The first half of Matilda's Summer of New Beginnings has just about everything you could want from a cozy love story. Matilda, dejected after being dumped and having her lifelong rival achieve a London art exhibition before her, needs a change. So when an invitation to a birthday party in the charming village of Padcock comes her way, Matilda can't get out of the city fast enough, and soon being among a different, sweeter crowd feels exactly like the tonic she needs. Of course, it helps when there's such great company like the local barman, Jay, who she might have the tiniest of crushes on—even if she's not sure he feels the same.

This setup is fine and, if author Kirsty Ferry had kept things running in this traditional vein, I would have had a perfectly nice visit to Padcock. However, somewhere along the way, things began to shift, and it made all the difference between a good trip and a great one.

One incredibly smart decision is Matilda and Jay's obvious connection—though Ferry does plenty to muddle the signals they put out to each other. While there are several amusing bits of miscommunication and misunderstanding, it's abundantly clear they both share similar feelings. This gives room to plenty of cautious flirting, and it's genuinely sweet how Ferry finds ways of pairing them up, including a laugh-out-loud visit to an awkward art gallery.

Ultimately, it's just a matter of whether their relationship could work. If the charming village's bar patrons, shopkeepers, and other friends have anything to say about it, it will. Everyone seems to push their potential relationship, which makes sense in a place like Padcock. Sunshine practically grows out of the ground. Still, Ferry finds plenty of reasons to pull tension when needed, and Matilda's confusion about her art skills, what she wants in life, and whether she even wants to leave London all serve as compelling foils to early love.

Better still, since most of the action isn't reliant on whether Matilda and Jay like each other, Ferry has ample opportunity to explore less internal problems. A young singer with confidence issues, a suddenly understaffed shop, and a summer fayre in need of exhibits all give Matilda something outside of herself to focus on. In return, we get to see her come into her own and be a little more sure of herself. These moments are some of the strongest in the book, ultimately making Matilda's Summer of New Beginnings a lovely read that I wasn't quite ready to leave at the end.

Go follow in Matilda's footsteps and take a stroll down to Padcock. It's a marvelous time.

This book was so cute, funny and just a great book to read. It was a book that had me laughing out loud while reading. While I flew through the book which a sign of a great book. I was sad that it ended. I'll have to check out more by this new author for me .

This was my first visit to Padcock and I wish I'd found it sooner.

Matilda is an artist, Damien is an artist and since they were children they have been trying to one up each other, but when Damian goes one step too far Matilda runs away from London to Padcock, the village where her flatmate and best friends brother Jay lives

Matilda has always had a bit of a crush on Jake but he's her best friends brother and he lives in Padcock and Matildas life is in London, or is it.

I loved the characters, really wanted to give Damian a shake sometimes but by the end I really didn't want to leave Padcock and bought the earlier books to let me stay a little longer.

A lovely book about never being too late for a new start . A lovely way to spend a few days.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

My first book by Kirsty Ferry and I loved it . This was book 4 but I read as a stand alone and loved it. I will now read the others. I loved Matilda. At times she felt a bit wishy washy as a character but she had a lot going on with her two best friends. She was a very talented person and I loved how Padcock the village pulled her in and she got her happy ever after. A great read and a fab author for me to follow.