Stately Pursuits (by Katie Fforde)

(Amazon UK link)

I haven't come across Katie Fforde before. But I came across this book on a relative's shelves, and the cover looked interesting, as did the blurb on the back.

'Stately Pursuits' features Hetty, a young woman who tries to recover from a broken heart by house-sitting in a stately home. She quickly finds herself caught up in village life, and the battle to save the house from its heir, Connor, to whom she finds herself quickly and unexpectedly attracted.

I thought the plot was good, but all the characters were rather flat. I suppose it's typical 'chick-lit', which is a style that hasn't ever really appealed to me. For my tastes, there was far too much conversational banter (irrelevant to the story), and recorded thoughts rather than any action. This meant that some of Hetty's reactions felt rather unlikely.

It was also a bit more explicit than I am comfortable with in places. But, overall, pleasant enough light reading. Still in print at the time of writing.