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Review: Summer at Skylark Farm

By Heidi Swain

Summer at skylark farm
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“Sounds great, but it’s all pricey. Are you sure you can pull it off?”
“Absolutely. And I know just the place to go to start buying.”
“Well, before you part with any money, you might want to have a look in the loft?”
“Really?”
- Page 343

Title: Summer at Skylark Farm
Author: Heidi Swain
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Book: stand alone BUT! also 7/7
Genre: Romance/Christmas
Found:  Series?
Rating: 4 Voodoos

Amber is a city girl at heart. So when her boyfriend Jake suggests they move to the countryside to help out at his family farm, she doesn’t quite know how to react. But work has been hectic and she needs a break so she decides to grasp the opportunity and make the best of it.

Dreaming of organic orchards, paddling in streams and frolicking in fields, Amber packs up her things and moves to Skylark Farm. But life is not quite how she imagined – it’s cold and dirty and the farm buildings are dilapidated and crumbling.

But Amber is determined to make the best of it and throws herself into farm life. But can she really fit in here? And can she and Jake stay together when they are so different?

-Goodreads

I liked this story, but I found the writing rather bothersome. Not quite to the point where I was tempted to put the book down but it did stray quite close. I read this one because I thought it was number 1 and I was attempting to orient all the background characters from the newer one(s) I’d read.
On the plus side – barring ACTUAL book one of course – the writing should progressively get better as I work through the one’s I’ve got left.

This one was a little more stereotypical with regards to it’s pattern. This was a little annoying as NOT following the stereotypical pattern is what drew me to read more of her books in the first place. However it wasn’t as bad as some I’ve read.

I was impressed with how well Amber took to country life. I was expecting – and dreading to be honest – a little more reluctance or inability to assimilate so with that in mind I’ll say I disagree with the first line of the book description. Amber was most definitely not a city girl at heart. She was an unrealised country girl born and raised in the city, unable to fathom living anywhere else. But once she got it and went with Jake, boy did she get it!

These guys main problem was the inability to communicate with each other. But actually, thinking back, that really was written into the story quite well. And Amber had promised.

I loved how much she loved the farm too. I was expecting her to try really hard because she loved Jake, but she just dove right in there.
It was a little odd starting with the two main characters already in love as usually these types of books start with them meeting or re-meeting or something. The Challenge they faced was clearly the move and their attempt to save the farm which was nice. Their relationship was an accompaniment rather than the focus and I do prefer some romance with my story, rather than some story – sort of – with my romance.

And, or course, I can’t mention a Heidi Swain book without saying how much I loved it being so BRITISH! Ah. Almost as good as a nice cup of tea.
I’ll be continuing with the rest of the books some time this year and I’ll be furthering my collection of them too as I’ve said before.

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