I actually didn’t realise, until I was writing this review, that author Ellen Berry was actually Fiona Gibson. If I’d known in advance, I’d have been even more excited to get stuck into Snowdrops on Rosemary Lane as I’ve read a few of Fiona’s books before and loved them.

I thought I had a good idea of what the plot of this book would be just from the front cover. It really goes to show that the old adage ‘never judge a book by its cover’ is more accurate than I’d thought!

Lucy has just lost her high-flying job when she spots that the cottage she’d dreamed of living in as a child is for sale. Rosemary Cottage is a picturesque and charming spot in the small village of Burley Bridge. She’s got a plan to turn the house into a B&B and enjoy country life with her husband Ivan and their children.

But circumstances change suddenly, and Lucy is no longer sure that the future she’d dreamt of is viable. It isn’t until she’s reunited with her childhood friend James that she starts to reconsider the road ahead…

Snowdrops on Rosemary Lane is the third book in the Rosemary Lane series. It works perfectly as a standalone but I’m now intrigued to go back and read the previous two. I’d love to get to know some of the other characters from Burley Bridge better!

This was not at all the slightly predictable, little bit cheesy, Christmas romance I’d thought it would be. Instead, this is a book with real heart and deals with much more hard-hitting topics than I’d expected. There are some truly heartbreaking, emotional moments that had me wishing I could reach into the pages to give the characters a hug.

I found the characters really well-written and developed, particularly Lucy and her childhood friend James. The dynamic between the two was very engaging and I’d definitely love to see what happens next with them. I was also particularly interested in James’ backstory, and his relationship with his father. As someone who has dealt with a family member with dementia, I found this plotline was really sensitively handled and felt very relatable. I’m hopeful that there will be more to both of these story threads in the next novel!

The descriptions of Rosemary Cottage had me desperate to visit. If only it were a real B&B, I’d book straight in! The quaint, charming village of Burley Bridge is the perfect backdrop to the narrative. I loved that it offered a glimpse of a supportive neighbourhood that comes together during hard times. The luscious imagery of the garden at Lucy’s house had me fantasising of escaping to a remote cottage of my own. It sounds dreamy!

Overall, I found Snowdrops on Rosemary Lane to be very poignant, optimistic and uplifting. It definitely wasn’t the story I’d expected, but it was actually much more inspiring. It’s a tale of facing the hardest challenges and overcoming terrible circumstances through personal strength and growth. Lucy doesn’t have it easy in this novel, but I loved that she never became a victim. Despite her doubts and struggles, she doesn’t give up.

This is a great read for the festive season and has left me feeling capable of achieving anything I put my mind to.

This was a really moving story, I assumed because of the cover it would be a Christmas story and while Christmas does feature in this book it isn't the focus. It is a brilliant story and I really liked the main character, she's very easy to connect with. I like Ellen Berry's writing style and this reinforced that.

Snowdrops on Rosemary Lane was an enjoyable story with wonderful characters. I felt a deep empathy towards Lucy - one of the strongest characters throughout the whole book. As she navigates her grief with the help of a warm, patient, and understanding childhood friend and a loving and supportive community, the reader is reminded of the true magic surrounding the holiday season: love, family, and friendship. Very well-written and one of those "feel good" stories that stick with you long after you put it down.

