Return to Embthwaite Farm

The Mowbray Sisters #1

by Kate Hewitt

Welcome to Embthwaite Farm, a charming English home in North Yorkshire, belonging to the fractured Mowbray family…

When Rachel Mowbray left behind her family farm in North Yorkshire at eighteen, she never planned on returning. But when her ex-childhood sweetheart calls and insists she return due to her father’s declining health, she travels north. Every moment home reminds Rachel why she left—her sister Harriet is both hostile and cold, her father barely communicates with anyone, and the house feels stuck in time. Plus, her old neighbour and ex, sheep farmer Ben Mackey, still has the power to make her pulse race…a decidedly unwelcome realization!

As a can-do businesswoman, Rachel wants to sweep in and fix everything, but it seems as if no one actually wants her help and nothing goes according to plan. Even more alarmingly, she must face the confounding memories of her own childhood—and she questions how many of them she can truly trust.

As Rachel navigates her father’s health crisis and confronts old hurts with her sister and community, she wonders if she can finally find her happily-ever-after in the most unexpected place of all—home. But will she—as well as Ben—have the courage to fight for their future together this time?

Genres: Contemporary

284 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2023

About the author

Kate is the USA Today-bsetselling author of many books of both historical and contemporary fiction. Under the name Katharine Swartz, she is the author of the Tales from Goswell books, a series of time-slip novels set in the village of Goswell.

She likes to read women's fiction, mystery and thrillers, as well as historical novels. She particularly enjoys reading about well-drawn characters and avoids high-concept plots.

Having lived in both New York City and a tiny village on the windswept northwest coast of England, she now resides in a market town in Wales with her husband, five children, and two Golden Retrievers.

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely story and a fabulous start to a new series, I loved the setting, North Yorkshire and I did very much enjoy getting to know the Mowbray family, sisters Rachel and Harriet and their father Peter.

Rachel left the family farm at eighteen setting off to university and she wasn’t planning to return, she also left behind her neighbour, Ben Mackey, but she wanted a career in London and although there were a couple of short visits home she never felt welcome and she has a great job and enjoying life, or is she?

Rachel is lapping it up on her first holiday since forever when she gets a call from her ex Ben, telling her she needs to come home and now, her father is not well, so Rachel arrives ready to do what she can but she is not met with welcome arms from her sister or father, but Ben still has the power to make her heart race, after all of these years.

Coming home though opens up a Pandora’s Box of childhood memories and they are challenging for Rachel and she starts questioning herself and Harriett, but as she works through the problems of her father’s health she also is talking to Ben more, she knows how much he means to her but does Ben feel the same way and when push comes to shove will she choose Ben or her job?

This is a beautiful story, with fabulous characters Kate Hewitt has dug deep into their emotions and bought them to life on the pages, Rachel had a lot to re-think about her life and about family, will she find her true HEA?

I do highly recommend this one and I am very eager for book two in the series.

My thanks to the publisher Tule for a digital copy to read and review.

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I did not care for Rachel at all. I did like Harriett though.

[Shelagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Hewitt never fails to entertain and that is certainly the case with Return To Embthwaite Farm. Set in the Yorkshire Dales in northern England, this story sees Rachel Mowbray, a London financier, whose father has been slowly selling down the family farm while also behaving oddly enough for neighbour Ben Mackey, her former schoolgirl crush, to urge Rachel to return home. These two make a lovely couple. She’s riddled with guilt for not visiting home more often but also eager to return to her London life, yet still wildly attracted to Ben. He’s taciturn but kind and cares for the wellbeing of his neighbours. I loved the internal challenges Rachel faced as her relationship with Ben grows. I also loved that this story showed the healing of a deep rift between Rachel and her sister and an estrangement with her father. There was plenty of angst to balance the growing love between Rachel and Ben. Overall, this has been a truly lovely story to read and I am looking forward to Harriet’s story.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prolific writer Kate Hewitt's Return to Embthwaite Farm is the first title in her wonderful new Mowbray Sisters series which readers are sure to enjoy.

When Rachel Mowbray turned eighteen, she left her life and the family farm in Yorkshire behind and vowed never to return ever again. The promise which she had kept for the last few years has had to be broken by circumstance when her father becomes seriously ill. As she returns home, she is immediately reminded of the reasons why she had left in the first place: her distant father, her hostile sister and her neighbor Ben, who still has the power to make her heart race!

Far from a welcome homecoming, Rachel feels like an outsider and as she faces shadows from her past, she realises that laying old ghosts to rest will be far from easy. Yet, the more time she spends at the farm - and with Ben - the more she begins to wonder whether coming home might be the best thing she has ever done...

Has Rachel's happy ending been right under her nose along? Having spent her life far from Embthwaite Farm, might she finally realise that that is the one place where she belongs?

