Home on Folly Farm by Jane Lovering #Review

 

As Spring approaches, here's a warm, uplifting romcom set in the Yorkshire Moors. Jane Lovering's Home on Folly Farm was published on March 16th by Boldwood Books.

Escape the rat race by heading to the Yorkshire Moors in Jane Lovering’s funny, warm and magical new novel.

Needing an escape, Dora swapped city living for life as a shepherdess on her grandad’s Yorkshire farm. More than a decade later Dora is still there, now farming the fifty acres and caring for the one hundred rare sheep by herself. She never hears the call of the city, but instead relishes the peace and simplicity of life on the Moors.

When Dora’s glamorous but quarrelsome sister Cass, her teenage nephew Thor and his handsome tutor Nat, turn up for an unexpected and unreasonably long stay, life on the farm is thrown into chaos. Cass brings with her unwelcome memories from the past, and of someone who once stole Dora's heart.

Dora takes refuge in the comforting routine of the farm, the sheep never allowing her too much time to dwell. But, as the seasons change, the snow starts to melt, and as lambs begin to fill the fields, Dora can’t keep hiding in the hills. Because even though she’s trying, Dora can’t run away from a love that never really let her go…

Let Jane Lovering whisk you away to the beauty and serenity of the Yorkshire Moors, far away from the noise of the city. Just right for fans of Emma Burstall, Holly Martin and Kate Forster.

My Thoughts

As I noticed when I reviewed Jane Lovering's The Country Escape,  she hasn't chosen to depict a country idyll, with roses round the door and a country garden fluttering outside, Folly Farm is a proper working farm which stretches Dora to the limit and makes her existence as far from cosy as you can get. It is rundown, with plenty of spiders and loose floorboards. What is important to Dora are the animals in her care. Folly Farm has given her a purpose in recent years and an escape from her life in London. It remains to be seen whether it will do the same for a few others.

    There is plenty of gentle humour to be found in the story. You realise that Cass, her sister, and Nat, her son's tutor, may also be looking for an escape- but from what? There are lots of ghosts from the past to be faced There are several strands to this second chance story. Youthful mistakes, drug taking, teen pregnancy all spring to mind. The dynamics within a family are explored and there are lashings of sibling rivalry thrown in. It is a thoroughly enjoyable read and one in which I wasn't too sure where the story was going to go next!

In short: A warm romcom with a bite.

About the Author

Jane Lovering is the bestselling and award-winning romantic comedy writer who won the RNA Novel of the Year Award in 2012 with Please Don’t Stop the Music. She lives in Yorkshire and has a cat and a bonkers terrier, as well as five children who have now left home.  Her first title for Boldwood will be published in September 2020.

You can follow Jane here:  Twitter  | Facebook |  Website   |  Bookbub  |  Newsletter Sign up

Book links: Amazon UK 

Thanks to Jane Lovering, Boldwood Books and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour. 

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