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📖 Book Description

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📚Publication Details

AUTHOR: Maxine Barry (Faith Martin)
BOOK TITLE: The Cotswold Manor Mystery
SERIES: Dreaming Spires Romantic Mysteries – book 1
PUBLISHER: Choc Lit 🔗 website 🔗 instagram 🔗 facebook 🔗 tiktok 🔗 youtube
PUBLICATION DATE: 19 August 2026
EDITION REVIEWED: Digital Edition
ISBN: 9781805738138
PAGES: 203

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✍️ About the Author

Faith Martin writing as Maxine Barry

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🌟 Book Tour

I’m delighted to be taking part in the Virtual Book Tour for The Cotswold Manor Mystery, hosted by Zooloo’s Book Tours.

📆 Full Tour Schedule

🛒 Purchase the Book

My sincere thanks to Zooloo’s Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book, and to Choc Lit (via BookFunnel) for providing a digital edition copy of this romantic mystery.

Zooloo’s Book Tours  🔗 Website • Facebook • Instagram • TikTok

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👩🏻‍💻 My Review

So Much More Than a Second-Chance Romance

I absolutely loved this book. While it may be described as a cosy and thrilling second-chance mystery romance, for me it was So Much More. That description really doesn’t begin to capture the emotional journey contained within these pages. At around 200 pages, this is a relatively short read, but don’t let the page count fool you – there is so much depth, emotion and heart packed into this book.

The opening was almost an instant magnet for me. Within the first few lines I was hooked on what was happening, and that feeling never really left me. The pacing worked brilliantly, with plenty of background and scene-setting that never felt heavy or slowed the story down. Instead, I found myself becoming increasingly invested in the characters and needing to know more about the mystery at the heart of this story.

Oriana was a character I connected with from the very beginning. I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what it was, but there was something about her from those opening pages that made me want to know more about her story and, more importantly, to cheer her on as she tried to uncover who had set her up all those years ago. As the story develops, her determination to uncover the truth kept me invested, and I loved the way the layers gradually unfolded.

There is also a deep emotional thread running through the story which gradually became just as important to me as the mystery itself. Thirteen years have passed, and everything that happened has affected everyone involved in very different ways. What unfolds is full of hurt, uncertainty, longing and emotions that have been held onto for far too long. It was only as this part of the story developed that I realised just how much the emotional journey was going to mean to me. The relationship at its heart is so much more complicated than the usual romance tropes suggest, and I loved watching those layers gradually fall away.

I really enjoyed the romance itself. I’m not normally someone who particularly seeks out spicy romance, but the intimate scenes here worked really well for me. They felt sensual, tender and, most importantly, connected to the emotional journey of the characters. These weren’t two people simply acting on an attraction; there was so much history, longing and emotion behind their relationship that the intimate moments felt like an important part of their story. There is something quite traditional and romantic about the way the love story is written, and I found that incredibly appealing. It felt like a genuine love story rather than romance added simply for the sake of spice.

The mystery itself kept me turning the pages. I formed plenty of theories along the way – some of which turned out to be right, while others were very much my own reader’s speculation! I enjoyed having enough clues to keep me thinking, without giving me the answers too soon. That’s probably the best way to describe my reading experience: I wanted to read faster because I needed to know, but I also wanted to savour the story. I’m really glad I did.

This was also my first book by Maxine Barry, and I’ve now discovered that this is a writing name for Faith Martin. If this is how Faith Martin writes romance, then I think I’ve just added another author to my must-read list – because I definitely need more of this in my reading life!

For me, The Cotswold Manor Mystery was ultimately a story about love, loss, mystery and finding the chance to move forward after so many years of simply existing. I loved it. ❤️

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As always, my review is based solely on my own reading experience and reflects my honest opinion.

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