I have been a fan of Ellen's work for quite a while now. I have read and loved each of her books to date. I was drawn to this book from the cover alone as the cottage on the front cover is exactly how I imagined my dream house as a child! I read the synopsis and I just knew that this would be another delightful read from Ellen Berry. I got a cup of tea in one hand and settled down with the book in the other and began to read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Snowdrops On Rosemary Lane' but more about that in a bit.
I couldn't help but take to Lucy from the first moment I met her. The story begins thirty years ago, when Lucy was a child and she often spent her school holidays with her aunt and uncle who lived in an adorable sounding village. Lucy hung around with a little crowd of kids, who were all of a similar age to her. The story then fast forwards to the present day and we meet Lucy when she is happily married to Ivan, they have two children together and another on the way. Both also have successful careers, although Lucy soon leaves her job with a generous pay off. Lucy takes this as a sign that she is destined for other things. They end up buying a cottage in the village where Lucy spent a lot of her holidays as a child and they work at changing the use of the cottage into a Bed & Breakfast place. Both settle down into village life and they soon start to make friends. Sadly their third pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. I felt so, so sorry for Lucy at this point and if I could have jumped inside the pages of the book to give her a hug then I would have done. Lucy throws herself into her work. There's trouble on the horizon but I don't want to say too much more what happens as I would hate to give too much away. Lucy meets up with some of her childhood acquaintances and renews her friendships with them. What does the future hold for Lucy and her children? Well that would be giving too much away so to find out what happens you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
As with all of Ellen's books, I was drawn into this story from the start and reading the book became seriously addictive. If I had to put the book down for any reason, then I would try to come up with every excuse in the book to enable me to get back to reading this delightful read. I was an addict in desperate need of my next fix. I made the fatal mistake of beginning to read this book shortly before I went to bed and let's just say I ended up reading long into the night because I couldn't stop reading. I soon reached the end of the story which I was disappointed about. I was enjoying the author's writing style, the characters and the storylines so much that I just didn't want the book to end.
'Snowdrops On Rosemary Lane' is superbly written but then I tend to find that that is always the case with Ellen's books. She creates strong lead characters that are impossible to dislike and I would guess that a lot of people can empathise with what the lead characters go through. For example I found myself feeling great sympathy for Lucy when she suffers the miscarriage. I haven't suffered such a thing myself but somebody close to me has and I have seen how they have been affected by their experiences. Ellen certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start. Once she has your attention, she will not let it go until the moment you have finished reading the last word on the last page. I also find that Ellen uses such vivid and realistic descriptions that I felt myself going through every emotion that the lead characters were going through and I felt as though I was part of the story myself.
In short, Ellen Berry (aka Fiona Gibson) has done it again and she has written one festive cracker of a book, which deserves to go to the top of the bestsellers list. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I would definitely recommend this author and her books to other readers. I will most definitely be reading more of Ellen's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Oh what a mother! Seriously needs to be told to get a life - for herself - get a hobby, look after her husband’s health and butt out of her daughter’s life.
That said, despite the well written mother’s character, the whole story never grabbed me. It seemed to meander along gradually coming to an end with no great reveal, no drama and no real emotional empathy.
It needs humour and editing to become a sharper piece of writing. For me, the ‘bleakness’ never really felt true.
A cosy story that lacked originality and intensity.

What a fun, sweet book! It seems to be marketed as a holiday book, and there is a short Christmas celebration included, but that's not the true focus of the book.

Lucy was enchanted by Rosemary Cottage when she was a child -- scaling the garden wall, stealing berries from the bushes, having adventures with the local friends she made and only saw once a year -- but she eventually settled with her husband and two children in Manchester and took on a corporate job. After losing her corporate job, though, she decides that she really wants to buy Rosemary Cottage and turn it into a bed and breakfast. This book follows what happens during the two years following Lucy's new adventure.

As someone who dreams of someday having her own cottage in the Cotswolds, this was a delightful book. I enjoyed the characters, the setting, the storyline. My only complaint is that it was a bit slow in certain parts of the book, but for a light British chick lit book, I would recommend it.

Also, it turns out this is the third book in a series, which I didn't learn until the end. I don't think I missed anything by reading this one first, but I can't wait to go back and read the series from the beginning.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC of this book. It has not influenced my opinion.

Life has come full circle for Lucy. A place where she played as a child with fond memories has become her home. Opening a B&B has always been her dream. But her dream is fought with tragedy and perseverance.A new author for me, I received this book from Netgalley, and it was engaging and very enjoyable. A read for anyone that enjoys a heartwarming story with relatable characters and believes in second chances. These comments and review are my honest opinion.

I am not crying, I have something in my eye…. OK, I am crying.

It was hard not to reach for the tissues with the latest book by Ellen Berry.

It focuses on Lucy, who after losing her job in Manchester, makes the decision with her husband Ivan to move to the picturesque village of Burley Bridge. It is not all plain sailing for Lucy and her family and there are many ups and downs along the way. Lucy wonders whether Rosemary Cottage is her forever home after all?

It’s not hard to feel love and empathy for Lucy especially as things happen for her pretty early on in the novel.

James, like Lucy is dealing with issues that I think a lot of people would be able to relate to. He and Lucy have many layers to them. I liked them both a lot.

The supporting characters are wonderful and it was such a pleasure to be back in Burley Bridge (the previous novels being The Bookshop on Rosemary Lane and The Little Bakery on Rosemary Lane.) It was lovely to have cameos from previous characters.

