Spring Skies Over Bluebell Castle (Bluebell Castle, Book 1)

Lucie has the job she’d always wanted at a famed art auction house in London. With the highlight of her young career, a recently discovered (by her) and authenticated painting by Meileau, smuggled out of Paris just ahead of the Nazi’s at the start of the war. The painting is going on view, soon to be auctioned, and credit for the find is hers. Until the painting on display is obviously a fake, and she is suspended as the ‘incident’ is investigated. Unwilling to fight the accusation with the guilt of her father’s embezzlement when she was a child ringing in her mind, and threats of the non-disclosure that she signed, she’s got no one to talk with and no prospects of continuing the work she loves. Her mother allowed her the time to sulk, then pushed her out of her self-pity party and handed her an advertisement for someone to catalogue and value a castle’s collection. Arthur, Tristan and Igraine Ludworth, the triplets now settling into life without their father Uther are also trying to deal with the lack of money, Arthur’s unwillingness to assume the title of Baronet, and their worries for the future. An offhanded suggestion from Tristan had an advert placed for someone to deal with any ‘real’ treasures that might be found, as well as the collections of “Arthurian” memorabilia that had been the family obsession for the past 3 or 4 generations. With the weight of the family history on his shoulder, Arthur hasn’t had to go it alone as his sister and brother are there – the triplets being closer than close to one another and their father after their mother absconded to marry the first of several subsequent husbands without looking back. Instant connection between Lucie and Arthur, a houseful of dogs since it is known they are a soft touch for those who need a place, a library full of diaries, the search for a previously undocumented romanticist’s painting and plenty of heart, laughs and scenery made this story hard to put down and lovely to read. Lucie and Arthur are well-matched, a first for him as he’s only ever seen women interested in the title to come. Bennett describes art, scenery and furnishings with care that allows them to be easily visualized and the circles with the bluebells, the dogs and brings you into the center of the scenes. Taking a bit of drama that need not have been brings a hiccup to the hope of happy endings until the fact that she did nothing wrong comes clear to everyone, most especially Lucie in this lovely story that carries the overtone of romance just like the Arthurian legends. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

What a super read! Best news of all is that's it's the first in a new series. Lucie needs to get out of London and a short-term contract living in a real castle seems like the ideal escape. Certain that she will find her new employer to be an older gentleman of the aristocracy, she is shocked to be faced by a contemporary, Arthur - or should that  be Sir Arthur to her? Having inherited the title but not the wealth to keep the estate going, the family are hoping that Lucie will discover some long hidden treasure to balance the family coffers. She quickly gets on with the job in hand, but finds herself ever distracted by the very handsome Arthur . . . This is a well-written novel, packed with a wide variety of characters each with their own differing personality traits and lots going on to keep the readers' attention. The setting is sublime and with a bit of mystery and a touch of romance along with the everyday events, it's a light, happy feel-good read which I melted into - closing the final page with a sigh of satisfaction. I'm already looking forward to the second book, and recommend this to everyone who needs a bit of cheerful distraction in their busy daily life.