Maddy, aka Dear Jane, writes an agony aunt advice column for a magazine. On the day she is let go, she appears on a TV program debating about romance with crime writer Cameron Massey.
Now without a job, she heads to the village of Cotlington where she has inherited a grand house from the black sheep of the family, cousin Nigel. The condition is she must live in the house for at least one year.
Maddy gets roped into running the village’s literary festival, finds her crime writing nemesis lives nearby with his dog Buster, and investigates Nigel’s connections with a rock band.
A cute story with enough happening outside the romance to keep things interesting.
Jenna’s boyfriend has started a new money-making venture, buying up abandoned storage units to sell the contents.
As she reluctantly helps him unpack the first load, she finds a letter to the original owner from a guy called Henry, asking for his belongings, including a camera, to be returned.
Jenna can’t help but get in contact with Henry to return his camera and in gratitude, he takes her on some outings that push the risk-adverse accountant outside her comfort zone.
Meanwhile, her sister Evie and partner Kat run a guinea pig rescue centre but fear they will have to move out because developers have their eye on the land.
This is one of the few books I’ve come across where the heroine has a disability (Jenna was born with a condition that made one leg shorter than the other) and it did make me wonder why we haven’t seen more of this. Or more guinea pigs in chick lit for that matter!
Overall, it was an adorable, heartwarming read and a very promising debut.
