Rating: 
Summary: Different but entertaining
Review: "Farm Fatale" deals with Rosie, an illustrator/artist, who aspires to move to the countryside in order to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. Her boyfriend, Mark, an aspiring columnist was reluctant to move until his paper offered him a column to write about life in the country. There, the couple met fascinating characters. They managed on both of their small incomes to get a cottage and met up with interesting neighbors which include hippies, farm owners, and etc. Rosie was adjusting well but Mark grew more resentful as his few attempts to submit his column was rejected. At the same time, Samantha, an arrogant, supposedly know-it-all aspiring actress was also moving to the country because it was trendy to do so and she hoped to conquer the local social scene. Meanwhile, Rosie gradually realized that Mark was getting unbearable. Her love life was getting more complicated with the encounter of Jack, a farm boy who was down to earth and later a brief encounter with Matt Locke, the recluse rock star.I think this book is funny, light and very entertaining. My only complain is that the author tried to emphasize both Rosie and Samantha as the main characters but gradually it becomes apparent that Rosie is really the main focus. The Samantha storyline just sort of drift off. This is not the typical chick lit book with predictable outcome but in fact is very different. I find it quite exciting especially with the second half of the book and the author leaves you wanting for more. I think the author did a great job in developing the book's secondary characters and giving them diverse personalities which makes the book more fascinating.
Rating: 
Summary: entertaining, but disappointingly lightweight
Review: "Farm Fatale" starts off as a Bridget-Jones-style modern Brit comedy, but by the end I felt like I'd been reading an updated Harlequin romance. Holden does put unexpected plot twists into her book, but many of the characters who start out interestingly dwindle into stereotypes, and I was very disappointed by her unbelievable ending. The story includes mildly graphic but hurried sex scenes that are not particularly well-written. (Holden's mention of the "hungry throb" her character Rosie feels in a certain part of her anatomy irritated me for weeks.) This book might amuse you on a plane, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it.
Rating:
Summary: Different but entertaining
Review: "Farm Fatale" deals with Rosie, an illustrator/artist, who aspires to move to the countryside in order to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. Her boyfriend, Mark, an aspiring columnist was reluctant to move until his paper offered him a column to write about life in the country. There, the couple met fascinating characters. They managed on both of their small incomes to get a cottage and met up with interesting neighbors which include hippies, farm owners, and etc. Rosie was adjusting well but Mark grew more resentful as his few attempts to submit his column was rejected. At the same time, Samantha, an arrogant, supposedly know-it-all aspiring actress was also moving to the country because it was trendy to do so and she hoped to conquer the local social scene. Meanwhile, Rosie gradually realized that Mark was getting unbearable. Her love life was getting more complicated with the encounter of Jack, a farm boy who was down to earth and later a brief encounter with Matt Locke, the recluse rock star. I think this book is funny, light and very entertaining. My only complain is that the author tried to emphasize both Rosie and Samantha as the main characters but gradually it becomes apparent that Rosie is really the main focus. The Samantha storyline just sort of drift off. This is not the typical chick lit book with predictable outcome but in fact is very different. I find it quite exciting especially with the second half of the book and the author leaves you wanting for more. I think the author did a great job in developing the book's secondary characters and giving them diverse personalities which makes the book more fascinating.
Rating: 
Summary: Witty British comedy
Review: A European bestseller, Holden's third novel is a romantic comedy of manners about two city couples moving to the country. Protagonist Rosie, a freelance illustrator, longs for rural peace while her journalist boyfriend, Mark, loathes the very thought until opportunity - a witty column about country living - pushes him into it. Trophy wife Samantha hauls her hapless husband Guy off to the manor house in the same small village, mostly to escape the horror her radical decorator has made of her London home and make a trendy new splash in rural opulence. Sweet Rosie quickly makes friends among the eccentric villagers - the nosy postman, the broodingly handsome farmer, the cheerful pub owner - and begins gathering a collection of comical vignettes her blinkered and increasingly frustrated boyfriend dismisses out of hand. Meanwhile the horrible Samantha determines to throw a bash to top all bashes, with the village's reclusive rock star as her prize guest. Holden has fun with arrogance of all kinds, particularly city provincialism and celebrity ego-mania and the rule of the trend. The satire takes center stage and the characters serve it well. Romance beckons and there's just enough surprise to make the predictable less so. A lighthearted romp, with a caustic touch.
