Claiming Victory: A Romantic Comedy (The Dartmouth Diaries Book 1)

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She lives with her husband in an apartmen Beverley spent 8 years teaching English as a Foreign Language to International Military Students in Britannia Royal Naval College, the Royal Navy’s premier officer training establishment in the UK. She says that in the whole 8 years there was never a dull moment and many of her wonderful experiences at the College were not only memorable but were most definitely 'the stuff of fiction.' Her debut novel An Officer And A Gentleman Wanted is very loosely based on her adventures at the College.

Beverley particularly enjoys writing books that make people laugh and currently she has two series of Romantic Comedies, both contemporary and historical, as well as a humorous cosy mystery series under her belt. This was a book of two halves. I loved the first half, Tory's appalling father decides to try to marry her off so that he can move in his (70 year old) floozy. Trouble is, Tory is an English size 14 and just normal looking. His chosen groom? A world-famous American actor who is filming in Dartmouth and whose film crew is using their home, The Admiralty, for filming. Poor Tory is mortally embarrassed by her father's loud, drunken and blatant match-making (usually in the form of a terrible insult to Tory) but Noah (the afore-mentioned actor) appears charmed. Another perfect holiday read with lots of romance and laugh out loud comedy, Lasting Victory is the fifth and final entry in the Dartmouth Diaries. Noah was a movie star that didn't get caught up in all of the glitz and glamour. I really enjoyed how he was just a sweet man that showed so much interest in those that he met. When his current movie project took him to the Admirality (Victory and her father's home) he was all in. He found so much enjoyment in the quirky behaviors of Victory's father which could have went either way.

“Hi! I’m Beverley!”

Beverley spent 8 years teaching English as a Foreign Language to International Military Students in Britannia Royal Naval College, the Royal Navy’s premier officer training establishment in the UK. She says that in the whole 8 years there was never a dull moment and many of her wonderful experiences at the College were not only memorable but were most definitely 'the stuff of fiction.' Her debut novel An Officer And A Gentleman Wanted is very loosely based on her adventures at the College. Claiming Victory was an entertaining read that made me laugh out loud more than once. The story is set in Darthmouth which added a degree of enjoyment to it all. I truly enjoyed all of the British phrases, words and references. I was laughing away at the story and enjoying the building connection between Noah and Tory and then BAM! They have sex, they're together and are falling in love. I felt it was rushed to the point where it confused me and I had to stop and work it all together. Plus I would have liked more sex or at least a little more descriptive, everyone loves a good sex scene.

She lives with her husband in an apartment overlooking the sea on the beautiful English Riviera. Between them they have 3 adult children and two gorgeous grandchildren plus a menagerie of animals including 5 dogs - 3 Romanian rescues of indeterminate breed called Florence, Trixie, and Lizzie, a neurotic 'Chorkie' named Pepé and a 'Chichon" named Dotty who was the inspiration for Dotty in The Dartmouth Diaries. Now we can all see where this is going, right down to the stunning beautiful (but cold inside LOL) actress/former girlfriend who just happens to be the female lead. Victory was so funny. She was a hot mess throughout so much of the book. She was almost sure to show her clumsy awkward side in almost every scene. None of this painted her in a bad light, however. It made her endearing and real. Her reaction in finding out that her dad agreed to let the next big movie to be filmed in their home was fantastic. So , let me get this straight Sir. Your plan is to somehow get Noah Westbrook, the most famous actor on the entire planet to fall in love with your daughter Victory, who we both love dearly, but - and please don't take offence Sir - who you yourself admit is built generously across the aft, and whose face is unlikely to launch the Dartmouth ferry, let alone a thousand ships.'But this time, finally, the Admiral might have opened one can of worms too many... Lasting Victory is the perfect laugh-out-loud, feel good book for fans of funny love stories, especially quirky British Romantic Comedies. Praise for the Dartmouth Diaries: Don't read them in the early hours of the morning if hubby is asleep, they made me howl with laughter. Tried to stifle it, but shook the bedclothes. Absolutely brilliant.' Belly laughs all the way. Recommended to a friend who rang to say she just couldn't stop laughing. Excellent.'

The angst seemed particularly contrived and just out of step with the first half of the book - it is not an uncommon plot device in these kind of books (super hot famous guy and Ms Ordinary) but it was a disappointment after the great beginning.