Kate Hewitt is a wonderful writer who never fails to pen engaging and emotional stories that touch the heart and Return to Embthwaite Farm is no different. A spellbinding tale about healing, belonging and love that will bring a tear to the eye, Return to Embthwaite Farm is an enjoyable romantic tale readers will fall in love with.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this one by Kate, it’s the first in her new series The Mowbray Sisters and this story is older sister Rachel’s. Rachel hadn’t been home in years and when she is home feels unwanted by her sister Harriet and her father. When her childhood crush Ben calls her insisting she come home due to a family health crisis Rachel comes home with open hostility from Harriet and her dad who is irritable and uncommunicative. As the story progresses we see Rachel and Harriet talking more about their relationship and how miscommunication and hurt feelings took a toll. Ben certainly redeemed himself in the later part of the story but early on he was a bit of a jerk but we see that perceptions are different for everyone and how we see things isn’t necessarily the same as how someone else sees it. I loved this one and can’t wait to read Harriet’s story.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

RETURN TO EMBTHWAITHE FARM is a charming new women’s fiction series by Kate Hewitt, featuring a pair of estranged sisters, one who stayed behind on the family farm to help the father who was distant and at times downright unloving, and the other who left home at 17 and never looked back. Rachel is the focus of book one. She’s the sister who left home and got a fancy job in finance. When her father becomes ill, she returns to the family farm in Yorkshire, but gets a frosty reception from Harriet, who resents her “swanning back in” and trying to take over after being absent for so long. She rekindles a relationship with Ben, who owns the farm next door. I loved the examination of the sister’s relationship in this one. They’ve both been hurt by the treatment of both their parents. Their father was distant and their mother left them when the oldest was 17, and was unstable before that. So neither had an easy childhood. Now that their dad has a poor diagnosis, they will have to come together and it won’t be easy. Well written women’s fiction. 5/5 stars.

[Paula Pugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply rooted past hurts erupt to the surface when Rachel is called home after living in London for twelve years and having fled Embthwaite farm. Her sister Harriet has treated every past visit with angry words and Rachel’s father is aloof and remote.
With her father’s undiagnosed illness looming over them, Rachel and Harriet must face the past. Rachel also has unfinished business with neighbor Ben, her longtime crush, once boyfriend, and hurtful lost love.
A very touching story of family and of lost love.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Sherri Babb · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful start to this new series. It was such and emotional and heartwarming read. The first book in this series belongs to Rachel and Ben. Their story is one of letting go of the past and repairing broken relationships. I cannot wait to see where this series goes. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Gentle read from Kate Hewitt. I enjoyed it very much.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook, didn’t like the narrator’s voice.
The storyline was okay, but didn’t really connect with any of the characters not sure why. Will read the other three parts as ebooks.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rachel left her Yorkshire home when she was eighteen years old and has rarely been back since, preferring her life as an analyst in London. Then her childhood crush and neighbour Ben Mackey calls and practically orders her home (while she is on holiday), refusing to explain why.

Despite her misgivings Rachel returns home to find her father as uncommunicative as ever and her baby sister Harriet continues to both complain that Rachel never does anything and resent her for coming home to try to help.

Rachel also feels an unwelcome romantic pull towards Ben, but after the way he treated her she can't give in to those feelings.

This is a second chance romance where everyone remembers the past differently, everyone thinks their feelings/intentions were crystal clear whereas the other person gets completely the wrong end of the stick. And there's a lot of refusing to spell things out for fear of losing face.

Unfortunately, for me Ben was the weakest link. His call to Rachel was fairly typical of his actions and attitude towards Rachel throughout the book. He just made unilateral decisions and told her what to do, or did things without consulting her. As a consequence, I felt Ben was more in the wrong but as usual the FMC is the one who makes the sacrifices.

Also apologies, I had a total reading binge and have come out of it with large numbers of books to review and not very specific reasons for liking or disliking books.

I received an ARC from the publisher Tule for an honest review.

Bumped for release.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Returning home has been a theme that Katie Hewitt has explored in the past and does so again in Return to Embthwaite Farm (The Mowbray Sisters Book 1) by Kate Hewitt. This is the kind of story that I love best by this author, equal parts women’s fiction, and sweet romance. Besides the obvious coming home theme there is also the close look at how perception affects memories. Until Rachel comes home because of her father’s illness, her memories were mostly negative. She finds that others see what happened in the past differently. What a wonderful story full of revelations, reflections, heart, and restoration.

For young love to turn into true love is a slow burn makes this a marvelous romance, too. I recommend Rachel’s and Ben’s story to one and all. Now I am looking forward to prickly Harriet’s story next.

An ARC of the book was given to me by Tule Publishing which I voluntarily chose to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.