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Lodes Chronicles #4
Love Hunt
The announcement of a grand Treasure Hunt sets the Lodes Valley ladies' hearts aflutter. The cash is only part of the a win could solve several romantic dilemmas. Pixie Guinness sees the quest as a route back to her wayward husband; Faith hopes to snare true love, Rory; and Liv -- well, Liv just wants distraction from the boredom of country life. But it is unhappily married Trudy who finds the trail of clues leads her in quite a different direction, and one closer and closer to temptation. Is she chasing a rainbow or just chasing her own tail? As the hunt reaches its climax, the competitors find they are fighting for the highest prize of all -- their own happy ending.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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222 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 7, 2015
Back to Walker's bubbly best here, with some clever writing and fun plotlines. The clues for the treasure hunt (both of them) were too complicated to allow the reader to try and solve them at all, which was disappointing, and some of the subplots didn't go anywhere particularly or conveyed problematic issues. My biggest complaint was Pheely - goes away to some wackjob's house, loses weight and tones up, and is suddenly the perfect woman for the man of her dreams. Not good body image stuff going down there!
August 6, 2011
This is the fourth book in the Lodes Chronicles. Having never read the others, I found it difficult to get into this book. I persevered and found the novel to be entertaining and fun. A good holiday read.
February 27, 2017
I found this audiobook really difficult to follow. I only realised once I had withdrawn it from the library that it is 20 hour and 55 minutes long. This took me nearly two months to complete in the car. Each chapter is about 40 minutes long and there are that many different characters to follow I found it really hard to follow who was who and why they were doing the things they were.
There are 39 chapters in the book and the final 10 or so chapters has more than one section. There is that much going on within the story I did really struggle to keep up with what was happening. I am unsure if I would be able to continue following the story if I had read the book as a physical copy rather than listening to the story as an electronic copy.
The main characters in the story, Trudy, Liv, Finn, Rory, Faith, Nell, Pixie, Flipper, Giles, Anchor, Jamima, Martin and the list goes on! This is the fourth book in the Lodes chronicles and I am unsure whether if I had read the other stories I would be more understanding and able to follow the story better.
Trudy and Finn are a married couple living in the Cotswolds, a former pop star and the son of an antique dealer. They are bitterly miserable with one another. Avoiding each other and not talking to each other properly out of principle. Finn has become a possessive, jealous, spiteful husband who doesn't want his wife to go anywhere, speak to anyone or be taken away from him for any reason. He has come to following and hacking Trudy's email account and deleting any emails he doesn't think Trudy should be sending to anyone undesirable or just any person male or female who may take his wife away from him. Trudy has come into the habit or regularly smoking and drinking her evenings away whilst she is supposed to be working on her music and writing her memoirs for publishing. Both items which she does not want to complete or work on due to lack of motivation, lack of love and just not wanting to have a reason to leave the office to see Finn if she completes them.
I have absolutely no experience of actually being in the Cotswolds, however, if I were to base my knowledge of the Cotswolds based on this book then I would be under the assumption that every grown person, male or female, will sleep with any other male or female. There is the assumption that wives in the Cotswolds are bored, lonely, poor little housewives who need some excitement and some thrill in their lives whilst their husbands work abroad, or have not had an interest in their wives for the past 5 years, whilst they sleep with the nanny, the housekeeper, the cook and any other member of staff which they think is below their status. That the glorious, caring and frankly pig-headed husbands are giving these hard working women the thrill of having them in their beds that they should be grateful for their sex. This did rather annoy me that Walker, as an author, a female author at that, wanted to portray these women not only strong and independent but as weak and innocent beings who would rather ignore their husband's infidelity if it meant keeping the use of their money, houses and agricultural benefits. This is something which annoyed me, none of the women stood up for themselves, they were all seen as wilting flowers and that is not something which I want portraying for any women.
I felt that a lot of the story was extended for longer than it needed to be. The whole story could have been shortened and said in a more effective and specific manner. The story goes into a lot of detail
and the story is extended in a number of places. This made the book longer and unnecessary. There was a lot of text which could have been cut out.
There are two hunts going on in the story. The initial antique search with the promise of a £50,000 winning prize and the mysterious treasure hunt which someone has set up for Trudy. Trudy thinks the treasure hunt personalised for her is set by one specific person, a local family flirt who would do anything to get to know her, this is soon disproved. I personally always believed it was another admirer who was keeping himself quiet to Trudy but very vocal to the reader, however, there is then the suggestion that a third and final person could possibly be setting the hunt for Trudy, I absolutely did not think that it was the third person. Who was to know which one of the admirers was the true love hunt setter.
Trudy makes a good friend of Liv, who is married to Martin who works in Singapore. Liv is a very timid and scared young lady who has recently arrived in the Cotswolds. She has two children who attend the private school and attends every extracurricular activity which costs a fortune, fencing, horse riding, no doubt they also play golf and lacrosse amongst a range of other sports compared to the average child's football, rugby, gymnastics etc. Trudy encourages Liv to become more confident, more self-assured and more independent from the assertive, frankly horrible Martin. Martin does not like Liv being friends with Trudy, he believes Trudy is a bad influence for Liv and she is leading his wife away. It is with the help of Liv that Trudy can find out the answers of her love hunt and work out where and what she needs to buy in order to find the answers.
