Review – Party Games by Jo Carnegie

This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.

Every now and again the publication of a book gives me that squiggly feeling of excitement in my tummy and an overwhelming urge to discard all electronic devices, abandon social networking and lock myself in a quiet room with a cup of tea and read until I’m finished. I feel that way about Party Games. Jo Carnegie is back and Party Games is packed with as much sex, scandal and intrigue as her previous novels set in the fictional Cotswolds village of Churchminster. This time, though, we’ve moved away from Churchminster to the lives of residents in Beeversham (best fictional town name ever!) and their complicated love stories, work struggles and, of course, the never ending flow of champagne. The village of Beeversham is united by one thing: the battle to protect their village against the invasion of theme park ‘Ye Olde World’ who want to buy land overlooking the village in order to build their latest park. All of the residents must pull together to fight against the council. Will these colourful characters be able to put aside their own personal battles to win over the opposition and is there a traitor in the camp? I could gush about this book all day long, but I won’t, I’ll give you the facts. Jo Carnegie knows how to create characters that you either love to love or love to loath but they are always well written and engaging. Party Games is packed full of characters to fall in love with. There’s glamorous starlet Vanessa Powell and her talentless husband Conrad; down to earth farm girl Fleur and deliciously handsome Beau Rainford; and for readers of Jo Carnegie’s previous novels there is Catherine Connor, former editor of Soiree magazine, now living in Beeversham as a lady of leisure whilst trying for a baby with her husband, John.  This novel has a little bit of everything. The battle to save Beeversham from ‘Ye Olde World’ is the perfect plot line to bring all of the residents together but each individual story is equally as exciting. There are scenes that made me laugh, scenes that made me angry, scenes that made me say “I’ve felt like that!” and a healthy slice of scandalous sex thrown in to make it an ideal sizzling summer read. This book was utterly perfect for an existing fan of Jo Carnegie like me, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to potential new fans.  10/10 MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK