Coming Home to Cuckoo Cottage

by Heidi Swain

[Leah]

I’ve been wanting to read one of Heidi Swain’s books for ages – in fact, I own three of her books, I just haven’t gotten around to reading them (#storyofmylife) so when my local library got in a copy of Heidi’s newest release Coming Home To Cuckoo Cottage, I had to pick it up! All of Heidi’s novels are connected, set in the town of Wynbridge, but it doesn’t seem like you *have* to read the books in order, although it’s obviously preferable and makes for a much better reading experience, but I’m just a maverick who doesn’t listen to the rules.

Coming Home To Cuckoo Cottage was a brilliant read. I loved the warmth, the gentle humour, the characters, and the town of Wynbride. This one is set a bit outside of Wynbridge, but you still meet characters from the previous books. I love that, actually, when authors bring characters back in later books, so you know they’re pootling along OK. For me, the pages just flew over. I enjoyed Lottie’s narrative, she had such a lovely voice, and I feel like she could definitely be someone I could be friends with, which is what I always like to look for when I’m reading. Inheriting a fabulous house is kind of the dream, isn’t it? And I liked seeing Lottie explore Cuckoo Cottage, the descriptions of Cuckoo Cottage were absolutely glorious, I could see the barns, and imagine all of Lottie’s plans coming to fruition.

As with most Chick Lit novels, there are a few cliches – the neighbour who Lottie obviously gets off on the wrong foot with; the villain character you can see a mile off, in fog, yet Lottie is oblivious, and a few others. It was mostly the villain one which got my goat. Lottie is clearly a clever girl, she’s bright, so why she allowed herself to be taken in made me want to scream. One of my favourite characters was definitely Minnie the dog. She was hilarious! She was like an actual human character, the way she disliked certain people and got huffy when Lottie left her by herself, it honestly just tickled me.

All in all, I really, really enjoyed Coming Home To Cuckoo Cottage. I really fancied a good Chick Lit read and this one more than fulfilled that for me. Heidi Swain has such a gorgeous writing style, so easy and warm and so easy to devour. I can’t wait to go back and read more books set in Wynbridge and there’s already another new novel due out soon (when does she sleep!??!). I loved meeting Lottie, and learning about Gwen, and Cuckoo Cottage, and while Lottie may not have loved Will the moment she set eyes on him, I didn’t mind him at all (apart from the speeding). Coming Home To Cuckoo Cottage is a classic Chick Lit novel and I loved it.