Paradise Fields

Paradise Fields

It's not as if Nel Innes doesn't have enough on her plate already: keeping track of her unnervingly beautiful teenage daughter, sorting out a house full of animals, and organizing a farmers' market in the picturesque Paradise Fields. The last thing she needs is yet another complication in her life, but when her old friend Sir Gerald dies, and his son, Pierce, accompanied by his glamorous American wife, takes possession of the property, it seems that preserving the Fields is not on his list of priorities. Nel takes up arms, determined to fight for the meadow and the market she loves. But who can she trust? She's pretty sure her friends Sacha and Vivian are on her side, but her sensible boyfriend of six months, Simon, an estate agent, is less encouraging. And then there's Jake, the infuriating yet attractive stranger who surprised her with a kiss under the mistletoe at the last market before Christmas. Maybe she's been a celibate widow for a little too long.... Fforde's heroines are usually spunky, can-do types who spend their days cheerfully sorting out the dilemmas of others. Nel Innis fits the standard quite nicely but in her own way is quite different from previous incarnations. A widow for 10 years, she has raised her three nearly adult children on her own. They, along with the family dogs, vast numbers of friends, and multiple charitable interests, have filled her life quite well, if chastely, until now. In comes Jake Demerand, mysterious, fearfully attractive, and, unfortunately, working as the lawyer representing the opposition in a land battle that threatens her most valued causes. Paradise Fields is in the Cotswolds, the site of a hospice for seriously ill children and a seasonal farmer's market. The current owner wants to build houses. Development is inevitable; how it will be done is the issue that Nel takes on. Will she succeed? What happens with Jake? More passionately sexual than some of Fforde's previous novels, this is nevertheless diverting in its own very British way. Danise Hoover Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Acclaim for the Novels of Katie Fforde Highland Fling "A light fling of a read, and a breezy, entertaining companion on a cold winter night." - Washington Times "Another adorable romance." - Kirkus Reviews Artistic License "A breezy romance that combines a little business, a little travel, and a little art into a diverting...summer read." - Booklist "A humorous, fast-moving switchback plot keeps the reader guessing and makes Artistic License really satisfying light reading for lovers of romance." - Home & Country (London) Second Thyme Around "Sweet, delicious, and just unpredictable enough to keep us on our toes." - San Francisco Chronicle "[Fforde] has imagination to spare, using witty writing and plotting to build a story." - New York Times Life Skills "This charming and captivating romantic summer read is recommended for all collections." - Library Journal "A stylish contemporary love story." - Kirkus Reviews Acclaim for the Novels of Katie Fforde Highland Fling "A light fling of a read, and a breezy, entertaining companion on a cold winter night." - Washington Times "Another adorable romance." - Kirkus Reviews Artistic License "A breezy romance that combines a little business, a little travel, and a little art into a diverting...summer read." - Booklist "A humorous, fast-moving switchback plot keeps the reader guessing and makes Artistic License really satisfying light reading for lovers of romance." - Home & Country (London) Second Thyme Around "Sweet, delicious, and just unpredictable enough to keep us on our toes." - San Francisco Chronicle "[Fforde] has imagination to spare, using witty writing and plotting to build a story." - New York Times Life Skills "This charming and captivating romantic summer read is recommended for all collections." - Library Journal "A stylish contemporary love story." - Kirkus Reviews Katie Fforde is a London Times bestselling novelist who lives in Gloucestershire, England, with her husband and some of her three children. Her hobbies are ironing and housework, but, unfortunately, she has almost no time for them as she feels it is her duty to keep a close eye on the afternoon chat shows. Paradise Fields is her ninth novel. Paradise Fields Chapter One    Nel's arm was beginning to ache. The mistletoe, heaped about her feet, was selling well. She'd already run out of the bunches she had tied together with red ribbon and was now selling the larger Stately-Home-size boughs, which had been too thick to separate into smaller sprigs. It was one of these, held above her head in an encouraging way, that was proving a strain.She was just about to replace it for a smaller sample of her wares when a man came towards her. She'd been faintly aware of him standing at the next stall, considering mulled wine syrup and the little bunches of dried f