You don’t need to have read the previous novels though to enjoy this book. It can be read as a standalone novel. However, once you’ve read this, you may want to go back and read the first two in the series. I am hoping this is not the last we see of Burley Bridge and its inhabitants.

I love the idea of the plot overall; to buy a cottage in the country. That is all I am saying about the story as I don’t want to be giving away any spoilers. I am hoping that you will discover this book for yourself.

This book is an enchanting, warm novel full of delightful characters. Ellen Berry tackles some quite sensitive subjects, including grief, with lots of care.

Snowdrops on Rosemary Lane has a rollercoaster of emotions and is perfect company for the cold evenings as we head toward the festive season.

The cover totally appealed to me when I started reading this book. I loved the colours and the snowflakes screamed “Christmas!” at me. However, if you are not into very Christmassy books, then this will be for you. This novel covers several years and whilst Christmas does feature, the passage of time means you are transported through all of the seasons. As such, I think this is a book you could read all year round.

Stereotypically, Christmas novels are warm and uplifting. Instead, I found this read quite sad in places and really sympathised with Lucy and her circumstances. It was rather emotional and I could not predict how she would behave over the story. This element made the read more enjoyable; the surprises in plot development meant it was an engaging story and something a little bit different from the many seasonal books out there.

For the most part, I liked all of the characters. However, I found Lucy’s mother incredibly annoying. As in, I don’t think I could have put up with her living with me! She is so interfering and heartless towards Lucy’s dad, that I really wanted Lucy to stand up to her. Unfortunately, Lucy remains considerate and chooses her words carefully; yes, she is setting the right example, but seriously, I don’t think that was particularly realistic. Surely Lucy would have to properly snap at some point?

Berry describes Lucy’s garden in such wonderful detail that I could vividly picture if in my head. And I even felt horticulturally inspired! It is a symbol of so many things in the novel and the freedom that Lucy allows her garden to grow represents that increasing independence she feels as the story develops. Set in Yorkshire, I could easily imagine Lucy’s B&B hosting many travellers as they escape on walks in to the hills. It felt so idyllic and not remote in the slightest.

This book is part of a series but thankfully, you do not need to read it in order. I am coming across more and more books like this – they are set in the same place and the series “travels” around location. Meaning you focus on different characters, I look forward to see if Lucy appears in the other books in the series. My enjoyment of this story means I will certainly look up Berry’s other novels.

A lovely read. It was satisfying, immersive and enjoyable. I was emotionally connected to Lucy and I desperately wanted to see her succeed. Love and romance are not on the cards for this story; it is a novel about adaptation and realising one’s own identity. Christmas is a great bonus but, as I have already mentioned, I cannot see why this book could not be read at any point in the year.

With thanks to Avon books and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A most enjoyable read. As a child Lucy had spent several long summer holidays staying with her aunt and uncle at their cottage in Burley Bridge, deep in the Yorkshire countryside. She hadn’t wanted to go there, but on her very first day she had made some life-long friends, and fallen in love with a cottage in Rosemary Lane, she was determined she would live there one day.

Life moves on, Lucy marries Ivan, and they have two children. Then Lucy is made redundant, and her husband is fed up with his job. Lucy finds out that ‘her’ cottage is up for sale. For their tenth wedding anniversary she arranges a night in a smart country hotel close to Burley Bridge, leaving the children with her parents. Before they go home she detours to show Ivan the village she spent time in, and the cottage. He doesn’t love it as much as her, but agrees to move away from Manchester and start working for himself, from the cottage, which they will run as a B&B. Ivan doesn’t really settle into village life, and when a work-mate offers him a job he jumps at the chance, staying in Manchester in a company flat from Monday to Friday each week. Then tragedy strikes, Lucy has to bring up the children on her own. She has made many friends, old and new, in the village, but her parents are demanding that she returns to live near them, so they can help her.

The story shows how she gradually sorts out her life with the support of her friends, and finds herself a new career, and the expectation of a new relationship. There are moments of deep sadness, when you can sympathise with Lucy, and understand her pain, and other times when the little family learn to laugh together again.

It is a moving story, very real, taking place over a long period of time. The ending was a bit abrupt, but hopefully there will be a sequel where we can find out whether James’s plans for his father’s care come to fruition, and whether his other plans work out. He was a well-written character, worthy of a book for his further story. All in all an excellent read.

This is a beautiful story. Poignant yet full of promise and the complicated nature of human beings.

Very enjoyable read.

A perfect book for a winter evening. Easy to read, pulling at the emotions. The author managed to transport me to a cottage in a small Yorkshire village and made me wish that the village I live in was so idyllic! Recommended.

Loved this book, it had family life, sadness, love and happiness all under the cover. It is set in a small village and starts back in childhood leading up to having children of her own. Several old pals are involved and makes for a great read. This is a 5 star story and I recommend you read it.

When live doesn't go like you want ...
Author of multiple book Ellen berry presents "Snowdrops on Rosemary Lane" which was published by Avon Books UK. As a child Lucy Riddock spent some of her summers in Burley Bridge, had made friends there, and fell in love with Rosemary Cottage. At their tenth year anniversary she show it to her husband Ivan and ultimately convinces him to move there and turn Rosemary Cottage into a Bed-and-Breakfast. But the road is not without struggles and the unexpected death of Ivan in an accident opens a number of questions. Then Lucy meets James Halsall who ultimately turns out to be her friend Hally from her childhood. What will the future bring for her and her children? And what is the future of Rosemary Cottage?
This was the first book of Ellen Berry that I read and I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it. It is the third book in her series about Rosemary Lane but it can easily be read as a stand-alone. It has wholesome believable characters, especially the determined Lucy. The story is interesting especially with its emphasis on family and second chances.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#SnowdropsOnRosemaryLane #NetGalley

From the synopsis alone we know this book is a bit of me all over! A countryside b&b yes please.



Lucy has such fun memories of run down Rosemary Cottage, with her gang of summer friends - stealing berries and causing mischief. So when her life changes and she is made redundant around the time this is up for sale, its fate.



She can fulfil her dream of owning the cottage and running a b&b from it with the help of husband. Yet again though life has a funny way of changing though, and in a tragic turn of events Lucy finds herself trying to cope alone, that is until a familiar face from her childhood turns up....



I adored this book, mainly because i adored Lucy - i felt a sense of support for her, the way it was written - you was drawn into her, i cried with her, i smiled with her, i wanted to give her advice and she tried to find hersef once more. I loved Rosemarry Cottage & the place as a whole, its the sort of place you want to visit, i was desperate to visit the bookshop especially.



This was a brill read and paced brilliantly giving us time to watch the characters and their relationships develop, it left me feeling warmed up on this chilly day.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Perfect dark, dreary nights read. This made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Would recommend.

When you lose someone, it changes things. The same can be said when you find someone who new a different version of you. In Snowdrops on Rosemary Lane, Lucy and James have to deal with both.
I have to be honest, the prologue implies pretty heavily what will happen in the book. Throughout the first couple of chapters, the author manages to combine with an almost grim sense o foreboding. As a result, I pretty much spent the first half of the book waiting for things to go wrong, and the second half hoping for *something* to happen. As a way to keep me very interested and basically unwilling to put this book down, that certainly did the trick!
Combined with the beautiful descriptions of the Yorkshire environments, as well as the really respectful way in which Berry dealt with both Lucy and James both coming to terms with the changes life brought them? Well, it made for a really interesting read. And it certainly helped that there weret*technically* no less than three Christmases in there!

This book hit really close to home. With my best friend having lost her husband tragically the book resonates with me and it was sad to read and remember the loss of a loved one. It did however highlight the love and friendship you can have and that family is everything.

I found the main character Lucy really strong and saw a lot of my friend in this character also bringing up two children on her own. I loved that she went for what she wanted and bought the new home away from the hustle and bustle of a main city. The resilience that she had brought tears to my eyes and that she was strong enough to keep going and do what she loves.

The book is so heart warming I found this book a really quick and enjoyable read. The strength that bleeds through from the main character Lucy trying to keep everything together after she lost her husband, not only has she got two grieving children to look after but she moved away from family to set up a B&B like she always wanted.

This book warmed my heart and shows how strong we can be in the face of loss of a loved one.

A lovely, cozy, festive read with wonderful characters and a poignant story. I am a new fan of Ellen Beny.

The latest book in the series, set over a few years and not just at Christmas.

An emotional read, Lucy has moved to Rosemary Lane with her family, but soon tragedy strikes. WIll she stay in the village or run away?

I would have liked to see what happened between her and James at the end, but maybe this will be in the next book in the series.