Published 12th February 2026 by Bloomsbury.
From the cover of the book:
She's found her dream home but can she make her dreams a reality?Hattie finds other people their dream homes for a living.
Surely she, of all people, has the connections and the knowledge to find her own forever home? Instead, she baffles those closest to her by choosing to pack up and move every few months from one housesitting job to the next.
Of course, that's because she knows where she wants to live. It's a beautiful house owned by a lovely old woman who'd simply love for Hattie to have it.
But nothing is ever that simple.
There's Clive who refuses to listen to his great-aunt's wishes about her house. There's Luke, Hattie's oldest friend, who just wants to see her happy. And there's Hattie herself. It might take a difficult client, an awkward teenager and a couple of dogs to help her see what really makes a house a home.
***********
Hattie spends her days finding the perfect homes for her clients, and yet she has yet to buy one for herself - even though she knows exactly which one she would pick. Her dream home is owned by her elderly friend Mary, and although Mary would dearly love for Hattie to buy it, there is a stumbling block... Clive, Mary's penny-pinching great nephew, who refuses to consider his great-aunt's needs and wishes.
Meanwhile, Hattie flits from rented property to rented property, relying of her oldest friend, builder Luke, to come to her aid in an emergency. She sometimes thinks that she and Luke could be something more, but she is unwilling to spoil their friendship.
Then her sister asks Hattie if her son Xander can come and stay with her while she is away working in Switzerland. Hattie is unsure she is the right person to look after a teenager, but knows she will be able to rely on Luke's help. She does not realise that Xander's arrival will show her what makes a house a 'home'...
A Katie Fforde book is always balm for the soul, and this one turned out to be just the tonic I needed! I loved Hattie from the start. Her unconventional style, her kindness, her intuition, and her ability to see glimpses of the future for the people around her (inherited from her wild Irish granny) make her easy to take to your heart - but finding her own happiness proves to be a little more tricky.
As the story unfurls, Hattie's big heart and her insightful visions allow her to steer her friends and loved ones towards their perfect partners. This generally involves complicated, and highly entertaining matchmaking schemes. And yet she struggles to see where her own heart really lies, until the moment she realises who she wants has been there all along. Ahh.
Fforde being Fforde, she handles all the messy business of friendship, family, and finding the perfect soul-mate to perfection. Lovely themes run through the threads of the story, touching on almost every character in the very likeable supporting cast (which includes Luke's adorable dogs Frank and Fearless); and there are even a couple of very creditable villains to loathe (looking at you Lance and Clive) who Fforde uses to explore controlling relationships, and those more concerned with a future inheritance rather than the well-being of an elderly relative (how I loved, and worried about, Mary). I really enjoyed all the house hunting in the beautiful Cotswolds too.
Tissues were required on more than one occasion when it came to the developments in Hattie's relationships with Xander and her hitherto spiky sister. And the slow-burn romance between Hattie and Luke is enchanting... more tissues required to mop up the tears when their happy ending eventually rolled around.
Possibly my favourite feel-good Fforde book yet. I adored it!
A Cottage in the Country is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Bloomsbury for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
About the author:
Katie Fforde lives in the beautiful Cotswold countryside with her family, and is a true country girl at heart. Each of her books explores a different profession or background and her research has helped her bring these to life. She's been a porter in an auction house, tried her hand at pottery, refurbished furniture, delved behind the scenes of a dating website, and she's even been on a Ray Mears survival course. She loves being a writer; to her there isn't a more satisfying and pleasing thing to do. She particularly enjoys writing love stories. She believes falling in love is the best thing in the world, and she wants all her characters to experience it, and her readers to share their stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment