#Review: Healing Hearts at Bumblebee Barn by Jessica Redland @JessicaRedland @BoldwoodBooks @rararesources #blogtour #romance #BoldwoodBloggers #BumblebeeBarn

I’m really delighted today to be joining the blog tour for the latest book from Jessica Redland, Healing Hearts at Bumblebee Barn – a standalone this time (well, maybe – we’ll have to wait and see…!), it was published by Boldwood Books on 24th January, and is now available as an ebook (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. Many thanks, as always, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).

I’ve shared my spiel so many times now about how long I’ve been reading and enjoying Jessica’s wonderful books that I won’t do that again today – if you pop her name into my search bar, and you’ll find so many reviews, dating back to long before Boldwood days. She won over so many new readers when they published her Welcome to Whitsborough Bay and Christmas on Castle Street books, added quite a few more more with the Starfish Café books (and there’s another one of those to come at the end of April) – and then everyone loved her Hedgehog Hollow series so much (me included!). And now, after the most perfect finale to her last series, we have a new one – and I was so looking forward to seeing what she’d come up with this time…

Welcome to Bumblebee Barn, home to wonderful animals, stunning views and spectacular sunsets – and resident young farmer, Barney.

 

While Barney loves his life at Bumblebee Barn – a farm that has been in his family for generations – he’s struggling to find someone to share it with. The early mornings quad biking through muddy fields and the long hours looking after the crops and animals are proving to be a deterrent to finding love.

 

So when his sister, Fizz – desperate for Barney to find his soulmate – sees an advert for Love on a Farm, a new reality TV show to help farmers find love, he has nothing to lose by applying. After all, he isn’t meeting anyone suitable down the traditional route and surely he won’t be picked anyway…?

 

Thrown into the chaos of reality TV, Barney could never have expected that his whole life would be turned upside down, with buried secrets to be uncovered and his heart on the line. With his family and friends rooting for him, could the magic of Bumblebee Barn heal his broken heart and help him find love on the farm?

Oh, Barney! Now I know he might be just a little young for me, but I have to say that I fell in love with him from the very beginning of this lovely book, and that feeling only grew as I got to know him better. He really wants to find a life partner, but it would take a rather special woman to put up with the daily routine on a farm – the early starts, the long days, the hard work, the isolation – and he repeatedly makes the wrong choices for all sorts of reasons and ends up lonely again (well, apart from those two lovely Border collies). Perhaps taking part in a new reality tv show – Love on the Farm – might not be the best way of finding his soulmate, but he certainly feels it’s worth a try.

The show’s producer is Amber – also none too great at romantic relationships, her last one having ended particularly badly, and her current one difficult to sustain given the travel involved in both their lives. Reality shows aren’t really her thing –  she usually works on a rather more gentle countryside series – but taking on this job means that she can be in Yorkshire to offer support to her sister, who’s recently been having a particularly difficult time. And the production company have promised that the show will be family friendly, with none of that awful stuff that you often see in such shows – but, after a few distinctly unforeseen developments, the reality turns out to be distinctly less comfortable for everyone involved.

Barney and Amber bond straight away – they both have complicated pasts, good friends, and really understand the importance of family. And as things on the tv show take a few unexpected turns in the name of ratings, they begin to grow closer, sharing secrets, and watching out for each other. Their initial friendship looks like it has the potential to become something rather more – but they both need to be professional, to allow the show to be made, and to then see where that leaves them. And it’s all so perfectly handled – theirs was a slowly developing relationship I really believed in, despite its many obstacles.

Telling the story from both their perspectives really was the perfect choice – the insights into both their characters are exceptional, and I entirely took them both to my heart through every twist and turn of the story. Some of the book’s “moments” are just so wonderful – a few sunrises and sunsets that made me quite teary, with the most perfectly judged emotional content. I have no idea how she does it so reliably and consistently, but there’s such tremendous warmth to the author’s writing – main characters you feel really invested in, whose lives you feel privileged to share, and who you really grow to care about. And the supporting characters in this book are excellent too – the tv crew (the ones you like, and then there are the others…), the show’s female contestants (quirky, entertaining, very funny at times – but no less real!), and the wider cast of friends and family that add depth (and real poignancy at times) to the story.

If you’re one of the many readers feeling withdrawal symptoms at the end of the Hedgehog Hollow series, you’ll be delighted by some of the cameo appearances in this book – and the familiarity of a few of the settings. But it’s very cleverly done, and just a bit of a treat for those of us who’ve enjoyed our earlier visits – this book is 100% a standalone read, and there’s absolutely no need to have read any of the author’s other books (although I can’t promise you won’t want to!). It’s really crying out to be the start of a new series though – there are several subsidiary characters in this book whose stories I’d love to read (no pressure, Jessica!). Yes, most definitely another triumph for an author whose books I unfailingly love, and whose writing just gets better and better – very highly recommended.

About the author

Jessica Redland writes emotional but uplifting stories of love, friendship, family and community. Her Whitsborough Bay books transport readers to the stunning North Yorkshire Coast where she lives with her husband, daughter and sprocker spaniel. Her Hedgehog Hollow series, set in a hedgehog rescue centre, takes readers into the beautiful rolling countryside of the Yorkshire Wolds.

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