When Daisy’s mother falls ill she is forced to return home. With her twin sons in tow, she moves back to Half Moon Farm, her family’s ancient hop farm.
But a new life in the Kent countryside isn’t necessarily as idyllic as it might seem. Daisy’s relationship with her mother is complicated and the tumbledown farm isn’t the only thing that needs rebuilding. Daisy and her sons must adjust to life with estranged family, a leaking roof, and no WiFi.
Luckily for Daisy, she might yet find some distraction in silver fox farmer, Drew, or in the haughty heir to the nearby estate, Kit, who she can’t seem to avoid.
Daisy must learn to juggle her new life, the boys, and the daunting task of updating the farm. But there are secrets lurking in her family’s past that might throw everything into further disarray…
One of the things I look forward to each year is the publication of the latest book from Holly Hepburn but I always wait for the publication of the complete serial rather than read the four parts when they are published individually as I'm too impatient to wait months to find out what happens next. The wait is finally over and it lived up to all my expectations and more.
When we first meet Daisy she's on her way home. It's clear that there's been an estrangement with her mother and this is the last thing she needed when her life's already so busy with co-parenting her twin sons, Finn and Campbell, and her busy work schedule. But there's no-one else, no other family, who can return home to help her mother get back on her feet. It's not too long before we find out the reason for the prolonged absence and both parties have dealt with their fair share of pain over the years. But it's only by spending time together that they are able to heal wounds and take tentative steps to rebuild a new relationship that sees the future of Half Moon Farm secured.
For Finn and Campbell being dragged away from their friends and school to living in the middle of nowhere without civilisation, reliable wi-fi connection to stream football or even access to the internet, is the end of their world as they know it. But it's not too long before they too find their feet, make friends and make the best of their new situation but that's not to say there isn't the odd spat or two along the way which causes Daisy to wonder if she's made the right decision uprooting them and bringing them to the farm.
As for romance that's the last thing that Daisy needs following her divorce, which although an amicable split, leaves her little time for romance. But it's not long before she has two completely different men enter into her life, one that doesn't have the greatest of starts considering their crash introduction, and the other who seems just that little bit too good to be true. The more you read about both Kit and Drew, the more my impressions of them changed and I'm glad that my gut instinct turned out to be right about one of them in particular.
There are a whole cast of secondary characters that we are introduced to as Daisy, Finn and Campbell are welcomed into the community with open arms. From the many subsidiary business owners that have set up on the farm since Daisy was last home but my favourite of all wasn't even human, it was their pet cat Atticus. OMG he was such a feisty animal and certainly made his presence known especially at the doggy day care on the farm where he prowled the fence showing them who was boss.
One of the aspects I enjoyed reading about the most came in the unexpected discovery of some letters to her grandmother that were received during the war from a mysterious gentleman who was definitely not her grandfather. It piques her interest and the more she reads the more she's intrigued to find out what exactly had happened between them. Why has there never been any mention of him and could this be linked to a long-time feud with a local family?
Return to Half Moon Farm had so much more going on than first meets the eye. As soon as I started reading I could not put it down and if it wasn't for those little things called life and sleep I would have read this in a single sitting as I so enjoyed my time with Daisy and co. Is it wrong of me that I wish there could be a follow-up to see how life is turning out for them a year or so down the line?
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