Book Review - A New Family At Puddleduck Farm by Della Galton

 The Amazon Purchase link below is an Amazon Affiliate link.

Amazon UK

Title: A New Family At Puddleduck Farm

Author: Della Galton

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 28th August 2025

Rating: 4 Stars

Welcome back to Puddleduck Farm and a wonderfully warm, festive and uplifting read from Della Galton 🦆✨

Uplifting, poignant, feel-good fiction at its best. Perfect for the fans of Alison Sherlock, Sarah Hope and Lisa Hobman💗

Are there enough hours in the day for everyone to find their happy place?

Phoebe Dashwood and Sam Hendrie welcome their beautiful baby daughter into their already busy lives. With motherhood now top of Phoebe’s to-do list alongside being a vet, and running an animal sanctuary there’s no time for daydreaming.

As Phoebe battles sleepless nights, extra challenges arise in the shape of abandoned African pygmy hedgehogs, stolen cats, and a worrying trend to keep wildlife as pets.

Meanwhile, Sam is selflessly left holding the baby and when a familiar face from the past returns old feelings are tested. With so many plates spinning Sam worries something may get broken – he just hopes it won’t be their relationship.

Can parenthood, a relationship, and a professional life be successfully juggled and is it really ever possible to have it all?

I was totally convinced that the previous book in this series was in fact the last one, so when this appeared on the release schedules I was shocked, but it is definitely a happy surprise.

A feeling that continued as I read the book, by which I mean I devoured it.  I am loving the new dynamic of Phoebe as a mother, and of her and Sam trying to get to grips with parenthood,  as well as still trying to be people in their own rights.  

So something I'm sure it relatable to most parents that might read this. There is naturally a large animal base to this story, and once again Della manages to highlight an issue relating to animals within the story totally naturally to bring awareness. 

This time it's to do with keeping wildlife as pets, although I will say those African Pygmy hedgehogs do sound incredibly cute, they definitely shouldn't be pets. There is also mystery going on to do with missing cats, and that was probably my favourite storyline of the book, but to tell you why, may give away spoilers, but rest assured it brings together everyone at Puddleduck Pets and Vets with a common cause, and that Maggie is at the heart of a genius plan, which took even this reader by surprise! 

This was another fabulous addition to this series, and I loved seeing a continued link between this and the Duck Pond Cottage series, as both animal rescues help each other out.  

So long as there are animals and kind humans in the books, then you know this is a winning combination for this talented author who clearly loves her animals.   Please let there be more of this series to come, it is so good. 

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