After the death of her sister, magician Finn Kane moves to the small town of Axedale to escape her fishbowl life and grieve in peace. She doesn't expect to feel an instant attraction to the Vicar of the local church, Bridge Claremont, with legs for days and an intoxicating confidence. Will Finn take a leap of faith for the woman of her dreams? Can Bridge stay faithful to her chosen career and stay true to herself at the same time?

I love love love the little world Axedale, Jenny Frame has created the most beautiful place to fall in love. The whole community is just precious and all the people that live there are wonderful characters.

I loved how unique our leading ladies were, complex and beautiful and real. I totally loved Bridge being a Vicar, and the passages of the bible that were carefully woven into the story. I was comforted by the words, I felt almost like Bridge was preaching and healing me personally, not just the characters in the novel. It might not be for everyone, but to me it was something really special about this book.I loved Finn the magician as well, and re-discovering her love for magic with her through the book was just...well...magical.

This book wasn't my favourites of Jenny Frame. I found myself a little frustrated by the number of times some words are repeated - "boy", "boyishly handsome", "dog collar". It took me out of the story a little every time I noticed it.

There is also some BDSM in the book which isn't entirely for me but it doesn't take away from the fact the author is an extremely talented writer, and this book shines with her exceptional prose.

I can't wait for the next book in this charming series, I hope Quade will find the woman of her dreams!

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This is the second book in the Axedale series. I enjoyed book 1 Courting the Countess, so I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately, this book didn’t really appeal to me personally. The writing was decent, but it was more that it wasn’t to my personal tastes. While this is a Book 2 and the characters mingle in both books, this book’s story was contained enough that you would not have to read book 1 first.

Finn is a famous magician, looking for peace and quiet after losing a loved one. Bridget is the Vicar in the small town that Finn is hiding in. When they meet, Bridge can see Finn is really hurting. Bridge wants to help, but Finn pushes her away. As Bridge slowly cracks the walls of Finn, feelings start to become involved. Is there a chance for love for an openly gay Vicar and a magician?

I liked how this book had a gay woman Vicar, and I was looking forward to reading her story. Unfortunately, the secret side of Bridge, was just a little too unbelievable for me. She seemed like such a sweet woman in the first book, I felt like I was reading a new character. She is constantly trying to put Finn in her place and degrade her, I just didn’t see the appeal.

The sex scenes were so, so for me. They had the possibility of being really hot and steamy, but it just didn’t work for me. I would also mention there are light BDSM moments. A point Lexxi Kitty brought up in her review, the word “boy” was used by Bridge about Finn over a 100 times. “Boy and not “Boi”. I think it was supposed to be sexy, but it had the opposite effect on me. It was meant more to put down Finn, so it just left me saying huh.

This wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really work for me. I have a feeling some people might like this more than I did. I seem to be on a bit of a rollercoaster when it comes to books by Frame; lots of ups and downs. There is one character, from this series, who has not found love yet. She seems like a sweetheart, so if Frame writes a book 3, I will read it.

I'm a fan of Jenny Frame and I enjoyed courting the countess, set in the same world and town, very much. I did not enjoy this one. I was only interested in finishing it and did not care much for either of the characters. Don't get me wrong I liked them on their own but not who they were to each other and what they brought out in each other w.r.t character wasn't my cup of tea. I'll give this a pass.

a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34723188-charming-the-vicar" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Charming the Vicar" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490718750m/34723188.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34723188-charming-the-vicar">Charming the Vicar</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8585317.Jenny_Frame">Jenny Frame</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2226861698">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
ARC rec'd from NetGalley/Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.<br />I read through the night unable to put this book down. <br />A story with Bridget(sexy Vicar) and Finn (Magician) which is definitely not run-of-the-mill. An unexpected romance with sex and religion that may not appeal to all - just open your hearts and let the story in.<br />Ms Frame never disappoints and usually surprises me.<br />4.5 stars.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31134832-gail">View all my reviews</a>

This was an excellent book. I went back to read the first in the Axedale series and I did not enjoy either harry or Annie but Riley was great. This book though pulled me in from the start. I loved the Vicar and the authors descriptions of her were so good I could clearly see her in my mind. I also loved Finn. What a great troubled character. This book had a great plot, great characters both the protagonists and the secondary characters like Martha.

