Guest Review: A Home at Cornflower Cottage by Tilly Tennant

Escape to the flower-filled fields and hedgerows of the Cotswold countryside, to a tiny cottage and a summer that could change everything....

Amelie has lived in Cornflower Cottage since she was born. She did her homework at the scrubbed kitchen table and helped her mum hang washing from the line on the old oak tree in the garden. And when her beloved parents died, Cornflower Cottage became Amelie’s armor against the world.

The trouble is that Cornflower Cottage is too big for just her. With a broken boiler and a leaking roof, Amelie knows she must do something to make ends meet. When she meets Xander, a scruffy, brown-eyed nature-documentary maker living out of his backpack in a nearby hotel, Amelie rents him a room, hoping a lodger will solve her problems.

She soon realizes that her troubles are only just beginning. Xander’s muddy clothes all over the cottage and early morning jaunts to photograph otters are going to take some getting used to. But when an argument turns into a heart-to-heart, she finds herself confessing how lonely she has been.

Before long, laughter echoes round the cozy farmhouse kitchen once more, and sparks begin to fly. But when a face from Xander’s past appears at Cornflower Cottage, Amelie’s happy home is shaken once more. Xander has changed Amelie’s quiet country life forever. Should she open her heart to someone who has hidden things from her? Or let him leave and lose the love that makes her house a home?

Review: I am a great fan of Tilly Tennant, and can honestly say that I have never come across a book of hers that I did not enjoy. Her books always have interesting settings, compelling storylines and alluring characters. This one had a particularly attractive setting combined with cute animals, a captivating mixture.

The story centres on Amelie, who is desperately trying to make ends meet on her meagre wage from her job at a nearby hotel. She loves her home, remote Cornflower Cottage, a house left to her by her parents who died tragically in an accident, but the upkeep on the quaint Cotswolds cottage is expensive. She is perfectly happy sharing her home with house rabbit, Salad, but her boyfriend, Decker, is hinting more and more that he would like to move in, a step that Amelie is reluctant to take. The last straw for Amelie is when a storm damages the roof, leading to a huge repair bill. By chance, Xander, a long-term guest at the hotel is looking for somewhere that he and his girlfriend can rent, and Amelie finds herself taking in lodgers. Decker is not at all happy with this arrangement and when his jealousy eventually causes a break up, Amelie finds herself drawn increasingly to Xander.

I very much enjoyed reading this book, and don’t hesitate to recommend it to other readers. I found the majority of the characters likeable and believable, a notable exception being Decker, in whom I found no redeeming qualities and wondered how he was with Amelie in the first place. Xander was a much more suitable match for her, with his interest in nature and considerate disposition. Of course, like Xander, I loved Amelie’s house rabbit - what a great companion. Cornflower Cottage itself sounded a marvellous place to live, despite the obvious bills associated with its age.

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