Kate's Progress

by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

A quest for a quiet life in the country is thwarted by two mysterious but alluring brothers. Replete with the author’s trademark wit and compelling dialogue

Kate's latest failure on the London dating scene leads her to escape to an idyllic Exmoor, West Country village where she finds her 'Cinderella Project' - a run-down cottage on the edge of the moors.

Her attempt to lead a quiet life there is, however, thwarted by a town seething with passion and intrigue. Competition for her affections leads to her entanglement with the Blackmore family, the local landowners consisting of the hostile and brooding Ed; his gorgeous, divorced, playboy brother Jack; and their flighty, shopaholic step-mother Camilla.

Kate's new life is threatened to be turned upside-down by something rotten in the Blackmore estate. Will she be forced to scuttle back to London or prevail and find serenity and happiness in renovating her cottage? It seems that, between them, Jack and Ed may hold the key.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary, British Literature

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles (aka Emma Woodhouse, Elizabeth Bennett)

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born on 13 August 1948 in Shepherd's Bush, London, England, where was educated at Burlington School, a girls' charity school founded in 1699, and at the University of Edinburgh and University College London, where she studied English, history and philosophy.

She had a variety of jobs in the commercial world, starting as a junior cashier at Woolworth's and working her way down to Pensions Officer at the BBC.

She wrote her first novel while at university and in 1972 won the Young Writers' Award with The Waiting Game. The birth of the MORLAND DYNASTY series enabled Cynthia Harrod-Eagles to become a full-time writer in 1979. The series was originally intended to comprise twelve volumes, but it has proved so popular that it has now been extended to thirty-four.

In 1993 she won the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award with Emily, the third volume of her Kirov Saga, a trilogy set in nineteenth century Russia.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but felt like the end was really, really rushed.

[Kim D · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was a little too tidy, too quickly. For chick lit, entertaining and not overly fluffy.

[Lesley Book Lover · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointed at the ending of this, as it just seemed rushed, so it spoilt it slightly.

[Melissa (Semi Hiatus Until After the Holidays) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is pretty typical romantic suspense. Trying to clear some older titles off of my Netgalley list that I didn't get time to read way back in the day. I thought it was nicely atmospheric, but the ending was super rushed and not very plausible.

I received a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Austeneque romance

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles Kate's Progress might be classified as chick lit based on its subject matter, but her 40 years of experience as an author elevates it above the typical novel in that genre. It's the story of 28-year-old Kate Jennings, who, fed up with men and her life in London after her latest failed relationship, decides to use an inheritance from her grandmother to buy and renovate a cottage in the English countryside. Although her goal is to remodel and sell the cottage for a profit rather than find a new boyfriend, she meets two intriguing brothers from the local landowning Blackmore family who make getting involved very difficult to resist.

Kate's Progress doesn't have a lot of action, so it's probably not the book for readers who like a lively plot. There is some minor skullduggery involving the Blackmore estate and Kate's cottage, but most of the book consists of descriptions of Kate's remodeling project, her interactions with the local villagers, and her increasing involvement with the entire Blackmore family. While some might find the novel boring, I enjoyed the gentle flow of the story and the development of Kate's relationships with the other characters. The romance is somewhat understated, but Harrod-Eagles' seems to be referencing the work of Jane Austen, particularly Pride and Prejudice (which Kate happens to be reading at the end of the novel). Kate's uncertainty about how her love interest views her and whether she is good enough for him echoes the romance between Lizzy and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. If you enjoy Pride and Prejudice (and home renovations and descriptions of the English countryside and village life), this might be the perfect book for you!

An ARC of Kate's Progress was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah Hearn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a little disappointing in view of the author’s usual subject matter. I always enjoy her writing style, and the humourous plays-on-words she uses (especially in her Bill Slider series), her characters are solidly developed with real personalities, and I love reading about a group of such appealing people; however, this story was a pure romance and the plot line was highly predictable. I was really enjoying reading about Kate’s work on the cottage, and would have liked to see her finish it. I just read Tana French’s novel “The Searcher”, where the main character was also renovating a dilapidated cottage, and I really got into seeing the work progress. It would have added a lot, IMO, if Ms Harrod-Eagles had allowed Kate’s work to continue, and had also upped the ante on the threats she was receiving. I wanted Kate to be more independent and self-assured, not needing a man so much, able to carry on, to defend herself. Those are all the reasons I gave this book only 3 stars when I expected to give it a higher rating.

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chick lit isn't my usual fare, but it was written by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles who writes one of my favourite British mystery series (Bill Slider) and it was on the library shelf, so I gave it a go. It is well written, not too sophomoric, and for something light after some heavier reads was fine. It was pretty predictable (she probably got the man you'd expect her to get), but with some not so predictable twists and turns.

[Bryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice middlebrow romance about a London career woman making a new life in the country and (of course) falling in love and eventually living HEA. It had tons of things I really enjoy -- a fun cast of characters, good scenery, solid descriptions of the protagonist at work remodelling a house, and even some dogs and horses. Writing this review is reminding me of how enjoyable & cosy this one -- I think I'll go look for another contemporary romance by this author!

