Paradise Fields

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 8/11/2004

Romance blooms for a long-celibate widow in this cozy potboiler by British hen-lit veteran Fforde (Highland Fling; etc.). Nel Innes has kept busy in the 10 years since her beloved husband died, raising her three children (the youngest of whom, 18-year-old daughter Fleur, is growing up far too fast for Nel's taste), taking care of the family's many dogs and organizing a farmer's market in the town's Paradise Fields. But when local bigwig Sir Gerald dies, leaving his estate (and the connecting land that a hospice uses for recreation and fund-raising) to his developer son, Pierce, and Pierce's sexy American wife, Kerry Anne, Nel is furious how dare these soulless big-city chumps take away the land the hospice so desperately needs? And how, fueled by righteous anger as she is, can she find herself falling so hard for the couple's dashing and equally big-city solicitor, Jake Demerand? Though Fforde's plots are often rather similar smalltown woman fights the good fight and wins, falling in love with a man she initially deems an opponent charming, lovable secondary characters carry the day, and funny scenes such as Nel going undercover to track Fleur to a trendy nightclub are by turns poignant and hilarious. This sweet literary equivalent of warm fuzzy slippers will help bring Fforde, who has a sizable following in Britain, further onto American radar.