I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

This series was one I had high hopes for. I look forward to steamy scenes in my chick lit and repeating characters. However; this wasn't a series for me.

I do not enjoy infidelity tropes so I really struggled with this book.

I also thought this would be a steamy book. Instead it's a clunky book, with sexual innuendo in every sentence.

Not one for me.

I'm not a fan of romance stories that include an affair so that really bothered. I also felt the story moved between different characters a lot and as someone who stops and starts books a lot as life gets in the way, it got really difficult for me to remember people's names. If you really concentrate, you will probably enjoy it more than I did, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I would definitely recommend for people who like small towns, close-knit communities and British humor.

I received an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

Country Pursuits has a cast of interesting and colorful characters. There's love, betrayal, mystery and humor along with a few unexpected twists and turns.

A fantastic county romp! Romance, bonking and saving the meadows. A great read. Plenty of laugh out loud moments along with heart melting warmness that just entices you to read more. All the characters are so likeable (with a couple of exceptions). A jolly good book!

Thank you Netgalley

This book was hard for me. The first chapter jumping into an affair, while his wife was at home taking care of their one year old was just too much. I hope when I'm at a different point, maybe this book will get a second chance.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but found that I had to give up after around fifty pages. I loved the premise and the storyline but the sexual innuendo every other sentence got so boring and irritating.

A ripping yarn of a disastrous event hitting a small countryside community.
Told through an ensemble of characters that were witty and easy to conjure into life from their vivid descriptions, this story entertains, takes strange twists and turns before ending on a pleasing high.
My only issue with this book (considering it was penned by a woman) is the one character that wasn’t slim and beautiful had to become thin and beautiful to find her place in the world, not a particularly healthy message.

I like the light, fun, easy reading style of this book. I found the stories of the different characters somewhat interesting but also it was like a realistic day of the suburban lifestyle, - expect gossip, scandals, adultery, family and friends life drama.

On the other hand, for me there I felt there were too many characters in the one book. Off the top of my head I can at least count 12 characters. I often got confused because sometimes the chapter would suddenly change to another character's story. So it was hard to keep track of who was who and whose story I was reading.

But within saying that I do have to commend Jo Carnegie, as she was able to build each and every character profile up but in turn it took awhile for the stories to unfold. I like the story enough to read it, but I probably wouldn't read the next two in the series.

I want to say thank you to Netgalley, and Transworld Publishers for granting me the opportunity to read this copy of Country Pursuits

A lot of characters to meet which was a little confusing at first but once I had who was who sorted out it was a fun read, who knew so much happens in the countryside set

This is a light, entertaining chick-lit read with a huge cast of characters that you get to know better throughout this book and other books in the series. What a quirky and raucous town Jo Carnegie has created in Churchminster.

Fun, light-hearted, entertaining, and wild. These people really know how to band together to save their town, and how to keep each other on their toes.

I was really excited about reading this book as I’d heard lots about it. Sadly I struggled to get into the story and have decided to not read anymore.

Great story with plenty of detail! My reading of this started out kind of slow but as the story progressed I became vastly engrossed with the characters. Lots of details build the story and all combine in a fantastic ending!

This is a British series much like a lot of others I’ve read. Good plot points and some good characters. But A LOT of characters and plots to keep up with all at once. I followed one of the storylines and just skimmed the rest. It was good for what it is but I don’t think this book version of a “soap opera” is quite my style.

I’m 30% of the way through this book and I’m afraid I can’t continue with it. It’s not gripping me and there’s so many characters I can’t keep up. Not much happening and I skim read the last couple of chapters. Afraid it doesn’t give me any enthusiasm to read the other two. Thank you for accepting my request and I apologise for not being able to read on.

An Okay Read 🤔

If you like Desperate Housewives, you should like Country Pursuits as this is what it reminds me of. Whilst I read it, it didn't really grip me, overall okay read.

Welcome to Churchminster home of the Standington Fulthorpe women: Caro new mum and unhappily married to philandering and largely absent Sebastian, Camilla stuck in a rut with her red faced young farmer , Calypso youngest and always outrageous arriving back in the village with a bang and matriarch Clementine grandmother to the whole village.
When the village comes under threat from a sleazy property developer Clementine won’t let it stand its up the village save itself.
Using the tried and tested Jilly Cooper template Carnegie can’t go far wrong. There’s plenty of hot bods, champagne swilling, dirty rotten scoundrels and a hero or two, it’s La Coop lite but also half the length. It’s frivolous and a jolly good read.

Country Pursuits Churchminister series 1
by Jo Carnegie

A really well written book set in the Cotswold countryside featuring all the village characters you’d expect. Alongside gossip, murder, adultery, upset and dodgy developer so much to keep you enthralled in the story .

Very enjoyable really look forward to reading book 2. Well done Jo! 4.5/5

I managed to finish this, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought, it has put me off reading the other 2 as well unfortunately. It was just a matter of it not being for me.