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it right up until about 3/4's of the way through. Like a lot of people have mentioned, this book is in serious need of an epilogue, and the climax... is a bit crumbly.

On the bright side, the book has an awesome British accent. I quite enjoyed myself giggling at words.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved this book at the get go but about half way through it started getting slow

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Put simply, this novel deserves 5 stars because I enjoyed reading it. It was slow and gentle and well-written. The last sentence left a satisfied smile on my face.

[Joy O’Toole · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. I picked this up because I love the author's historical series. A fun, light read although the end is rushed. Very English in tone and vocab.

[D R Coles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light and lovely

Not what I would normally. expect from a Cynthia Harrod Eagles book but
very enjoyable. I usually find her books much meatier where this is more chick lit.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

First book by this author that I did not care for and it's the genre, not the writing. I'm not a big fan of romance although it was well written.

[Randi Daeger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book until the very end when everything seemed to resolve itself too quickly.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely. English country and characters described beautifully and a dark brooding feel at times. Just a bit disappointed by a rather sudden ending!

[Cameran · Rating 1 out of 5]

Be honest: when you read the title and the premise of the book weren’t you invoked with the idea that this would be a story in which the woman progresses to a different phase of her life? Kate has had hear heart broken, thus prompting her to make the decision to move from London to the countryside and partake on an adventure. She purchases a cottage to renovate, submerges herself within the doings and lives of the village locals, and I would have thought that all this change would have brought about some characters development for her. After all, the book is called Kate’s Progress. Yet her development did not progress at all. She remained the same character in a different setting because the plot of the story did not allow her to do anything else.

The book ran somewhat parallel to the storyline of Pride and Prejudice. It was easy to match all of the characters in Kate’s story with those from Elizabeth Bennett’s. Because of this the story read with a hundred percent predictability -- the reader is already aware of where all these characters fit into the main scope of things. This is not a book that I could recommend to anyone because I do not feel as if anyone would get much out of it. Sorry.

[Annmarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, pleasant enough and very British and well enough written, but didn't live up to Kirkus Reviews' intimations that it was an update of Pride and Prejudice. It's about a young woman recently crushed by bad love affairs who comes into some money and heads off to the British countryside to recuperate by remodeling a cottage for six months with plans to sell it at a profit. Enter brooding, handsome neighboring landowner type, intrigue based on someone who leaves threatening messages to get her off the land, and growing relationships with the pleasant couple & kids next door. It didn't quite work as a good romance, rather bland, but the remodeling details were nice and the matter of fact descriptions of such intricacies as what a Ploughman's Lunch is were actually kind of interesting to me. Still baffled by carpet slippers though. Is it different than normal slippers? are there non-carpet, outdoors slippers? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, it was lovely to read on a long drive. Kate is burned during a love affair and after a fortuitous windfall, decides to turn her back on London and move to a fix-it-upper in the English countryside. The book is full of delightful characters and depicts an area still clinging to the vestiges of Victorian country living. It reads more adult than most chick-lit although it is still filled with some of the usual genre tropes. It was refreshing to not read about a love-lorn heroine. I would definitely read another book of the author's.

[Denise Prewett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a delightful, quick read book. Kate has just been burned in a relationship that she thought was the real thing, her grandmother just gave her her inheritance early...so tired of life in London, Kate buys a fixer upper in Exmoor where her father is from and Kate spent many memorable summers. Enter the Blackmoor family and Kate's plan of a simple life restoring her home are turned upside down. Sweeet, enjoyable and worth the time.

[Lisa McElroy Sweeten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cozy, but...

...the one problem I always have with British "leading ladies" in novels is that, although they are great at helping other people and offering advice, they are so much less determined when it comes to themselves. They push the people around them, but when it comes to their own wants and desires, fall back on that politeness and unwillingness to make a fuss. I know it's a formula that sells in chick lit, but it does get tiresome.

[Pam Bales · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Ms. Harrod-Eagles Bill Slider mystery series and picked up this book because of that. It is a romance, set in England, and I only occasionally read those. This one has good characters and an intriguing storyline. It kept me enthralled, but ended too soon. There's a threatening character or two and dogs, cats, and horses that add to the story. English romance fan? Give this a try.

[Babs · Rating 3 out of 5]

...it was a feeble soul that avoided adventure because it might interrupt routine...

Enjoyed the British vernacular in this light-hearted story. Skips and point to pointing races to name a few.

Agree with the Jane Austen Sabrina analogy of the book's storyline. And, a bit of Cinderella for good measure.

[Jessie Pannell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the English countryside descriptions and the characterization was OK if not stereotypical. However, the plot was broken up, characters were dropped, and, as several other reviews have noted, the end was rushed and tied up with a flimsy bow. It got me through my layovers, though!

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely romance story. Are there really English folk who live like that anymore ? I lost too much sleep staying up late to read. I thought I was going to read a mystery novel. Ending did seem a little too pat.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ending was rushed. Characters are all of a sudden proclaiming there love for one another. But other than that it was a fun fast read.

[Imelda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was rushed.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy quick read. I will look into other books by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.

[Linda Bridges · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quote predictable and utterly charming! A quick fun read.