Happy Release day to Brenda St. John Brown! A Brit on the Side is a fantastic story filled with humor, romance, family, and self-defining moments. I loved every minute of this book! Check out more about this book, read Tina’s Thoughts, and enter an awesome giveaway to celebrate this new release. Don’t miss it!

A Brit on the Side
Brenda St. John Brown
Cover Design: Sarah Hansen/Okay Creations
Release Date: August 15, 2016
Genre: New Adult

Bea’s English escape plan:
• Work in a real British castle
• Quality time with bestie
• Figure out what spotted dick really is
• Fall for bestie’s older brother. Hard.

Bea Gillespie would rather do anything than teach summer school math two classrooms down from her ex-fiancé. So when her best friend, Scarlett, invites her to England for the summer to work in her family’s castle-turned-hotel, she jumps at the chance.

Now Bea’s an ocean away from her problems at home, but she’s got a bigger one. A British one. Scarlett’s older brother, Jasper, is at Castle Calder for the summer, too. And he’s as sexy and smart as Bea remembers. Two years ago Jasper came stateside, and he and Bea shared a hot weekend. But that’s all it was — a weekend. One she purposely didn’t tell Scarlett about.

It didn’t feel like much of a secret until now. As Bea falls for Jasper, what started off as a fling begins feeling more and more like the kind of thing you’d gush about to your best friend. If you hadn’t been lying to her all along.

Brenda St. John Brown has a way of taking me by surprise. If you have not read any of her books, you need to start now. Overall, her writing is well thought out, smooth, and invites you to join in on a story that will take you places you never imagined you would go. There is emotion, both the good and bad kind, friendship, love, family, and real issues in her writing. So naturally, when A Brit on the Side popped up on my radar, I was beyond excited to read this book. It was everything I expected and left me grinning like a fool. Everything about this book was a win for me. It was very well written, with a beautiful ebb and flow of emotion, timing, and dilemmas. The many characters you meet are flawed and relatable. The romance is messy and brilliant. The setting is whimsical, adding a wanderlust effect to the story. Wrap all these together in a beautiful package and you have a winner.

Bea is a fun and interesting character. There are so many parts of her personality that people will be able to relate to. She is a young woman on the verge of something. She has left behind what she thought she wanted and now must find what she truly craves. Her story was different from other’s in the genre. She left a relationship but it was not a terrible one. It was refreshing to see how Bea took control of her life and learned to embrace who she was and what she wanted.

Jasper is such a quirky book boyfriend. He is different in the sea of men we read about and that makes him intriguing. He is not the perfect; suave man who captures a woman’s attention from the first moment. Instead he is a bit odd, a man who is at times overwhelming and passionate in such a way that it is too much to handle. He is a pendulum swinging from one extreme to another, a man who must learn how to communicate his emotions and share his heart in a healthy and authentic way. Bea and Jasper fit in a way I was not expecting. When I first learned of their initial encounter, I had an assumption, which was then completely blown out of the water. It was intriguing to see how these two sharpen one another. They work in such a way that it is odd but perfection of romance personified. Add in the beautiful history and charm of England, you have a love story you will fall for.

Scarlett, Clare, Lou, Paul, Will, Theo, and Hannah are all brilliant secondary characters that add drama, flair, and family to the story. They are all important to what happens between Bea and Jasper, giving them support and challenging them. These secondary characters add so much to this book and the story would be lonely without them. I am hoping to see more of these characters in the future! They are all fantastic and deserve their own stories. Do not miss this fantastic book!

 

I’m a displaced New Yorker living in the UK. I lived in London for nearly six years, but now I’m living in The North, in a tiny English village. There are sheep everywhere! Sheep!! (This is so strange to me I always have to say it twice. With multiple exclamation points.)

My novels are about teens and twenty-somethings kissing. I especially love writing sweet moments that end with a sizzle. For more info on all of my books (including one you can read for FREE), visit my website at http://brendastjohnbrown.com.

I like running and Doritos, not necessarily in that order. I also like libraries, old churches and Paris. One day I’m going to write a novel set in Paris, which will necessitate lots of trips for “research.”

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