Book Review - The Little Cottage in Lantern Square by Helen Rolfe

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Title: The Little Cottage in Lantern Square

Author: Helen Rolfe

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 20th August 2020

Rating: 4 Stars

The Little Cottage in Lantern Square is Helen Rolfe's four Lantern Square novellas collected together for the first time.

Step into the magic of Lantern Square...

Hannah went from high flyer in the city to business owner and has never looked back. In the cosy Cotswold village of Butterbury she runs Tied up with String, sending handmade gifts and care packages across the miles, as well as delivering them to people she thinks need them the most.

But when her ex best-friend Georgia turns up and wants in on the action, will Hannah be willing to forgive and forget? With her business in jeopardy she needs to maintain the reputation she's established, and discover who she can trust...

Meanwhile, a mysterious care package lands on her own doorstep at Lantern Cottage. Who is trying to win her heart - and will she ever be willing to give it away?

*The Little Cottage in Lantern Square is the collected Lantern Square novellas. If you have read and enjoyed the novellas, then you have already enjoyed The Little Cottage in Lantern Square. For more novellas from Helen Rolfe, try her Little Cafe at the End of the Pier series, or The Kindness Club in Mapleberry Lane*

I found the first half of this story was rather slow and took a while for me to get into properly, but I appreciate it needed to be that way so that you had all the relevant background to the characters, for when it starts to get far more exciting in the second half. 

At the point it all clicked for me, this was a book that was very hard to put down indeed and I was really hooked on finding out just what would happen next. 

I find that Helen Rolfe comes up with some cracking professions for her main characters and was delighted to see this was no exception.  I've never heard of a care package business before, but it's such a lovely concept that I wish someone had ordered one for me! 

I also loved Hannah's voluntary work up at the local old people's home, and really enjoyed getting to know some of its key residents, and their favourite genres to read! As you may expect with village life, there is a colourful collection of characters, some of whom seem to be rubbed up the wrong way the second Hannah moves into Lantern Cottage. 

But yet its seeing how she interacts and attempts to turn opinion around, and how she tries to integrate herself within the community that I really enjoyed seeing.   But is Hannah too trusting and too kind, as ex-best friend and most recent ex-boyfriend both reappear on the scenes, she is tempted to forgive them but can you really trust them?

It seems like everyone is hiding something, some more obvious than others, and in part its discovering everyone's secrets that keeps you reading.  Oh and the delicious sounding treats that are baked throughout the village, those are rather tempting too! 

This is a really enjoyable, kind hearted book that has a lot going for it.  A really pleasant way to spend the time reading it, and it almost had me staying up past 3am to finish it, but then decided I should be sensible and sleep, so finished it as soon as I woke up the next day instead. 

Thank you to Orion and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.