This is a lovely romance set in a small town, Sophie Bamford has just moved here to start her teaching career after leaving a toxic relationship, it is time for her and time for her to heal from the past, she never expects to meet goat farmer William Copley in the pub and feel an instant pull, how will life turn out for Sophie?

Soon Sophie is making friends and loving her new job and home, although there are a few problems with one of the students in her class as a counselor Sophie is doing her best to work with her, but she is soon spending time with William and is loving getting to know him.

William has been on his own since his wife left ten years ago he is very popular in town and although struggling with the farm he is keeping his head above water, getting to know Sophie is wonderful and soon with her advice he is making headway into the goat cheese market, but William wants more from their relationship but he must be careful because of his daughter Lavinia.

There are lots of problems with Lavinia and her dislike of her teacher and when things change very quickly after their first kiss William and Sophie are at odds with each other, will they work things through and finally find the love the both deserve and what about Lavinia. This really is a beautiful story, well written and filled with emotion and one that I would highly recommend. I would love to see more stories set in Ash Gully.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy to read and review

This is a good book. The two main characters are Sophie and William. Sophie is the new teacher in the school. William owns an apple orchard and goat farm. There is an instant attraction when they meet. They each have issue but together they work them out and fall in love.

Ash Gully is a romance story that covers some serious topics like under-age drinking and toxic relationships. The descriptions of the area are well made and really help you envisage the fictional town. It is a relatively short book but I feel it would have been great to read more about the characters and events in certain sections of the story.
Overall I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the authors back catalogue.

Ash Gully is a simple romance taking place out in the back of beyond in Australia. Sophie Bamford has joined the small school as the teacher for grades 7-9. She has spent years in a school as a counselor but now has her certification to teach. It’s not bad, but there is always one student. In this case it is Lavinia, who seems to be the leader of the grade nine girls. Sophie has to accomplish this. Her ex told her she couldn’t and she really needed to show herself she could. While she was eating dinner at the only place in town, she met William, a very hot, middle-aged farmer. She was constantly hoping to see him again. William was busy dealing with an apple orchard that had not made it through the last bushfire season, a new herd of goats, and a teenage daughter. He had no time for romance, but he couldn’t get Sophie out of his mind.

Sophie was becoming a part of the community. She got to know the people as she said good morning to them as she passed on her morning run. She wan’t something for the teens to do. She knew what kind of trouble they could get in if there was nothing for them. William started experimenting with goat cheese, but was about to give up when he ran into Sophie in the next town. She gave him renewed hope in his plans. This started a relationship, but could it grow to more? This was a very pleasant book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Feel good.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Ash Gully by Escape Publishing, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #Escape Publishing #RJ Groves #Ash Gully

This is a Cowboy Romance. I loved the characters, and I loved the ending. I just felt this book was slow moving, and I wanted more drama or action in this book. I just felt this book needed more, but this is not a bad read at all. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

Sophie Bamford moves to Ash Gully to teach grades 7, 8, and 9. William Copely is a goat farmer raising his daughter. Sophie is a first-year teacher after leaving her guidance counselor position.

When they meet its instant attraction. Sophie is having trouble with the 9th grade girls and is struggling to help them. William is struggling on his farm since the fire that burn his apple orchard.

Can William and Sophie connect? What happens with Sophie finds out William's daughter is in her class.

R.J. Groves is a new-to-me author, and while Ash Gully wasn't a bad read, and was well-written, it was just a little too light, and there was one major missed opportunity for this reader, which is why I'm giving it a 3-star rating.

Ash Gully is a tiny town in Australia, population just a tad over 400, and it's where Sophie Bamford has moved to take her first teaching job, since getting her degree, and it's 200+ miles away from the larger town of Shepparton, where she had been living, working as a school guidance counselor, and, best of all, it's out from under the control of Don, her critical, belittling, manipulative, and verbally abusive ex-boyfriend. Sadly, after having Don put her down for years, her self-esteem is very low, and she can still hear his derogatory put-downs in her head. It doesn't help that there are 3 older girls in her multi-grade class who are obnoxious and disrespectful, and Sophie is slow to do anything about their misbehavior. Even when she tries to rein them in, not much changes.

It's not long afterwards that Sophie stops in at the local pub for a glass of wine, and meets William, a goat farmer, and the two seem to hit it off rather quickly. What Sophie doesn't learn at the outset is that William is a single father, and one of her most disrespectful students, Lavinia, is his daughter, her mother unexpectedly having walked away without a word, and left them a decade earlier. William hasn't trusted a woman since.

Ash Gully is a short, rather pleasant, and slow-moving romance, however, the subplot centered around Lavinia and her hanging with the wrong crowd which gets her into trouble. Yet although Sophie was a guidance counselor, at no time does it occur to her to speak with Lavinia's parents. Had she done so, she might have discovered that William was Lavinia's father.

I kept waiting for something to happen, possibly for Sophie's ex to show up in town to try to get her back--a missed opportunity for both action and drama that would have made this a more exciting and suspenseful read than it was. If you're a fan of light romance, this novel will probably be more appealing to you than it was to me.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

This was a cute and quick read! A light romance novel set in Australia. It's a sweet and beautifully written novel. Definitely recommend for all light romance fans!