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Poppy Jenkins liebt das Leben
Poppy Jenkins ist die gute Seele von Wells, einem zauberhaften Dorf in Wales. Sie hat einen herumstreunenden Hund, eine kleine Schwester mit Flausen im Kopf und liebevolle Eltern. Es gibt allerdings eine Sache, die nicht ganz so rund läuft. Im verschlafenen Wells sind die Aussichten auf eine Romanze für Poppy nicht rosig. Sie ist die einzige lesbische Frau im Ort, und ihr letzter Kuss ist ewig her. Dafür lebt sie ein ansonsten ruhiges und zufriedenes Leben.
Bis eines Tages ein teurer Sportwagen ins Dorf rauscht. Hinter dem Steuer sitzt die letzte Person, die Poppy sehen möchte: Rosalyn Thorne, ehemals Poppys beste Freundin. Doch eines Tages verließ sie Wells und ließ Poppy ohne jede Erklärung zurück. Jetzt ist die erfolgreiche Geschäftsfrau wieder da. Um neue Unruhe zu stiften, vor allem in Poppys Herz.
Werden die beiden alten Freundinnen sich versöhnen und wieder näherkommen?
Bis eines Tages ein teurer Sportwagen ins Dorf rauscht. Hinter dem Steuer sitzt die letzte Person, die Poppy sehen möchte: Rosalyn Thorne, ehemals Poppys beste Freundin. Doch eines Tages verließ sie Wells und ließ Poppy ohne jede Erklärung zurück. Jetzt ist die erfolgreiche Geschäftsfrau wieder da. Um neue Unruhe zu stiften, vor allem in Poppys Herz.
Werden die beiden alten Freundinnen sich versöhnen und wieder näherkommen?
308 pages, Paperback
First published June 19, 2016
176 people are currently reading
4363 people want to read
About the author
Clare Ashton
16 books1,608 followersClare Ashton loves writing sapphic stories. Whether it’s a romcom or mystery, there’s always a queer woman about. With gorgeous settings, from the hills of Wales to college halls of Oxford, every book is a travel destination from the comfort of an armchair. Best known for her award-winning, sunny romance, Poppy Jenkins, and rollercoaster family drama, The Goodmans, Clare has a new series that captures the best of both and more, with Meeting Millie kicking off The Oxford Romance series.
Clare lives in the UK with her wife and kids and can be found spending too much time on social media – https://linktr.ee/clareashton
Clare lives in the UK with her wife and kids and can be found spending too much time on social media – https://linktr.ee/clareashton
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 393 reviews
July 1, 2016
Aaargh, I love this book so much!!!
The writing is excellent, the setting is just wonderful, delightful, funny, authentic (with an author's licence), I run out of superlatives and best of all the characters lived, breathed, laughed and loved on the page and directly into my mind's eye.
I didn't want this book to end. I wanted to rush out to buy Bara Brith. I wanted to proclaim my 1/16th Welsh heritage.
The best romance that I have read this year, bar none. If you want effortless and witty romance then buy this book now!
Please Clare, please say that you have another book in the works.
Fangirl forever (restraining order permitting ;D)
Mags
The writing is excellent, the setting is just wonderful, delightful, funny, authentic (with an author's licence), I run out of superlatives and best of all the characters lived, breathed, laughed and loved on the page and directly into my mind's eye.
I didn't want this book to end. I wanted to rush out to buy Bara Brith. I wanted to proclaim my 1/16th Welsh heritage.
The best romance that I have read this year, bar none. If you want effortless and witty romance then buy this book now!
Please Clare, please say that you have another book in the works.
Fangirl forever (restraining order permitting ;D)
Mags
February 7, 2017
Forgive me for indulging for a moment or two in moving into the review/notes-on-what-I-read indirectly.
For those who have read my reviews some may or may not recall something that I find myself mentioning once or thrice when writing reviews for Melissa Brayden books – the simple fact that I came to the party late. Most of those who I know/follow/friended at the very least really liked, or loved Brayden’s books. So, I entered somewhat nervously – only to find that I loved them as well.
So, why am I saying all this in a little box set aside for a book by Clare Ashton? Simple enough really – when I started reading this book, the book in question, ‘Poppy Jenkins’ (you know, the book this review is taking place on), had a rating somewhere near or above 4.6. I think it was actually at 4.64 at the time I started. And my friends, 17 of them (actually, only six have rated the book), had combined to give a rating of 4.83. Did I think of that at all? No. Because I’d read something else by Ashton first, something I gave high marks to, though also something that isn’t listed at the end of the book in the ‘other works by this author’ section (maybe because it’s a short story? Perhaps because it involves dildos both as the main ‘thing’ of the story, and in the title?). So, I went in expecting to not be in the place I feared to be when I jumped into Brayden’s work – the place of being the odd ball out.
There’s some lovely writing here. Some great scenes. I really felt like I (a) came to know the characters; (b) came to know the area (Wales). It’s a nice lovely little story, eh? I admit that, it is. I just . . . it just didn’t hit me right, I guess. There was a mixture of me giggling, sometimes sounds louder than giggling, then other times of me whimpering with a mix of either boredom or . . . frustration. I’m sure Dai is quite lovely and all, but he annoyed me greatly. He got on my last nerve, he did. Poppy, the main character and point of view, is quite lovely. Even just being in the same room near her would almost guarantee happiness for all, even me. Yet, her somewhat dreamy state, her somewhat inability to move past her kind of passive state frustrated me.
She, Poppy, had several things that she was annoyed about in regards to her friend, former, who poofed on her unexpectedly. That horrible little scene that occurred in school when both were 16 (whereupon Rosalyn said some very nasty things to Poppy). The part wherein she, again Poppy, was pissed because Admittedly, that horrible scene in school is hard to move past, though it has been 15 or 16 years (I think 15 may or may not have been mentioned, though it has been 16, since both were 16 at the time, and both are 32 now).
Bah. I just interrupted myself by a thought of something else that annoyed me – it is something I’ve seen here and there, the part where ‘everything’ would become clear if people just bloody talked to each other, but, while one is in the process of opening up, the other says something along the lines of ‘you don’t have to say anything’ or, at the very least, something that shuts the other down. I mean, I get it. Lesbian fiction tends to involve people who circle each other for 90 to 98 percent of the book before they finally ‘find each other’. That circling for that much time was even natural for a book like this . . . except for the part wherein Poppy shut Rosalyn up.
Not an exact quote.
Poppy: Oh, I’ve been dying to know forever and more; I’ve even, just the other day, had a conversation with various people, including Rosalyn's father about ‘what happened, why Rosalyn changed’ . . .
Rosalyn: I need to tell you what happp…
Poppy: Oh no! You mustn’t, it’s such a great moment we are having. Don’t ruin it.
For fuck sake. And the million and one times people Poppy should know, see we are seeing things through her eyes so I know she has to know, that some people around her, the locals, are (1) corrupt; (2) a little nasty at times; yet she just can’t get herself to believe. Especially when Rosalyn is the one to bring certain things to her eyes (I’d randomly like to inject another ‘fuck you Dai’ to Dai here – somewhere along the line I kind of liked the guy, he stood up for Poppy when her clothing was stolen; he stood up for her when others in the school started to ignore her; but . . . the way he acted, the ‘ooh, no, that wasn’t really that bad really, when that nasty misogynistic person stole your clothing’; and how he chased the guy but never actually returned – made me think he actually was in on it somehow (both for not returning, and for constantly sticking up for the dweeb who took her clothing); my brain just dribbled out my ears so I’ll move on).
I liked most of the people injected into this story. Pip, Poppy, etc. I do not know why I had trouble with this book. But I did. Sorry about that.
July 6 2016
For those who have read my reviews some may or may not recall something that I find myself mentioning once or thrice when writing reviews for Melissa Brayden books – the simple fact that I came to the party late. Most of those who I know/follow/friended at the very least really liked, or loved Brayden’s books. So, I entered somewhat nervously – only to find that I loved them as well.
