A Gala Ball at Tillingford Hall
Tillingford Hall Book Three
An uplifiting English Country Romance about courage
Publishing on Audible and Amazon on 15th October. If you would like to be considered as a reviewer please complete the form here.
What's it about?
Sahara Seaton-Smyth’s ex, James, is never coming back; her brother Seb is moving out; her modelling career has stalled; and she’s just adopted an orphaned piglet.
Meanwhile, her friend Guy Tillingford is losing his calm. His fiancée Alice’s due date is also looming while Tin Tub Productions are filming a documentary about Tillingford Hall in the run-up to the gala ball.
Sahara has the chance to return to the spotlight as a TV presenter, but she's reluctant until she learns she’ll be working with her old friend, historian Dr Tom Pemberton.
Now widowed, Tom is juggling single parenthood with TV stardom. His son Cory has retreated into video games, while daughter Xanthe, a gifted violinist, is struggling with sudden fame.
Can Sahara help Tom? When she receives unexpected news about her health, will it bring them closer—or push them apart?
With Alice’s due date so close to the ball, who will have that first dance?
What Readers are Saying
“Very engaging – supper was late!”
Reader, Wimbledon
“I loved this new addition to the Tillingham world.”
Monica, Western Australia
“Tom and Sahara are wonderful characters and I was glad that Sahara got her own story.”
Chris Brady, Florida
“It is always a joy to be reunited with Flora’s characters. I love how she blends serious topics with romance and family life.”
Ruth Kramer, author of Things we do for Love and Science
“A Gala Ball at Tillingford Hall is the wonderful new instalment in Flora Dunn’s Tillingford Hall series. Sahara and Tom’s slow burn romance is a delicious read. The couple face real challenges which Flora handles with sensitivity and authenticity - I really enjoyed this gorgeous summer read!” Helen Hawkins, author of A Concert for Christmas.
“A fun read while tackling some tough subjects such as grief and addiction. I really warmed to Sahara and Tom the TV presenter is all-round lovely; seeing each of their family dynamics really added to the story. The romance is slow-burn and heartwarming. Muffin the piglet almost stole the show!”
Kristina Thornton, author of Forty going on Nineteen
“I've become a rusted-on fan of Flora Dunn since stumbling across her Tillingford series on Audible, and this book doesn't disappoint. I'd love to visit the fictional village of Tillingford, and meet some of the characters she brings to life so skilfully. Readers of the series will already be familiar with Sahara Seaton-Smyth, the vulnerable and beautiful former supermodel and sister of gorgeous, golden-haired Sebastian. Sahara is finally getting her demons under control after years spent struggling with her mental and physical health, just in time to co-star in a documentary about the restoration of Tillingford Hall. Her co-star just happens to be an old friend, Tom Pemberton, the David Attenborough of history programmes. Tom is getting his head around parenting his two children solo after losing his beloved wife a couple of years earlier, including his prodigiously talented violinist daughter, Xanthe. Sahara takes on some serious responsibility of her own in the form of a sick piglet called Muffin, who requires around the clock care. Both Sahara and Tom deserve a stab at happiness after all they've been through, but they both carry a lot of baggage that's going to get in the way. I loved these two flawed, complex characters, and I was rooting for both of them every step of the way. I highly recommend this book, along with all the others in the series. Next there's going to be a wedding at Tillingford Hall. Can't wait!”
Lucy Lever, author of Mystic Ridge
“Sometimes a book just pulls you in from the start and this one did that immediately. I haven’t read any of the series before but as there is great background detail in the book I think it works well as a standalone too. It was lovely seeing Sahara grow in her own confidence as the book went on, it was also great to see her and Tom there for each other and supporting each other too. I was rooting for them from the start. Although the book talks about serious topics such as fertility, anorexia and grief it was written beautifully and I really enjoyed it. Highly recommend this and will be going through Floras back catalogue. Thank you for sending me a copy, Flora”.
@bookloversclub2023 on Instagram
“A Gala Ball at Tillingford Hall is another involving read from Flora Dunn. This time it's Sahara's story. She's the complicated ex-super-model emerging from a painful past, and from the beginning we are rooting for her to succeed. It also contains the delicious hero Tom - kind, thoughtful, sexy - the triple threat to her heart. Once again, Flora explores difficult themes with care and sensitivity, in a world of love and kindness - a place her readers want to live in! Looking forward to the next in the series...” Katharine Light, author of Like Me
“Having very much enjoyed the previous Tillingford Hall books, I have been eagerly looking forward to reading this one, and it has proved to be a delightful addition to the series.
Once again, readers are transported to the wonderfully realised world of Tillingford Hall, a beautiful stately home in the English countryside. Characters from earlier books do play a part in the story, but in this novel, the focus is on Sahara Seaton-Smyth, a side character in earlier books. A former model, with a troubled past, Sahara is trying hard to sort out her life, which is far from easy when she soon won’t have anywhere to live, and her close friend, the owner of Tillingford Hall, is being annoyingly over-protective. And there is a piglet that needs looking after, a situation that creates much of the book’s humour!
Having experienced the downside of celebrity, when Sahara is asked to front a TV documentary about Tillingford Hall, she is reluctant to agree, until she learns that her co-presenter will be Tom Pemberton, a popular TV historian, who has been a good friend to her in the past. Tom, recently widowed, with two teenage children to bring up, has his own issues, and it seems unlikely that he and Sahara will ever be anything more than friends. These two likeable characters simply leap off the page, and this reader was certainly willing them to overcome their doubts and the misunderstandings that may keep them apart, and find their happy-ever-after together.
This is the third book located at Tillingford Hall, and while it is a stand-alone story in its own right, I think that having read the earlier books in the series made it an even more enjoyable experience than if a reader were to start with this one. What I particularly liked was seeing characters I’d met in previous books through Sahara’s eyes, and the author very skilfully shows how there can be two sides to a story, with two people interpreting events very differently.
Overall, this book is a love story. The issues that Sahara and Tom have to deal with give it an emotional depth, while it remains an uplifting novel and a most enjoyable romantic read. I am already looking forward to my next visit to Tillingford Hall. I’m sure this is a series that will run and run.”
Lynne Shelby, author of A Venice Summer
“I always love the chance to go back to Tillingford Hall! I thoroughly enjoyed this slow-burn romance told from the POV of beautiful Sahara this time around, although her rather chaotic pet piglet very nearly stole the show!’
Nicola Knight, author of Washed Up and The Night Before Christmas series