Overall, I did not particularly enjoy this book. I found it long winded and unnecessary. The book was long winded and extended unnecessarily. No, I wouldn't recommend it to someone else. This,
however, is not to say that I would not read another book by Fiona Walker. I am always one to give an author another try when I have not found a good book first time round.
To read more reviews visit my blog at threeminutesfortyfiveseconds.blogspot.co.uk
There are 39 chapters in the book and the final 10 or so chapters has more than one section. There is that much going on within the story I did really struggle to keep up with what was happening. I am unsure if I would be able to continue following the story if I had read the book as a physical copy rather than listening to the story as an electronic copy.
The main characters in the story, Trudy, Liv, Finn, Rory, Faith, Nell, Pixie, Flipper, Giles, Anchor, Jamima, Martin and the list goes on! This is the fourth book in the Lodes chronicles and I am unsure whether if I had read the other stories I would be more understanding and able to follow the story better.
Trudy and Finn are a married couple living in the Cotswolds, a former pop star and the son of an antique dealer. They are bitterly miserable with one another. Avoiding each other and not talking to each other properly out of principle. Finn has become a possessive, jealous, spiteful husband who doesn't want his wife to go anywhere, speak to anyone or be taken away from him for any reason. He has come to following and hacking Trudy's email account and deleting any emails he doesn't think Trudy should be sending to anyone undesirable or just any person male or female who may take his wife away from him. Trudy has come into the habit or regularly smoking and drinking her evenings away whilst she is supposed to be working on her music and writing her memoirs for publishing. Both items which she does not want to complete or work on due to lack of motivation, lack of love and just not wanting to have a reason to leave the office to see Finn if she completes them.
I have absolutely no experience of actually being in the Cotswolds, however, if I were to base my knowledge of the Cotswolds based on this book then I would be under the assumption that every grown person, male or female, will sleep with any other male or female. There is the assumption that wives in the Cotswolds are bored, lonely, poor little housewives who need some excitement and some thrill in their lives whilst their husbands work abroad, or have not had an interest in their wives for the past 5 years, whilst they sleep with the nanny, the housekeeper, the cook and any other member of staff which they think is below their status. That the glorious, caring and frankly pig-headed husbands are giving these hard working women the thrill of having them in their beds that they should be grateful for their sex. This did rather annoy me that Walker, as an author, a female author at that, wanted to portray these women not only strong and independent but as weak and innocent beings who would rather ignore their husband's infidelity if it meant keeping the use of their money, houses and agricultural benefits. This is something which annoyed me, none of the women stood up for themselves, they were all seen as wilting flowers and that is not something which I want portraying for any women.
I felt that a lot of the story was extended for longer than it needed to be. The whole story could have been shortened and said in a more effective and specific manner. The story goes into a lot of detail
and the story is extended in a number of places. This made the book longer and unnecessary. There was a lot of text which could have been cut out.
There are two hunts going on in the story. The initial antique search with the promise of a £50,000 winning prize and the mysterious treasure hunt which someone has set up for Trudy. Trudy thinks the treasure hunt personalised for her is set by one specific person, a local family flirt who would do anything to get to know her, this is soon disproved. I personally always believed it was another admirer who was keeping himself quiet to Trudy but very vocal to the reader, however, there is then the suggestion that a third and final person could possibly be setting the hunt for Trudy, I absolutely did not think that it was the third person. Who was to know which one of the admirers was the true love hunt setter.
Trudy makes a good friend of Liv, who is married to Martin who works in Singapore. Liv is a very timid and scared young lady who has recently arrived in the Cotswolds. She has two children who attend the private school and attends every extracurricular activity which costs a fortune, fencing, horse riding, no doubt they also play golf and lacrosse amongst a range of other sports compared to the average child's football, rugby, gymnastics etc. Trudy encourages Liv to become more confident, more self-assured and more independent from the assertive, frankly horrible Martin. Martin does not like Liv being friends with Trudy, he believes Trudy is a bad influence for Liv and she is leading his wife away. It is with the help of Liv that Trudy can find out the answers of her love hunt and work out where and what she needs to buy in order to find the answers.
Overall, I did not particularly enjoy this book. I found it long winded and unnecessary. The book was long winded and extended unnecessarily. No, I wouldn't recommend it to someone else. This,
however, is not to say that I would not read another book by Fiona Walker. I am always one to give an author another try when I have not found a good book first time round.
To read more reviews visit my blog at threeminutesfortyfiveseconds.blogspot.co.uk
December 30, 2017
Had to put it down 16% through. I just can't empathises with any of the main characters.
