One summer, one grumpy neighbour, one chance at love?

Synopsis

Is this just a summer romance or could it be more?

Nicola grew up at Pennycress Inn, in the beautiful Cotswold village of Meadowfield, and now she’s come full circle by landing a job there. After a difficult few months, she’s happy to be back in the place she loves and calls home.

The whole village is looking forward to the annual summer carnival, and Nicola is charged with asking the local farmers to lend their tractors and trailers for the occasion. It’s an easy task – until she meets the new owner of Little Mead Farm, who stubbornly refuses to help.

On sabbatical from his City job for the summer, Charlie wants to do up his late uncle’s farm and put it on the market as soon as possible. The place might have been in his family for generations but country life is simply not for him. He has no time for whatever the villagers are up to.

When Nicola and Charlie meet, sparks fly – and unexpected feelings grow. Soon there’s more at stake in Meadowfield than the success of the carnival. But whatever happens between them, this is just a summer romance… isn’t it?

My review

Nicola is slowly becoming herself again after a few difficult months, with the discovery of a cheating fiancé. Now she enjoys life again, and is truly happy with how things are going, especially as she is working at Pennycress Inn, a place that she loves deeply. With now summer approaching, it also means that the annual summer carnival is returning, something not only Nicola, but everyone in Meadowfield is looking forward to. Of course such an event cannot take place with volunteers, and Nicola is more than happy to help out. So when it is up to her to ask her neighbour to lend his tractor and trailer, Nicola doesn’t see any issue, as she knows the kind heart of Farmer Williams. Until she learns that in the months of emotional turmoil Nicola was in, Farmer Williams passed away and his nephew Charlie is now the new owner. And  the last thing Charlie wants, is to lend out his possessions to a community he doesn’t want to be part of at all. On the contrary, the quicker he can sell the place and return to London, the better. But the more the summer progresses, the more things start to change between Nicola and Charlie. And Nicola starts to believe in love once again. But with Charlie adamant on returning to London after the summer, where will that leave them?

There are authors that write stories series that you like, but don’t ignite a special something while reading. And then there are authors that manage with an apparent easy story or series, to capture what life and love is all about. And Sarah Hope is absolutely the latter!

Of course it was a real delight to return to Meadowfield, a place where I could easily see myself living a wonderful life. As I loved reading the first book of the series, I couldn’t wait to put my hands on the second book. But if you haven’t read the first book, shame on you! Just kidding 😊 but do not worry, as you can read this perfectly as a standalone. But why would you only want to read this one if you can read two wonderful books?

Nicola is the kind of person that deserves all that is good in the world, yet she had the bad luck to fall in love with Nathan, who betrayed her in a terrible way. And while I know that for Nicola, there is a whole new adventure awaiting, my heart went out to her, reading how those last few months were a struggle for her.

So I  was happy to read how at the start of the book, those struggles were behind her, yet we get an understanding what she has been trough. It felt to me that she has a special spark in her, a joy that is just waiting to come out. Nicola is just this kind, gentle, loving, caring and altruistic person. She is the kind of person you can always rely on, you can always count on in need of help. In fact, she is so kind and helpful that even when she is gently pushed into doing something she doesn’t really want to do, she does it anyway. She is *that* kind of person. The kind of person that in fact, everyone needs in their lives, or even more, to be that kind of person!

Even if I didn’t know Farmer Williams, it saddened me to read how he passed away while Nicola was in her sad bubble. From what I have read, he seemed like a real gentle man, someone that was there for the community. And I could understand Nicola’s shock realizing that this gentle man was no longer… And to make it worse, the farm was now in the hands of his obnoxious and even rude nephew Charlie.

Now, with already one bad guy in the book (in the form of Nathan), I just knew that Charlie would show quickly his true colours, and that we would understand his actions more along in the story. And understand I did.

Because Charlie inherited a farm, while his complete and rather successful life is in London. Meadowfield and London are worlds apart, and it for sure feels like a complete shock for Charlie to be in Meadowfield now. Where in London he can have everything within reach, at Meadowfield he is faced with a community that just has its own ways, and that in fact in a way won’t let you just sit as a bystander.

While things don’t start off great between Nicola and Charlie, the ice slowly starts to melt between them, and even if Charlie is set on selling the place as soon as possible, there is an undeniable attraction between the pair of them.

And reading those bits, truly warmed my heart. Not because Nicola deserves to finally have a good man in her life, but because she needs to see that there are good men around, and that even for her, love is written in the stars…

Obviously the uncertainty of things are weighing down on Nicola, and I understood that she wants some answers of what will happen once summer is over. But I could also understand that she wants to enjoy her time with Charlie, as he understands her better than anyone.

I loved reading how Nicola is not only becoming more and more a ray of light in this story, but she also stands tall when there are moments that someone tries to use her kindness once again. And I absolutely adored seeing Nicola and Charlie together, especially reading how Nicola realizes that her first impression of  Charlie were way off, and she discovers his real character.

Sarah Hope once again took us on a marvellous trip, filled with great characters, she took us together with them on an emotional journey, showing us that love can be hurtful with the wrong people, but with the right people it can be a wonderful thing!