Hattie's Home for Broken Hearts
Tilly Tennant
Rating: 5 stars
Escape to the daisy-strewn windswept Dorset cliffs, to the donkey sanctuary at Sweet Briar Farm, where Hattie Rose is about to find, that in this world, the most unlikely opposites can sometimes attract . . .
Hattie was once thrilled to call the beautiful city of Paris her home. But when her heart is broken by her boyfriend and she loses her dream job, she bids farewell to the city of love and hurries home to Gillypuddle, a sleepy village on the Dorset coast. But as she returns home she finds her parents struggling to cope with a terrible family tragedy.
In a desperate search for a new start, Hattie takes a job at the donkey sanctuary nearby on Sweet Briar Farm where Jo, the taciturn owner, certainly loves her animals far more than humans. Hattie can't help but fall in love with the donkeys (and the opportunity to get close to dreamy Canadian vet Seth) but Jo is harder to get to know and when she finds her boss sobbing in her sleep one stormy night, she knows that her new friend is hiding a dark secret.
And when handsome newspaper reporter Owen does some digging into Jo's past he finds something that connects her to Hattie on a whole new level. Can Hattie trust what Owen says, especially when he seems intent on standing in the way of her blossoming romance with Seth? And can Hattie help Jo to start healing and the donkeys of Sweet Briar Farm?
A beautiful story that will melt the hardest of hearts. If you love Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Josie Silver you will be enchanted by this life-affirming read that reminds you that home is wherever the people you love are.
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I always look forward to a new Tilly Tennant novel, and this one was no different. The covers are always easy on the eye and always so pretty and colourful! I love the pink cottage in the centre, surrounded by the bright blue sea with a cute, little donkey floating about on a field next door! It looks so summery and inviting.
The story starts with Hattie in Paris, thinking about home. I was a little confused when I first started reading this book because I wondered just how much was set in Paris but it was literally just a chapter and then Hattie had decided to come home because everything was going wrong for her. Upon a whim, she booked a flight and headed home to her parents house in Gillypuddle (what an amazing name!!). Her dad was a bit of a shocker when I first read his response as to what she was doing in their home, he was quite harsh and not very inviting so I felt really sorry for Hattie after that. We're then introduced pretty early on to the donkey sanctuary and to the mysterious Jo who runs the sanctuary.
I fell in love with the donkeys straight away, just like Hattie! They all seemed to have their own personalities and I thought that they all were so cute! But, my favourite was definitely Norbert. I could understand why Jo seemed so distant and just wanted to help the donkeys! When Hattie suggested to Jo that they open the sanctuary up to paying customers, Jo is quite obviously against the idea. However, she gives Hattie a month to trial the idea otherwise she has to leave. Pretty harsh but I was hoping everything would go well for them all!
When Hattie met Seth, it was clear that there was an attraction and spark between the pair. They seemed to get on really well from the off and I was hoping that things would develop between them as Hattie really deserved to be happy with all the bad luck she had been getting! However, then Hattie was introduced to Owen, a journalist, and that certainly threw a spanner in the works to say the least! I wasn't as keen on Owen as I was with Seth, I thought he seemed a bit arrogant so I was hoping that things would heat up between Hattie and Seth! They seemed like such a perfect match!
Overall, this was a heartwarming story that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved getting to know all the characters and the setting sounded idyllic. I also liked how Jo transforms throughout the book, it was so lovely to read about her coming out of her shell. Thank you to the publisher for a chance to read an advance copy of this novel, which I have reviewed honestly.
I fell in love with the donkeys straight away, just like Hattie! They all seemed to have their own personalities and I thought that they all were so cute! But, my favourite was definitely Norbert. I could understand why Jo seemed so distant and just wanted to help the donkeys! When Hattie suggested to Jo that they open the sanctuary up to paying customers, Jo is quite obviously against the idea. However, she gives Hattie a month to trial the idea otherwise she has to leave. Pretty harsh but I was hoping everything would go well for them all!
When Hattie met Seth, it was clear that there was an attraction and spark between the pair. They seemed to get on really well from the off and I was hoping that things would develop between them as Hattie really deserved to be happy with all the bad luck she had been getting! However, then Hattie was introduced to Owen, a journalist, and that certainly threw a spanner in the works to say the least! I wasn't as keen on Owen as I was with Seth, I thought he seemed a bit arrogant so I was hoping that things would heat up between Hattie and Seth! They seemed like such a perfect match!
Overall, this was a heartwarming story that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved getting to know all the characters and the setting sounded idyllic. I also liked how Jo transforms throughout the book, it was so lovely to read about her coming out of her shell. Thank you to the publisher for a chance to read an advance copy of this novel, which I have reviewed honestly.
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