#Review: A Cottage Full of Secrets by Jane Lovering @janelovering @BoldwoodBooks @rararesources #blogtour #publicationday #BoldwoodBloggers #romcom

I’m so delighted today to be helping launch the blog tour for the latest book from Jane Lovering, A Cottage Full of Secrets, and to share my publication day review. Out today from Boldwood Books, it’s now available as an ebook, in paperback and as an audiobook. My thanks, as always, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading copy (provided via netgalley).

When I last reviewed one of Jane’s wonderful books – A Midwinter Match, back in August 2021 (you’ll find my review here) – I was wavering over which of her books I’d include in my books of the year list. It ended up being Home on Folly Farm, first published in March 2021 – and only because of my arbitrary decision (just to make life a little easier!) not to include any books that as much as mentioned Christmas. But that earlier book really was a cracker – I’ve noticed it’s recently been rebranded as Home on a Yorkshire Farm, and it’s one I’d thoroughly recommend (you’ll find my review here – just 99p, or free via Kindle Unlimited).

I’ve been reading and thoroughly enjoying Jane’s books for quite a few years now, and I honestly don’t think there’s a single one I haven’t loved – and since she’s joined Boldwood, her books have just got better and better. So, let’s take a look at her latest…

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…

 

Escape the rat race with this heart-warming, page-turning new novel from Jane Lovering. Perfect for fans of Julie Houston, Beth O’Leary and Kate Forster.

You really have to be a bit desperate to run away from your life and buy a remote cottage on the Yorkshire Moors without having viewed it first – and when Tamzin moves in, accompanied by her rescued three-legged fox, she does wonder if she might have made a bit of a mistake. The cottage is one of a pair, and her neighbour is less than friendly and welcoming – in fact, Euan seems distinctly peculiar, struggling to communicate, often standing barefoot and motionless in his garden, making her feel more than a little uncomfortable. And her new home isn’t without its other issues – finding the stopcock so she has a water supply, a fireplace that stubbornly defies her attempts to remove it, and that’s before her enthusiastic but less than successful attempts at interior decoration (but lots of cushions make everything right, don’t they – even when paired with battleship grey paint and flamingo wallpaper…).

But one of her first priorities has to be having a run built in the overgrown garden for Brack the fox – his pungent aroma isn’t helping make the cottage feel like home – and that brings handywoman Jill into her life. She’s wonderfully down-to-earth and practical, and the friend she rather needs – and she also helps her to get to know neighbour Euan, with the opportunity to uncover the reasons for his less than conventional behaviour, leading to the discovery that they have a shared experience in their lives that they recognise in each other and that slowly helps bring them closer. And then Tamzin has an unexpected visitor – a woman from her past who knows only too well the reasons for Tamzin’s disappearance, and who is uncomfortably in the midst of making the same mistakes.

And while in the throes of renovating the cottage, Tamzin discovers an old photograph of a woman standing in the cottage’s garden – and that’s followed by several more, along with a suitcase of clothing discovered in the undergrowth. She becomes fascinated with finding out more about the cottage’s history and the young woman in the picture with whom she feels an affinity – and Stella’s story then unfolds in parallel to her own, both sad and disturbing, going backwards through her life to the point where she was happy and looking forward to her new life.

I entirely adored this book – everything I love about Jane Lovering’s writing with its laugh-out-loud moments coupled with poignancy and emotion, and a pair of stories wrapped around each other and laced with some particularly serious issues very sensitively handled. The book’s setting – the surrounding countryside, seen at close quarters – is simply wonderful, with so many opportunities to encounter the wildlife and experience its wild beauty (despite all that mud…). The developing relationship between Euan and Tamzin was everything I wanted it to be – two damaged people bringing healing to each other, all done with exceptional warmth as Tamzin’s strength and resilience slowly grows. And I really enjoyed the direction Brack’s story took, but I’ll let you discover that one for yourself – he’s such a perfectly drawn character I entirely took to my heart (although I really wouldn’t want him anywhere near my soft furnishings…).

I think I’ve probably proclaimed “this is her best yet” about every book the author has ever written, so I’ll not do that again, however much I want to – but this was a book I entirely loved, and recommend really highly.

About the author

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. 

Twitter | Facebook | Website | Bookbub | Newsletter sign up