It was heart wrenching to read about Finn’s struggles, but I thought they weren’t really flushed out too much. I thought the Vicars past with the unrequited Love was not a great story or reason to become a Vicar, it just seemed a bit thin. I liked he S&M angle though I definitely didn’t see that coming. I guess the next book will be about Quade and I hope she finds someone awesome and not some crazy wealthy person like everyone else in this series seems to be.

I did enjoy this. It is a really lovely story and the characters were engaging and they had depth. I don't read many f/f romances but what attracted me to this one is that the main character - Bridget - is a Church of England priest and a vicar in a small country parish.

I really wanted to see if the author could write an engaging story about a lesbian 'Vicar of Dibley' and she managed to do it really well. I read a lot of m/m romance and there are just so many with homophobic religious leaders but this story breaks that mould because it shows the complexity of sexual orientation within a religious community and how that actually plays out in real life. I think the author managed to portray this complexity really well and it felt very authentic. Another delightful aspect of this story is the love the vicar has for her parishioners and her country village.

Bridget Claremont came to faith as she worked her way through a personal crisis, years later she finds herself working as a vicar in a country parish. She is utterly devoted to her parishioners and to the village but deep within her she desires a love of her own especially when she sees how happy her friend Harry is.

Finnian Kane is an avowed atheist. She has come to Axedale to recover from the loss of her much loved sister but she hates everything to do with religion because she grew up with a father who used religion to exploit people. Finnian is irritated by the Reverend Bridget but as she gets to know Bridget she realises that not only is Bridget a woman of depth and love, but Bridget has a way of meeting Finnian's own need for healing and for peace.

There is a growing and strong attraction between the two women which has the potential to burst into fiery passion but Bridget realises that if she explores a relationship with Finnian it will put her on a path of conflict with the Church of England and especially with her Bishop who is homophobic and sneaky and doesn't like her at all.

Finnian believes that this is an opportunity for her to have a new life in Axedale but she recognises that the cost might be too high for Bridget to pay. Bridget is a priest with a very deep faith in God and Finnian knows that she will need to reconcile her disbelief and her painful past if she is to find love with Bridget. Bridget knows that if she is to develop a relationship with Finnian she will need to reconcile the passionate side of her nature which she has buried under her persona and identity as a priest.

I have to say as someone who is a priest I thought this book was really well written and it was enjoyable as well. I think there were some things that were a bit over the top, so the Bishop being the bad guy and the sneaky, mean and snooping parishioner were a bit exaggerated. I think that the reality is that anti gay bishops would be a lot more subtle than that. Also, I am not sure why Bridget kept calling her Bishop 'Lord'.

This story about a vicar and a hardened atheist falling in love was a real treat. No only did it have two excellent lead characters, but it was well researched and the characters felt well developed and real. I don't think I warmed to the domination aspect of their relationship. That's another area that felt a bit exaggerated. Although it showed a different part of Bridget's personality, I thought it was a bit overdone in some ways.

The most enjoyable aspect of the story was to have two strong female lead characters who didn't allow others to oppress them, but who were at the same time open and honest with the challenges before them and the need to reflect and explore those challenges. In that way the book wasn't full of anxiety but it was really two people doing what two people would do in reality.

I also enjoyed the way the story portrayed Bridget's faith. It felt very real and she came across as deeply compassionate the kind of person that you would actually want to have as your vicar. Her past life was an interesting contrast with her present and yet she herself didn't see any conflict in the two just the need to try and reconcile past and her present and bridge the gap.

This is actually book 2 in the series but can be read as a standalone I really enjoyed it and it left me wanting more. I shall definitely be checking out other books by this author because this one was just such a pleasure to read.

Copy provided by Bold Stroke Books via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

more than 4 less than 5 stars rounded up
Jenny Frame knows how to craft a good plot with strong and interesting characters. This one was not quite a 5 stars novel like Unexpected, but still a great and entertaining read. I'm totally looking forward to her next book.

