Holm Oak Lodge

The title of this, my eighth novel, is the name of a hotel at which the story unravels. It starts as representatives of two families arrive at the hotel for quite separate meetings. I created this venue and a small cast to add to the challenge of writing a story that will start and end within a single 24-hour period. The circumstances are not unusual and, although the characters and their stories are imaginary, many readers will find themselves familiar with the situations. What I think readers will find engaging is the way the cast deal with those situations for, as everyone who's ever been there knows, there's never an easy solution.  

All three Corran sisters, Saoirse, Naimh and Philomena, are present since they buried their mother, Maureen, the previous day. They've met to read her will but unfortunately, it can't be found. The family's solicitor recalls Maureen and her late husband, Tagdh, making identical wills. Like many couples in that situation, the wills left an equal share of the surviving spouse's estate to their daughters. Now, it appears that Maureen didn't make a new will after her husband died and she technically died intestate.

Only one of the three Lockyear children is present at the other meeting, Gerard the older son. His brother has appointed a young junior partner in a firm of solicitors in Oxford while his sister, who lives in Jamaica, is represented by a firm of London solicitors. Gwen Lockyear's will is also missing though Gerard quickly discovers why – his scheming younger brother has persuaded their mother to alter her will, effectively leaving Gerard and his sister nothing.

As the London solicitor remarks, money often brings out the worst in families and these two meetings are no exception. In the course of the day Gerard Lockyear and Saoirse Corran become aware of each other and when the meetings are eventually concluded, each with a degree of agreement and compromise, the two find themselves dining together. Neither of them sought nor expected romance to arise but it does and the remainder of the story revolves around Gerard and Saoirse as they decide how they'll allow their lives, separately or together, to evolve. Their decision brings the tale to a conclusion and the reader must decide whether it's the right choice for either or both of them.