Return to the Little Cottage on the Hill - Emma Davies

Date of Reading: 26/08/2018

Author: Emma Davies

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: August 31, 2018

Source: NetGalley

Rating: 4/5

About the book:

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? 

My Review:

       This is the third book in the 'Little Cottage' series and the first one I have read. It is standalone and like me, you can start with the last story since the numerous references to the character's back stories will help you get along fabulously. I do have a problem with the cover blurb though. From the abstract, you will get the impression that this is Megan's story, but half of the book revolves around Clara, the cottage's gardener. Megan does have a voice in the beginning, but soon enough Clara takes over that part of the narration too.

      One of the major reasons I chose this book is because it features a female blacksmith. I have never seen women in this profession and was surely rooting for Megan throughout the competition. Having no background knowledge of the cottage and its amazing hosts, I was a bit peeved at Clara at the beginning for taking the major chunk of the story . . . but not for long. 

     Clara is a beautiful character, both inside and out. She is patient and caring which obviously creates a minor disadvantage as with all good-natured people. But the lucky girl has a steadfast protector in Maddie and a great friendship with Trixie. The problems between Clara and Trixie makes it all the more realistic. That shouting scene in the kitchen which shows that Clara can't be bullied is by far my favourite scene. As I have often witnessed and experienced, any problem with our close friends can be solved with a heart to heart talk even if it involves some shrieking and yelling and calling names (No need to panic, Clara didn't rely on the last one). And I haven't forgotten Declan who was an added bonus. But I will wait for you to find out more about him from the book itself.

      All in all, this is a delightful read with delicately balanced plot lines that will take you to the beauty and sunshine of the countryside and also to a heart throbbing competition where talents are revealed and unmade.

Meet the author:

After a varied career, Emma Davies once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun and humorous 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 working on the rest.

Today she's a finance manager and looks at numbers a lot of the time, so at night she likes to throw them away and play with words, practising putting them together into sentences. 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 @Emdavies68 or find her on Facebook (a little too often than is good for her).