🌿 It's never too late to follow your heart... 🌿
Tess Alexander lives an enviable life with her husband Charles, at Hollyhocks Cottage in the idyllic Cotswold village of Lower Leaping. Dreaming of their early retirement, Tess’s plans are dashed when Charles shares some devastating news and suddenly she’s left alone with only Barney, her adorable Beagle dog, for company.
Facing an uncertain future, Tess tries to reconnect with her old self. She begins to transform the neglected garden office into a beautiful retreat, the perfect spot for her to indulge in her long-forgotten creative passions.
However, a chance encounter with charming but down on his luck, Rob Templeton, soon puts pay to her plans, when she offers him the place to stay, sensing a kindred spirit.
With the support of old friends, Gina and Suzy, Tess must now step out of her comfort zone and embrace a different way of life, one that is filled with secrets, possibilities and second chances, if only Tess is prepared to take them.
With so many demands on her attention, will Tess find a way to follow her heart and discover her own happy ending?
Review: This book is the first in a new series from this author, set in a charming Cotswolds village. I have very much enjoyed Jill Steeples’s other series of stories, so I wasn’t surprised that I found this book an easy and entertaining read. As promised for future books in the series, this story can be read as a standalone.
The central character in this book is Tess Alexander, whose husband of thirty years has left her for a younger woman. Tess is living alone but for her dog in the family cottage in the Cotswolds village of Lower Leaping, her daughter having taken a year off to travel before resuming her studies. She loves her cottage and its garden and living in the village with its friendly community. With lots of time on her hands, Tess decides to clear out the summer house in the garden and use it a place to relax and craft. However, when she bumps into Rob Templeton while shopping and hears his unfortunate tale, she offers the spruced up space to him as a temporary home. As time passes, Tess becomes used to a different way of life, enjoying the company of her friends and next-door neighbour. She also gets to know Rob better and feels as though, with time, she may be able to open up her heart once more.
This was an enjoyable story with a collection of mainly likeable characters. I greatly admired Tess, with her determination to turn her life around after her silly husband had gone off with a younger replacement. Like her fiends, I thought she was far better off without him. It was good that she had the funds to make the desired changes to the cottage and summer house. I wasn’t at all sure about the wisdom of inviting a stranger to literally live in the garden, but what a kind gesture that was. Of course, no story is really complete without a dog, and Tessa’s companion Barney the beagle was a star. I am really looking forward to the next instalment in this series, where there will hopefully be developments in Tess and Rob’s relationship.
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