Blog Tour | Walking in the Rain #review #giveaway @rararesources

Last week I reviewed book one Drumbeats and now I am here to share with you my thoughts on the second book in the series, Walking in the Rain.

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Jess happily marries the love of her life She wants to feel safe, secure and loved. But gradually it becomes clear that her beloved husband is not the man she thought him to be. She survived civil war and injury in Africa, but can she now survive the biggest challenge of her life?

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This book made me so angry, the good kind of anger though, the kind that means that you are so invested in what is happening to a character that you almost throw your kindle away because otherwise, you’ll start to feel a little murderous.

The second book in The Drumbeats Trilogy starts with Jess looking back to when she gets back from Ghana and what her journey has been until that moment. And what a journey! I have to admit that I was not happy that Jess got married and particularly because it was to Simon, even from book one I knew she could do better than that, so it’s a shame that it went that way, especially because there were far better options out there.

I was also a little upset because I did kind of hope that Jess would do what she had originally planned and go to uni and then go back out to Ghana because I am still desperate to find out what happened to Jim, but it wasn’t to be.

Jess grew so much as a character in this one, she had to really because she is left to look after everything, and it is a shame that her good nature essentially gets taken advantage of through the majority of her life but it shows how resilient she is. I was glad that she got to have her family and still managed to carve herself a bit of a life outside of that but could not help but feel every subsequent blow as things start to go from bad to worse for Jess.

I actually had no idea that things were still so bad for women in the 1980’s, that they had so few rights legally and that definitely made me angry, because it really wasn’t hard to imagine the “boys club” judges going easier on men because they happen to have the same anatomy. I feel like I can hardly speak about it, it still makes me feel like going into a rage.

There was one thing that I feel very confused over but it’s hard to mention it without giving away spoilers, so I’ll just say that there was a character towards the end who does something which seems completely out of character and I feel like there was no need for it and no set up for it throughout the book. It confused me because nobody in their rational mind would do what this character did and I know that it sets the scene for something later but I still think it was a direction that character shouldn’t have been taken on. There were better ways this could have been approached that would have had the same outcome.

I was glad that there was a little glimmer of hope toward the end of the book but I know that unfortunately, that will not be the last we see of Simon, I just hope that Jess can stay strong for it. I really cannot wait to get to the conclusion to see what happens to Jess and if she ever manages to make it back to Africa.

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If you think this is a series that you would be interested in and you live in the UK then you will want to click the link below for a chance to win…

a paperback copy of Drumbeats (book 1), book marks, post cards, key ring and handbag fob

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If you have a keen eye then you may spot that I am featured in this graphic three times, so make sure to check back to see what else I have for you but be sure to check out the other stops as well.

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The Drumbeats Trilogy

The love of a woman and the story of a country.

It’s 1965 and 18 year old Jess escapes her stifling English background for a gap year in Ghana, West Africa. Over the next three evocative novels, follow her journey as she encounters new cultures and loves in this stirring series.

The Drumbeats Trilogy is a passionate saga of love, betrayal and second chances – and of one woman’s bid to reclaim her self-belief and trust. A feel-good up-lit story of a woman’s strength and spirit rising above adversity.

Buy the trilogy

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Award-winning author Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and concepts of time travel. She read English at Keele University, England (after a turbulent but exciting gap year in Ghana, West Africa) specialising in medieval language, literature and history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics.

She wrote her first novel at 10 years of age, but became a school teacher, then a university lecturer and researcher. Finding Jess (2018) is her sixth book and the last of the Drumbeats trilogy (which begins and ends in Ghana). Apart from insatiable reading, she loves travelling the world, singing in choirs, swimming, yoga and walking in the countryside in England and Madeira where she and her husband divide their time.

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Reviews of other Julia Ibbotson books

Drumbeats

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