Book Review: The Old Ducks’ Club

Thanks to @MaddiePlease and @rararesources for inviting me on the book launch blog tour today. Here’s my book review of The Old Ducks’ Club. If you’re a fan of feel good summer fiction then keep reading to find out more about this delightful new book, published just in time for your summer reading.

Where Are We Touring To Today?

The Old Ducks Club members are taking us on a tour to Rhodes in Greece.

Book Cover Notes

Sophia Gregory is fading away…

Recently split from her married lover and about to turn sixty, Sophia doesn’t recognise the old woman staring back at her in the mirror. Where has her life gone so wrong? How has it come to this? A quiet holiday in beautiful Rhodes is the perfect chance for her to find herself again.  

Until she meets the Old Ducks!
Bold and brash, Juliette, Kim and Anita are three friends who are determined not to grow old gracefully – and they are Sophia’s worse nightmare! But when Sophia is made an honorary member of The Old Ducks’ Club, she begins to discover a new side to life. Dancing and drinking till dawn Sophia starts to shake off her grey, drab old life and finds the fun side to living again!

And when she meets her gorgeous Greek neighbour, Theo, she thinks that maybe, if she’s just a little braver, she can learn to spread her wings again….

It’s never too late to teach an Old Duck new tricks!

A rip-roaring, laugh out loud story about the importance of friendship and always, always having fun! Perfect for fans of Judy Leigh and Dee Macdonald.

My Thoughts

As someone who recently turned 50 (how on earth did that happen!), I often find myself drawn to stories about women of a certain age. The Old Ducks’ Club caught my eye and I knew it was going to be a feel-good read.

At the beginning of the book we meet Sophia, a research assistant who has had enough of dreary grey Oxford and she’s had enough of Lucian.

Lucian is Sophia’s boss who I found really annoying and made me cringe. He is rude, arrogant, self absorbed and very controlling. He doesn’t appreciate Sophia and all that she does for him. This only fuels Sophia’s low self-esteem and lack of confidence. As her 60th birthday is fast approaching, she’s feeling rather old, lonely and invisible.

Rather bravely, the next thing Sophia knows she’s landed in Rhodes in Greece and booked herself into a lovely holiday cottage for a month. She’s never been on holiday on her own before, she’s looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet and maybe a bit of sightseeing. However, her new neighbours Anita, Juliette and Kim aka The Old Ducks’ Club have other ideas.

This is a fun, easy to read story and sheer escapism. It was just what I needed during a rather wet, miserable May Bank Holiday here in the UK. I’ve never visited Rhodes, however on reading this book I felt like I’d been on a lovely tour of the island. The author’s writing style is relaxed and full of detail. I was totally absorbed in the sights and sounds of Rhodes as though I was the one walking along the harbour or sitting in the hot tub at the end of a busy day gossiping with three best friends.

Ultimately, this is a story about the importance of friendships, learning to love yourself and make time for the things that make you happy. It shows that there’s so much more to life after turning 60, you just have to step out of your comfort zone, explore and go look for it.

Summary

A perfect feel-good summer read for 2021. This is a book for ladies over a certain age who intend to grow old disgracefully, much like me 🙂

Where To Buy

Amazon UK

Further book info

• Published Date: 18 May 2021
• Publisher: Boldwood Books
• Page Count: 312

About The Author

Maddie Please is the author of four bestselling romantic comedies, having had a career as a dentist and now lives in rural Devon where she enjoys box sets, red wine and Christmas.

She will be taking a new direction in her writing for Boldwood with joyous tales of older women – the first of which The Old Ducks’ Club is published in May 2021.

Where to Find Maddie Online

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Book Blog Tour hosted by Rachel’s Resources

Thanks to Rachel @rararesources for inviting me on the book blog tour. Also thanks to @MaddiePlease and @BoldwoodBooks for my digital copy of the book. All views are my own.

Thanks for reading my book review of The Old Ducks’ Club by Maddie Please.

You Might Also Like

• The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley – Six strangers with one thing in common: their lives aren’t always what they make them out to be.
• Heading Over The Hill by Judy Leigh – Growing old disgracefully and having a grand old time…

Happy reading.

Miche xxx

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