Despite their strained relationship, Jane turns to her resentful mother-in-law, Thora, for help. Formerly mistress of The Bell, Thora is struggling to find her place in the world. As she and Jane work together, they form a measure of trust, and Thora's wounded heart begins to heal. When she encounters two men from her past, she sees them--and her future--in a different light.
With pressure mounting from the bank, Jane employs innovative methods to turn the inn around, and puzzles over the intentions of several men who seem to have a vested interest in the place. Will her efforts be enough to save The Bell? And will Thora embrace the possibility of a second chance at love?
Comment: I've read enough books by this author to already have an idea about her style and tone but I still wish for a surprise, in the sense a story by her will have all the elements I want to see in an historical story with romance. Besides, the cover of this one is just gorgeous and immediately puts me in the mood for a cozy, charming story... even though the actual tone wasn't that sweet.
In this novel we meet several characters, they live in the village of Ivy Hill, and we will follow the lives of some them, namely Jane Bell, the current owner of the inn and Thora Bell, her mother in law, who went to live with her sister but decided to come back. These two are very different in background and personality but they will need to unite efforts to make the inn successful again, especially because someone wants to open a hotel in the village, betting on the royal mail travelers. At the same time the women think about what is to be done, we also follow some of their friends and how, after all, everyone's lives are closely connected in small villages...
I'd say this book is a bit out of the norm for the author because it is clearly the first of a series (which she had not done before) and the narrative does stretch to encompass the plot points of future installments. This means that, in my opinion, there is a lot of things which didn't have to be that important nor would they require such a long book to happen if the goal was to have this as a stand alone. Since the goal is to have a series, many things just get described for too long or in a way which I didn't always find very indispensable.
I can imagine the idea was to not only make the reader more invested in the characters but feel part of the coziness of the village. There was even a map of it in the edition I've read to help readers think about the characters' movements but all this was a bit lost on me for one simple reason: sadly, to me, this village was not the charming location the map and the cover suggested, and people were not really portrayed as living in a cozy atmosphere I like reading about in these small town/villages settings. The cover reminds me of those novels by Mary Balogh, which always induce in me some coziness emotion, but the content was more dire, heavier, sadder and with too many problems (whether they are overcome or not).
This author certainly doesn't hide from the more difficult side of things and puts her characters through challenges in life which, while realistic, aren't always nice to read about and I wish she would focus more on positive things. Besides, in general, the characters - mainly the protagonists - are portrayed as being good people and doing good deeds or with good intentions and then to add problems they can't solve right away or without some compromise makes me feel annoyed on their behalf and I would prefer to focus on their feelings and emotions instead of the external conflicts/issues.
Jane and Thora and other ladies whose POV we follow - I assume they will also have key roles in the next installments - are all good and proper, as one would expect, but except for Thora, who is an older character and with different experiences, I've felt the others to be a little too bland and under developed. Again, I assume this is so because we will have more on them in the next books and, as a matter of fact, Thora is the only one whose arc has a resolution, we get to see her path in life having a definite way to go, and she does get happiness at the end of the book.
Still, Jane is kind of portrayed as being the main character and I have to be honest and say she was not someone I liked much most of the time. I think this is intentional, so that we can follow her path to happiness and self confidence and all those traits we want in heroines, but mixed up with the complicated things around her, I just felt annoyed at reading some things from her POV.
The plot revolves around the need to save the inn from ruin. This was done in what I'd describe as being realistic and detailed manner, and the solution wasn't obvious not easy nor quick and, in fact, is still not set in stone and I believe more issues will arise in the next book. I understand this is meant to lead the overall story on, but the tone is often gloomy and it seems as something bad could happen at any moment and it feels over the top melodrama. Let me say it this way, I don't think I'd want to live in that village, not much about how this setting is described makes me think good vibes.
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