Return to the Little Cottage on the Hill - by Emma Davies

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb: 

The climb up the hill takes her past sweet-smelling pink roses in full bloom and leads her to an utterly breathtaking view. Megan is happy to be home at last, but will her relationship have survived the journey? 

It has been a difficult few years for thirty-year-old Megan Forrester, completing her apprenticeship and trying to maintain a long-distance relationship with her gorgeous boyfriend, Liam. 

She’s returned home to compete in a local craft competition. The prize is the chance to design beautiful new gates for the estate at the bottom of the hill, a job which could secure her future in the village forever. 

As the contest gets underway, Megan is devastated when a rival design turns out to be almost identical to hers. Someone in the close-knit community must have leaked her sketches, but who? Is it the same person spreading heartbreaking rumours about Liam? 

Down to the last few left in the competition, Megan throws her heart and soul into a show-stopping final piece… but will winning even matter when the truth about Liam is finally revealed? 

Do you adore feel-good stories that leave you with a smile on your face? This heart-warming romance is a perfect escape for readers who flew through novels by Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Debbie Johnson. 

My Opinion:

*Book provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*

It’s a return to a wonderful series and some great characters. This time we follow Megan’s and Liam’s story, but for me Clara was the main character. It’s her turn to find love and happiness. 

Of course Megan plays a very important role in the storyline too and a lot of drama is added through that. 

A TV producer comes to town and wants to turn part of his cooking and gardening show there. Well, let’s just say that he was very interesting. 

Some chapters focused on Clara and some on Megan and some kind of on both. I found that a bit confusing and it made the storyline a little choppy. 

It was lovely being back with these characters and in this gorgeous setting. 

The setting of the book is beautiful, it came to life through Emma Davies' writing. Her writing is engaging, sweet, funny, fresh and lively.

The story is about love, secrets, passion, strength, firendship and romance. 

Rating:

Emma Davies on Twitter: @EmDaviesAuthor

Website: https://www.emmadaviesauthor.com

Goodreads - Amazon UK - Amazon US

The Little Cottage on the Hill - by Emma Davies

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

There’s blossom in the trees and daffodils as far as the eye can see. Maddie is looking forward to a fresh start in the countryside, but there’s just one little problem… 

Following a scandal at her high-flying PR agency, twenty-six-year-old Maddie flees London to help promote what she thinks is going to be a luxurious holiday retreat in the countryside. Everything is riding on her making a success of this new job… 

Yet when she arrives, Maddie is horrified to find a rundown old farm in a terrible state. The brooding and secretive owner, Seth, spent all his money on leasing the land when he fell in love with the beautiful, dishevelled farm cottages and the very romantic story behind them. 

When Maddie discovers an old painting by the original owner’s wife, she unlocks the secret of the farm’s history and quickly realises she must start getting her hands dirty if this very special place is going to have any chance of survival. As she and Seth begin working together, the stunning view from the top of the hill is not the only thing that’s leaving her breathless… 

After weeks of hard work the dream looks like it might become a reality, until a secret from Maddie’s past threatens to snatch it all away again. Can Maddie find a way to save the business and herself? Will she finally find a place to keep her heart within the crumbling walls of the little cottage on the hill? 

Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Debbie Johnson who are looking to escape to the countryside and fall in love watching the seasons change. 

My Opinion:

*Book provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

I loved the way this book started, it made me really curious about Maddie and also the reason for her driving through the countryside. 

After a scandal Maddie leaves London and arrives at this rundown farm, where she starts her new job. The owner of the farm is called Seth. He is very moody and secretive, but also attractive and passionate. The farm is very important to him. Reasons for that lie in the past and Maddie is slowly discovering them. Working together brings them closer, but Seth is very reserved and not sharing a lot. On top of that there is the gardener Clara, who seems to have a special connection to him. 

Maddie slowly discovers the truth, but the path is rocky and her past comes back to haunt her. 

I liked Seth and Maddie together. They had chemistry and banter, even if it was difficult in the beginning. The way the storyline is great, flows wonderfully and keeps the reader hooked. Underneath it all there are a lot of feelings, emotions and also a softness and of course some romance. 

I think the farm had a lot of charm and the characters (most of them anyway) give it its unique touch. The setting of the book is beautiful and sweet, it came to life through Emma Davies' writing and so did the plot. Her writing is engaging, cute, fun, fresh and lively.

The story is about love, grief, secrets, passion, strength and romance. A lovely read full of fantastic elements, I loved it!

Rating:

Buy link: myBook.to/TLCOTHSocial

About the author: 

After a varied career, Emma Davies once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun and humorous (and not necessarily true) anecdote for their website. She wrote the following: 'I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.' Well the job in the design studio didn't work out but she's now a forty something mother of three and is happy to report the rest of her dream came true.

After many years as a finance manager she now writes full time, and is far happier playing with words than numbers. She lives with her husband, three children, and two guinea pigs in rural Shropshire where she writes in all the gaps in between real life. It's a county she adores, her love of its beautiful people and landscapes providing endless inspiration for her books, and in fact the only thing that would make Shropshire more idyllic is if it were by the sea. 

Pop over to her website www.emmadaviesauthor.com where, amongst other things, you can read about her passion for Pringles and singing loudly in the car. You can also wave to her on twitter @EmDaviesAuthor or find her on Facebook (a little too often than is good for her).

Flexibility - A Guest Post by Emma Davies

So the New Year is well under way, and like most writerly folk I’ve given some thought to my aspirations and plans for the coming year. But rather than going with an outright resolution, as in I will write 2000 words a day, or I will file all my tax receipts properly, and not just throw them on my desk, I decided I wanted to focus on something a little broader, something that was more a way of being in 2017. And I decided that I wanted to be more flexible…

So, as a writer, what does the word flexibility mean to you? Does it mean that thing you loose after spending far too many hours tapping away at the keyboard? Is it the thing you have to be when your editor says we really love it, but… and you say of course I’ll rewrite it from a completely different character’s point of view, and then you do it whilst editing another book entirely, making the dinner, repainting the bathroom and practising the hoola hoop… or is flexibility another thing entirely?

I had cause to ponder this very thing recently, when the hellish year that was 2016 drew to a close and I was presented with the relatively blank canvas that is 2017. You see just over a year ago, I signed my first publishing contract for two books, the second of which, Turn Towards The Sun is due out on February the 9^th… which will bring my current contract to a close. Of course there are things in the pipeline, but for the first couple of months of this year, until the details are worked out, there are no deadlines in place, or certainties to mark in my diary. But what there is, apart from my expectations, is a whole heap of possibilities.

You see, among the calamitous events of 2016, just before Christmas another thing happened. Of course, just at the moment, I’m not able to tell you what the thing is, but suffice to say that it could very well bring opportunities for 2017 that a few months ago I wasn’t even planning for. And then I realised that if I am really going to benefit from these possibilities, what I need most is to be flexible…

When I first started to write, I knew instinctively the kind of books that were going to flow across my pages, and by and large that’s exactly what happened. No bad thing as it happens, and indeed there is every argument for keeping the status quo, it does after all pay the bills. But now there exists a little temptation, some bright shiny new possibilities, and if I continue to think that I can only write a particular type of book, or publish them a certain way, there’s a good chance that I might miss out… so I’m flexing my fingers … I’m learning to be flexible, because it’s a changing market out there, a hugely competitive one, and if I’m going to make the most of my career and every opportunity I can, I need to be nimble. I need to be flexible over what I write and how I write, because apart from the things I expect to happen, if those opportunities really do come my way, I’d like to be ready, I’d like to have a little something up my sleeve just in case. It will mean dipping my toe outside of my comfort zone, trusting my instincts, and testing my limits, but I’m going to have enormous fun doing it.

So flexibility is definitely going to be my watchword for 2017, what’s yours?


About the author

Before we go any further there are two things you need to know: One - I love singing loudly in the car, and Two - I have a passion for Pringles. If you're happy with both these things then please feel free to read on .... 

Once upon a time I worked in a design agency where I was asked to write an amusing caption to go beside my details on their website. I wrote 'I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.' Well I'm now a forty something mother of three and am currently working on the rest. I'm a member of The Romantic Novelists' Association, and live with my husband, three children, and two guinea pigs in rural Shropshire. I write during the gaps in between real life.

www.emmadaviesauthor.com

@Emdavies68

www.facebook.com/emmadaviesauthor