I am very pleased to welcome back lovely Laura Briggs to Linda’s Book Bag as part of the A Garden in Cornwall publication day push with Rachel’s Random Resources. Laura previously wrote a super guest post for the blog about the influence of Jane Austen that you can read here.  Today I have my review of Laura’s latest book A Garden in Cornwall and she is staying in with me to tell me more about it too. Not only that, but you have a chance to win your own copy of A Garden in Cornwall at the bottom of this blog post.

A Garden in Cornwall is available for purchase here.

A Garden in Cornwall

With their lives exactly what they’ve always dreamed, Matt and Julianne await the arrival of the third member of their family — but their happiness is threatened when their landlady Mathilda announces her intention to sell their beloved Rosemoor Cottage for an impossible value. Devastated, Julianne struggles to accept the cold reality of her and Matt making their home elsewhere.

Matt’s life has taken a new turn as he finally puts aside his academic work to pursue his gardening hobby as a career: his first new job as a landscape designer involves neglected Penwill Hall’s ‘lost’ garden — one with a truly romantic Cornish past. But the task of restoring its legendary beauty from nearly seventy years ago proves difficult among the ruins lost in weeds and wilderness.

With notions of secret gardens and wartime stories echoing in her thoughts, Julianne is determined to help Matt and the estate’s new owner after the discovery of a hidden mural in the hall itself, depicting a breathtaking garden that may well be the lost one. Her efforts to uncover the past lead her to a curmudgeonly local gardener who just may hold the knowledge that would restore the ‘lost garden’ to its former glory. Will Julianne’s quest help her find a way to deal with losing the home she loves?

Hellos and farewells abound as Dinah returns to lend a helping hand at Cliffs House and Julianne relives her favorite memories of her and Matt’s beloved cottage in Book Twelve — the final installment in the bestselling series A Wedding In Cornwall.

Staying in With Laura Briggs

It’s lovely to have you back on the blog Laura. Thanks so much for staying in with me to tell us all about A Garden in Cornwall.

Thank you so much, Linda, for inviting me to share my book with your readers!

A Garden in Cornwall is actually the final book in my series of romantic novellas known as A Wedding in Cornwall. It concludes the adventures of American event planner Julianne who came ‘across the Pond’ in book one in search of a new job and ended up finding more than she ever dreamed of—including a romance with Matthew, a gardener and scientist with Ross Poldark-esque looks!

Writing this series has been wonderfully fun, and after 12 books with the same characters, it would be hard not to feel a little emotional as Julianne’s story draws to a close. I love researching the beautiful and unique county of Cornwall in my efforts to bring my fictional village to life, and the pictures alone tell me it’s a place I would definitely love to visit. It’s always great to hear from readers who say that my novellas truly evoke the Cornish countryside for them, since that was certainly a big part of my goal when fashioning the stories.

I’m going to have to start at the beginning with these as I really enjoyed A Garden in Cornwall!

What can we expect from an evening in with A Garden in Cornwall?

Expect to be swept away to a fictional part of Cornwall, where the ruins of a lost garden lead to forgotten pieces of the past. If you’re a fan of The Secret Garden, either the classic novel or the film adaptations, I hope you’ll find a little of that story’s magic in the descriptions of flora and fauna and the notion of restoring a long neglected garden to its former beauty.

(I thought the descriptions were very vivid Laura.)

What else have you brought along and why? 

I’ve brought along the traditional Cornish meat pie known as an ‘oggie’—my heroine, Julianne, enjoys eating these at Charlotte’s bakery in the village where she lives, and though I’ve never tried one myself, I have to say they sound quite scrumptious! For something to drink, I thought a nice ‘cuppa’ might hit the spot (I would love to experience an authentic English teatime meal someday—maybe even in a Cornish village, who knows!).

As you’ve brought something I love eating – an oggie – you’re welcome back any time for a traditional English teatime meal Laura. Thanks so much for telling us more about A Garden in Cornwall.

My Review of A Garden in Cornwall

With a baby on the way, Matt and Julianne have some big challenges and decisions to make.

Not having read any of the previous books in the A Wedding in Cornwall series, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I found that I didn’t need any previous knowledge of plots or characters to enjoy A Garden in Cornwall.

There’s a delightful story here as the mystery behind the lost gardens at Penwill Hall unfolds so that whilst this is a cosy chick-lit style read, A Garden In Cornwall has other layers too. As a keen gardener I loved the attention to detail in naming the plants and describing the planting. I felt Laura Briggs had really researched her topic well.

I enjoyed meeting the cast of characters. I have no idea whether some or all have been in previous books and it simply didn’t matter. There was sufficient detail to bring them all to life for a new reader. I especially liked Old Bill and the values he stands for. I thought Laura Briggs used him beautifully to show how life can impact on us and how we can still live in the present whilst remaining true to our past. It also made a real change to see how the established relationship between Juli and Matt develops as they rise to the challenges of life.

In fact, it was the handling of the different themes that I appreciated the most. Juli and Matt have some difficult choices to make but I thought their attitude and approach to life was a great lesson for us all. I felt that Laura Briggs illustrated how we can change and adapt and how we never really know quite what goes on underneath other people’s personas really well.

A Garden in Cornwall is a charming read.

About Laura Briggs

Laura Briggs is the author of several lighthearted romance novels and novellas, including the bestselling Amazon UK series A Wedding in Cornwall. She has a fondness for vintage-style dresses (especially ones with polka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with family, caring for her pets, going to movies and plays, and trying new restaurants.

You can follow Laura on Twitter @PaperDollWrites, find her on Facebook, visit her blog and see all her lovely books here.

Giveaway

For your chance to win* an e-copy of A Garden in Cornwall click here.

Please note – this giveaway is independent of Linda’s Book Bag.

*The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then the organiser reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time the organiser will delete the data.