and she might even be falling in love again too.

It's a story of love and loss of course, but also learning to value old friendships, and making new memories along the way.

[Terrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I cried my way through this book, it was poignant but uplifting and I loved it. The story follows Daisy after the death of her husband from cancer. She discovers that her husband wanted her to realise a dream they'd share and run a bed and breakfast, and she decides to give it a go. She is helped by her friends, including James who along the way hands her a number of letters written by her husband before he died. But is James hiding a bigger secret, and what might that mean for him and Daisy?

[Janette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book which made me smile. A lovely heartwarming tale of friendship, grief, relationships and new beginnings. Well written with a lovely cast of characters. The guesthouse was definately somewhere I would like to stay.

A prefect book for a cosy afternoon on the sofa. Delightful! I can't wait to read more from Lottie Phillips.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read, following a young widow and her supportive lifelong friends, who open a B&B together. I appreciated that the protagonist's feelings and the subject matter was realistic, the friends were fun and sincere characters, and the action kept the story moving.

Not the author's fault, but one pet peeve I have (and perhaps it's inherent in the genre), are romances where the woman's greatest life desire is to have children. Yawn. There are other plot devices and stories to tell.

[Carole Mckee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and Endearing

Daisy is a widow, but Daisy has some terrific friends. Even her friend, Tom, who I would have liked to slap upside the head for his presumptuous behavior. But he is a dead friend, as is Lisa, and James, who was her husband's best friend. Together, this group is unstoppable. They open a Bed and Breakfast

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book cringe-worthy and unrealistic. It was a difficult read. The words felt jolted and the scenarios unrealistic, such as someone making a “funny joke” and rolling over laughing... when really the joke wasn’t that funny.

I found this author’s writing to be awkward.

[Lethmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book I've read in a long series that is just a simple boy meets girl (or man meets woman). Nothing especially clever and if I was being fussy I could find a few complaints about the plot, but nothing offensive either. What I'd class as a "it's been a hard day" read.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for fans of Ps I Love you, Sunshine at Daisy's Guest House is full of warmth, laughter and sadness it was a beautiful story that really captures your heart, beautifully written.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laughed and cried throughout this, but really enjoyed it!

[Mrs E T Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fab book

Really good read and keep making me laugh
Such a funny story of love and loss
Can't wait to read another

[Kim Wattam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book and easy read

[Jen P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story by Lottie Phillips.
There are however quite a few mistakes in the book.

[Tamsin Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very quick read and ‘nice’ is the only way to describe it really. Hits you in the feels, quite predictable but doesn’t take much thinking.

[Gloria Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ok book thought the story was going to be different than what it was but a passable story would have been nice if there had been more guests in the story

[Layla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Few pages in and already didn’t like the book. Gave up pretty fast.

[Bella Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a heartwarming story about love and loss, solid friendship, and finding happiness again! 🥰💕

[MetLineReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A warm and cosy tale about picking yourself up and moving on. Surrounded by friends who care and dealing with criticism, the world can be your oyster - if you let it!

A little saccharine in places but with warm, rounded characters who came to life on the page. I had lots of fun reading this book!

4*

[Carol Beasley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book about moving on with your life after a devastating heartbreak and it handles it really well. It's such a sweet and moving story. It has some really fun moments as well as some very sweet, tearjerky ones. I would love to visit the guesthouse Daisy builds as it sounds homely and inviting. Overall I really loved this story and recommend it to everybody.

I was sent this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.