Review by Booklist Review
Molly Baker lives on Hope Farm, which serves as a refuge for both animals and kids. At this alternative school, students with behavioral and mental-health issues learn how to take care of animals, from Anthony, the antisocial sheep, to Tina Turner, the diva alpaca. Although the school is succeeding, the farm is struggling financially. When heartthrob soap-opera star Shelby Dacre brings his sullen teenage son, Lucas, to Hope Farm, Molly has no idea that this will completely overturn her routine, introverted life. Written in a conversational, first-person narrative, and chock-full of lively, endearing characters, human and animal alike, internationally best-selling Matthews' warmly humorous novel successfully pairs a meandering pace with short, punchy chapters that keep readers enthralled. American readers will be charmed by all the Briticisms and constant tea drinking, while the romance plotline takes a backseat to Molly's growing maternal affection for Lucas and struggles to maintain the farm. When romance does start sparking, the physical expression happens off-page, making this a sweet and quintessential feel-good story.--Jenna Friebel Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ornery llamas, attack sheep, and a wealth of colorful country characters (including a spectacular hairdresser-to-the-stars who coifs alpacas in his downtime) electrify Matthews's charming tale of a small-town British saver of lost animals and children who falls for the famous parent of one of her charges. As a result of being the daughter of an indifferent alcoholic mother, 38-year-old Molly Baker has never met a damaged creature she hasn't tried to save-whether it's angry alpaca Johnny Rotten or her newest student, Lucas. The son of widower Shelby Dacre, a noted soap star, Lucas comes to Hope Farm in the bucolic English countryside with a chip on his shoulder the size of a boulder. Lucas quickly comes to trust Molly, and, after featuring a few of Molly's animals during a fairly disastrous soap episode, Shelby begins to fall for Molly. But when she gets horrible news from her landlord, will he be there to pick up the pieces? Matthews (The Cake Shop in the Garden) keeps explicit romance to a minimum and weaves in a number of amusing livestock details, among them the value of llama droppings to local farmers and a fairly gross section on alpaca snot. Perfect for lovers of small-town romance, this upbeat tale is sweet but not cloying and altogether satisfying. Agent: Lizzy Kremer, David Higham Assoc. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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