Happily Ever After is a contemporary romance with gothic elements by Jane Lovering, set in Templewood Hall where book lover Andi has taken a job cataloguing the library for the eccentric Lady Dawe, her mysterious son Hugo and a gardener who seems to be there whenever Andi needs him.

I liked the chapter titles being based on classic novels and the quirky characters but it just felt a bit flat for me. It was quite short and not enough character building for me so the romance didn’t make me feel a lot. I did really like Lady Dawe’s character though, she was the only one who felt fleshed out.

This book is ever so slightly bonkers and is such a good read because of it. Andi believe she is qualified for no job having had all of her education through Reading thousands of books. She takes the job catalogue books in a beautiful home with lady Tanith, the household help and her son Hugo her only companions. The character development is fabulous with the very unusual peccadillos of Lady Tanith being exposed chapter after chapter. Hugo is also on the eccentric side and it is to Andi’s how she copes with everything that goes on around her. The star of the show is pretty much the huge and rather smelly cat who developed his own personality and influences the book. A lighthearted and fun read..

3.3 Stars
One Liner: Okay... nice!

Andi (Andromeda) Glover has spent her life breathing books. With unconventional parents who live on a bus and travel for a living (successful though), she wants nothing more than a stable home. With no proper education, Andi has trouble finding jobs.
However, when she gets a chance to catalog books in Templewood Hall’s library, she is determined to turn her life into a bookish story. A gothic house with an eccentric lady owner and her enigmatic son Hugo is sure to give Andi her HEA, isn’t it?
However, Andi soon realizes that life doesn’t follow bookish tropes. And the odd sounds in the house might turn her life from classic romance to horror. Amidst the confusion, can she trust the gardener who appears and disappears at will?
The story comes in Andi’s first-person POV.

My Thoughts:
Like the author’s previous book, this too is set in Yorkshire. However, most of it takes place in Templewood Hall.
The descriptions are cool and some metaphors (food-related) were amusing. The overall tone had dry humor which made the book rather a funny read. At no point did I feel scared (I don’t think I was supposed to anyway).
Andi is a quirky protag and not always easy to like. However, her characterization is true to her arc. She lives bookish dreams and wants to align her life to follow some romantic novel but doesn’t succeed. She can be whiny and repetitive (especially about her sister) but we can see her frustration. She just wants a stable and loving home.
There is some romance, though the book is mainly about Andi growing up and realizing life cannot be fiction. There’s a bit of ‘searching for a lost object’ which doesn’t go anywhere in the first half.
The side characters are okay. My favorite is the cat addressed as The Master (no one dares call him by his name which is not revealed). The cat had more personality than most of the characters, followed by Lady Tanith (whose development comes a little too late). However, I appreciate that one of them is partially deaf and it is woven into the narrative.
The middle feels repetitive and boring. In the last quarter has decent progress. There are two major twists (reveals). Both are handled well and don’t seem odd or unrealistic. The second one was easy to guess due to a random dialogue by a character.
The ending is HFN with no epilogue. I would have liked a short epilogue set a year later or so. It might have enhanced the storyline.
To summarize, Happily Ever After is a timepass read with some useful themes but is pretty much a surface-level story. I like it okay, though I did like the author’s previous book better.
Thank you, NetGalley, and Boldwood Books, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Thank you for the correction! Here's the updated review for Happily Ever After:

A Charming, Mystical, and Delightfully Quirky Read

Happily Ever After is a whimsical and heartwarming novel that blends mystery, romance, and a dash of gothic charm. Andi Glover is a book-loving protagonist who, after being raised in an unconventional household, prefers the worlds of fiction to reality. Her new job at Templewood Hall, working for the eccentric Lady Dawe and her enigmatic son Hugo, feels like she’s stepped into one of her favorite novels.

However, Templewood Hall is full of unexpected twists, and Andi quickly learns that the mysteries there are stranger than fiction. Between ghostly apparitions, missing heirs, and long-buried family secrets, Andi’s new life becomes more like a thrilling whodunnit than a romance novel. Add in the mysterious gardener who seems to show up exactly when needed, and Andi begins to wonder if she might just be on her way to her own happily ever after—if she can unravel the secrets in time.

