Review: Love in an English Garden

Title: Love in an English Garden

Author: Victoria Connelly

Publisher: 14 March 2017 by Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 320 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: womens fiction, chick lit, romance

My Rating: 3.5 cups

Synopsis:

The Jacobs family has lived at Orley Court for generations. But when Vanessa Jacobs’s husband dies and leaves the property to her, she finds costs spiralling out of control. In order to stay in their beloved home, she and her daughters will have to sell part of it off—a decision that drives a wedge between Vanessa and her live-in mother-in-law.

The new owners of the north wing are Laurence Sturridge and his father, Marcus. Laurence wants to escape the constant pressure of his corporate job in London, while Marcus longs to heal from the grief of losing his wife. Could the beauty of Orley Court offer them a fresh outlook on life?

As the two families embark on a challenging new chapter over the course of a glorious English summer, secrets are revealed and relationships tested. But as Orley Court begins to weave its magic over them, will it be love, above all, that brings the two families together?

My Thoughts

‘These old houses might not seem to change over the decades, but they do. People come and go and leave their marks, their memories.’

Victoria Connelly fans will be very happy with her latest instalment. If you love stories set in England, with a manor house and a good ol’ English garden, then this is the book for you. This slow and sentimental journey, told at a very relaxed pace and calm manner, is much like taking a trip to Orley Court and its gardens.

The story has a variety of storylines, but mostly focuses around two families and how they deal with loss, love and country living in a modern day manor home. The setting is wonderful with rich descriptions of the home and the rejuvenation of the gardens. There are three generations and each have their own tale to tell and it’s lovely to see how they all interact together and slowly but surely, overcome that final hurdle to have their happy ever after.

I did find it at times a little too slow and somewhat repetitive, characters getting bogged down of their own making. The upfront honesty of Jazzy proved a welcome relief amongst the blunders of other characters. However, for a reflective read, take some time out from your busy life, much like Laurence did, and take a trip to Orley Court.

Now, each morning when his alarm clock shook him out of sleep, he would wake with a groan. ‘And that is no way to live,’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release