I’m really so delighted today to be joining the blog tour for Finding Happiness at Heritage View by Helen Rolfe. The fifth book in her Heritage Cove series, this one was published by Boldwood Books on 6th July, and is now available as an ebook (free via Kindle Unlimited), paperback and audiobook. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading ecopy (provided via netgalley).
I must admit that I haven’t read that many full length novels from Helen – although it’s not a format I usually enjoy, I did get rather hooked on both the lovely books she first released in four separate parts, The Little Café at the End of the Pier (complete book now available – you’ll find it here) and The Little Cottage in Lantern Square (available here). If you pop the author’s name in the search box (on the right) you can catch up on all those reviews if you’d like to – and you’ll find reviews of a few of her others too! But this is my first visit to Heritage Cove – I haven’t been able to fit one in before. Although it’s often not the best idea to start with the fifth in a series, I’d read such lovely reviews of the four books that went before (you’ll find the Amazon page for all the books here) that I really wanted to give this series a try…
Welcome back to Heritage Cove, the little village by the sea brimming with character, community and friendship. The perfect place to fall in love…
Running Heritage View Stables is everything Hazel ever dreamed of. She loves working with the horses and managing the business with her brother. But after a terrible incident, she’s not sure whether she’ll ever be able to put things back the way they were.
Gus is ready to start over. He’s moved him and his ten-year-old daughter Abigail to Heritage Cove, where he’s opening his own vet practice. Everything is falling into place, especially as he watches Abigail start to come out of her shell for the first time since the accident.
Neither Hazel nor Gus is looking for love, but could they each be what the other needs? And is happiness even a possibility when their pasts won’t let them go?
Join new friends and old, as summer comes to Heritage Cove.
Oh my goodness – my first visit to Heritage Cove, and I so wish I’d visited rather sooner! Should anyone else worry that they might have missed too much by joining the series this late, I promise you won’t struggle at all – this really is a standalone story, but it did make me so sorry not to have read the others. The community is simply wonderful, warm and welcoming, and you’ll feel entirely at home straight away. I always think there’s a real art to introducing an established cast of characters without making it all feel a bit uncomfortable, and the author does it quite beautifully as Gus arrives, with his daughter Abigail, to open his vet practice. And the few people whose path they haven’t crossed yet? Hazel from the Heritage View Stables has a little shopping to do, and rides her horse around the village, calling in on a few more. It’s just so naturally and cleverly done – and I’d already been hooked by the story itself from the very beginning by the rather unusual introduction of its two main characters.
And I really loved this story. Hazel has lost her confidence after a traumatic incident – the full story slowly revealed – and no longer teaches children to ride at the stables she now runs with her brother Arnold. Her ex, James, has hopes of rekindling their relationship, and offers support of sorts – but really doesn’t understand how badly she’s been damaged or how important the family stables is to her. When Gus brings his ten-year-old daughter Abigail there – she’s been through a trauma of a different kind, and the stables will be looking after her beloved horse Denby who has helped her on her own path to recovery – he sees the easy relationship that develops between them and can’t understand why Hazel is unable (or is it unwilling?) to teach her. And there’s an immediate attraction between Gus and Hazel – but she’s wary of him having seen a few moments of anger that made her uncomfortable, misunderstanding the fierceness with which he protects his daughter.
There really was nothing about this story I didn’t thoroughly enjoy. The relationship between Gus and Hazel moved on in the way I really hoped it would – they were both very real people I took to my heart, and I was entirely invested in the way they helped and supported each other on the way to the happy ending I really hoped they both would have. I’m not always a fan of children as main characters, but I really took to young Abigail too – a child who’d been through a lot and struggled to rediscover her own bravery, her delight over every moment spent at the stables among her beloved horses. I’m not really a particular fan of horses either – but I was really impressed by the well-researched detail about the day-to-day activities of the stables woven into the story, and found it all quite fascinating. There’s a nice focus too on family – Hazel’s lovely relationship with the hardworking brother who’s taking up the slack caused by her stepping back from teaching, her wonderfully supportive parents, and the more complicated dynamics of Gus’s former relationship.
The writing is just wonderful – a gently told story that I found quite captivating, every individual beautifully drawn, the emotional content perfectly judged, heartwarming and uplifting but with plenty of narrative drive, interaction with the wider community, moments of heightened drama, and the development of the characters who’d won my heart. Very highly recommended – and I’ll be really looking forward to my next visit to Heritage Cove.
About the author
Helen Rolfe is the author of many bestselling contemporary women’s fiction titles, set in different locations from the Cotswolds to New York. Most recently published by Orion, she is bringing sixteen titles to Boldwood – a mixture of new series and well-established backlist. She lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and children.
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That’s it now, you’re hooked! X
Most definitely – I really love it there! x