I am a big fan of Trisha Ashley's work and I have read most of her collection, enjoying them all very much. Therefore when I was looking for a few new books I looked at Trisha's first as she is probably my favourite author.

PLOT
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The story begins with a prologue taking us back to the early 1980's and we meet Josie who is thirteen. She has very recently lost both of her parents in an accident and has come to live with her Grandmother in a small village called Neatslake. Understandably, Josies head is all over the place. She is grieving the loss of her parents and she is very nervous about starting a new school. The first day of school arrives and two fellow students make an impact on Josie - Ben who is a year older and all the girls seem to fancy and Libby who has been asked to look after Josie for her first week.

We then return to the current day and we learn that Josie is now living in her Grandmothers cottage with Ben as her Grandmother sadly passed away. Ben and Josie have been together since school but they hadn't married or had children yet. Next door lives 'Uncle' Harry who Josie is extremely fond of and she looks after him very well. Ben is an artist and Josie makes wedding cakes but the pair are mainly focussed on being self-sufficient.

Libby on the other hand has homes in both London and Pisa and has been the wife of two wealthy men. However, Libby was not a goldigger and you can see that she really did care for both of these men. Libby also has a daughter, Pia who is in her late teens and is going through a rebellious stage as the story begins.

Will Josie and Ben remain in self-sufficient bliss or will a shocking revelation come to light that turns their world upside down? Will Libby marry again or make peace with Pia?

OPINION
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As I stated previously I had very high expectations of this book and I was not disappointed. A lot of Trisha's books are quite similar, usually focussing around a woman living in the country with an interest in gardening and baking. However, she manages to make all of the characters diverse enough in order to ensure the books are not repetative of their predecesors.

I warmed to the character of Josie instantly as she is a very loveable and down to earth and you can see she really values her life in Neatslake and really tries to look after those around her. Initially I did like the character of Ben but relatively early on in the story he began to annoy me by his actions, giving the impression that he and Josie were growing apart.

The plot flowed very well and although it wasn't action packed there was always plenty going on to hold your attention and to keep you reading. The writing style is very laid back and informal and sometimes it really does feel as though you are hearing the story being read aloud.

The only negative about this book is that it is very predictable in places and you are able to guess straight away what is going to happen next.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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The book was published in 2009 by Avon.
It has 416 pages.
The book is available from Amazon for £5.17 or the Kindle version is available for just 99p!