Friday 14 August 2015

A Proper Family Adventure - Chrissie Manby

"Could you spend two weeks at sea with your family?
Thanks to an unexpected windfall, the Bensons are treating themselves to a luxury cruise. With stop-offs in Barcelona, Rome and Marseilles, plus constant entertainment onboard, it's a dream come true . . . Or is it? Last time Chelsea Benson went on holiday with this lot she nearly went crazy.
Her mum and sister are convinced Chelsea's boyfriend Adam will propose on the ship. Chelsea's sure he won't, but she can't help feeling butterflies as they set sail. Is Adam going to pop the question, or will the only thing to pop be Chelsea's ego?"



I was lucky enough for myself and my daughter (AKA The Reading Child) to be invited to the launch for A Proper Family Adventure, which was held at Southampton Docks on board the Royal Princess Cruise Ship. What a day - the ship is nothing more than pure luxury, incorporating several restaurants, a spa, swimming pools, a hot tub and a casino on board. We were given a tour of the ship by Princess's PR Manager, David, followed by a Q&A by the lovely Chrissie. This was followed by a beautiful three-course lunch of a definite 5 star restaurant standard! 

This is such a lovely read - if only all families were like this! I love the chaos that surrounds the Benson family, but I also love the closeness. I'd love it if all my children wanted to come on holiday with me when they are grown up! (Not sure Mr H would want that quite as much though!). This is a sweet, funny read, all about family, love, relationships and how sometimes everything happens for a reason. I really enjoyed watching the way the relationships between the different characters developed - there wasn't a character that you could dislike. 
Some may find it a little too sugary sweet, but I really enjoyed it - it makes a refreshing change for me read something that doesn't carry a sinister undertone, or without a dead body hiding around every corner. This is a perfect summer beach read, one that brought back memories for me of a very similar cruise that I went on with my own family, (no lottery wins though, unfortunately).

This is part of a series of Benson family adventures, however I hadn't read any of them previously and enjoyed it perfectly - there's no need to read the others first. 

Thank you so much to Chrissie, Jenni Leech, Eleni Lawrence and the rest of the Hodder Team, and Princess Cruises for an absolutely brilliant day. 

A Proper Family Adventure is out now and you can get it here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/

**My thanks to the publisher for my ARC**

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