Clover Cottage
(Love Heart Lane #3)
by Christie Barlow

A page-turning new cozy novel in the bestselling Love Heart Lane series – perfect for fans of Katie Fforde, Phillipa Ashley, and Milly Johnson!

Love Heart Lane – where friends are there for you no matter what.

When Vet Rory Scott inherits ramshackle Clover Cottage in the quaint village of Heartcross, Allie MacDonald just knows this is their happy ever after. A place to call home with the man she loves – it’s her dream come true!

Until Rory drops a bombshell. He loves Allie but he has dreams of his own to follow – to live and work in Africa. Clover Cottage will have to wait just a little longer…

Allie can’t imagine life without Rory, but she loves him too much to hold him back. And as he embarks on his adventure, Allie begins to rethink her own plans. She loves Rory and knows she wants him in her life, but maybe she can follow her own dreams too?

And always there, nestled in the beautiful village of Heartcross, surrounded by the people she loves, will be the place that will always bring them back to each other. Their forever home, Clover Cottage.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

‘Check my teeth,’ she said, slightly panicking. Rory’s eyebrows shot up as Allie clenched her teeth together and prised her lips open wide in some sort of weird twisty grimace. ‘What are you doing, you absolute loon? You look like some sort of constipated chimpanzee,’ said Rory, his eyes drawn towards Allie’s mouth. ‘Not that in the whole of my career have I ever had the pleasure of treating any constipated chimpanzees.’

 

‘A reality show –like the Kardashians?’ asked Isla, sitting up, knowing that brain-numbing TV was a must at her time of life. ‘More like the Karcrashions…’

 

My Review:

 

I’m was a bit slow on the uptake but I’ve caught on to the fact that Christie Barlow excels in writing about appreciably flawed yet well-meaning couples in flux, or amid critical transitions, and/or brain-slapping wake-up calls. And with this in mind, Clover Cottage was definitely on-trend.

Throughout most of the story, the main character of Allie was rigidly in her mindset of establishing a home and family and forever living in her small little village with her boyfriend Rory without ever venturing far from their little hamlet’s boundaries. Whereas, Rory had other long-held dreams and aspirations as well as a significant case wanderlust. While it wasn’t tense conflict, their differences were rising to the surface and placing them at odds with each other, in addition to other real-world issues and emotional peaks and valleys intruding on their energies.

I was invested in the storylines and quite taken with the unexpected twists and intriguing surprises that popped in as subplots. I’m already eager to see what Ms. Barlow has in store for her next installment with hints of a possible snake in the grass with nefarious intentions shaking up the sleepy village. I adore Ms. Barlow’s unique and vibrant sparks of creativity and felt her conception of the precious little alpaca competing in a dog show as a “pacapoo” was ingenious, as was her heart-squeezing and thoughtful ‘jar of memories.’ Sigh. More, please.