I feel a bit torn where this book is concerned, overall I did love the story, but there were elements that weren't my cup of tea - nothing huge, but I will mention it later.

You would think by the cute little cover that this would be all sunshine and daisies with an oh, so sweet little rom/com within - wrong! Surprisingly this tackles some incredibly sensitive subjects such as domestic abuse, but don't worry Rachel Dove is a wonderful writer and portrayed Hannah's past and what she is going through now in a sensitive and compassionate way. Aware from the more serious side of the story, this is a really lovely and sweet romance, the characters (especially Hannah) go on an emotional journey and it's a delight to watch her gain confidence and blossom.

I love that Hannah and Andrew's relationship is all about gaining trust, respecting one an other and not rushing into anything which would make the other uncomfortable. Andrew is a decent man, a gentleman a man who can see the pain and hurt and fear and doesn't push too hard, but he wants to help her. He's patient, he has to be Hannah has been let down by so many people; especially men and some were Police too so that goes against Andrew, but he reminds me of a terrier; determined and never gives up.

then we go to what I wasn't particularly taken with and it has to be the dialogue, ti was the lack of 'he said, she said' which confused me and I'm afraid it did take the shine off my overall enjoyment. But hey, that's just me, I'm sure Im alone in this and other readers will love every moment.

Overall, an thought-provoking, emotional and tenderly written story of second chances.

👮🏻‍♂️ BOOK REVIEW 👮🏻‍♂️

Synopsis: One broken marriage. One broken heart. One chance to meet someone new.
Hannah leaves her unhappy marriage with her daughter Ava and moves to the village of Leadsham to start afresh. She plans to keep a low profile, focusing on Ava and making a new life for them, far away from her violent ex-husband.
What she hadn’t counted on was Andrew Brody. A police officer with a strict moral code, he knows something’s wrong as soon as he meets Hannah, and he wants to help. But Hannah has been let down by the police – and men – before, and pushes him away.
But the more Hannah tries to ignore Brody, the more she’s drawn to him. Caring, kind and patient, he’s nothing like the man she’s running from. Can Hannah finally put her past behind her, and open her heart to someone new?

Review: Wow! Okay, usually going into books blind means I’m occasionally surprised by gems such as this one. First and foremost a massive content warning for victims of DV. Check trigger warnings on @the.storygraph and read if you feel okay to do so.
This slow burn, mixed character and plot based love story is different to my usual spicy rom coms. No spicy scenes in this one but the writing and the story of the MC escape from her abusive husband and setting herself up under a new name in a new town really was eye opening. I felt like I can finally have some idea of what DV survivors go through. The walking on eggshells, the emotional turmoil - and even after leaving it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. If you’re looking for an emotional, tense and slow-paced book to mix things up, I highly recommend this. I give my props to the author for having the tremendous courage to write this book. She’s also neurodivergent like me and a bloody brilliant advocate for kids with autism (among other things!). I can officially say I’m a MASSIVE fan.

4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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This is a cute fluffy read, it's a heartwarming read about a single mum that moves to a small town for a fresh start. This book is perfect if  you're looking for a slow romance and rebuilding yourself/fresh start vibes.

There is romance OF COURSE, and the romantic interest is so well written and it's not insta love, you can see how they get to know eachother and develop feelings for one another, it really is just LOVELY.

A big thanks to NetGalley, Team Harper Collins UK, and Rachel Dove for letting me read an ARC of this book for an honest review.

Hannah has left her violent husband for a fresh start with there daughter Ava but she doesn't count on falling for police officer Brody. This is a utterly addictive romance. I loved the pace and plot and the characters. In fact I loved everything about this heartfelt book.

I loved reading this one. I just love this kind of books.
3.5 stars read for me. I love this author snd her writing style.
Thanks to netgally for this arc.

So, I didn't love this. When I chose the book I thought it was going to be different. I got about 50 percent of the way through and ended up DNF. Too heavy for me.

Don't judge a book by it's cover. You may be expecting a summer beach read, but this book is so much more. An enjoyable read, well written with strong and very likeable characters. Tackling a very sensitive full of compassion for Hannah and her desperate situation.

Hannah ran away with her daughter to a new town to start afresh without her husband who abused her. She plan to keep low profile and focus on her baby’s upbringing. She have to start from scratch without knowing a single soul in the town. She encountered Brody, a lone police officer with strong characters and from the start, Brody sense she is running and he want to help her. But Hannah, given her past, push him away at every corner.

The storyline is very engaging from beginning till the end and I love watching Hannah’s recovery from her past and found her happiness in the end. I love Ava, Hannah’s daughter and Bullet, Brody’s dog too. Overall it is an emotional read to me.

*review post scheduled to be posted on my blog on 23/12/22

I thought this book was so cute. The story was just amazing. There was so much more to it than romance. The author really captured it in this book. I would definitely read this book again. It was heartwarming and just a beautiful story.

Cute and heart warming read that was easy to read!

I really enjoyed the emotional layer this book had, and I felt certain issues were dealt with very well. The writing was captivating, and I liked the characters. Particuarly the main female character. I'm also a sucker for a good single-mum storyline.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This cover was quite deceptive. I thought it would be a light romance but it ended up being pretty heavy. This is a story about an abused mother who goes into hiding in a new town. There she meets Brody who is a police officer and she struggles with whether to tell him who she really is and be in a relationship with him or move on to another town.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a slow romance. It does deal with domestic abuse but pretty much skims over anything to graphic.

This book is a lot more than a romance. It has a lot of emotion in it and great character development. It is a single-parent romance, showing how to heal from a broken heart.

I read it in one sitting. I wanted to see how it ended and how everything was going to come together for everyone.

This was an okay book. It had it's cute moments for sure.

This book follows Hannah and her baby daughter Ava who ran away from her abusive husband, finding a new town to live in and start her life anew. The LI, Brody, is a cop who's drawn to the FMC basically from the moment he saw her. While I liked some aspects of this book, such as the pacing of the developing friendship and then relationship, the openness and friendly behaviour of the townsfolk towards the newcomers, I had slight issues with the dialogue. It was a bit confusing at times as the person speaking wasn't mentioned. A bit of editing on that portion would've done well.
Otherwise, this is a slow-romance, with a single mother, some CW and TW (domestic abuse being the heavy one). I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't anything special for me. I didn't connect well with the story and at some parts, it just felt a bit boring.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thanks to HQ Digita, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book - I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The cover of this book made me think that it would be really light-hearted, but is was very emotional from the beginning. Hannah and Brody's romance is cute, but there is a lot more going on in this book than just the romance. Hannah is escaping an abusive relationship and there are some hairy moments in this that should come with a trigger warning.

I didn't really love the romance aspect, and didn't connect with Brody's character.

The writing was good and the book kept me interested until the end.

3 stars.

Id never heard of this author before but this was a cute. heartwarming read and I enjoyed it quite alot.

This is my first experience reading something by Ms Dove so I didn't know what to expect when I requested this. I found it to be a cute and heartwarming read and I enjoyed Ms. Dove's writing style. Her writing really pulled me in and caught my attention right from the start, and kept my interest all the way through. Hannah leaves her violent husband and takes her daughter Ava and goes to Leadsham for a fresh start. There she meets Brody who is a police officer and is quite drawn to her. He immediately recognizes something is off with her and tries to help, but Hannah doesn't trust police officers or men for that matter and pushes him away. But soon Hannah begins to recognize the kind, caring man that Brody is and can't help but be drawn to him as well. The development of their relationship was slow and steady and I really enjoyed how it all played out. Hannah was a strong character and I was rooting for her and Brody the whole time through her journey as she became a strong women after dealing with past experiences and trauma. This was a genuinely heartwarming story that touched on many emotions and I enjoyed reading it. The characters were well-developed with realistic qualities that made them more relatable. I will be looking for more of Ms. Dove's books in the future.
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

This was a very enjoyable read. It was well written with very likeable characters. Although it tackles a very sensitive subject, it is very heartfelt and full of compassion for Hannah and her situation. I would definitely recommend it and will be seeking out more books by this author. Overall 4 star!

A swoony insta-love story, dealing with some hard topics. I loved the writing by this author and felt Hannah and Brody were great for each other. Perhaps there was too much of a slow burn towards the end if the book, waiting to wrap up the inevitable ending. But overall a sweet and quick read.

When I first requested I was expecting a enemies to lover, grumpy sunshine romance but what I did not expect is a quick read, insta-love, serious yet light hearted single mom meets cop romance.

So we have Hannah aka Erin who is a Single mom to Ava is trying to get away from her abusive marriage and husband Victor with the help of her mid-wife and best friend Kate. Having no family or friends who care for her Hannah moves to a small countryside village in Yorkshire called Leadsham. In this small town no one is a stranger and every little thing is news.

One evening when she was getting mugged Andrew or as the locals know him as Brody who is a copper saves her and has an instant attraction to her. He is her knight in shinning amour who doesn't push her limits, is patient, helps her get a job while suggesting leave her daughter with a child minding group. As their love story develops we see how much of a scarred Hannah pushes herself to get out of her shell and stand up for herself against her abusive husband.

Ava is a heart warmer because she ws the cutest fictional baby...given a change I will keep her. Brody and his police trained dog Bullet are the bestest dog son and dad duo you need. Lola and John are those friends who will be patient and turnip when you need and will keep an eye on just cuz they are protective.

I loved how the book talks of people running away from abusive relations especially when they have kids involved and how these kind of relations isolate people from their only support system like friends and family. And how rebuilding life from nothing in a new unknown place while recovering form the trauma of your past. Will 1000% recommend it!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital for providing the ARC.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting with this book, but I am just not feeling the story. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it is not capturing me the way that I want.

I feel like the slow burn part of the romance is dragging a bit too much. I understand that characterizations, and I get that the author is trying to indicate the FMC's reticence to pursuing something with another man, but it is almost excruciatingly painful at times. The story itself kind of drags, as well. There's a lot of time spent inside the head of the FMC, and it's exhausting. Again, understood that this is a stylistic choice by the author to showcase their mindset after enduring something so horrible, but from a reader's perspective the story itself is just very slow going. As someone who is known for devouring books, I have found myself skimming over passages, and double checking to see how much of the story I have left.

I can see where people would enjoy this, I feel that it is very well written in some parts, and I do enjoy the characters and their journey. Overall, it is just not the book for me.