Member Reviews

Miranda lost her job and her home when the owner of the hotel where she works dies and his daughter sells the premises.
She is now living in her car because she has very little savings.
One evening an older couple ask for her help when their car breaks down and she offers to drive them home to Devon a five hour drive from the city where she lives.
This decision will alter Miranda’s future.
A feel good novel with some good characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I loved this book. A really happy, life affirming story with great, well written characters. Highly recommended.

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This a story about Miranda Brown and how her life changes dramatically after helping an older couple who are stranded.

Miranda goes by the name Mim. She has been living out of her car after losing her job but she takes all this lightly as her life had not been easy. She never knew her father and was abandoned by her mother by the time she was eight years old, grew up in foster homes and had to make her own way in life.

Bea and Bill Howard are old enough to be her parents; they are stranded just before new years and need to get from Lancashire to their home in Devon. Mim spontaneously offers to help and drives them home knowing they will refuel her car and she can head back north. Work is scare at this time of year so she can take the time to drive this nice couple.

When they arrive in Devon she is invited to stay at one of their holiday caravans for the night. There will be a wedding the next day and Mim is offered work with the catering service, perfect for someone like her with former hotel experience. The family has four adult children and they are so very nice; not at all stuck up rich despite the estate and ammenities they grew up with. This is a bit of a Cinderella story without the royalty.

What I liked: The setting in Devon was nice. It was also nice to read about Mim's first experience viewing the sea. With the exception of Janet the characters were all likeable as was the plot. The cover is quite pretty and that would have drawn me to pick up the book in a bookstore and see what the book was about.

What I didn't like: Mim was described as stubborn and proud but sometimes her refusal or taking exception to a free cup of tea or use of heat in the caravan went too far. Yes, we get it that Mim was not a charity case and she was proud but that could have been toned down a bit.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. This will be published April 16, 2021.

Genre: General Fiction/Romance/Women's Fiction

Sharing with Joy for British Isles Friday.

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In my own life, I have often asked myself what home is. Is it a place? Is it a person? Or is it a feeling? This wonderfully warm book examines the concept of home in a beautifully written story of Mim, a homeless woman living in her car, through no fault of her own. Mim has been in care most of her life, and really doens't understand what home is. Through a random meeting Mim meets Bill and Bea Howard who are stranded and on impluse decides to drive them home.
I don't know if many would be brave enough to drive strangers through the night, but Mim was and it changed her life in so many ways. The themes of family, home and friendship are explored though a series of events and ideas where Mim sees the sea for the first time and then starts seeing so much more as she gets drawn into the Howard family and tries to get her head around the enigma that is Corin, the son and heir.
I really enjoyed this book, it is a light read, but with heart and soul, and will make you feel warm and fuzzy.

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Finding Home - Kate Field

Mim has lost her job, her home and is sleeping in her car in a Lancashire layby. She meets Bill and Bea Howard whose car has broken down, and drives them to their home in a beautiful seaside village in Devon. There follows the story of how she turns her life around and eventually finds home.

Wow - I LOVED this book! I raced through it and loved the story, the characters, absolutely everything! What a fantastic read - very highly recommended and one of my best books of the year (out of 70!) I've already discovered the author has written other books so I'm off to buy them now. And I really hope she writes others about the family and the village in Finding Home as I'm missing them!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

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I have enjoyed reading this lovely feel good book and following Mim on her journey.Mims life changes after she gives i lift to a stranded couple.I can highly recommend this lovely story.5*

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Finding Home by Kate Field a five-star read that feels like you are coming home. This is the perfect way to while away a wet spring afternoon, get a pot of tea, a tasty cake, a comfy chair, this novel and you have a winner. There is a great romance, one that will warm your heart as well as other heart-warming aspects such as showing how a little amount of kindness goes along way, how you can do one random act of kindness and change many lives, hopefully encouraging us all to do more kind acts. But what will warm you most are the characters, with Mim you do have to read between the lines, but I Love how we get to form our own opinion, really wonder about what was and could be. Some of the other characters are so well rounded you will alternate between loving and hating them. But this is such a well-done story that you won’t want to put it down until you know what happens in the end.

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This is the most uplifting story I have read in a long time. Miranda, Mim for short is so positive despite all that has happened to her. She was bought up in care with no family but she is such a hard worker that suddenly having to live in her car is tragic. Even with all her problems she still manages to do a good turn to a couple that needs a long drive home. Coming to their rescue sets in place a chain of events that finally leads to the happy ending she so deserves. The family she rescues is rich and they have a gregarious family that Mim gets to know well. Still working hard she even comes up with ideas to help others.
Why won’t their eldest son join the family business that has made them all so comfortable? Mim is drawn to him but knows nothing about romantic love as she has never received it and he would never be interested in a poor girl with no family to speak of anyway.
This is such a tonic in these troubled times it will cheer you up and proves that helping others is its own reward as many of us have found out recently. You should read this and her other romances to make you feel more positive about life again.

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Finding Home by Kate Field was a delightful story and my only disappointment is that I read it too fast and it’s over now. I loved the characters, the common working class Mim and the posh family of Bea and Bill and their kids. I didn’t foresee the twist and it didn’t feel implausible. I really want to go on holiday in Devon county in England now and see the sea, the beaches, the cliffs, and fossils. There is a sweet, slow brewing romance without bedroom scenes. I’d recommend this one for a cozy weekend read. Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter for an advanced copy to read and review. This book will be available in April 2021.

