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| Boldwood 15 February 2022 My thanks to the publishers for my copy of the book and to Rachel's Random Resources for the invitation tot he blog tour |
Cottage Two, Bracken Ridge Farm sits at the end of a pitted track, with the glorious Yorkshire moors stretching behind it.
Just a simple two up, two down, the cottage holds the promise of a new start for two very different women, but it is also full of secrets.
Fifty years ago, newly-wed Stella is relishing making the little cottage a happy home. But for all the lovingly handmade curtains, and the hot dinners ready on the table for her husband, Stella’s dreams of married life jar painfully with the truth.
Fifty years later, the cottage is a new beginning for Tamzin. Determined to get away from her previous life, she makes the move to the wild and vast Yorkshire countryside.
When Tamzin finds a sepia photo of a woman, Stella, standing in the cottage’s garden, there’s a sadness in her eyes that Tamzin recognises. As the cottage reveals more of its secrets, Tamzin is desperate to find out whether Stella got her happy ending. And as she gradually makes new friends, and starts to win over her mysterious neighbour Euan, Tamzin dares to dream about her own happy ending too.
📖 My Review...
In A Cottage Full of Secrets we follow in Tamzin's footsteps as she settles into a new life at Cottage Two, Bracken Ridge Farm in the glorious Yorkshire countryside. That she is nursing some secret hurt is obvious but the full extent of her sadness is only revealed as the story progresses. Together with her rescued fox cub, Brack, Tamzin starts to appreciate her surroundings, especially when she gets to know more about her reclusive next door neighbour. Running alongside Tamzin's story is that of Stella who lived at Cottage Two in the nineteen-seventies and whose sad story adds another poignant dimension to this emotional story of love and hurt.
This glorious part of the Yorkshire Dales comes alive with brief glimpses of the wildlife who make the place their home but running alongside descriptions of the glorious landscape is a sensitive and compassionate story about people who have been so hurt by life that they are having to start all over again. The characters who flit into and out of the story are a delight, especially handy-woman, Jill, whose DIY skill is much admired, but it is rescued fox cub Brack who really stole my heart, along with the enigmatic, Euan McGillan whose artistic skill is absolutely magical. I only wish I could have seen his drawings of Brack for myself.
Beautifully written and lovingly described I started to read A Cottage Full of Secrets on a rainy afternoon and it's such perfect escapism that didn't look up except to make cups of tea until I had finished the story in one sitting.
Best Read with...copious cups of tea and the occasional biscuit
Jane Lovering is the bestselling and award-winning romantic comedy writer who won the RNA Novel of the Year Award in 2012 with Please Don’t Stop the Music. She lives in Yorkshire and has a cat and a bonkers terrier, as well as five children who have now left home. Her first title for Boldwood was published in September 2020.
Twitter @janelovering #ACottageFullOfSecrets
@BoldwoodBooks #Boldwoodbloggers #bookandtonic
@rararesources
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