Bewitch Berry Cottage

by Dee Garretson

A novella - Emily Martin wants to love the house in Tanager Valley she’s inherited from her eccentric godmother Lucinda. Her daughter is already enchanted with the odd little place Lucinda named Bewitchberry Cottage, and Emily has to admit their new small town of Tanager has welcomed both of them. She knows she needs to make a home for her rambunctious daughter, and to put down roots for both of them somewhere away from the memories of her former fiancé. She doesn't expect to find the cottage practically falling apart. Lucinda’s fabled wealth seems to have disappeared, though no one is exactly sure where it went. If Emily could afford to keep the cottage up, she’d be happy to stay, at least temporarily, but her finances are so slim, that may not be possible. To add another complication, a new friend of Emily’s takes on the job of matchmaker, putting Emily in the path of one of the town’s most eligible single men, Tom Cavanaugh. Emily doesn’t think Tom would ever be interested in her; she’s spent most of her life among books instead of people, and hasn’t exactly ever been in much demand. When Tom and another man suddenly begin to vie for her attention, Emily knows there must be a catch. She’s determined not to be hurt, and to make the right decisions for both herself and her daughter. If Emily could figure out why Lucinda insisted they come to live in the cottage, her decisions might be easier, but that means finding out more about Bewitchberry, and about what she really wants. Approximately 22,000 words

Genres: Romance, Contemporary

72 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 13, 2013

Reviews

[Christina Getrost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute novella, cozy romance set in a romantic old country cottage. Single mother and Renaissance lit professor Emily inherits the cottage from her eccentric godmother, who had a "witchy" reputation among townsfolk and has left behind a mystery for Emily to solve. When Emily needs a pro's help tending to the old tree on her property that is about to come down on her cottage, she meets the hunky local handyman Tom. She's visited at the same time by her ex-fiance Phillip, who tries to convince her to go away with him to Europe and rekindle their romance. He's the opposite of Tom, egotistical, but wealthy and able to help her out financially, and she's torn between the two for a while (but we know who she'll pick in the end!). Her adopted daughter Mia is a fun character. I liked this story a lot, it's nice and cozy and romantic and a quick read. It's the first adult book I've read by this author, whose YA books I really like.

[Judith Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a cute novella I read for a romance starring a single parent for 2020 Read Harder. I particularly liked the character of the adoptive daughter, who was well-drawn and believable. I found the other characters rather more typical of romance novels and perhaps a bit less rounded.

In some ways it could have done with being a little longer - the subplot involving a student having a breakdown was over very quickly, and I would actually have liked the romance to have a little longer to develop.

I'm not a fan of romance on the whole, but this was a nice one.

[Lex · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a short sweet read, but not my cup of tea.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute romance. Woman leaves fiancé, inherits a cottage, hopes to move right in, realizes it's falling apart, meets guy and you all know the rest.

Sorry I couldn't be more specific.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book is not labelled as such, I got the impression it was aimed at a young adult audience. Not because the writing was particularly simplistic, it was charming and flowed well with some well thought out introspection. What made me feel this was the ‘niceness’ of everything and no one caused her any real anguish - even the visiting sociopath was nice and non-threatening when he turned up at Emily’s door.

The cottage was nice, her relationship with her adopted daughter was nice and even the child’s behaviour didn’t attract any obvious discipline on Emily’s part. The, ‘I must tell her not to open the front door to strangers’ passes as an unspoken thought instead of the semi-hysterical barrage it would have been in real life. The bad guy wasn’t very bad, the unsuitable boyfriend faded away into the background when confronted with past crimes, and the good guy, was, well nice.

I liked the main character though, Emily was unconventional bookish woman with a unique taste in clothes and hairdressing devoted to her adopted daughter. Mia too was charming, and exhibited some delightful character traits which to any experienced mother would send alarm bells ringing to curb them before she hit adolescence – but then Emily will learn like we all do – the hard way!

A gentle, and quite short story for a quiet evening by the fire with a hot chocolate to hand. Perhaps too short, I would have liked it to be longer with more character development and maybe a shock or two.

[Merissa (Archaeolibrarian) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from Story Cartel in exchange for a fair and honest review.

There is a lot that goes on within this novella and for that reason I feel it would have been better expanded into a book. Emily has a daughter that she adopted, a house that she inherited, emotional problems in the shape of a former fiance and his family plus financial difficulties. And that's without even going to the 'new' man in her life. There is just so much going on that you skim the surface of it all instead of being able to get some real depth and knowledge behind it all. There is even a very troubled teen involved but all of that is resolved without so much of a whisper and everything is hunky-dory again.

A nice, gentle story but just not filled out enough for me.

[Jere Kay Mullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story line and characters, but like a few other reviewer who are avid readers I would have loved it if it had been fleshed out. It was a very fast skim over of what could have been a good novel. The story was delightful the tension barely there and a lot of good lead ins that never went very far. At the end another full novel is mentioned. I am intrigued enough to read it. Just to see where this author will lead me.

[Isis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift from Story Cartel and I liked the story a lot. However,I could have done without the smart-mouthed little brat Mia. I felt her mom let her get away with too much and for a little kid, she was exasperating. And my other issue was that it was too short. It was an intriguing plot and I definitely would like to know what secret the ex was keeping. I will be reading the sequel to see how it all turns out.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strong start, weak ending. It was if the author got tired of writing the book and decided to end it.

[v.geniebrown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

This was a great read. The characters are vivid and alive with this bewitching tale of love in the next realm