Reviewed by Emma Crowley
It has always been Maddie Willand's dream to take over her father's plant nursery. But after his sudden death, she is devastated to discover that she might lose The Potting Shed forever.
Maddie's bossy older sister, Sabi, is joint owner of the nursery, and she's convinced that the best thing for both of them would be to sell up. Determined to keep the business going, Maddie can't afford any distractions, but staying focused might be harder than she thinks when – after a major garden centre chain puts in an offer – her search for legal advice throws her into the path of attractive lawyer Ed...
As frost begins to fall over The Potting Shed, will Maddie find the strength to save her father's legacy and open herself up to new beginnings?
Many thanks to Aria via NetGalley for my copy of Frost Falls at the Potting Shed and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Jenny Kane is a new author for me and it was by accident I stumbled across this book on Amazon. It was the cover and title that first caught my eye. Frost Falls at the Potting Shed is a lovely, light and enjoyable read that tells the story of Maddie and what happens when talked about plans were not put in place in time and therefore both Maddie and her family are left to deal with the consequences. As the title suggests the story takes place in winter and the run up to Christmas. But this isn’t strictly a Christmas book so doesn’t necessarily have to be read during December. It was a quick read that provided a few hours of escape from the rigours of everyday life.
Maddie had run the Potting Shed plant nursery with her father Tony, right up until his death. Plans had been made to change the nursery into a garden centre and in Tony’s will Maddie was to get the house and nursery but before these changes could be officially written down Tony had heart trouble and passed away. Maddie is devastated by the loss of her father and finds it challenging to keep going with the nursery but she knows what her fathers long term ambitions had been and hopes she can bring them come to fruition. The nursery isn’t doing that great even though Maddie is fully devoted to it and she has Jake working by her side. The problem now is that the nursery has been left between Maddie and her sister Sabi and so forms the crux of the entire story. Sabi wants to sell the nursery and use the money to buy her dream home but Maddie feels the complete opposite.
When a big company who run many national garden centres want to buy the land Sabi is eager to do a deal but Maddie feels this is the wrong thing to do and so a stalemate ensues between the two sisters. The main point of the story is going back and forth between the two sisters as to what the final outcome should be and to be honest, I was firmly on Maddie’s side the entire time. The issue causes divisions between the pair and some personal and family truths come spilling out the further the book develops. I’ll admit I did find some parts of the book to be repetitive in going over the same ground as to why or why not the land should be sold or else remain the way it was. Yes, there was a bit of mystery and suspicion surrounding the solicitor representing the big garden centre wishing to buy The Potting Shed and that did keep my attention. But at times, I felt the book needed something different to happen and for the pace to quicken up a bit as I felt the same things were being said and I found myself getting a bit irritated. But saying that once I went passed, I’d say, the 60% mark things did pick up and I wanted the best for all the characters and especially a positive outcome for Maddie. Although the way things were going happiness for her seemed very far out of reach.
I loved Maddie as a character because she stood firm to her roots and her beliefs throughout the entire story. Plenty was sent to test her but she knew The Potting Shed was part of her DNA and her heritage and that she couldn’t let it go without a fight and that’s what she did throughout. I loved that about her. She may have felt down and overwhelmed at times but she picked herself back up and kept going. Having Petra (the daughter of a friend of Sabi’s) coming to work there turned out to be a blessing in disguise as she had so many creative and resourceful ideas to try and boost the profile and profits of the nursery. Petra also allowed for a storyline to develop regarding Jake and I loved how this was handled with such sensitivity and tact. She was able to open up a side to him that he had kept concealed but perhaps for all the wrong reasons.
Ed was the solicitor who started to handle Maddie’s fathers affairs and I could tell that there was a connection between himself and Maddie. One perhaps they couldn’t act upon given the situation she found herself in but as a reader you are desperate for the pair to get together but it seemed so far from becoming a reality. I loved how Ed became much more involved in the whole process of trying to save the nursery and he really did go above and beyond the call of duty. Wthout him, I think the entire story would have turned out very differently.
Sabi for me was the most divisive character. Even now having long finished the book I’m not sure I really like her even though she did towards the end show some redeeming features and the reasons for her actions are very clearly explained still there was just something about her that made me more enamoured to Maddie as a character. To me it seemed like Sabi exasperated the situation regarding the sale of the nursery. Ok, she wanted to use the money from the proposed sale to have an even bigger house as that had always been a dream of hers but you could tell her husband Henry thought she was mad. That they were fine the way they were and why did they need something bigger especially as their daughter was away at school?
To me it was a bit like keeping up with the Joneses and that she wanted to be as good as her friend Miriam and maintain a nice lifestyle. She was totally forgetting about Maddie and how much the nursery meant to her. It was her whole life and it held such special memories that Sabi seemed intent on throwing out the window and all for some money. Sabi came across as selfish and steadfast in her ways for most of the book and I couldn’t warm to her at all. Can you tell I was firmly on Maddie’s side throughout? She was stubborn and high handed and I didn’t like the way she went behind Maddie’s back. Yet, deep down there had to have been a reason for her to be so hellbent on everything and for her refusing to be more sympathetic towards Maddie and her own personal situation.
All in all, Frost Falls at the Potting Shed was a good read. It didn’t blow me away but still I was glad I gave it a go. I enjoyed it enough that I know I will read the second in the series Bluebell Season at the Potting Shed when its published in March when the story of Maddie and Sabi will be continued.
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