I did not feel any chemistry between her and the MMC and both of them were so immature. Pippa failed to set boundaries between her and her ex and he kept popping up to get her back. While Wolfie constantly kept misunderstanding her and behaved like a temperamental manchild. On top of that, there were a lot of endless and boring scenes which slowed down the story even further. So overall, I really couldn't enjoy this book. The plot wasn't interesting enough to keep me engaged, the writing was unnecessary detailed and the characters though had their own share of past trauma and difficulties, felt bland and had no depth. So I just could not connect with them. The only good part of this book was Pippa's friend Mae and her cousin Frankie, the rest was just all awful. I'm sorry but I feel like I wasted my time reading this book till the very end.

Thank you to Elizabeth and @onemorechapter for my copy of this book.

When Pippa Monroe’s heart gets bashed to pieces by her long-term boyfriend, her world falls apart. She finds herself homeless, jobless and loveless. With nowhere to go and nothing to do she finds herself applying to be the custodian of Squires House. A stately home in Hurst Bridge that is close to her heart. Without any other applicants Pippa finds herself getting the job.

The only problem - the grumpy and sometimes rude and cantankerous Wolfie Squires. Wolfie and Pippa seem to bash heads at every turn (sometimes quite literally). But as they get to know each other they find out that they could be perfect for each other in every way.

This was such a joyous romance. And left me with the biggest smile on my face. It was witty but with some moments that made me feel all the emotions!

Wolfie was my favourite type of male main character. A misunderstood grumpy man that is actually a true cinnamon roll. I loved that he was a hugely capable and solid man but had a vulnerability because of his past that he hid under a grumpy exterior.

Pippa was also an excellent character who I immediately warmed to. Her recovery from her heartbreak was natural and revealed the person she really was inside. A woman who could stand up for herself, achieving amazing things and fight for what she wanted and deserved.

This was a fab romance. That I would recommend to anyone who wants a light, enjoyable and lovely read.

3.5 stars. I am such a sucker for a book set in the English countryside.

Pippa is devastated after her relationship of ten years implodes so she takes a job as a house sitter for this gorgeous old mansion in her village. The house has been falling into disrepair and is now owned by Wolfie (I know…the name killed me) who is young and hot and brooding. He plans to sell it which is very upsetting to Pippa because only an idiot wouldn’t be devastated to see a beautiful old home torn down. Wolfie also lives in the home…and you can see where this is going…

I found Wolfie and Pippa’s chemistry went from zero to sixty pretty quickly. The pacing of their relationship felt off. But, the setting is great and I enjoyed supporting characters. I think Wolfie and Pippa both get a compelling backstory that goes a long way towards making up for the “miscommunication” that causes their third act troubles.

This was one of those cozy British romances that I always enjoy and absolutely made me want to live in a giant old mansion in a little English village.

Small-town, grumpy-sunshine, English romance that is a clean, slow burn. I did enjoy the “flirting” and banter between the MC’s but didn’t feel as much connection for them until the last half. I wish there would’ve been more build up between them but I also get that this book focuses much on the FMC, which I applaud. Also loved the side characters that truly added to every aspect of this story. Ends with an epilogue and a HEA.

This book started out very disjointed and slow for me, and I never really connected with the main characters at all. Unfortunately I did DNF this one about halfway thru for those reasons

If you’re looking for an opposites-attract, small-town, romance where the main characters learn what they want together, then you might like this book. There’s a supportive community, some queer representation, and a truly fantastic pig named Juniper (my favorite character.) The two main characters both have difficult pasts that they are trying to make their peace with, but what they want seems to be exactly the opposite.

The ending was very sweet and made me smile. However, it did take a while for me to get into the book. It also felt as though we could have delved more into the MMC’s personality, as we didn’t learn very much about him.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The House Sitter by Elizabeth Drummond

This is the second book for the author and my first time reading them.

This is a forced proximity romance trope.

Pippa Munro had her entire life upended by the man she thought she would marry. Now she's trying to get back on her feet and find what she wants to do with her life. She's not afraid of hard work and she gets to stay in the big old house she's loved since she was a child. Wolfie Squries is only in town to see to the fate of the family home. Bringing in a caretaker was only supposed to make sure someone was onsite while he traveled for business. Yet as they dance around each other its clear there is more than cohabitation afoot. Yes, Pippa has a long standing love of the house and her small hometown and Wolfie does not. But maybe seeing things from the other side will finally heal some old and new hurts.
Everyone deserves someone that would follow them anywhere.

This is my first book by Elizabeth but it won't be my last this book was really easy to read which shows the authors talent. It was enjoyable and funny and totally engaging. We all know exactly where the story will lead but it was nice to go along for the journey.

In The House Sitter Pippa’s life takes a down turn when so many things go wrong - perfect wedding planned, however, she breaks up with her boyfriend and has to sell the farm. Suddenly Pippa is loveless, jobless and homeless. She decides on house-sitting an ancient manor with the owner and Pippa have opposing opinions. I was so hopeful that this opposites-attract and forced-proximity romance book would be for me but this one fell short.

I had issues with the pacing and unnecessary details. I wished that the two leads characters had stronger personal journeys and I felt there to be a lack of chemistry between the two. This would make a good beach read - a light and easy romance.

I had to DNF the book. The cover and description look cute and fun, but unfortunately the book itself was not. The chemistry was lacking and story was slow. I wanted to like it but I just couldn’t get into it and eventually just had to stop.

An easy to read and enjoyable novel with the main character Pippa being really relatable and all the cosy countryside village vibes.

I really felt for Pippa from page one but I also liked that she was a capable woman and a survivor.

All in all great plot and characters and well worth a read!

The plot focuses on Pippa, who had just left a ten- year relationship, and was attempting to pick the pieces of her life.

I love Pippa’s attachment to Hurst Bridge but her initial naivety was nauseating. I love that the plot was very relatable and engaging.

The characters made the plot what it is. They went above and beyond to deliver. Mae, Frankie and Juniper the pig were all on point.

I enjoyed the small town setting and the accurate description of the Yorkshire Moors, which would make you want to visit this amazing English countryside.

I appreciate the author for ‘dealing’ with Alex. I love that the reader didn’t have the burden of handing him his ‘punishment’.

There could have been more focus on how the relationship between Wolfie (who names a child that) and Pippa developed other than what we were led to see.

I wanted to give Wolfie a smack on the head for the way he blows hot and cold and always running at the first sign of ‘trouble’.

Also, the plot could have been shorter as I felt there were some parts where we were just going through the motions for the ending that we all know.

If you love grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity and small town romance then you will enjoy this.

I received an advanced copy and the review is mine and voluntary.

First of all, I’d like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Upon first impression, the book's plot seemed promising, and the cover was adorable, leading me to have high expectations. Unfortunately, this read did not meet my expectations.

While I usually enjoy slow-burn romances (in fact, some of my favorite romance books are slow burns), this one was not for me. I felt there were too many unnecessary scenes added to the book just to prolong it, without adding significant value to the overall story.

The story begins with the FMC still dating her ex (which was unbelievable to me because HOW did she stay with that man for so many years?), but I understand that this was important for the plot. Then the MMC, initially introduced in the prologue (where he definitely made a bad impression) reappears. He is the typical snobbish rich boy - with a very questionable name but whatever - a character type I usually enjoy in books, as they often reveal their real character and are ultimately loving people. However, this was not the case here. I didn’t feel chemistry between the main characters throughout the book, and I couldn't connect with them individually either. Despite their traumas and emotional past, they didn't resonate with me and often annoyed me.

Overall, I found this book to be dull, and the main couple wasn't worth investing in.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book before its release.
Unfortunately I could just not get into this book, it wasn't gripping me and as much as I persisted with it I couldn't continue.
It would be unfair of me to post this review to Goodreads, Amazon and social media when this could just be due to my overall attention span at the moment.
As a Sheffield girly I did love the mentions of the city though♥️

Pippa had her dream job and boyfriend, only to lose both in the blink of an eye when the farm was sold. Seeking employment, she is offered a stint at the historical house in town to house sit and make sure the valuables are taken care of while the caretaker has to be away to nurse his wife. The owner, a brooding teen she remembers from her school days, is now an ex-military man and security advisor and does not consider this old house his home.

Pippa's character grows up as the story unfolds. The house is the best character in the story. Set against the small, English village, I think it was the true star of the story. The relationship between the heroine and hero got a bit annoying at times, and to me there wasn't much chemistry between them. Overall, it was not a bad read. There are some cute moments with unusual pets, and I loved the descriptions of the house. I was transported to England, and I really wanted to stay there!

Thank you Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

DNF @ 22%.

I believe that you have a sense of whether or not you’ll like a novel quite early on. From the prologue, I knew that I strongly disliked the main character, Pippa, based on how she never stood up for herself, defended her awful boyfriend, and got mad at her friend and cousin for pointing this out to her.

As I continued, I hoped that my opinion would change in Chapter 1 when there is a time jump. Alas it didn’t. She became even more unlikeable. The difficulty for me was that I was not rooting for her, I was not interested in continuing to read the story, I actually had to convince myself to keep reading every chapter.