A book full of contradictions in my mind. Religion, domination, magic, small town. I did like it, different from your other lesfic. I did catch Finn saying the exact same thing as Harry said in Courting the Countess. Both books have the same kind of characters and same dynamic between the lovers. Together with Courting the Countess it makes a nice series to read in two weekends or on a vacation.

There were moments in the book when I thought I would really enjoy it but unfortunately the story was a bit flat for me. I found the love scenes a bit repetitive and lacking feeling. What I did like very much was the positive light of religion and homosexuality- we are getting there, albeit slowly. Well done to the author for exploring this.

Vicar Bridget Claremont takes center stage in this book along with Magician Finnian Kane. When the two meet, Finn is still grieving the loss of her beloved sister, Carrie. Finn was downright rude to Bridge, but Bridge didn’t give up on her. The atheist meets the vicar is a plot I wasn’t sure I’d like, but I was pleasantly surprised how much I truly enjoyed this book. I really though Finn and Bridge were great mains. Their banter was witty and their chemistry was hot, which makes a great read! I look forward to reading Jenny Frame’s next book!!

Finnian's sister dies, She was the most important person in Finnian's life, caring for her when their parents died.
She is lost without her sister and moves to a relatively obscure village to escape the media and to figure out how she is going to go on. The vicar feels obligated to help her find her way. Interestingly the vicar would really like a life partner,,,,,,,,hmm could Finnian become that?

I did not realize there was an Axedale #1. In my opinion, it did not matter. I had difficulty connecting with this read. I enjoyed the two main characters that wanted to make a different in the world around them in their own unique way Reverend Bridget Claremont, from a prominent family with an interesting background that was not appealing to me. Finnian Kane, illusionist, dealing with a loss. The challenges Bridget and Finnian faced were external and internal with the overarching question, how and will they address them?

3.5 stars

Finn Kane is a famous illusionist and atheist known for debunking religious performers. When her beloved sister dies, she escapes to a small English town to grieve. No longer interested in fast women, and life in general, it is a shock when she finds herself attracted to the local vicar.

The Reverend Bridget Claremont is a well-loved vicar in the small parish. She is open about being a lesbian, but it helps when her family has been landed gentry for centuries, and her best friend is the Lady of the Manor. She is welcoming the new arrival, a prickly magician, when she finds the spark of attraction. Not expecting her alter ego, Mistress Black, to make an appearance while she is wearing the vicar’s dog collar, Bridge finds herself trying to come to grips with her past, and her present.

This is predominantly a sweet romance by Frame. The setting and the events are well settled in the small parish, and focus on the minutiae of village life. Bridge is supportive and caring of her parishioners, and welcomes being an integral part of village life. However, there are moments in which the language doesn’t quite fit the sweet romance genre, and Bridge was a little pricklier than I would have expected from a parish priest.

There are some quirks though, and they may not suit everyone looking for a sweet lesbian romance.

The heart of the romance, and it is a romance, is the dominant/submissive relationship between the two main characters. Bridge was Mistress Black in her younger days, and while the D/S is very light, it is built into the connection between the two characters. This is the first sweet romance I’ve ever read in the D/S area, although there are aspects of the more hard core, especially in terms of language within the sex scenes.

I think if it had been a more complex story, or if it had been a clear sweet romance, it would have been a solid four stars from me. I knocked it down half a star because I think it crossed an unexpected boundary and will be harder to find a happy audience as a result.

The simple love story required by the sweet romance genre has by necessity reduced the complexity the author has created with the characters and situation presented. Community support for a lesbian vicar may be in the village, but presumably this is the soft and fluffy variety, rather than the Mistress Black variety. It would have been interesting to explore this in a bit more detail within the book. Something else that was simplified was that this was the first time Finn had experienced attraction to a dominatrix, and this could also have been explored in more detail.

Certainly, the changes in legislation in the UK, and community support for marriage equality now make this book imaginable in a real sense. Frame has used this as an opportunity to venture into the lesbian vicar territory and it’s a very enjoyable book. It is definitely a sweet romance, and lovely light read as a result.

Advanced reading copy provided by NetGalley for an honest review.