Hannah is running a business from her little cottage in Lantern Square – Tied up with String. Bringing individual and unique care packages to anyone who requests one. Her only company is her two cats Smokey and Bandit. It is far cry from the life she left behind, a high powered accountancy job, a man with even higher aspirations and a best friend.
Now it is just her and Hannah is adapting to life in Butterbury where Lantern Square is based and she is throwing herself into community life. We get to meet the gardener Rhys, the local Doctor Joe, the rather fearsome next door neighbour Mrs Leadbetter as well as some more interesting characters in the local old peoples home where Hannah volunteers.
This book has a real community feel about it and as Hannah starts to fit in, her past starts to appear.
Luke the man she left to come to Butterbury seeks her out and tries to make her see that she was making a mistake by leaving him. Trouble is Hannah’s heart is torn when she finds herself interested in others in the village. Luke is going to have to work hard to win her back, but is he trying too hard?
Then Georgia her former best friend appears, begging forgiveness for an event from their past and Hannah looking for the good in everyone thinks that maybe it is time to move on. But there is something about Georgia that just does not sit right with Hannah and she doesn’t know what it is?
As the year progresses and events within the community show how much Hannah loves being in Lantern Square and she soon realises where she should be and who she should be with. But will it all happen in time?
This is a great comforting read that can be devoured in pretty much one sitting as you feel you are part of the place, you know the characters so well; some lovely, some downright destructive. The events described make you want to join in and feel part of something. It all jumps off the page with great warmth.
Previously published in four part novellas, this is the complete story in one book – a way I much prefer. This book won’t leave you disappointed which the previous one I read did, sometimes books just hit the right spot and this one certainty did.
Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.
The Little Cottage on Lantern Square is published on 20 August.
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