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A sweet read. Mim did not have the best start in life, and seeks only a roof over her head and stability after her 10 year job has ended. Her kindness is repaid in life changing ways when when she gives a lift to a stranded couple. She has to learn to trust her good fortune and the love she finds.

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What can I say? I absolutely loved this book, it just hit the perfect spot for me. Mim is so independent due to her upbringing and struggles to accept help and support from her new friends Bea and Bill, together with their family. There is an enormous gulf between them in terms of money, so she doesn't feel that she deserves it. The location certainly sounds idyllic, with the sea so close by.
I enjoy books set in small communities with a mixture of humour, sadness and romance and this has those all in spades. This is unashamedly a feel - good story ideal for sitting in a comfy chair and let the world drift by you.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book and I have already placed a pre-order for it as I enjoyed it so much.

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Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This was a pleasant easy read, nice characters and a nice storyline. I liked it.

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A lovely story. There are elements within the story that may be relatable to any reader that's had a tough month money wise, or more month than money before payday. Mim, the main character hasn't always had things easy in life. She a likeable and relatable & you really want her to have some good luck. Will meeting the Howard family give Mim the happy future she has been looking for?

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This book has made me wish I lived in Venhallow!! Such an uplifting, sweet ad hearwarming story!! Mim, the main character, has had it rough. Bea and Bill are an amazing couple who take her with them trustingly.
It's a lovely romance, perfect for those readers who love reading about second chances. The descriptions of the landscapes make you feel as if you could really feel the ocean breeze, and the secondary characters are so nice too.
It's the kind of cozy, easy reading perfect for finishing it all in an afternoon, with your cup of tea and a slice of cake.by your side.
Thank you to Netgalley and One More Chapter for this ARC. Also on Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3669532884

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A really good story. I loved it . Gosh you felt for the main character Mim. Amazing if you have money you just take things for granted. Gordon her old boss sounded lovely. She really turned the carvans a round. I loved the open air swimming. Bill and Bea were so kind. A fab read

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A lovely easy read set in a beautiful seaside village. It is a heartwarming story.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

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Here is a story you can get lost in for a while. In the best of ways. Mim’s life has come crashing down all around her and when she rescues the Howards by driving them home, she soon becomes part of their life at Venhallow. The author has written such marvellous descriptions of place and people that I could smell the sea salt from the beach and feel myself in those plush cushions in Venhallow itself. Mim is a tough character, she’s had to be, and she protects herself but not without making a few assumptions about others. Her reasons for doing so are carefully and skilfully woven into the plot and hats off to the author for the way in which she sympathetically deals with a character who has lived through the care system. The writer didn’t go into too much detail about Mim’s background but said just enough that you understood what she was missing in life. For balance, life in Venhallow simply sparkles and the page sizzles when Mim and Corin are together when they are portrayed as being from different worlds. I came to love how all of the eccentric and individual characters were described (even the one we’d like to tip into the sea). I barely wanted the book to end. What a lovely story. I’d certainly recommend it to readers who like a comforting read with some realism and challenge thrown in.

Thank you to Netgalley and One More Chapter for allowing me to read the ARC and I am happy to leave this review which is my honest opinion.

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A moving romance that you warm to immediately on having second chances and pulling down the barrier between classes and the importance of family.
Loved nearly all the characters from the first with lovely descriptions of the area .

Mim dreams of her own family but she was brought up in a care home, recently jobless and living in her car in Lancashire she meets Bea and Bill stranded 500 miles from their Devonshire home with a wedding to attend the next day Mim decides to drive them home, little did she know they live in a mansion.
Bea and Bill take Mim into their hearts and include her in their family plans for the future.
Corin the eldest son befriends Mim and helps her to change her mind on the class difference and whats important in life.
At first I thought I was reading a murder book when Mim was accosted in a dark carpark by two strangers!

Loved this book and thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review
Shared on goodreads
www.goodreads.com/review/show/3653163476

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What a fabulous read, a totally different heroine, strong but fragile. I' have never read a book in this genre where the main character has come from a background in foster homes. It was done sensitively and i applaud the author for this. It also shows how your life can be flipped upside down so quickly. I also enjoyed reading about the kindness of strangers and how everyone can have misconceptions about others. When i got to the end of the book I have to admit that even though I knew the ending I did shed a few tears. I also applaud the writing of the small minded person in this book, as I'm sure we have all come across people like this in our lives, communities etc. I will be recommending this book to friends and colleagues. Thank you

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Mims life has hit rock bottom, everything she owns is in the boot of her car and to top it all she has little money so is sleeping in her car. One lonely night she drives to a lay-by she normally uses and another car is parked there. It’s unsettling especially when the couple from the car knock on her car window asking for help as they have broken down..However this is the start of Mim finding light at the end of the tunnel as the couple Bill and Bea ask her if she could drive them down to Devon as they have a wedding held at there house the very next day. Bea wants to help Mim but Mim is unused to people being nice to her and is fiercely independent. A wonderful story of never giving up on your dreams even though you never in your wildest dreams did you imagine them coming true.
I hope there is going to be another book as I think there is more to Mim to be explored

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