Alice-Rose - Catriona Leslie New, self-published author Catriona Leslie does herself proud with her first novel and I was very glad to read and review it for her. A new romance with an old fashioned feel, Alice-Rose is a gentle modern day love story with very real feeling and warm characters who you want to befriend. Libby Finn, widow of 3 years, is just about ready to start facing the real world again and when she discovers that Alice-Rose, a local and somewhat dilapidated house, is up for sale she immediately puts in an offer, for Libby has always been a little in love with Alice-Rose and when the purchase of the house involves meeting Dan the local estate agent, Libby starts to fall a little bit in love with him too! But true love is not an easy path and between organising the refurbishment of Alice-Rose, planning best friend Jules' up and coming wedding and dealing with surly builder Paddy, not to mention Dan's own family problems, the chances to get romance off to a start are few and far between and just when it looks like there might be a way forward something else happens to throw a spanner in the works.....but sometimes love is where you least expect it..... This is a very warm and genuinely romantic book with likable characters and lovely descriptions of the Irish countryside and the residents in the small country town. I loved the details of Alice-Rose and could see it being put back together in my minds eye. Plenty of humour and a bit of 'will they, won't you' make for a very enjoyable and feel good read. A great start for a new author.