A pity, as I loved her Hugo / Tash series (French Relations, Well Groomed and Kiss and Tell), and her most recent book, the Country Set too. I guess rather than going through her back catalogue i'll just wait for the sequel.
A pity, as I loved her Hugo / Tash series (French Relations, Well Groomed and Kiss and Tell), and her most recent book, the Country Set too. I guess rather than going through her back catalogue i'll just wait for the sequel.
August 19, 2017
Good book, lots of characters with similiar names had me confused at times trying to figure out which was which.
Some horrid characters, some nasty characters and some nicer ones, lots of affairs going on, a treasure hunt, divorces, bankruptcy.
Too awhile to get into this one, but it was good.
Some horrid characters, some nasty characters and some nicer ones, lots of affairs going on, a treasure hunt, divorces, bankruptcy.
Too awhile to get into this one, but it was good.
October 30, 2018
I love a rompy juicy horsey saga. So why did this leave me empty inside? I never felt much connection with the main characters, everything seemed extra far fetched, and I kept losing focus forcing myself to go on.
August 13, 2020
What a mammoth read! The book is 536 pages and it wasn't until I was well over half way that I started to enjoy it. (I nearly gave up many times!) It took ages to get to know the characters (and who was related to who), the clues were too hard to follow and I hated Finn intensely!
July 28, 2012
This one took a lot longer to get into.
Having read the previous books by Fiona Walker in her Lodes Valley series this one was really hard to get into.
It took me longer to read than any of the previous books and for at least the first two-thirds I didn't have the eagerness to grab my book and read at any time, indeed many nights I actually didn't bother reading at all.
However, the last third of the book really picked up and I finished it off in about two nights.
Having read the previous books by Fiona Walker in her Lodes Valley series this one was really hard to get into.
It took me longer to read than any of the previous books and for at least the first two-thirds I didn't have the eagerness to grab my book and read at any time, indeed many nights I actually didn't bother reading at all.
However, the last third of the book really picked up and I finished it off in about two nights.
June 25, 2016
I really struggled to get through this book and I think that is backed up by how long it took me to read it. However I didn't ever want to give up on it as I wanted to find out what happened to the characters. These mixed feelings have now been explained as reading the reviews I learn that it is the 4th book in a series and I haven't read the others... Almost wanted to rate as a 3 however I felt that would take away from other books I have rated 3 and enjoyed more thoroughly.
July 12, 2016
I have a similar idea about this book to other people who have read it. It's only because I know the characters and Walker's writing style that I still enjoyed it. Picks up halfway through and eventually well worth the read. I'm just not a huge fan of how strongly adultery is portrayed as normal in this book, I know it's just light-hearted but I just can't celebrate the marriages collapsing and the semi-bitter way marriage is portrayed.
November 8, 2012
I liked this book - I really didn't even find it slow at the start - which I'd read when I put the book in my status. I liked some of the characters and disliked a fair number too - and it was quite like real life - not fairy tale in some respects which romantic novels can be. I wouldn't put it in the top ten books I've ever read - but it's up there - a good read - I was never bored.
July 5, 2014
My favourite books ever are the Lodes Chronicles, but none of them compare to Tongue in Cheek for me. I think because I loved that book so much, it spoilt me for the others. I found this to be quite hard to get into, but I still really enjoyed it. In parts I was laughing out loud, which while sunbathing on holiday can be a little embarrassing!
July 1, 2009
another once-fine writer bites the dust. or maybe Walker would improve if she could just tear herself away from bloody Oddlode? hard to know and i may never find out. there will have to be personal recommendations from people i trust before i read another new Walker.
September 25, 2010
This was an ok book and I did read the whole thing, but on the whole it was like watching a really bad soap opera. I didn't care anything about almost all of the characters, but I did want to see what happened. I wouldn't recommned the book though.
February 25, 2012
One of my favourite authors! Though by now there are so many characters in her series that I keep forgetting who's who. It doesn't really spoil the reading experience, though. This one is still a lot of fun to read. Also great chick lit!
July 18, 2014
Wow there was a lot of characters in this book - I found it a bit confusing especially all the different male characters. However I did realise afterwards that it was one of a series and I think like the fourth instalment so was probably my own fault.
Read
February 3, 2011Very good read, lovely, relaxing chick lit!
November 17, 2010
Reading this as I've read all her others. May be my last. Stuck me at the end that the heroine had no friends to speak of. Odd.
September 17, 2011
Delicious romp a la Jilly Cooper.
May 2, 2012
As an avid reader of all types of books I found this one very'slow' i will not be in a rush to buy any more from this author.
May 10, 2014
I soldiered for a 100 pages and gave up.
Sorry Fiona, but not up to my standards.
Sorry Fiona, but not up to my standards.
February 23, 2015
Solo por las partes de Trudy y Flipper .
El resto fueron demasiados personajes juntos con historias por todos lados y ninguna me llamo la atencion .
El resto fueron demasiados personajes juntos con historias por todos lados y ninguna me llamo la atencion .
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews