Bookish Bits : 5* review: Appleby Farm: Love is in the Air (part four) by Cathy Bramley

Tuesday, 12 May 2015

5* review: Appleby Farm: Love is in the Air (part four) by Cathy Bramley

Running her own business is every bit as thrilling as Freya hoped it would be, but hectic too – she barely has time for a cup of tea!

And her latest venture is looking promising too. Nestled in rolling hills, surrounded by glittering lakes, and with a gorgeous old house at its heart, Appleby Farm is the perfect spot for a rustic wedding. As Freya throws herself into organizing a beautiful celebration, she begins to see a prosperous future for Appleby Farm. But who is the lucky bride?

Finally, things are looking up for the little piece of Cumbria that Freya has fallen in love with all over again . . . So will she at last get her own happy ending?

Appleby Farm is an irresistibly charming novel told in four parts – following the adventures of Freya Moorcroft in love, friendship and a spot of farming. Love Is In The Air is part four. It features some friendly faces who appeared in Cathy's bestselling series, Ivy Lane, but it can be read and enjoyed as a standalone story.

Each part of Appleby Farm contains 10 chapters.

As happy as I was to be reading the conclusion of Appleby Farm I was equally as sad to know it had come to an end. I have adored watching bubbly Freya return to her childhood home and her lovely Aunty Sue and Uncle Arthur, and watching her character develop from the lost soul she seemed to be in the very beginning - or even further back for those who have read Ivy Lane where she first featured working in the cafe.

She has had romantic trials and tribulations during the series and finally realised that she was falling in love with (the gorgeous and IMHO far better than Charlie!) Harry, her childhood friend and neighbouring farmer. She just is not sure if he feels the same. But the fate of the farm still is unsure as Freya's rotten brother Julian is sniffing around and trying to sell the farm to the highest bidder and Aunty Sue has her heart set on retiring to a little bungalow.

The whole Appleby Farm series has been beautifully touching and vibrant, all told with Cathy's wonderful, warm sense of humour. I loved the family ethos at Appleby Farm, how fences are mended (physically and metaphorically) and how Tilly Parker (Ivy Lane) celebrated her beautiful wedding at Freya's beautiful vintage tearooms which was described so perfectly I felt I was a guest looking on, with obligatory tears in my eyes.

Thank you, Cathy, for another perfect series, I'm highly anticipating Wickham Hall (coming in June '15)!