Peppermint Park is another book which has been on my review list for a long time. I am working my way through them all slowly, but surely! My apologies to Stephanie Harte for taking so long to read and review.

Anyway, I have to say that Peppermint Park has been a lovely read! Quite different to what I usually read which has made a refreshing change.

We meet Violet and Bradley, teenage sweethearts running away to America together. Violet really doesn’t want to leave her mother with her abusive father, but at the same time she’s desperate to escape her suffocating home-life. A fresh start with the love of her life is just what she needs. They join Bradley’s father at a hippy commune where they are free to enjoy each other and a very relaxed way of life. I have to say, some aspects are very appealing, but I definitely couldn’t cope with the nakedness or drugs! It’s easy to see why some people would prefer it over the stresses and constraints of ‘normal’ every day life though.

Unfortunately for Violet, things aren’t rosy for long, as Bradley takes their relaxed, free-loving way of life too far.

I really warmed to Violet and I loved her mothers character. I couldn’t help but like most of the characters at the commune, especially Randolph!

This is a unique, well written, emotional story about young love, adventure, deceit, domestic abuse and hope.

I am more than happy to recommend.

Many thanks to the author for my review copy.

Via AmazonUK…..

A bittersweet romance set in the swinging sixties.
Peppermint Park stood on a tree-lined street in the affluent suburb of Chigwell, Essex. It looked picture perfect on the outside, but behind closed doors, family secrets were hidden from public view.
To escape a life of torment, Violet boards a plane bound for San Francisco with her boyfriend, Bradley. Once they stepped inside the boundaries of Happy Acres, a hippie commune, they entered a different realm, one without clocks and calendars, where smoking marijuana became a daily pastime.
Violet and Bradley were having the time of their lives. But was their amphetamine-fueled existence about to come crashing down around them? Surely you can never have too much of a good thing, can you? Join them on their journey as they take a leap of faith into unknown territory in search of a new beginning.