So, why am I saying all this in a little box set aside for a book by Clare Ashton? Simple enough really – when I started reading this book, the book in question, ‘Poppy Jenkins’ (you know, the book this review is taking place on), had a rating somewhere near or above 4.6. I think it was actually at 4.64 at the time I started. And my friends, 17 of them (actually, only six have rated the book), had combined to give a rating of 4.83. Did I think of that at all? No. Because I’d read something else by Ashton first, something I gave high marks to, though also something that isn’t listed at the end of the book in the ‘other works by this author’ section (maybe because it’s a short story? Perhaps because it involves dildos both as the main ‘thing’ of the story, and in the title?). So, I went in expecting to not be in the place I feared to be when I jumped into Brayden’s work – the place of being the odd ball out.
There’s some lovely writing here. Some great scenes. I really felt like I (a) came to know the characters; (b) came to know the area (Wales). It’s a nice lovely little story, eh? I admit that, it is. I just . . . it just didn’t hit me right, I guess. There was a mixture of me giggling, sometimes sounds louder than giggling, then other times of me whimpering with a mix of either boredom or . . . frustration. I’m sure Dai is quite lovely and all, but he annoyed me greatly. He got on my last nerve, he did. Poppy, the main character and point of view, is quite lovely. Even just being in the same room near her would almost guarantee happiness for all, even me. Yet, her somewhat dreamy state, her somewhat inability to move past her kind of passive state frustrated me.
She, Poppy, had several things that she was annoyed about in regards to her friend, former, who poofed on her unexpectedly. That horrible little scene that occurred in school when both were 16 (whereupon Rosalyn said some very nasty things to Poppy). The part wherein she, again Poppy, was pissed because Admittedly, that horrible scene in school is hard to move past, though it has been 15 or 16 years (I think 15 may or may not have been mentioned, though it has been 16, since both were 16 at the time, and both are 32 now).
Bah. I just interrupted myself by a thought of something else that annoyed me – it is something I’ve seen here and there, the part where ‘everything’ would become clear if people just bloody talked to each other, but, while one is in the process of opening up, the other says something along the lines of ‘you don’t have to say anything’ or, at the very least, something that shuts the other down. I mean, I get it. Lesbian fiction tends to involve people who circle each other for 90 to 98 percent of the book before they finally ‘find each other’. That circling for that much time was even natural for a book like this . . . except for the part wherein Poppy shut Rosalyn up.
Not an exact quote.
Poppy: Oh, I’ve been dying to know forever and more; I’ve even, just the other day, had a conversation with various people, including Rosalyn's father about ‘what happened, why Rosalyn changed’ . . .
Rosalyn: I need to tell you what happp…
Poppy: Oh no! You mustn’t, it’s such a great moment we are having. Don’t ruin it.
For fuck sake. And the million and one times people Poppy should know, see we are seeing things through her eyes so I know she has to know, that some people around her, the locals, are (1) corrupt; (2) a little nasty at times; yet she just can’t get herself to believe. Especially when Rosalyn is the one to bring certain things to her eyes (I’d randomly like to inject another ‘fuck you Dai’ to Dai here – somewhere along the line I kind of liked the guy, he stood up for Poppy when her clothing was stolen; he stood up for her when others in the school started to ignore her; but . . . the way he acted, the ‘ooh, no, that wasn’t really that bad really, when that nasty misogynistic person stole your clothing’; and how he chased the guy but never actually returned – made me think he actually was in on it somehow (both for not returning, and for constantly sticking up for the dweeb who took her clothing); my brain just dribbled out my ears so I’ll move on).
I liked most of the people injected into this story. Pip, Poppy, etc. I do not know why I had trouble with this book. But I did. Sorry about that.
July 6 2016
July 9, 2016
This book is a true gem. For the very first pages you are taken by the beauty of the Welsh village as much as the main character Poppy. You become invested in the characters, rooting for their triumphs, and sharing their sadness. Poppy Jenkins is not the book to pass on. This one will steal your heart. Good luck on getting that back!
Poppy Jenkins is one of those rare people that are almost too good to be true. This beautiful woman has a heart of gold, always seeing for the best in everyone and finding treasures among the mundane. Poppy has settled into her life into her birthplace, a small Welsh village, working in the small café above her mother’s store, walking her young sister to school most days, spending time with her cantankerous grandmother, she finds joy in doing the things most 30 year olds would shun. You feel Poppy’s delight page after page, but also the undercurrent of sadness as she knows this is most likely the pinnacle of her life. While it’s a fantastic life, Poppy feels as though she will never find her one true love, she knows everyone in her village, and let’s face it, those resources a null and void.
Rosalyn Thorn has come back to village of Wells to care for her ailing father, riding in on her black sports car, looking too good for words. Rosalyn, Poppy childhood best friend left her in the dust never looking back. She was like a ghost tormenting Poppy’s memories. There is so much happiness and fused with sadness and despair hovering over the past between the two former friends. When Rosalyn comes back she stirs up Poppy’s emotions, her longing desire for true love and a heartache that has lasted nearly a decade.
This is a classic tale of opposites attract, and Clare Ashton does it with heart wrenching emotion that will quickly turn into a smile. Rosalyn and Poppy were made for each other and their journey through hell and high water to get back to each other is quite well done. This book is fantastic and you will not be disappointed.
My reviews can always be found at theromanticreaderblog.com
Poppy Jenkins is one of those rare people that are almost too good to be true. This beautiful woman has a heart of gold, always seeing for the best in everyone and finding treasures among the mundane. Poppy has settled into her life into her birthplace, a small Welsh village, working in the small café above her mother’s store, walking her young sister to school most days, spending time with her cantankerous grandmother, she finds joy in doing the things most 30 year olds would shun. You feel Poppy’s delight page after page, but also the undercurrent of sadness as she knows this is most likely the pinnacle of her life. While it’s a fantastic life, Poppy feels as though she will never find her one true love, she knows everyone in her village, and let’s face it, those resources a null and void.
Rosalyn Thorn has come back to village of Wells to care for her ailing father, riding in on her black sports car, looking too good for words. Rosalyn, Poppy childhood best friend left her in the dust never looking back. She was like a ghost tormenting Poppy’s memories. There is so much happiness and fused with sadness and despair hovering over the past between the two former friends. When Rosalyn comes back she stirs up Poppy’s emotions, her longing desire for true love and a heartache that has lasted nearly a decade.
This is a classic tale of opposites attract, and Clare Ashton does it with heart wrenching emotion that will quickly turn into a smile. Rosalyn and Poppy were made for each other and their journey through hell and high water to get back to each other is quite well done. This book is fantastic and you will not be disappointed.
My reviews can always be found at theromanticreaderblog.com
May 12, 2019
Poppy Jenkins is gorgeously written, evoking the lushness and warmth of late spring, green hills, and love both old and new. The town of Wells is so vibrant that it’s its own character, waking up as spring turns to summer and coming back to life as Rosalyn shares her business knowledge with the locals. There’s a brightness to the language and writing style that reflects Poppy and her attitude, which is perfect as the book is told entirely from her perspective. There isn’t much in the way of plot, and yet it’s entirely satisfying because the characters are the book in the case of Poppy Jenkins.
Full review (TLR): http://www.curvemag.com/Reviews/Roman...
Guest review (SBTB): https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/r...
Listen to the Les Do Books podcast episode: http://thelesbiantalkshow.podbean.com...
Full review (TLR): http://www.curvemag.com/Reviews/Roman...
Guest review (SBTB): https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/r...
Listen to the Les Do Books podcast episode: http://thelesbiantalkshow.podbean.com...
February 24, 2017
As someone that could not finish "After Mrs. Hamilton" I was wary going into "Poppy Jenkins". I loved this book, though. I simply loved it.
Poppy Jenkins and Rosalyn Thorn* (you see what she did with her name there?), as well as the rest of the cast, are really well defined and the characters are all so very likable. The story captured the heart of a small town (or village in this case) with all of its charms and set backs. And the story, overall, just seemed alive to me.
Poppy Jenkins is about love lost and found again, in more ways than one. There are many moments where something was about to be said but wasn't which gave me frustration as a reader but also made the delivery of resolution all the more satisfying. There are a lot of touching moments throughout the story and many stand out in my head and will for some time.
Really great read. Recommend.
*Yeah, Rosalyn Thorn is beautiful yet biting, prickly, and if you touch her you can get hurt...there's a reason for the name.
Poppy Jenkins and Rosalyn Thorn* (you see what she did with her name there?), as well as the rest of the cast, are really well defined and the characters are all so very likable. The story captured the heart of a small town (or village in this case) with all of its charms and set backs. And the story, overall, just seemed alive to me.
Poppy Jenkins is about love lost and found again, in more ways than one. There are many moments where something was about to be said but wasn't which gave me frustration as a reader but also made the delivery of resolution all the more satisfying. There are a lot of touching moments throughout the story and many stand out in my head and will for some time.
Really great read. Recommend.
*Yeah, Rosalyn Thorn is beautiful yet biting, prickly, and if you touch her you can get hurt...there's a reason for the name.
October 6, 2016
There's a reason Clare Ashton is a must read for me. Every time I pick up one of her books, I get this feeling of delicious anticipation, of never knowing what to expect. She doesn't write to a formula or stick to a single genre. Not even the all-important HEA is a certainty. Let's see: There's a claustrophobic psychological thriller, a comedy of errors, a romantic comedy, and an impossibly complicated romance. I seldom see such versatility in lesbian genre romance. Having said that, I did eye 'Poppy Jenkins' with a bit of skepticism, because the cover and the blurb seemed to imply a rehash or some variation of her earlier rom-com, the cute and fluffy 'That Certain Something'. I'm happy to report that while Poppy Jenkins reads like a rom-com, it is so much more. There is an undercurrent of big city vs small-town class war. A culture clash between rude but efficient modern and polite tradition. Between cynicism and innocence. Between head and heart. And it's all perfectly embodied by the two main characters, Poppy and Rosalyn. These two characters feel like subtle metaphors for the places and values they represent: big city vs. small town. Juxtaposing their troubled relationship against the larger community conflict works well as a clever social commentary (or more accurately, observation) on small-town community life.
Poppy is an impossibly sunny and cheerful woman living in a small and sleepy Welsh village. Family and a fondness for the simple country life had pulled Poppy back from university after graduation, and she has stayed here since. Unfortunately neither were appealing enough to entice any city girlfriends to stay behind with her. At 32 and with nary a lesbian in sight in Wells, she has pretty much resigned herself to spinsterhood and devoted her life to raising kid sister Pip, taking care of her folks, and running her own cafe. Trouble waltzes in one day in the form of Rosalyn, childhood BFF and author of Poppy's biggest heartbreak. The adult version of Rosalyn is even more enticing than before, and Poppy finds herself completely smitten...again. Against her very own and everyone else's better judgment. For Rosalyn isn't just the prodigal daughter coming home and settling back into small-town life. She's brought her big city smarts and attitude, and stirring up trouble in a parochial Welsh town where everyone knows and respects everyone else, and no one likes an outsider, especially a very English outsider, to butt into their small town business. Poppy has to reconcile her physical attraction to and admiration for Rosalyn with her fierce love and loyalty to her town mates, some of whom Rosalyn may have labeled as stupid.
I love the utterly charming depiction of the village of Wells and its inhabitants. Snippets of Welsh, vivid descriptions of the countryside and local customs evoke images of an idyllic, blissful and laid-back world. No one embodies it more than Poppy Jenkins. Eternally cheerful, neighborly and always thinking the best of people, she doesn't have a mean bone in her body. She's 'Miss Wells' in the flesh. Rosalyn, on the other hand, is all business and smarts. Sharp and discerning even as a child, she doesn't suffer fools gladly. The exact opposite of Poppy's trusting and open nature. Despite or because of their differences, these two had been thick as thieves as teens. The mystery of what drove them apart, and whether these opposite values and outlook in life will keep them apart for good is the main premise of the book.
The book starts with a fairly common trope--childhood heartbreak/adult reunion. And proceeds to trot out device after plot device (e.g. miscommunication, misunderstanding, wrong timing, wrong assumptions, Sam the boss) to stretch the relationship conflict to improbable lengths and maximize the angst, which, btw, I'm embarrased to say, worked exceedingly well on this jaded reader who should have known better than to be taken for a ride like that...again and again :) I guess we can chuck it all up to the author's ability to put a spell on the said reader, though judging by the number of 5 star reviews, it seemed to have worked on others as well. Even so, I did wonder at some point why no one seemed to use cellphones in Wells, especially Poppy. Modern technology can be such a pesky inconvenience to plots sometimes. ;) Of course, the reason why I was so absorbed in the story was because the author crafted such beautiful, endearing characters that are so easy to fall in love with. She's also really good in setting up atmosphere. And then there is all of that unresolved angst between the two main characters as well as all that pent-up sexual tension and frustration whenever their paths cross. I also loved the humor. This is a rom-com first and foremost, and the author doesn't forget that. But that doesn't stop her from giving us a good cry or two, which by itself would be worth several stars in my book, because I've noticed, its gotten harder and harder to move this reader and those tissue box-emptying books seem to be a thing of the past.
For me, the best takeaway from this book is Poppy's entire life plan:
5 stars
P.S. I have an observation. Is it just me or do the first and last half of this book feel like they were written some time apart? There was a significant tone change...perhaps a reflection of Poppy's emotions?
P.P.S. This book reminded of a video I saw once, about four old ladies chatting around a nursing home meal. The topic was about their respective children and how well they were doing. Guess who was the happiest? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fRPp...
Poppy is an impossibly sunny and cheerful woman living in a small and sleepy Welsh village. Family and a fondness for the simple country life had pulled Poppy back from university after graduation, and she has stayed here since. Unfortunately neither were appealing enough to entice any city girlfriends to stay behind with her. At 32 and with nary a lesbian in sight in Wells, she has pretty much resigned herself to spinsterhood and devoted her life to raising kid sister Pip, taking care of her folks, and running her own cafe. Trouble waltzes in one day in the form of Rosalyn, childhood BFF and author of Poppy's biggest heartbreak. The adult version of Rosalyn is even more enticing than before, and Poppy finds herself completely smitten...again. Against her very own and everyone else's better judgment. For Rosalyn isn't just the prodigal daughter coming home and settling back into small-town life. She's brought her big city smarts and attitude, and stirring up trouble in a parochial Welsh town where everyone knows and respects everyone else, and no one likes an outsider, especially a very English outsider, to butt into their small town business. Poppy has to reconcile her physical attraction to and admiration for Rosalyn with her fierce love and loyalty to her town mates, some of whom Rosalyn may have labeled as stupid.
I love the utterly charming depiction of the village of Wells and its inhabitants. Snippets of Welsh, vivid descriptions of the countryside and local customs evoke images of an idyllic, blissful and laid-back world. No one embodies it more than Poppy Jenkins. Eternally cheerful, neighborly and always thinking the best of people, she doesn't have a mean bone in her body. She's 'Miss Wells' in the flesh. Rosalyn, on the other hand, is all business and smarts. Sharp and discerning even as a child, she doesn't suffer fools gladly. The exact opposite of Poppy's trusting and open nature. Despite or because of their differences, these two had been thick as thieves as teens. The mystery of what drove them apart, and whether these opposite values and outlook in life will keep them apart for good is the main premise of the book.
The book starts with a fairly common trope--childhood heartbreak/adult reunion. And proceeds to trot out device after plot device (e.g. miscommunication, misunderstanding, wrong timing, wrong assumptions, Sam the boss) to stretch the relationship conflict to improbable lengths and maximize the angst, which, btw, I'm embarrased to say, worked exceedingly well on this jaded reader who should have known better than to be taken for a ride like that...again and again :) I guess we can chuck it all up to the author's ability to put a spell on the said reader, though judging by the number of 5 star reviews, it seemed to have worked on others as well. Even so, I did wonder at some point why no one seemed to use cellphones in Wells, especially Poppy. Modern technology can be such a pesky inconvenience to plots sometimes. ;) Of course, the reason why I was so absorbed in the story was because the author crafted such beautiful, endearing characters that are so easy to fall in love with. She's also really good in setting up atmosphere. And then there is all of that unresolved angst between the two main characters as well as all that pent-up sexual tension and frustration whenever their paths cross. I also loved the humor. This is a rom-com first and foremost, and the author doesn't forget that. But that doesn't stop her from giving us a good cry or two, which by itself would be worth several stars in my book, because I've noticed, its gotten harder and harder to move this reader and those tissue box-emptying books seem to be a thing of the past.
For me, the best takeaway from this book is Poppy's entire life plan:
5 stars
P.S. I have an observation. Is it just me or do the first and last half of this book feel like they were written some time apart? There was a significant tone change...perhaps a reflection of Poppy's emotions?
P.P.S. This book reminded of a video I saw once, about four old ladies chatting around a nursing home meal. The topic was about their respective children and how well they were doing. Guess who was the happiest? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fRPp...
February 9, 2017
I have words for this book, and they're words I've seen in other reviews: delightful, charming, pastoral, idyllic. It's all of those things and more.
This novel felt decidedly British to me, in the best possible way. Clare Ashton is a master of bringing settings to life and, just as she made London spring off the page in That Certain Something, she does so again here with the small Welsh village of Wells. It's a place full of quirky characters and memorable locations that form the color palette with which Ashton paints a sea of rolling green hills and sparkling personalities, the brightest of which is Poppy Jenkins herself.
I've often described my partner as the brightest spot of light in every room she enters (because she is), and that's certainly true of Poppy, as well. She's a character that, despite being in her 30s, is still something of an ingénue. Her heart is as big as the world is small, and her guile is...well, missing and presumed dead. But you don't make it to your 30s without picking up some baggage, and Poppy's baggage drives a black Jaguar.
Enter Rosalyn Thorn who, despite the fact that we never see the story from her perspective, is still a well-drawn and richly detailed character. She is the little black dress to Poppy's worn overalls (actually, a blue sundress, but whatever), but the fire-and-ice dynamic is far more complex than that. I never felt as though I were reading two archetypes here. As sunny as Poppy may have been, as sleek and sophisticated as Rosalyn may have appeared, these were two deeply-textured best friends who, through a series of unfortunate decisions, fell away from one another. This is the story of how they build a path back, and it's a lovely, quaint tale that moves at a pace which suits its setting: slow and gentle.
If I have any complaint, it would be that the pace, slow as it is to begin with, seemed to drop off even further around the middle. Additionally, there were a few too many miscommunications and interrupted declarations of varying kinds ("Poppy, I'm--" *crash*/*knock*/etc.), which I have absolutely no tolerance for, because I'm an unforgiving hard-ass. The delayed gratification from such devices seemed a much smaller payoff than the direction the story might've taken if those declarations had been made earlier and the remaining time spent building the present relationship.
But I love this book. The only books I keep on my Kindle are the ones I'm reading and the ones I plan to read again. Few books make that second category, but this is one of them. This book is dappled sunlight on a babbling brook. That's right, I just said that, and it's totally true.
4.75 stars. A delightful, charming, pastoral, idyllic novel in a living, breathing, and decidedly Welsh village. (Seriously, keep Google Translate's Welsh->English up on your phone.) Also, sunny, babbling brooks and stuff.
This novel felt decidedly British to me, in the best possible way. Clare Ashton is a master of bringing settings to life and, just as she made London spring off the page in That Certain Something, she does so again here with the small Welsh village of Wells. It's a place full of quirky characters and memorable locations that form the color palette with which Ashton paints a sea of rolling green hills and sparkling personalities, the brightest of which is Poppy Jenkins herself.
I've often described my partner as the brightest spot of light in every room she enters (because she is), and that's certainly true of Poppy, as well. She's a character that, despite being in her 30s, is still something of an ingénue. Her heart is as big as the world is small, and her guile is...well, missing and presumed dead. But you don't make it to your 30s without picking up some baggage, and Poppy's baggage drives a black Jaguar.
Enter Rosalyn Thorn who, despite the fact that we never see the story from her perspective, is still a well-drawn and richly detailed character. She is the little black dress to Poppy's worn overalls (actually, a blue sundress, but whatever), but the fire-and-ice dynamic is far more complex than that. I never felt as though I were reading two archetypes here. As sunny as Poppy may have been, as sleek and sophisticated as Rosalyn may have appeared, these were two deeply-textured best friends who, through a series of unfortunate decisions, fell away from one another. This is the story of how they build a path back, and it's a lovely, quaint tale that moves at a pace which suits its setting: slow and gentle.
If I have any complaint, it would be that the pace, slow as it is to begin with, seemed to drop off even further around the middle. Additionally, there were a few too many miscommunications and interrupted declarations of varying kinds ("Poppy, I'm--" *crash*/*knock*/etc.), which I have absolutely no tolerance for, because I'm an unforgiving hard-ass. The delayed gratification from such devices seemed a much smaller payoff than the direction the story might've taken if those declarations had been made earlier and the remaining time spent building the present relationship.
But I love this book. The only books I keep on my Kindle are the ones I'm reading and the ones I plan to read again. Few books make that second category, but this is one of them. This book is dappled sunlight on a babbling brook. That's right, I just said that, and it's totally true.
4.75 stars. A delightful, charming, pastoral, idyllic novel in a living, breathing, and decidedly Welsh village. (Seriously, keep Google Translate's Welsh->English up on your phone.) Also, sunny, babbling brooks and stuff.
August 23, 2018
👏 👏 👏, well done Ms.Ashton.
What a beautiful read, what a book to spend my day off with accompanied by my favorite opera classic playlist. Poppy Jenkins, what a lovable character, beware, she'll steal a piece of your heart and Rosalyn Thorn will steal another piece. I hated Rosalyn at first, what she did to Poppy when they were in their teens was really unforgivable. However, Ms.Ashton waved her magic fingers and changed my hatred to #Team Rosalyn.
This is one of the best lesfic book ever, thank you to www.thelesbianreview.com for highly recommending this book and most of the lesfic that I have been reading these few weeks and also to the other goodreads reviewers.
If I am not mistaken, this book cost about USD6, worth every dollar. Does it sound weird that I plan to hug my Vader Jr aka Kindle when I sleep tonight because I am so totally in love with this book?
What a beautiful read, what a book to spend my day off with accompanied by my favorite opera classic playlist. Poppy Jenkins, what a lovable character, beware, she'll steal a piece of your heart and Rosalyn Thorn will steal another piece. I hated Rosalyn at first, what she did to Poppy when they were in their teens was really unforgivable. However, Ms.Ashton waved her magic fingers and changed my hatred to #Team Rosalyn.
This is one of the best lesfic book ever, thank you to www.thelesbianreview.com for highly recommending this book and most of the lesfic that I have been reading these few weeks and also to the other goodreads reviewers.
If I am not mistaken, this book cost about USD6, worth every dollar. Does it sound weird that I plan to hug my Vader Jr aka Kindle when I sleep tonight because I am so totally in love with this book?
July 1, 2016
Such a happy book :) I had some issues with the Welsh language but I got to get the hang of it by the end.. Characters are so good and the connection is extremely strong.. Could've been a little bit shorter.. Overall a very solid 4! Very enjoyable and will definitely put a smile on your face :)
October 10, 2016
I AM HIGH OFF THIS BOOK. Like, yes, yes, yesssss it's taken my expectations, stuffed them into a cannon, and shot them to Jupiter. And that may not make any sense because (as mentioned) I'M BOOK HIGH.
High ratings on fiction actually don't make me skeptical. They make me excited. So, I held off reading 'Poppy Jenkins' until the absolute perfect time. And it paid off! I can reel and sigh and luxuriate in this newfound love.
From the very first chapter, it had me hooked. I loved the snippets of language and collquallisms. The cheeky prose throughout the story. The characters vividly materialize from the pages like holograms. Even my less-than-favorite characters fuctioned in this Welsh world with clear purpose. I'm very, very impressed. Clare Ashton is a fantastic writer.
I haven't even gotten to the story. It's quite simple: the estranged friend/love of the main character returns to her charming small town and flips her world upside down. How Ashton handles this, however, is quite special. Poppy is a cinnamon roll. Pure, sugary, gooey carbs of a beautiful being. And yet, not cloying. Naive at times, but her character is written to make sense, to have her flaws exposed.
Then, there's Rosalyn Thorn (gay fangirl squeals) who's my weakness: ice queen with a heart of gold. Clever, bitchy, and brainy. Yum. The 'opposites attract' aspect of her and Poppy's love journey was a pleasure to experience. It was sexy, too.
I've seen a few comments on the book's length. I honestly didn't notice if it were longer than other romance novels. It moved at a splendid pace and I LOVE that there was no long, drawn-out epilogue. It ended just right. The 'Acknowledgements' segment made me smile as well. Very honest.
One last thing: the descriptions of the setting! So rarely do I read those and care. Ashton paints this world boldly without losing my interest.
Five stars. Full stop.
High ratings on fiction actually don't make me skeptical. They make me excited. So, I held off reading 'Poppy Jenkins' until the absolute perfect time. And it paid off! I can reel and sigh and luxuriate in this newfound love.
From the very first chapter, it had me hooked. I loved the snippets of language and collquallisms. The cheeky prose throughout the story. The characters vividly materialize from the pages like holograms. Even my less-than-favorite characters fuctioned in this Welsh world with clear purpose. I'm very, very impressed. Clare Ashton is a fantastic writer.
I haven't even gotten to the story. It's quite simple: the estranged friend/love of the main character returns to her charming small town and flips her world upside down. How Ashton handles this, however, is quite special. Poppy is a cinnamon roll. Pure, sugary, gooey carbs of a beautiful being. And yet, not cloying. Naive at times, but her character is written to make sense, to have her flaws exposed.
Then, there's Rosalyn Thorn (gay fangirl squeals) who's my weakness: ice queen with a heart of gold. Clever, bitchy, and brainy. Yum. The 'opposites attract' aspect of her and Poppy's love journey was a pleasure to experience. It was sexy, too.
I've seen a few comments on the book's length. I honestly didn't notice if it were longer than other romance novels. It moved at a splendid pace and I LOVE that there was no long, drawn-out epilogue. It ended just right. The 'Acknowledgements' segment made me smile as well. Very honest.
One last thing: the descriptions of the setting! So rarely do I read those and care. Ashton paints this world boldly without losing my interest.
Five stars. Full stop.
July 5, 2016
Clare Ashton is a quality author.
Her novels are very different, some lighthearted, some very serious, yet everything I read by her is good.
Whenever she “paints” a story she sets a background, a scenic design, for her characters to come alive. And her settings are so rich and detailed to become important protagonists of the story.
In Poppy Jenkins, the setting is a little village in mid Wales, complete with pastures, sheep, narrow-minded countrymen (and countrywomen!) and the great heart typical of simple people.
The story is pure romance.
It’s a compound of different elements. We have funny, comical moments, where Poppy get inexorably caught in her passionate fancies for Rosalyn, we have the angsty highs and lows typical of the genre, sweet, tender moments between the leads and an element of mystery from the past.
Poppy and Rosalyn are designed to complete each other. Where one is ingenuous and a bit too emotional, the other is smart and strong willed, when one is fearful and with a tendency of negativity, the other is positive, confident and joyful.
Stylistically, we see everything form Poppy's point of view. Ashton is a bit annoying sometimes because she frequently uses the artifice of someone interrupting the important moments to prolong the narrative tension.
Poppy Jenkins is a total sweetheart and .
This is one of those books you’ll want to embrace close to the heart with a smile when it’s finished.
I did exactly so.
Her novels are very different, some lighthearted, some very serious, yet everything I read by her is good.
Whenever she “paints” a story she sets a background, a scenic design, for her characters to come alive. And her settings are so rich and detailed to become important protagonists of the story.
In Poppy Jenkins, the setting is a little village in mid Wales, complete with pastures, sheep, narrow-minded countrymen (and countrywomen!) and the great heart typical of simple people.
The story is pure romance.
It’s a compound of different elements. We have funny, comical moments, where Poppy get inexorably caught in her passionate fancies for Rosalyn, we have the angsty highs and lows typical of the genre, sweet, tender moments between the leads and an element of mystery from the past.
Poppy and Rosalyn are designed to complete each other. Where one is ingenuous and a bit too emotional, the other is smart and strong willed, when one is fearful and with a tendency of negativity, the other is positive, confident and joyful.
Stylistically, we see everything form Poppy's point of view. Ashton is a bit annoying sometimes because she frequently uses the artifice of someone interrupting the important moments to prolong the narrative tension.
Poppy Jenkins is a total sweetheart and .
This is one of those books you’ll want to embrace close to the heart with a smile when it’s finished.
I did exactly so.
October 24, 2020
I'm surprised I haven't reviewed this one. I must have read it before I was doing them.
I read Poppy Jenkins for a second time and liked it almost as much as I remembered.
This is such a well rounded story. It feels higher quality than most lesfic that I read. The characters are rich and layered with unique personalities that stand out. And I love that the small town almost felt like another character all together.
Poppy is whimsical and deserving of happiness. I was rooting for her and completely engrossed in trying to understand what happened to her childhood relationship. It had a little touch of second chance and a dollop of enemies to lovers. It was a slow burn romance that had me hooked the entire way.
On this second read, I was a little put off by Poppy's childlike hormones. Her thoughts read more like a horny boy working through his first crush. I didn't remember that from the first time.
Still, this remains a favorite.
I read Poppy Jenkins for a second time and liked it almost as much as I remembered.
This is such a well rounded story. It feels higher quality than most lesfic that I read. The characters are rich and layered with unique personalities that stand out. And I love that the small town almost felt like another character all together.
Poppy is whimsical and deserving of happiness. I was rooting for her and completely engrossed in trying to understand what happened to her childhood relationship. It had a little touch of second chance and a dollop of enemies to lovers. It was a slow burn romance that had me hooked the entire way.
On this second read, I was a little put off by Poppy's childlike hormones. Her thoughts read more like a horny boy working through his first crush. I didn't remember that from the first time.
Still, this remains a favorite.
March 20, 2017
Lovely.
I feel like I have spent a week in some pastoral Welsh paradise. I've cheered with the effervescent Poppy when patrons filled her shop and felt compassion for her when Rosalyn reeked havoc on her emotions. I loved that Poppy's Nain was described as having a face like a cauliflower. I laughed at the scene where Poppy and Nain try to strap Pip's chosen musical instrument, the national instrument no less onto the roof of her Morris Minor.
These cheery moments mix with the conflict Poppy faces dealing with Rosalyn's return. The misunderstandings do drag on for a good portion of the book but I couldn't help but respect Rosalyn's efforts to right the wrongs she sees in present day Wells and come to terms with her attraction to the town's favourite daughter.
This is a book which had me smiling from the first page to the last.
An endearing read.
I feel like I have spent a week in some pastoral Welsh paradise. I've cheered with the effervescent Poppy when patrons filled her shop and felt compassion for her when Rosalyn reeked havoc on her emotions. I loved that Poppy's Nain was described as having a face like a cauliflower. I laughed at the scene where Poppy and Nain try to strap Pip's chosen musical instrument, the national instrument no less onto the roof of her Morris Minor.
These cheery moments mix with the conflict Poppy faces dealing with Rosalyn's return. The misunderstandings do drag on for a good portion of the book but I couldn't help but respect Rosalyn's efforts to right the wrongs she sees in present day Wells and come to terms with her attraction to the town's favourite daughter.
This is a book which had me smiling from the first page to the last.
An endearing read.
March 23, 2020
Oh my.... I really really loved PJ. It’s such a sweet story with some angsty moments. Rosalyn and Poppy (2 opposite characters), best friends for a decade, separated and met again after 16 years with issues to endure and resolve. The story is beautifully described, very well-written and engaging that it just kind of draw you in. And when I got interrupted, I had a scowl fixed on my face!! And that letter from Rosalyn to Poppy just had me tearing.....
When the curtains finally came down, I was just craving to read a little bit more of Rosalyn and Poppy and the lives that they built.....
Kudos to Ms Aston 👏🏻👏🏻 A solid 5 for me.
When the curtains finally came down, I was just craving to read a little bit more of Rosalyn and Poppy and the lives that they built.....
Kudos to Ms Aston 👏🏻👏🏻 A solid 5 for me.
February 19, 2017
Beautifully written story.
Strong family ties and living in a lovely environment is what makes a happy home for Poppy. When the only person she has never been able to forget, comes back, her world turns upside down. Poppy faces heartache, uncertainty and confusion. This is written with much humor, passion, heartwarming scenes, interesting characters and has authentic settings. A real gem of a novel. It's definitely worth your time to read. The story is fascinating and compelling.
Strong family ties and living in a lovely environment is what makes a happy home for Poppy. When the only person she has never been able to forget, comes back, her world turns upside down. Poppy faces heartache, uncertainty and confusion. This is written with much humor, passion, heartwarming scenes, interesting characters and has authentic settings. A real gem of a novel. It's definitely worth your time to read. The story is fascinating and compelling.
August 23, 2022
Fourth time reading this book, and it still blows me away!!!
February 20, 2024
My third venture into Ms Ashton's world of sapphic love in family and village situations. This one takes place in a small village in mid-Wales, where our heroine and narrator Poppy lives with her family and runs a cafe. Her little sister Pip is one of the most fun characters in the story, but sadly underutilised in the end I thought.
Poppy has known she was a lesbian since her school days, but has not had a relationship since she returned home, when suddenly her former best friend and secret crush comes back to town to help look after her father, who has had a stroke. Their friendship ended badly during their school years. But of course Rosalyn has also been secretly in love with Poppy since school days.
So village happenings, some great characters and finally at 99% consummation of their love. Fun and entertaining, but a bit drawn out by the end. 3.5 stars.
Some quotes I liked:
He frowned and again looked pregnant with thought but was unable to communicate his concerns.
(p. 85)
“Anyway. Enough about me and my family. Let’s have a look at these cakes.” And she smiled away her grief. (p. 122).
Poppy has known she was a lesbian since her school days, but has not had a relationship since she returned home, when suddenly her former best friend and secret crush comes back to town to help look after her father, who has had a stroke. Their friendship ended badly during their school years. But of course Rosalyn has also been secretly in love with Poppy since school days.
So village happenings, some great characters and finally at 99% consummation of their love. Fun and entertaining, but a bit drawn out by the end. 3.5 stars.
Some quotes I liked:
He frowned and again looked pregnant with thought but was unable to communicate his concerns.
(p. 85)
“Anyway. Enough about me and my family. Let’s have a look at these cakes.” And she smiled away her grief. (p. 122).
February 24, 2018
Wow. It was a few months ago that I saw several people reviewing this book and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. So I looked into Clare Ashton as a writer. My best friend calls me a "completionist" because I can't ever jump into the middle of anything. So even though her books aren't sequels, I had to read Ashton's other 3 novels before I read this one. They are all quite different. I've enjoyed all of them because she is an exceptional writer. But this one. Oh, I could feel my heart trying to escape my chest so it could pour itself into this book. I just loved it. 4.5 stars because it relied a tad too much on miscommunication, which I have a personal prejudice against in stories. But so wonderful.
October 21, 2017
well... shit! How have I not come across this sooner??? This book grabs you and doesn't want to let go of you! It made me laugh, cry with frustration, made me feel all warm ... and then I cried a bloody whole lot more because I finished the bloody book.
This is one of them reads that we all love to love... and I recommend, if you have not read it yet... well, fecking read it.
This is one of them reads that we all love to love... and I recommend, if you have not read it yet... well, fecking read it.
May 12, 2025
Thought I’d read this again after reading the lovely Meeting Millie and I am pleased to say that I enjoyed it much more than the first time. Sometimes it’s the reader that isn’t able to appreciate a book enough and I think that was the case the first time I read this book. Glad I read it again. Though not as good as Meeting Millie, Finding Jessica Lambert or The Goodmans a very enjoyable story.
June 28, 2016
You know when you are in trouble when you feel as though you need a thesaurus before you even start a review, but that’s how I felt when I put down Poppy Jenkins and reached for my Mac. How many superlatives can I find?
At the simplest level it is a mild, slow moving romance. Schoolgirls - best friends - torn apart, meeting years later and exploring the anger and misunderstandings old assumptions can cause. One the darling of the village, all gentle smiles and forgiving nature, the other the odd girl out who rebelled against the place and the people, escaping to what she deemed a better future, but paying a hefty price along the way.
The characters are rounded and wholesome, drawn with glorious attention to detail and loving humour. Grumpy gran, hippy-dippy mother, misdirected lesbian lovers, burley rugby lads and a scheming baddy, Ms Ashton fills the village with a wide ranging cast who provide a brilliant and entertaining counterpoint to our star crossed lovers.
The pastoral setting is coloured with the lightest of touches but a depth that brings it alive. From the valleys to the village square, Poppy’s bedroom to the café - every facet of the surroundings adds to the picture drawn and the sense of place. The Welshness of the people and the land provides a vivid backdrop that adds veracity and quaintness in equal measure.
As always in Ms Ashton’s novels she finds a place for some sizzling scenes, without them ever feeling gratuitous or misplaced. She somehow takes a mild mannered romance and segues into something steamy so seamlessly that you barely notice these nice girls are being decidedly naughty until the heat washes over you.
But beyond all of that this is a most exquisite piece of writing. The language is fulsome, rounded and glorious. The sentences flow across the page and into your heart and mind with genuine elegance. The story is a sophisticated, multi-layered odyssey. I have loved all her books to date, but this, without a doubt, reaches a new high in terms of the Austenesque literary accomplishment. It is, genuinely, a modest and tender romance, but suffused with a tone of voice and love of language which makes it feel like so much more.
Add in a huge dose of humour, which infuses the whole with the author’s affection for a subject both well known and precious, and you will find it hard not to fall in love with Poppy, her family and the modest village life. This is, simply, British writing at its best; witty, clever, beguiling and brilliant.
At the simplest level it is a mild, slow moving romance. Schoolgirls - best friends - torn apart, meeting years later and exploring the anger and misunderstandings old assumptions can cause. One the darling of the village, all gentle smiles and forgiving nature, the other the odd girl out who rebelled against the place and the people, escaping to what she deemed a better future, but paying a hefty price along the way.
The characters are rounded and wholesome, drawn with glorious attention to detail and loving humour. Grumpy gran, hippy-dippy mother, misdirected lesbian lovers, burley rugby lads and a scheming baddy, Ms Ashton fills the village with a wide ranging cast who provide a brilliant and entertaining counterpoint to our star crossed lovers.
The pastoral setting is coloured with the lightest of touches but a depth that brings it alive. From the valleys to the village square, Poppy’s bedroom to the café - every facet of the surroundings adds to the picture drawn and the sense of place. The Welshness of the people and the land provides a vivid backdrop that adds veracity and quaintness in equal measure.
As always in Ms Ashton’s novels she finds a place for some sizzling scenes, without them ever feeling gratuitous or misplaced. She somehow takes a mild mannered romance and segues into something steamy so seamlessly that you barely notice these nice girls are being decidedly naughty until the heat washes over you.
But beyond all of that this is a most exquisite piece of writing. The language is fulsome, rounded and glorious. The sentences flow across the page and into your heart and mind with genuine elegance. The story is a sophisticated, multi-layered odyssey. I have loved all her books to date, but this, without a doubt, reaches a new high in terms of the Austenesque literary accomplishment. It is, genuinely, a modest and tender romance, but suffused with a tone of voice and love of language which makes it feel like so much more.
Add in a huge dose of humour, which infuses the whole with the author’s affection for a subject both well known and precious, and you will find it hard not to fall in love with Poppy, her family and the modest village life. This is, simply, British writing at its best; witty, clever, beguiling and brilliant.
February 15, 2017
I absolutely love Poppy Jenkins! I use the word love in the present tense because my feelings about this book are so overwhelming that even though I am done I'm still experiencing them. Clare Ashton has created characters that are so well developed, and have such distinct personality's, that they seem to jump off the page. Poppy had this beautiful innocence about her but you could never mistake it for her being naive in any way, she is the type of person you want around you all the time just so that some of her positivism can rub off on you. Aside from being positive and innocent, she was also quite feisty especially when a certain someone rubs her the wrong way...or the right way.
Rosalyn Thorn is a character that you can't help but liking, she is sophisticated, mischievous and the one that everyone seems to want to hate but she makes it so difficult because of the traits that not many get to see in her.
The chemistry between Poppy and Rosalyn unmistakable and the sexual tension between them was so well written that I could have sworn I was in the room with them because I had goosebumps from head to toe while reading, no matter how innocent the interaction was.
This has to be one of the best books I've read this year and with characters like Nain, Pip, Emma and Dai, this is definitely one of my favourite books period!
Rosalyn Thorn is a character that you can't help but liking, she is sophisticated, mischievous and the one that everyone seems to want to hate but she makes it so difficult because of the traits that not many get to see in her.
The chemistry between Poppy and Rosalyn unmistakable and the sexual tension between them was so well written that I could have sworn I was in the room with them because I had goosebumps from head to toe while reading, no matter how innocent the interaction was.
This has to be one of the best books I've read this year and with characters like Nain, Pip, Emma and Dai, this is definitely one of my favourite books period!
September 20, 2017
It's an absolutely delightful, wonderful, feel-good story. Exactly what I needed to lift my spirit and so much more!
February 12, 2017
Another wonderful romance by Claire Ashton!
My Synopsis
Poppy Jenkins is sweet, clever and loved by everyone in the small Welsh village of Wells that she calls home. Now 30, she's only had one great love in her life and it was her best friend at high School, Rosalyn. One day she was there and the next she was no longer interested in their friendship.
For years Poppy has blamed herself for their friendship falling apart but to this day has no idea what's she's done. That is until Rosalyn returns to Wells to care for her father. Poppy realises that her feelings for Rosalyn have never changed but how does Roslyn feel about Poppy? And can she ever forgive her for breaking her heart?
My Review
Well I truly loved this book just as much if not more than 'That Certain something' also by Claire Ashton. I read this one within the day of starting it, completely immersed in the story and the love and heartbreak between Poppy & Rosalyn.
I love the Welsh culture and their humour which Claire Ashton got on point and found myself chuckling away.
The sex scenes where filled with lust and passion that I found very sexy but also with such raw emotional that made my heart swell.
I don't want to spoil the ending but make sure for the last few chapters you have no interruptions and box of tissues because it was an ending that fairytales are made of, at least in my imagination!
Claire Ashton has a final chapter that normally would be referred to as the epilogue but instead it's called 'For the Curious' and it was a perfect sum up on the Poppy Jenkins future. Short, sweet and exactly what everyone is dying to know. Although if I'm honest I am a little hopeful that Poppy's story is continued or at least followed up in the authors next romance novel!
Maybe Sam (Rosalyn Boss) could feature?
Anyways loved it. 5 stars of Happiness!
Check out full review on my website: https://lesreveur.com/2016/09/13/popp...
My Synopsis
Poppy Jenkins is sweet, clever and loved by everyone in the small Welsh village of Wells that she calls home. Now 30, she's only had one great love in her life and it was her best friend at high School, Rosalyn. One day she was there and the next she was no longer interested in their friendship.
For years Poppy has blamed herself for their friendship falling apart but to this day has no idea what's she's done. That is until Rosalyn returns to Wells to care for her father. Poppy realises that her feelings for Rosalyn have never changed but how does Roslyn feel about Poppy? And can she ever forgive her for breaking her heart?
My Review
Well I truly loved this book just as much if not more than 'That Certain something' also by Claire Ashton. I read this one within the day of starting it, completely immersed in the story and the love and heartbreak between Poppy & Rosalyn.
I love the Welsh culture and their humour which Claire Ashton got on point and found myself chuckling away.
The sex scenes where filled with lust and passion that I found very sexy but also with such raw emotional that made my heart swell.
I don't want to spoil the ending but make sure for the last few chapters you have no interruptions and box of tissues because it was an ending that fairytales are made of, at least in my imagination!
Claire Ashton has a final chapter that normally would be referred to as the epilogue but instead it's called 'For the Curious' and it was a perfect sum up on the Poppy Jenkins future. Short, sweet and exactly what everyone is dying to know. Although if I'm honest I am a little hopeful that Poppy's story is continued or at least followed up in the authors next romance novel!
Maybe Sam (Rosalyn Boss) could feature?
Anyways loved it. 5 stars of Happiness!
Check out full review on my website: https://lesreveur.com/2016/09/13/popp...
July 2, 2016
Because of this book I've made a couple new shelves - 5 plus stars and cozy. Similar to a cozy mystery but there wasn't a mystery. Well I guess there was, kinda but not in the traditional sense.
I am currently reading the best selling mystery series by Louise Penny - and minus the murders and policemen this story really reminds me of Penny's world - or rather the small village of Three Pines, Quebec. But in Ashton's world it is the village of Wells, Wales. They both have well written characters - some that you'd want to have as friends, others you'd like to throttle. They even share similar characters such as (both my favorite), Ashton's Poppy and Penny's Clara - sweet, caring, loved by all and both suffered great grief.
Both Ashton and Penny are able to describe the environments so well that you feel that you are walking along side them. Heck, the first 7 paragraphs of Poppy Jenkins, I knew I was in for a treat. Now I want to visit Wales.
I am currently reading the best selling mystery series by Louise Penny - and minus the murders and policemen this story really reminds me of Penny's world - or rather the small village of Three Pines, Quebec. But in Ashton's world it is the village of Wells, Wales. They both have well written characters - some that you'd want to have as friends, others you'd like to throttle. They even share similar characters such as (both my favorite), Ashton's Poppy and Penny's Clara - sweet, caring, loved by all and both suffered great grief.
Both Ashton and Penny are able to describe the environments so well that you feel that you are walking along side them. Heck, the first 7 paragraphs of Poppy Jenkins, I knew I was in for a treat. Now I want to visit Wales.
March 6, 2022
Sometimes it takes one page to fall in love with a book. Few words, a detailed description that captures your interest, like staring at the sky on a sunny day. And it’s indeed how sunny Poppy Jenkins appeared to me in the very first page of the homonymous novel that propelled me immediately into an idyllic and bygone story. When words are so powerful to let me smell the peculiar scents of a little village, to taste a piece of Wales and as a spectator enter the lives of many characters, I say that this book has done a great deal to me. It has given me a gift: a dream. Reality is suspended and all I want to do is dive into those pages.
Poppy seems to believe that her life is just perfect the way it is. She lives in Wells, a small village in Wales, with her mother, father, little sister, and grandma. She works in the family café, above her mother Emma’s shop, and takes care of her sister Pip just like a mother. Poppy is the very essence of the “girl next door”, the sunshine of the town, loved by everyone, but love has not always been fair to her. None of her past girlfriends ever wanted to build a long-term relationship with her in such a small town, one that she adores, and where so many of her friends still live. All but one, her best friend when she was little, Rosalyn Thorn, who never though highly of Wells and who always wished to escape it. And while Poppy is busy thinking that her life is perfect and that she doesn’t miss anything, the unexpected return of Rosalyn to Wells will turn her world upside down. But does Poppy really know who the true Rosalyn is? Who has more pride and who more prejudice?
Clare Ashton’s prose is so delightful to read, so entertaining and so meticulous in the scenery where the characters move that it’s only a pleasure to read her books. Few authors like her, such as Caren J. Werlinger and Ann McMan have the power to envelop me with a whirlpool of words and make me feel so much empathy for the characters, that I always experience a funny feeling in my chest when they finally declare their love.
Poppy and Rosalyn will have a special place in my heart. I’m a sucker for opposites attract, for wrongly judged characters that in the end become the heroines of the novel. I love their mysterious, icy, witty, stinging side. Rosalyn is such a beautiful and complicated creature. Scorned and feared by many… if only they really knew her. And Poppy is such a ray of light, but inside of her there’s also a fire that just waits to be set alive. I love how infuriated she becomes with Rosalyn; it makes it for great funny dialogues/word jokes and a heck of a romance.
Poppy is so peaceful and Rosalyn… well… she’s a “Thorn” in everybody’s Pride. What you see is not always the truth, you need to work it out yourself, going beyond appearances. Ah…. The torment of it all! And the mix of it with humor? XIX century + XXI century! I loveeeeeeeeeeeed it!
I also enjoyed the back and forth between past and present through Poppy’s POV, it brings you closer to understand her and it’s so funny in some parts and heartfelt in others. Could this be a second chance novel? I want to think of it like that. If two people are destined to be together, Fate will find its way to bring them in each other’s life again.
C. Ashton is also very skillful in creating secondary characters’ subplots that, while serving to the main plot, are of its own so entertaining that you don’t absolutely mind reading about them. Pip is a force of Nature, so open, so naughty, she can’t keep her mouth shut and she’s so direct. I loved her! And the mother, Emma, she’s such a peculiar human; apparently a head in the clouds, but in reality, always listening and so loving and down to earth. Nain/Grandma… and Dai… I had to laugh so much about them! I just liked almost all the characters, apart of course the villains… but well… you need those too, right?
I highlighted so many sentences of this novel and the hangover will stay for a while.
Can’t wait to read more by C. Ashton!
Poppy seems to believe that her life is just perfect the way it is. She lives in Wells, a small village in Wales, with her mother, father, little sister, and grandma. She works in the family café, above her mother Emma’s shop, and takes care of her sister Pip just like a mother. Poppy is the very essence of the “girl next door”, the sunshine of the town, loved by everyone, but love has not always been fair to her. None of her past girlfriends ever wanted to build a long-term relationship with her in such a small town, one that she adores, and where so many of her friends still live. All but one, her best friend when she was little, Rosalyn Thorn, who never though highly of Wells and who always wished to escape it. And while Poppy is busy thinking that her life is perfect and that she doesn’t miss anything, the unexpected return of Rosalyn to Wells will turn her world upside down. But does Poppy really know who the true Rosalyn is? Who has more pride and who more prejudice?
Clare Ashton’s prose is so delightful to read, so entertaining and so meticulous in the scenery where the characters move that it’s only a pleasure to read her books. Few authors like her, such as Caren J. Werlinger and Ann McMan have the power to envelop me with a whirlpool of words and make me feel so much empathy for the characters, that I always experience a funny feeling in my chest when they finally declare their love.
Poppy and Rosalyn will have a special place in my heart. I’m a sucker for opposites attract, for wrongly judged characters that in the end become the heroines of the novel. I love their mysterious, icy, witty, stinging side. Rosalyn is such a beautiful and complicated creature. Scorned and feared by many… if only they really knew her. And Poppy is such a ray of light, but inside of her there’s also a fire that just waits to be set alive. I love how infuriated she becomes with Rosalyn; it makes it for great funny dialogues/word jokes and a heck of a romance.
Poppy is so peaceful and Rosalyn… well… she’s a “Thorn” in everybody’s Pride. What you see is not always the truth, you need to work it out yourself, going beyond appearances. Ah…. The torment of it all! And the mix of it with humor? XIX century + XXI century! I loveeeeeeeeeeeed it!
I also enjoyed the back and forth between past and present through Poppy’s POV, it brings you closer to understand her and it’s so funny in some parts and heartfelt in others. Could this be a second chance novel? I want to think of it like that. If two people are destined to be together, Fate will find its way to bring them in each other’s life again.
C. Ashton is also very skillful in creating secondary characters’ subplots that, while serving to the main plot, are of its own so entertaining that you don’t absolutely mind reading about them. Pip is a force of Nature, so open, so naughty, she can’t keep her mouth shut and she’s so direct. I loved her! And the mother, Emma, she’s such a peculiar human; apparently a head in the clouds, but in reality, always listening and so loving and down to earth. Nain/Grandma… and Dai… I had to laugh so much about them! I just liked almost all the characters, apart of course the villains… but well… you need those too, right?
I highlighted so many sentences of this novel and the hangover will stay for a while.
Can’t wait to read more by C. Ashton!
December 22, 2016
The first half of the book was great - there were some really funny laugh-aloud moments. However the second half of book didn't really have much in terms of a substantial plot . Each time Poppy and Rosalyn tried to talk to each other, they seemed to be (conveniently or inconveniently) interrupted - after about the third time this happened, I started getting really irritated with the repetition.
Cue the villain - again, a bit too obvious. I wish the author had given Poppy more of a backbone. I would have loved to see her as someone who really cares about her cafe business,
I would have liked to see a much stronger plot, something that allowed both characters to grow and find mutual respect in each other.
Cue the villain - again, a bit too obvious. I wish the author had given Poppy more of a backbone. I would have loved to see her as someone who really cares about her cafe business,
I would have liked to see a much stronger plot, something that allowed both characters to grow and find mutual respect in each other.
July 4, 2020
Not a terrible romance, but oh the misunderstandings! And the boobs! I mean, I get it's about a pair of lesbians but come on!
Anyway, this is charming enough, but as I was reading I could not rid myself of the impression that this book really should have been about Rosalyn Thorn and not Poppy Jenkins. Rosalyn Thorn is the person who grows and changes, she is by far the most complex and compelling character and the one who has the most agency. Poppy is a perfect love interest but a really dull heroine. I'm not sure why Ashton thought otherwise. It's because Poppy has no agency that the plot is filled with so much non-essential dialogue and so much panting over Rosalyn's body. Rosalyn is the one who has the interesting life and the interesting choices and problems and who makes interesting decisions.
Anyway, it's not the worst romance I have ever read, and I did root for the girls, and it is charming and all, but I got really tired of conversations that ended with
just to be treated to another ten chapters of agonising and wondering and hand-wringing. So it's a DNF. I found out what Rosalyn's big secret was and only became more convinced than ever that she should have been the protagonist. Her secret is just not that big of a twist, and had we opened with it from the start we might have had a more interesting plot.
Anyway, this is charming enough, but as I was reading I could not rid myself of the impression that this book really should have been about Rosalyn Thorn and not Poppy Jenkins. Rosalyn Thorn is the person who grows and changes, she is by far the most complex and compelling character and the one who has the most agency. Poppy is a perfect love interest but a really dull heroine. I'm not sure why Ashton thought otherwise. It's because Poppy has no agency that the plot is filled with so much non-essential dialogue and so much panting over Rosalyn's body. Rosalyn is the one who has the interesting life and the interesting choices and problems and who makes interesting decisions.
Anyway, it's not the worst romance I have ever read, and I did root for the girls, and it is charming and all, but I got really tired of conversations that ended with
just to be treated to another ten chapters of agonising and wondering and hand-wringing. So it's a DNF. I found out what Rosalyn's big secret was and only became more convinced than ever that she should have been the protagonist. Her secret is just not that big of a twist, and had we opened with it from the start we might have had a more interesting plot.
July 16, 2016
If there is anything I find highly appreciative, it's the ability to write different books with different style. And Clare Ashton managed to do just that with this one. I would never even remotely guess that it's the same author that wrote After Mrs. Hamilton, and I give bonus points for that.
The book itself reminded me a bit of Jane Austen, but a bit modernized version. It's written in a bit different language than usual romances are, with a bit more eloquence, and I loved it. Clare Ashton managed to perfectly describe the slow cadence of a country life, the mentality and the closeness of the people in the countryside, the acceptance of those loved dearly by everyone... I cannot help the feeling that there is a certain sweetness that envelops the entire novel, and you can't do anything but smile while reading it. :) Furthermore, you end up warming up to the supporting characters, as their secrets from the past ends up revealed. The whole plot of the novel was fluent throughout the pages; even the small-talk dialogues that seemed excessive from time to time, made sense while creating the whole picture.
Long story short - I really enjoyed this one and will dearly recommend it to anyone keen on reading a good romance.
The book itself reminded me a bit of Jane Austen, but a bit modernized version. It's written in a bit different language than usual romances are, with a bit more eloquence, and I loved it. Clare Ashton managed to perfectly describe the slow cadence of a country life, the mentality and the closeness of the people in the countryside, the acceptance of those loved dearly by everyone... I cannot help the feeling that there is a certain sweetness that envelops the entire novel, and you can't do anything but smile while reading it. :) Furthermore, you end up warming up to the supporting characters, as their secrets from the past ends up revealed. The whole plot of the novel was fluent throughout the pages; even the small-talk dialogues that seemed excessive from time to time, made sense while creating the whole picture.
Long story short - I really enjoyed this one and will dearly recommend it to anyone keen on reading a good romance.
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August 28, 2018If you ever wondered what a f/f version of the Richard Curtis movies starring Hugh Grant would be like, this is basically it. A f/f romcom set in a small Welsh town with old friends turned enemies becoming lovers. Lovely setting, loads of heart and hope. A bit excessively romcommy for my taste (there's only so many scenes of the heroine inadvertently blurting out boob references while staring at her love interest I want to read, and the conflict is very light) but I'm not huge on the romcom genre and I imagine fans will adore this. Extremely likeable and well written.
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