Digital Reads Reviews

My review

I always read an Emma Davies novel, when life is difficult or when I lose my mojo for reading. And her books always make me find the rainbow in the dark clouds. Every book of hers is saved for those special times. And thus I began reading this book…

And lo and behold, I wasn’t disappointed. This book brought me right up from the doldrums of life and gave me an energy boost, just by reading about Maddie and Seth.

Maddie, a publicist, applies for promoting Joy’s Acres, what she thinks to be an upcoming ultra swank holiday retreat, but alas, finds it to be a rundown farm barely holding on, in need of complete renovation, with Seth at the helm of the farm.

The story progresses with the discovery of a painting, history of the farm revealed, with more people joining to restore the farm, and romance brewing between Maddie and Seth. I love the way the author Emma Davies, makes the pages flow.

I found all the characters Clara, Trixie, and Tom utterly captivating. The farm and its rolling hills, the beauty of nature, and roof thatching are quite well described. Initially, Maddie (Madeleine) comes off as standoffish, but as the story progresses, she becomes warm, hard-working, and understanding, and her inner pleasure at being and working to promote the farm, to restore it to its former glory makes this book a delight to read.

The only part I didn’t like or understand is Agatha and Natalie’s role, I felt that they are not well-developed.

The Little Cottage on the Hill is a fabulous feel-good, happy book, with amazing descriptions of nature, loving companionship of quirky characters, where love, warmth, and smiles abound even with life’s difficult decisions around.

It is said A thing of beauty is a joy forever, but words of joy written by Emma is a beauty forever.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Bookouture, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating : 4.5 stars

About the Author

Emma Davies once worked for a design studio, where she was asked to write an autobiographical note. ‘I am a bestselling novelist, ‘ she began, ‘currently masquerading as a thirty-something mother of three.’ That job didn’t work out, but she’s now a forty-something mother of three, and she’s working on the rest. For years Emma was a finance manager who spent her days looking at numbers, so at night she would throw them away and play with words, practising putting them together into sentences. She now writes in all the gaps between real life.

Book blurb

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 oil 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?

Product Details

Publication date : 19th February, 2018

Publisher : Bookouture

Language : English

Available on Amazon

A cute feel-good story