Fabulous reads – Romance novel doesn’t bloom to its full potential
Book review - A Secret Garden by Katie Fforde.
A Secret Garden, Katie Fforde, Penguin Random House, ISBN: 9781780890883
Lorna and Philly live in a small rural country town. It’s tiny, it’s quaint and it is also a total snoozefest.
Lorna looks after the vast estate’s neglected gardens and Philly provides the plants for said garden. Lorna loves unattainable man #1, owner of the vast and neglected estate.
Philly is infatuated with the chef across the road.
It’s a charming premise but, all in all, it was many pages of stilted conversations, awkward stuttering and cringe-worthy situations.
Maybe readers of this book need to be budding gardeners or have an aptitude for various flora.
They all find true love in the end through a convoluted series of events that could have ended about 100 pages earlier.
The best part of this book was Philly’s grandfather, Grand, a hilarious and novel character.
Even Grand got his happily ever after – the sneaky blighter.
Die-hard Fforde fans have voiced their disappointment and I have joined in as this may be the first book in a long run of entertaining and charming books that missed the mark.
