I wanted to love this one. The cover is what drew me in. It is so pretty!

Farm Cover Bliss ended up being very average for me. I’m going with a billeted review this time.

What I liked….
💫 decent story line
💫gorgeous cover
💫 quick easy read

What I needed or wanted
❗️more spice or connection between the characters
❗️conflict that lasts more than a few paragraphs
❗️Better plot development (example- super hung up on the ex, lots of low self esteem and then was never mentioned again)

Thank you, NetGalley for the privilege of reading this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute read, short enough to be read in an hour. If follows single mum Crystal as she tries to balance life with a special needs child. When her mum dies and leaves her an old farmhouse, Crystal plans to fit it up and sell it. Enter Derek, a widower with a grown daughter. He offers to help her do up the farmhouse. As they work side by side, their feelings grow, but it isn't all plain sailing.

As a mum of special needs children, I found that aspect of the novel disappointing and not realistic in any way. So unrealistic was it, that I could no longer connect with Crystal's character either, and as such deducted stars from my review.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

2/5⭐️

Crystal is a single mother to Mason and a kindergarten teacher. Her mother, Evelyn, has been in hospice care for 3 years prior to the start of the novel and passes away, prompting MC to return to Farm Cove for funeral arrangements.

Derek is a single father with 18-year old daughter, Molly. His wife, Vanessa, passed away in a car accident 12 years prior. He works for a home improvement service that Crystal contacts to fix up her mother’s house to sell, and hence their meet cute.

I personally wasn’t too fond of the writing style. It was a bit too choppy for me with a very light amount of character development. When there was more in-depth descriptions, they felt unnecessary and sometimes even out-of-place. Additionally, the relationships between characters just always felt forced and unnatural.

However, Farm Cove was a cute and quick read! It gave me that ‘snuggling up on the couch to watch a Hallmark movie’ vibe. Just something easy and pleasant that can be finished in one-sitting type deal.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5/5 stars ★★★☆☆. I think I might not like farm love stories? This is the second one I read this month where two people fall in love while rebuilding a farmhouse, the first one I didn’t even bother reviewing because I didn’t want my negativity to stop people from buying the book. Farm Cove Bliss was better and it was a good book, just not my cup of tea. I find that most of my issues with it are personal issues, certain aspects of the story of the writing style that just didn’t fit well with what I prefer to read.

I would label this as a slice-of-life romance novel, with some drama throughout. It doesn’t flow the same way other romance novels do which is good as it prevents it from being too predictable. By the halfway point of the book, our couple is fully involved and trying to navigate their long-distance romance. We of course have the beautiful vixen who tries to thwart the relationship, and man is she annoying. These characters are all in their mid-late forties…some of the drama and catty-ness is just so childish. There are quite a few scenes where I had to remind myself these people were older than me, not younger. Although this took me longer than normal to finish, due to life being crazy, I think this would easily be a cozy afternoon read with some tea and your favorite blanket.

4.25/5 stars! This was a sweet read. Fans of Tessa Bailey's "Hot and Hammered" series you'll love this contemporary romance. Crystal simply wants to fix up her mother's old farmhouse, sell it, and get the heck out of dodge. Derek needs a decent paycheck to keep his home improvement business going so he can provide for his daughter. Their chemistry is palatable and seeing them both learn how to love and how to trust again was heart-warming. Really looking forward to reading more by this author.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

This book was gifted to me by Net Galley and the publisher for an unbiased review.

The cover of this book drew me in, I know don't judge a book by it's cover is the norm but this cute little story was just like the cover. This book is about a single mother trying to balance life with a 10 year old special needs child and an ex-husband when her mother leaves her a farmhouse that hadn't been updated in a while. This is where Derek a widower of an adult daughter comes in to help fix the place up. This book is full of fun little tidbits and of course some bumps. Overall it was an enjoyable quick read.

This was my first ED Hackett novel and I adored it. I loved the cover and adored the story. It was a sweet, small town romance and was a perfect read in you are in your small town era!

This story line had SO much potential, but unfortunately, it fell completely flat for me. Two strangers with a difficult past full of heartache, grief, and so much more, are learning to trust and love again. The synopsis sounded so great :(

The main characters were extremely superficial for me. Their sexual tension and love for each other barely felt real, and I felt like the story was so immature at times. One minute they can't keep their hands off of each other, and the next minute they have barely talked in a month. After you've been through heartbreak, this isn't how you treat someone you are falling in love with. The way they handled the money?? It felt cold and rude. Again, not how you treat someone you love and respect.

Also, the phrase, "fireworks exploded behind his/her eyes", was used at least four times. It felt like it was the only way their kisses were described.

So many things about the story were not believable. She just lets her son go live with her husband after one comment and one paragraph of thinking about it. A total renovation of a home is done in pretty much three weeks. The amount of times there was a miscommunication between the two main characters became annoying.

I really wanted to like this book as it was my first ARC but honestly, it just fell so flat.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC!

I liked the idea of a small town romance and I love a good farm setting! The story was super sweet but I couldn't really get into it. Maybe it was the writing or I just didn't particularly care for the characters. But it was a quick, fluffy read!

She’s relearning to trust. He’s healing his heartache. Can two shattered souls piece together a happily ever after?

After reading the synopsis I was sure this book would be right up my alley, but it wasn't.

I read through the book fairly quick but the story felt like it took forever to get to the end. I couldn't relate/connect to the characters. The feelings between Derek and Crystal felt forced and awkward at times for me.

I felt like the characters didn't have any depth to them at all. They felt superficial. This was my first book by E.D. Hackett and I will give her other books a chance maybe this one just wasn't my cup of tea!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I thought it was refreshing to read a love story surrounding two individuals who aren’t childless, 20-something’s. The characters were complex and in a different life stage than most romance books on the shelf. I took off a star because there seemed to be an unnecessary focus on physique in an unproductive way, especially attributing weight/build to a character’s worth. One example: “She felt pretty around Derek, despite her round mid-section and mousy hair.”

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the ARC!

Both characters have broken hearts and are both needing it fixed. This small town romance is perfect. I love sweet romances like this. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and this book did just that.
I just reviewed Farm Cove Bliss: A Small Town Sweet Romance by E.D. Hackett. #FarmCoveBlissASmallTownSweetRomance #NetGalley
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This book was a good read. The farm themed title caught my attention. I wanted to like it more than I did, but it was still good. I can do without the bad language in books, but that’s hard to avoid; this book had minimal. It was constantly going back and forth between Crystal and Derek’s perspectives which was fine. I liked the addition of annoying Christina constantly trying to get Derek’s attention. Overall, I would really another boon by this author!

Thanks to netgally for the advanced copy

When I saw this, I immediately saw the cute cover and had to pick it up. I also love a small town romance, so I was immediately attracted to the title of a cover like a bee charging at the adorable flowers on the cover. This story deals with everyday struggles that are relatable such as grief, divorce, heartbreak, healing, finances, and single parenting. I did appreciate that the storyline wasn't forceful and made it flow naturally. Overall, I enjoyed Derek's and Crystal's romance.

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

*I received this book as an ARC through netgalley*

When I read the description for Farm Cove Bliss, I was excited read a small town romance between two single parents struggling with past hurts. Derek lost his wife in a tragic accident and hasn’t dated seriously since and Crystal’s ex-husband cheated on her, destroying her trust, but when they meet neither can resist the pull they feel towards each other. It’s an adorable concept with room to really explore deep feelings and moving on after being hurt, and the bones are there in the story, but it fell flat for me.

The story moved quickly without diving deep into the characters feelings or motivations. At the end of the book, I felt like I didn’t really understand the main characters’ personalities. I think one of the reasons it felt so surface level was the short chapters that progressed the timeline but didn’t delve deeper into the character’s feelings. Once I realized this book had originally been a serialized story on Kindle Vella it made more sense, as the nature of serialized stories means they need constant external situations happening to drive each chapter along and keep readers checking back. Personally, I feel the book would have benefited greatly by removing many of the scenes that don’t progress the main plot and instead taking the time to dive deeper into the characters so the reader connects with them more. Having their feelings told to me instead of shown really hindered my ability to connect.

Another thing was that the miscommunication trope was prominent in this story, which can work but without having a deeper connection to the characters it just left me feeling like they were incredibly immature for two people supposedly in their 40s with careers, past marriages, and children. Especially the big confrontation at the end. Without spoiling it, I’ll say that both characters were in the wrong, but only Derek was portrayed that way and left to apologize and provide the grand gesture.

In the end, this book wasn’t for me. However, I think the author could create a great story in the future if they spent a little more time showing us who the characters are instead of just how they handle the obstacles of the plot.

This was such a cute small town romance. Crystal and Derek love story was so cute and they both got a second chance at love after so many years being alone they finally found someone they can spend the rest of their lives with. I loved everything about them and both with different family dynamic. Derek grand gesture touched my heart as much as it touched Crystal.

This was my first book by E.D Hackett, and I really think this was such a fun introduction to this author.
This book was super cute. I really enjoyed the characters, they felt well thought out, and had interesting backstories. I thought the romance was sweet!
If you’re after a sweet, easy to read romance, this will be a great one to add to your TBR.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this as an ARC.

Crystal and Dereks story was good. I wasn't sure it would work out with Derek because he was always scampering away. However love prevailed once again.

This was pretty slow. It was pretty predictable but there were some things I thought would happen that didn’t. Glad there was a happy ending but it took a long time to get there. There was just not a whole lot to the plot and the characters were not relatable but rather annoying with the constant back and forth.

I think I wanted this book to be more than it was. The romance itself was cute but I wanted him to spend more time with her son, that’s the best part of a single parent romance. I also feel like her pov didn’t show that she was as into him as he was into her. Overall it’s cute but I think it needs a bit more work.

I received an arc through netgalley.