Blog Tour - Love Among the Treetops by Catherine Ferguson

Today I am pleased to be a part of Catherine Ferguson's blog tour to celebrate the publication of 'Love Among the Treetops'.

Can love flourish amongst the tree tops?

When pastry chef Twilight Wilson was a young girl, she would hide from school bullies up in the treehouse at the bottom of her garden in her family home in Sussex. It was her special place, and even as an adult she still loves it.

So when her family tell her they can't afford to live there any more, Twilight is devastated. Not only will they lose their home - but the treehouse too!

She comes up with a plan to save the family home - she'll start up a cafe in the treehouse! It's a brilliant idea, and excitement builds as she starts planning the menus, with the help of Theo - a rather attractive man from the gym. But when former school bully Lucy finds out the plan, she starts plotting - and opens her own rival cafe in the village!

Can Twilight save her family home? Will her friendship with Theo ever be anything more? And who will win the cafe wars?

Catherine Ferguson is back in this hilarious, heartwarming read perfect for summer.

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780008262082

I really enjoyed 'Love Among the Treetops'. The main character, Twilight, has been bullied and the book begins with a powerful prologue, in which Twilight describes an altercation with her bullies, an event which has had a lasting effect on her life. That is not the only heartache in the book as her father has cancer and Twilight makes it her mission to save the family home and comes up with a novel solution - to open a café in her treehouse. A great idea however one of the bullies hears of her plans and opens up a rival café in the village.

The story is a great read, there are sad moments but they all make Twilight stronger. I therefore think it would be a good book to pass onto friends and families who may have suffered at the hands of bullies in their past or are going through similar now. It is an emotional rollercoaster of a book but one which has a great message at the end - the bullies don't win! There are great laugh out loud moments in the book and these parts left me wanting to read just a few more chapters each time and i therefore flew through the book.

The publishers, Avon, have given me an extract from the book to share with my readers .....

‘I’ll go in the pub on one condition.’ I glare at Paloma, as if it’s entirely her fault that I have to psych myself up to brave the class reunion.

We’re perched on the car park wall round the back of The Three Blackbirds. Inside the pub, Lucy’s charity event is presumably already under way.

‘And the condition is?’ Paloma folds her arms and eyeballs me kindly. She’s being incredibly patient, considering we’ve been lurking here for the past ten minutes while I decide if I want to go in or not.

I hate myself for being such a cowardy custard, but I can’t seem to help it.

I narrow my eyes and mutter, ‘If skanky Lucy Slater looks at me in any way weirdly, I’m out of there immediately, no questions asked. Okay?’

Paloma nods. ‘Okay. And I’ll be right behind you. I promise.’

Attempting a smile, I jump down from the wall and brush imaginary leaf mould off my black trousers, impatience with myself resulting in me slapping my bum much harder than strictly necessary. I’m aware I must seem ridiculously neurotic, but I guess that’s the effect ten years of dodging a nasty bully like her will have on a person.

‘All set?’ asks Paloma. ‘Look, we don’t need to stay long.’

I brush off her concern. ‘It’s fine. Come on. Let’s go in.’

Thank you to the publishers, Avon, and Catherine Ferguson for inviting me to take part in this blog tour.

We walk through the bar to the function room at the back. And – oh joy of joys! – Lucy Slater herself is waiting in the doorway to greet us, along with another girl who I vaguely recognise.

‘Hello! How lovely to see you both,’ cries my archenemy, and it all floods back to me how Lucy’s voice used to grate on me, with its slightly high-pitched, whiny tone. I take in the slinky black dress, ripples of raven hair and gash of red lipstick, before she envelops me in a brief but enthusiastic hug. She smells, appropriately enough, of Poison.

As I’m crushed against her, I make eye contact with the other girl and my heart sinks. It’s that Olivia person from the train. The one who’s obsessed with ‘clean food’ and fancies the arse off Theo Steel. We acknowledge each other with a half-nod and a raise of eyebrows.

Lucy sets me aside so she can give the same treatment to Paloma. Then she beams at us in turn. ‘So … almost everyone is here. Such a fabuloso turnout! And this is Olivia, my right-hand woman, so to speak. She’s been totally invaluable with regards to raising local awareness of our charity 10k. Olivia, you’ve met Paloma, I think. But not Twilight?’

‘Oh, but I have. We’re almost old friends!’ cries Olivia, linking my arm. ‘We had quite a chat the other day on the train, didn’t we? How’s Theo?’ She beams at me expectantly