A Springtime Affair: The uplifting escapist romance from the Sunday Times bestselling author of feel-good fiction

A lovely, pleasurable read with a good cast of characters. It's spring and romance is in the air for both for Gilly and her daughter Helena. Gilly meets Leo when he stops outside her B & B to ask for directions. Helena, on the other hand, finds herself moving closer to her landlord, Jago, who turns out to be very supportive of her small business. Both mother and daughter wonder if they've found themselves long lasting loves . . . This is such a wonderful book to sink into. The characters are honest and flawed, well-described and very easy to imagine. As with real life, things don't always go smoothly and the situations both Gilly and Helena find themselves all come about in a perfectly natural and believable way. Katie Fforde is another author who understands family dynamics and her writing is smooth and flows well, her talent shining through. A light-hearted, easy read which I'm very happy to give 4.5*.

Helena is the archetypal Katie Fforde heroine, a self-employed weaver she is about to be turfed out of her studio in a barn by her wicked property developer landlord, or so she thinks until she meets him (a total meet-cute involving a kitten). Her landlord Jago turns out to be an ethical property developer who wants to convert the barn into affordable housing (dreamy sigh). Helena and Jago cook up the romantic comedy staple, fake romance, to stop friends and family nagging them about being single, but as always life starts to imitate fiction. Meanwhile, Helena's saintly mother Gilly, who has run a fabulous B&B in the Cotswolds single-handedly since her bullying husband left her, meets a charming estate agent called Leo just at the time that her son Martin and his wife Cressida are trying to persuade her to sell the B&B and use the money to help them buy a larger house with a granny annex. As Gilly is around my age (early to mid 50s) I feel indignant on her behalf, heck I'm still waiting to be a grown-up! This was charming quintessential Katie Fforde from start to finish, no surprises but glorious gentle romance set in the idyllic English countryside with craft fairs and eccentric old ladies (not Gilly). However, fair warning, Gilly likes to feed people and unless you have a very strong will you could end up piling on the pounds because reading about all the biscuits and cakes and breakfasts that she feeds her family and guests will make you ravenous, I swear that's why I put shortbread on this week's Ocado shop. Loved it and perfect reading during COVID-19 lockdown. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Great light hearted read.