Paradise Fields

Rating:
Summary: Very Nice Read
Review: The first word that comes to mind after reading this novel is "pleasant" (a vastly underrated adjective IMHO). I haven't read this author before, and it was such a nice experience to read a book that was more about ordinary people, trying to live their lives as best they could, than about plot machinations and torrid sex scenes every other page (not that there's anything wrong with that). One comes to care about these characters and sympathize with their struggles of having to compromise about a real estate development, acknowledging that the children are really growing up and parents are really growing old.

So if you are looking for a well written book with strong character development, this book's the ticket. Nicely done!

Rating:
Summary: Fforde At Her Very Best
Review: There is no such thing as a bad Katie Fforde book, but Paradise Fields, her latest, is simply quintessential Katie: charming, funny, witty, engaging and a joy to read.

Here is the story of just-over-40 widow Nel Innes, who thinks of herself as an over-the-hill dowdy "old thing," a perception not shared by anyone else in her life, from her gorgeous best friend Viv to her twentysomething daughter Fleur to her dull-as-nails boyfriend, estate agent Simon (yawn). Nel halfheartedly thinks she will probably settle down at some point with Simon so she has a man around to do DIY work, when she gets embroiled in a community effort to safe Paradise Fields, a strip of riverfront land upon which sits the sick-children's hospice, a charity dear to her heart.

Nel is used to running farmers' markets and other charity events on Paradise Fields, all of whose profits go to the hospice, but now she is up against a real threat as a heartless couple and their equally heartless land developer plan to turn it into a housing development. As Nel plots and plans desperately to save the land, the landowning couple's nefarious (maybe) attorney Jake comes to muddy the waters. Literally. Nel knows better than to consort with the enemy, but Jake's charm is lethal.

Does Nel find love and happiness in Jake's arms? Or is he the devil? Will the hospice be saved? I found myself zipping through the pages, trying hard not to skip to the end to find out. It's that kind of book, as only Katie Fforde could write it. Enjoy!