Book Review: Coming Home To Puddleduck Farm by Della Galton

I am pleased to be welcoming Della Galton to Novel Kicks today. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, Coming Home to Puddleduck Farm

When your heart’s broken, all roads lead home…

London City Vet, Phoebe Dashwood, finds her partner Hugh and their boss in a passionate clinch beneath the mistletoe at their works Christmas party.

Heartbroken, she bolts to the New Forest, her childhood home to regroup and soul search.

Being home gives Phoebe the chance to reconnect with friends and family and especially with her fiercely independent gran, widower Maggie Crowther, owner of Puddleduck Farm, and makeshift animal shelter New Forest Neddies.

Deciding not to return to London, Phoebe hunts for work locally, hoping she can also help Maggie, who’s clearly swamped and not coping. But will Maggie accept Phoebe’s help?

Her quest is hampered by stubborn grandmothers, meddling mums, an attractive childhood friend, a real-life Lord, a remorseful ex, and a best friend who’s determined to play matchmaker.

Can Phoebe find happiness professionally and personally in the place she calls home, surrounded by those she loves or does fate have other plans for Phoebe?

*****

Coming Home to Puddleduck Farm is the first in a brand new series from author Della Galton. 

After seeing the man she loves kissing their boss at the Christmas party, Phoebe retreats from London to her childhood home in the New Forest. 

Can Phoebe, who feels so lost, find herself again in the place where she grew up? 

From the beginning, this book had such a warm, inviting feel to it that I immediately fell into Phoebe and Sam’s story. I wanted to know what happened. I wanted them to be ok. 

Phoebe is, despite everything, a strong woman. She leaves London and, following advice from her grandmother, decides not to go back to her life in the city and that takes bravery, even if she didn’t feel like it was. I liked her very much. 

Sam was lovely and I wished him well all the way through. I felt sorry for him a little. 

This book deals with themes such as infidelity, family and love and does so with care 

There was something so charming about this book, it gave me Trisha Ashley vibes, where you feel like you’re catching up with old friends even though they are brand new characters. 

I’m never going to complain about a book that has even a part of its setting at Christmas. In fact, the overall atmosphere that builds in this novel is great. I grew up not far from the New Forest and I could picture it so clearly when I read. 

As well as a great plot that developed well, I liked that it featured animals – Phoebe herself is a vet. Animals is one of the big aspects of the New Forest and they are represented well. I adored the fact that there was a duck named Jemima. 

I don’t want to say much more as I don’t want to give too much away. 

Coming Home to Puddleduck Farm feels.. well, it feels like coming home. It’s warm, compelling and completely charming. It didn’t end the way I thought it would so it kept me guessing right up to the last page. 

I loved it and look forward to hopefully seeing these characters again soon. 

Thank you to Netgalley, Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. 

*****

About Della Galton:

Della Galton writes short stories, teaches writing groups and is Agony Aunt for Writers Forum Magazine. She lives in Dorset.

Say hello via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Bookbub. To sign up to Della’s newsletter, click here. 

Coming Home To Puddleduck Farm was released by Boldwood Books on 29th August 2022. Click to buy on Amazon UK and Waterstones. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.