This story was full of humor, warmth, and delightful surprises. Andi’s journey to understand the mysteries of Templewood Hall, while discovering her own path and desires, was engaging and satisfying. If you’re a fan of quirky, romantic mysteries with a dash of heart, Happily Ever After is a must-read!

I initially thought this book had potential, especially with its quirky main character and some relatable reflections on expectations versus reality. The humor was there, and I appreciated the moments that made me pause and think. However, the pacing just didn’t work for me. By the time I hit 20%, I felt disengaged and started skimming through the rest, mainly to see if anything would pick up.

The plot felt too slow, and I couldn’t connect with the characters enough to keep me invested. It may be that I wasn’t in the right mood for this kind of story, but I couldn’t push through the way I hoped I would. Maybe I'll revisit it in the future, but for now, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

That's why I'm giving it 1 aka 0 ⭐.

This is a book that I will have to return to in a year or so because right now, it wasn’t the book for me. I chuckled a few times at the main character’s inner dialogue and I resonated with how we have expectations from what we read in books and life doesn’t pan out to follow through with those expectations. But I got bored when I was 30% into the book and my unusual impatience led me to skim through the rest of the book to see if my suspicions were correct. Lo and behold, they were. I’m sure the story leading up to the ending is entertaining, but the plot wasn’t quick enough for me to find out. I tried to pull through and finish it, but I couldn’t get into it or the main character. Maybe I’ll revisit this book in a year or two and see if my stance is the same.

Thanks to the publishers for the free ARC via NetGalley. All opinions and statements are my own.

The beginning of this book was very slow to me. I think I had to start it 3 or 4 times before I finally was able to get far enough in to keep going. It was a cozy read, which is generally something I love, but this one didn't captivate me as quickly as I prefer. The characters were a little quirky, which is fun. I wasn't sure which direction things were heading in the plot which did keep me reading.

Thank you, Net Galley and Boldwood Books for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When Andi sees herself without a family and with a job cataloguing books for a strange lady, suddenly the mistery begins and there might be more to these books than what was initially thought.

first of all, i don’t believe someone as obsessed with books as andi claims to be took this long to figure out the mistery of it all. that object being referenced so many times made it very obvious from the beginning

but that aside, this book begins with a good plot with a bad execution. it started well but quickly it became description after description of smells, walls or rooms which really disconnects me from the story.

it is also very repetitive at times. i can’t tell how many times i read that she might marry hugo for his money or that she could overcome the fact that he liked different things.

i also feel like we got a really good storyline with hugo but the fact that the main character had so many confusing things to say about him made it lose importance to me. i get it that she’s not attracted to him, but in a way it felt like she wouldn’t accept him. i don’t know, some of her thoughts about this matter were very confusing.

besides that, i enjoyed parts of it. i liked jay and i think the fact that we ended with them going somewhere but without a definite relationship between them was very well done. it wouldn’t make sense for them to be in a relationship when they only got to know each other halfway through the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Publishing for this eARC.

This is such a great and cozy story. A sweet romantic story wrapped in women's fiction following Andi who is looking simply for a few more life experiences so that she can live life outside of the books she so loves so much. Andi gets a live-in job (convenient since she needs a place to stay) with Lady Dawe and her handsome sons....son? heirs? Who's to say. Andi wanted to find love and a cozy life, she finds herself in somewhat of a cozy mystery.

Cute and subtle. Definitely recommend.

**A Delightful, Heartwarming Journey to Love and Self-Discovery**

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jane Lovering’s *Happily Ever After* is a charming and beautifully written novel that reminds us love often comes when we least expect it, and happiness is found in the most unexpected places. With a perfect balance of humor, heart, and genuine emotion, this book is an absolute joy to read.

The protagonist is wonderfully relatable—witty, flawed, and navigating life’s twists and turns with resilience and humor. Lovering’s characters feel like real people, each with their quirks and vulnerabilities, making their journeys deeply touching. The romantic connection in the story is genuine and heart-melting, filled with moments of tenderness and sparkling banter.