Rating:
Summary: A fun farm fairytale
Review: A wacky cast of characters converges on a small English village for this rural fairytale. The primary character is Rosie, a London illustrator who escapes to the country with her reluctant newspaper columnist boyfriend, Matt. Once they reach the village, they meet a host of quirky villagers. There's Samantha, the washed up, self-proclaimed "celebrity" and her disgruntled husband, Guy, Matt Locke, the reclusive rock star, and Duffy the postman, who is also the town gossip, just to name a few. Rosie and Mark's relationship begins unraveling in the country-she is happy, he is not, he's a jerk, she is not. Their unhappy cohabitating leads her into the arms of other men, those belonging to craggy farmer Jack, and then those of Matt Locke. Farm Fatale is a light, enjoyable Cinderella story that gets a bit sappy toward the end. But Holden is a clever, funny writer, and for the most part, this happy little farce works well.
Rating: 
Summary: over-eager, but enjoyable enough
Review: As the title suggests, this is something of a comedy of manners, but a rather winking one pleased with its own cleverness, and overly eager that the reader should appreciate that cleverness. Various characters move from London to the suddenly-fashionable countryside and re-sort their lives, each eventually receiving his or her just desserts. Reading this is not an unpleasant experience, but it's not a very satisfying one, either. I'm happy reading novels with minimal intellectual substance, but this isn't just lacking intellectually -- with the possible exception of our heroine Rosie, the characters are extremely flat, and the humor is overly arch and, well, mannered, for my taste. The author's eagerness to entertain comes through every sentence, but she's almost working too hard. The book never relaxes, so it's difficult for the reader to do so.
Rating:
Summary: Moo-ing to the country
Review: Charning artist Rosie longs to escape London and move to a cottage in the country. When her live-in boyfriend Mark gets the chance to write a newspaper column about country living, Rosie's dreams seem to be coming true. Meanwhile Samantha, a frightening failed actress turned trophy wife who would be at home going to lunch everyday at Harvey Nicks with "Bad Heir Day"'s Cassandra, convinces her recovering from a heart attack hubby Guy to move to the country for his health. Guess where both couples end up? Naturally in the same small village with Samantha and Guy becoming the nouveau riche owners of a local estate and Rosie and Mark settling into their own tiny house. The local townsfolk including the gossiping mailman, the British Dame who runs the local drama society, a reclusive rock star and the sweet older couple who live next door to Rosie and Mark. Will Rosie and Mark find happiness? Perhaps. Will Samantha ever get a part anyone remembers? Depends on how big hubby Guy's wallet is. Will the reclusive rock star be a total babe? Oh yes. Will Champagne bubble up from the depths to wreck havoc? Certainly. For the Marian Keyes and Sophie Kinsella fans, Wendy Holden is a must read!
Rating:
Summary: Delightful!
Review: Enjoy "Farm Fatale" for what it is- a light comedy. Discussions of realism and structure should be saved for literature, which this charming book does not even attempt, let alone claim. I haven't yet read Ms. Holden's other books, so I couldn't be disappointed on that score.
Many reviewers complained of the ending, and I disagree-I think it suits the tone of the book: lighthearted, unlikely, silly and cute.
Rating:
Summary: Sex and the... Country?
Review: Having enjoyed the previous Wendy Holden novels, I decided to try the one I was most reluctant to read: Farm Fatale. The synopsis did not spark my interest at first, but then I decided to give it a whirl and... Let's say that I am glad I did.
Farm Fatale is full of Holden's signature wit and satire. The story centers on a couple's struggle with the unprecedented events that take place after they move into the country. Life in the countryside just isn't as peaceful or as harmonious as they'd envisaged -- especially when Samantha, a ruthless and superficial socialite, becomes their neighbor. What follows is one misadventure after another. There are some fun twists in the novel. I have detected various similarities in Holden's novels. First, her antagonists are ambitious and one-dimensional socialites who'd do anything to be in the center of attention. Also, Holden's heroines share the same relationship problem (I won't tell what that problem is, for it would spoil the plot). However, I think Holden is one of the best chick lit writers out there. Her satirical style is clever and fun. Farm Fatale is a novel that should be read from beginning to end. It is a cross between Sex and the City and Funny Farm. Highly recommended...
Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Read That Loses Steam At The End
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the first two thirds of Farm Fatale. Yes, it was definitely lightweight literature. But, the characters were well defined, the setting was established as an integral part of the story, and the prose was liberally sprinkled with wonderful wit.
By the time I got to the end of the book, I realized that what I had thought was being elegantly constructed was simply a house of cards waiting to collapse. And, collapse it does in its last third. The weight of both overly contrived situations and plot lines that go nowhere more than offset the strengths that were exhibited in the first part of the manuscript.
Overall, this isn't a horrible book. In fact, it could be easily classified as excellent "beach reading". But, there are more substantive "chick-lit" books elsewhere in the market that deserve purchase before Farm Fatale.
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