I then also couldn’t take the name Wolfie seriously. Maybe because that is the nickname of my pet cat, but honestly I thought it was a funny name.

Feedback I would give is to tweak Pippa’s character to make her more likeable, add some other redeeming qualities that make the reader want to root for her.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

The House Sitter is the second book of Elizabeth Drummond. This book will yet again be an enemies-to-lovers romance. I did enjoy reading her debut The Reunion but felt like the story missed a spark making it just a decent read. Will this book have that spark? What will I think of The House Sitter?

This book yet again is a slow-burn romance read with enemies-to-lovers. The story starts of with a picture perfect life of Pippa and her boyfriend Alex. She thinks he is going to propose to her and is fully convinced by it. However Alex doesn't share this thought and is thinking of their future together in another way. Pippa is so naive and just thinks the whole world is about her and she will get what she wants. I really disliked her personality, making this a bit of a struggle throughout the story. Even after she moves in with Wolfie, she also wants to be in control.

Elizabeth Drummond has a decent writing style, but the pace of the story is slow. In addition, some chapters just don't match up with each other. First this is happening and just a moment after the total opposite happens. While the storyline itself really could be one that has potential, it just didn't work out.

The inconsistencies in the storyline, the personality of the characters as well as the slow pace of the book, just make The House Sitter a disappointment. In my opinion the story lackes the romantic spark and is just blunt. I was really hoping the second book by this author would be even better than The Reunion, however this didn't come true. Because of all these cons in The House Sitter I give it a 2 star rating.

3* An entertaining read.

Pippa Munroe is distraught when her boyfriend of thirteen years destroys their relationship after suddenly announcing that he's sold his farm and expects them both to relocate to Kent. For the past ten years she's worked with Alex on his farm, he was the brawn while Pippa was the brain. She managed the business side of the farm, worked on the farm and cared for his bad tempered, unappreciative father. It was through Pippa's involvement that the farm rose from barely surviving to a successful business. Losing everything, her lover, her home and her job, she begs help from her cousin Frankie. After two months of sleeping on Frankie's couch, she's offered a temporary job to house sit Squires House. There her life changes from managing a successful farm to polishing antique furniture in a draughty, run-down house.

Wolfie Squires has inherited 'the big house' but rarely visits and needs someone as a housekeeper. Pippa last saw Wolfie at her village fair when she was 16 and he was a broody 18 year old.

There were several likeable characters in the book, Pippa's friends Frankie and Mae, neighbours Todd and Patrick, Juniper the pig, but I just couldn't empathise with Wolfie. He had so many unnecessary misunderstandings with Pippa, making him blow hot and cold with her. Surprisingly after being in the army he was insecure and unconfident. And that childish name of Wolfie, surely his army buddies would have renamed him something more soldiery.

I didn't love the book, neither did I hate it, it's an OK read.

eARC generously supplied by HarperCollins/One More Chapter and NetGalley, this review is my personal, unbiased opinion.

This story is both fresh and new in terms of the way it deals with its main protagonists, though it is, of course, a romance. Set in the Yorkshire town of Hurst Bridge, The House Sitter is a second chance at love for Pippa Munro, though to be honest, her first time round wasn’t quite the enduring romance she thought it was while she was living it. Pippa’s ex, Alex, is a user and then some, first using Pippa’s savings in their teens to buy a new car that is purportedly for them both, though he registers it in his name, and later relying on Pippa’s brains, intuition and hard labour to make his family farm a roaring success. She’s lived with him for years, patiently waiting for him to pop the question and enable them to move on to having children, only to discover when he sells the farm out from under her that this wasn’t his plan at all. I truly felt for Pippa, who, despite being left with little more than a Monstera plant and her clothes, is a strong woman. I loved her approach to caring for Squires House and her efforts to stop Wolfie Squires from selling it. Wolfie is a complex character and despite his blinding good looks, I didn’t like him much when he first appeared on the page. It didn’t take long for that to change. There were plenty of humorous moments in this story as well as plenty to tug at my heart strings. There were also some fabulous secondary characters, Juniper the pig being by far my favourite. I loved that she was an escape artist and seemed to find the grass on Pippa’s side of the fence greener than that on her own side. While both Pippa and Wolfie have some personal growth and healing to deal with, there are plenty of light moments to balance things out. This has been an entertaining and immersive story with plenty to love.

The House Sitter is a hilarious romp with some real life issues that get addressed throughout. The characters' relationship seemed forced at first, but slowly the end came into view with the only option for both of them was each other. I appreciated the realness of the writing and it immediately drew me into the story.