Set against a vividly drawn backdrop, the novel immerses readers in its world, adding depth and charm to the story. Lovering’s writing is warm and witty, with a keen insight into human relationships and emotions.

The themes of self-acceptance, healing, and the courage to embrace new beginnings are beautifully woven into the narrative, making this much more than a simple love story. It’s a tale of growth, hope, and finding joy in the imperfections of life.

*Happily Ever After* is a delightful read that will leave you smiling long after the last page. Jane Lovering has crafted a novel that is both heartwarming and uplifting—perfect for anyone who loves a feel-good romance with depth and soul. Highly recommended!

A fun book about a dreamy girl whose brain is full of book plots and suppositions that her life will turn out the same way it did for her favorite heroines from the literary classics. After taking a job cataloging books in a big house that might very well be haunted, she sets her eyes on the crazy lady of the house's son, because that's how life happens....
Lovering repeats herself in a few places, which gets a bit annoying, but otherwise, the story is full of snark, fun twists, false assumptions, and a shake of romance. This is a light read that will make you smile. 3.4/5

Quirky story that is not quite a romance and not quite a gothic mystery, this story held my interest as I wondered where the story was headed. Andi has just accepted a job cataloguing a collection of books for a rich woman who lives in an estate. Andi doesn't have any experience but has always loved books. In fact, books were her savior as her parents spent their time traveling in a van for a television show and she was never able to make friends or make much of an life. The author adds some humor to this story and I laughed out loud at the scene where Andi arrives at the estate and is scared by the gardener waving huge shears as he backs into a bush releasing hundreds of insects!

The estate is owned by Lady Dawe who is not very friendly and she lives with her son Hugo who is handsome and who Andi thinks might make a good match for her. There is also a rude cleaning lady named Mrs. Compton, a cat called The Master and a deaf gardener. Andi quickly finds out she really was hired to find some secret diaries which detailed a long ago love affair between Lady Dawes and her late father-in-law. There is a sense of the gothic with the chapters named for books like "Rebecca" and "The Secret Garden" and the noises and lights that appear to creep around the old estate. There is a side story about Hugo which takes away from Andi's story quite a bit and I wondered why the author included that storyline although it was done in a respectful manner. As Andi works to find the hidden diaries she wonders where she will go next and how the next stage of her life will unfold. I did wish for Andi to find out her passions in life or to at least fall in love, but I did like characters and the ending seemed fitting. Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for. copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

Jane's books are always a joy - a slow-burn romance, quirky characters, and something a little different.

In this book, Andi goes to catalogue Lady Tanith's books - and is also asked to solve a mystery. Andi's rather strange childhood means she tends to view the world through the lens of fiction - and in romance novels the mousy heroine always gets the hot heir and lives happily ever after, right?

But life isn't like a novel, and it's enormous fun watching her learn to change her view of the world, and the slightly shy bookish woman starts to blossom.

Lots of twists, together with Jane's always-fabulous characterisation (not to mention the crumbling manor, the stinky cat, the Mrs Danvers-like housekeeper) made this a really good read. I loved the way the chapters were named after fictional houses.

Thank you to Boldwood, the author and Netgalley for the ARc. All opinions my own.

Love the slowburn romance of this one,

It was unable to put it down, i Loved the Dual POV, the heartwarming romance.

Everything was AMAZING

This was an interesting story, something a little different! Andi goes to work for Lady Tanith cataloguing an enormous collection of books. She's also been tasked with finding something else within the library. However, Andi's whole view of relationships and people is coloured by all the fiction she's read. So, after meeting Lady Tanith's son, Hugo, she's convinced she'll get her 'happily ever after'. Well, needless to say, life isn't fiction, no matter how much she wishes it to be, and it doesn't quite work out that way, at least not with Hugo! There were some great twists in this story and some amusing moments. A good, enjoyable read. I particularly liked that each chapter was named after a house in a novel, that was fun!
Thanks to Netgalley, Boldwood Books, and Jane Lovering for the free ARC. All opinions are my own.

Andi glover takes a job at Templewood Hall, sorting books in the library. I would call this a cozy read.

This book was so warm and sweet. I loved the bookish vibes as well as the comfort of the cover. I thoroughly enjoyed this!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5 stars)

First off, the chapter titles being named after books? Very cute. That alone had me intrigued. Set in Yorkshire, Happily Ever After gives off serious gothic vibes—crumbling manor, eccentric residents, ghostly happenings (but not really), and a smelly cat with way too much personality. I went in expecting swoony romance, witty writing, and a lighthearted vibe, but I got something a bit different. Let’s dive in.

The story kicks off with Andi Glover, a self-professed book lover who’s completely out of options. With nowhere to live and no clear life plan, she takes a job at Templewood Hall, sorting the very chaotic library of Lady Tanith Dawes. Now, Lady Dawes is a character—think temperamental, unhinged, and the proud owner of Master, the aforementioned smelly cat who immediately adopts Andy as his new bestie, whether she likes it or not.

Templewood Hall itself is like a character, all creaking floors and crumbling grandeur, and there’s a whole lot of talk about ghosts. Spoiler: the manor isn’t haunted—it’s just Andi’s overactive imagination, thanks to a childhood that could best be described as a bit of a mess.

There’s a cast of quirky supporting characters, including a gardener Andi connects with and Hugo, Lady Dawes’ ridiculously handsome yet removed son. Hugo starts out cold but warms up eventually.

If you’re here for a full-blown romance, you might be disappointed. The romance is very much in the background, which threw me because I was expecting something a little more swoon central. Instead, the main focus is on Andi’s job, the eccentricities of the manor, and a mystery hidden in the library.

The writing is sharp and funny, and the gothic undertones add an interesting layer. However, I couldn’t help feeling a little let down by the lack of romantic development. It’s more about quirky characters and atmospheric storytelling than love and chemistry, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing—it just wasn’t what I was hoping for.

Overall, Happily Ever After is entertaining, well-written, and full of personality. If you’re in the mood for gothic vibes, eccentric characters, and a slow-burn story that’s light on romance and no spice, this one’s worth a read. But if you’re looking for all the feels in the romance department, it might leave you wanting more. Three stars from me!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I gotta say the author’s name did get me feeling all lovering (see what I did there, hehe)

Anywaysss. Aahh. Such a cozy read imo.
U know those cozy feel good reads.

Yeap. This was it.

It starts of really good. Truly hooked me in. A slow and steady buildup and catches you unaware and boom. You’re hooked.

Andi my gal. What a journey.

A great book. Tq for the opportunity

As I started this book, I assumed it was a debut novel from a new author. The beginning was a bit forced and difficult to stick with, and the descriptions tend to reference other books, which often feels like lazy writing to me. Once I had made it to a quarter of the way, I was intrigued, but also a little confused with the various tropes. It often felt a bit overwhelming, between the main character's parents having done YouTube and then moved to TV (I'll be honest-I feel like it would have been the other way around in real life?), her sister going to boarding school, while she stayed with her parents and learned from books, and being determined that she was going to marry the heir to the estate. When I hit 40% through the book, I really buckled down, and wanted to know what happened. The style felt a bit more solid with less references to other novels, and, the reason why I had assumed this was a debut, it felt that the author had really sorted out her style by this point.

As for the story itself, the MC seemed really selfish and totally hung up on her life being like a book. A lot of her life changing revelations seemed repetitive, and I got tired of reading that maybe she wouldn't marry Hugo after all. As a random side note, I also, for the life of me, could not remember the MCs name. It seemed like there were very few times characters referred to her by name, and I could remember everyone else, including the nasty cook's name, but the MC just felt so blah that I didn't really care about her.

Nearing the final chapters, the inner monologue seemed to get longer and longer between actual dialogue, and I often felt lost in scenes when characters began to speak. Ultimately, I did want to know what the ending would be - I really, truly could not see where the author was taking the entire story. I did enjoy the ending, but it did feel a bit rushed in the conclusion of Hugo's story arc, and also a very rushed decision for Andi after she spent so long debating what to ultimately do. Overall, this book was so incredibly odd but also really interesting. I did laugh at some of the "plot twists", and the Master might just be my favourite character of all.