A pleasant, ambling jaunt through the lakes with a heroine who finds herself and love as she comes to terms with losses in her personal and professional life.

I found the romance strangely improbable - two mature individuals who still haven’t had sex by almost the end of the book? I felt the lost opportunity to explore the growing closeness and love - rather disappointing. .

Illustrator Autumn has lost her job, her grandfather and her artistic abilities in quick succession. When penpal Rosie invites her to stay with her in the Lake District, home of Autumn's heroine Beatrix Potter, she packs her bags. Will she be able to rediscover her skills and herself in the beautiful English countryside?

Hopefully this is the start of a new series by author Jessica Redland - I for one can't wait to see what happens to Autumn, Dane and Rosie! A perfect light read, with lots of likeable characters, a blossoming relationship and beautiful scenery.

What an absolute joy this book is. I've read and loved every one of Jessica's books and couldn't wait to dive into the pages of this one. Where previous books have been set on the Yorkshire coast this one is centred in the stunningly scenic Lake District. I adored the beautiful descriptions of that area and quickly fell in love with the lovely characters. Autumn is an illustrator who has lost her mojo and has recently lost her beloved granddad. She grew up in France and moved to London but is then invited to visit her pen friend, Rosie,who lives in the Lake District. The two have been corresponding for decades but had never met. I loved the warm friendship between these two ladies. Autumn's ex, Etienne, a French man is also a central character as is the lovely Dane, writer of children's books. There are a lot of references to Beatrix Potter which I found especially interesting and endearing. There are many emotions, secrets, dilemmas and a slow burn romance that kept me riveted to this book. As this is the first in a series I think we can be assured that this really is ' The Start of Something Wonderful'. I will be recommending this book to all my book groups and reading friends. My thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC. My review is voluntarily given.

Autumn Laine has had things go bad in her life. Losing her Grandad her job and the flame has died down in her creative mind she knows things have to change but she isn’t sure how to do that. She thought that she could stay with her parents in Paris to get things going right but that did not even help.
She puts her mind to work and decides to go to England and stay with her Pen Pal Rosie when Rosie asks her to come.
The author has put the right things together in this book- the location, the connection of the characters, and all the relationships , family and this all adds up to a story that was perfectly put together. This is an excellent start to a new series by Jessica Redland.
The Start of Something Wonderful is the first in this series.
Thank you NetGalley, Jessica Redland and Boldwood Books for the ARC.
This is my personal review.

Autumn Laine is an illustrator for a greetings card company but, she has lost her mojo. After losing both her job and her grandfather on the same day she decides to go and stay with her parents in Paris. Here she hopes to find inspiration for her art and spend some time with her family. After 2 months it appears that Paris is not the answer and when her ex-boyfriend turns up she realises that it is time to return home to Sutton.
Feeling lost she receives an invitation from Rosie (her penfriend of 24 years) to visit her in the Lake district. A complete change maybe just what she needs to get her life back on track. Deciding to stay for two weeks she feels excited for the first time in ages and when she starts sketching again after only a few days feels she may have found her happy place.
Surrounded by natural beauty, new friends and a sense of community life is definitely starting to look better but, is she brave enough to make the Lakes her forever home and with a sparkle from Dane is she ready for a relationship after more than a decade?
Beautifully written with lots of references to Beatrix Potter and her amazing stories. A few twists and turns but, on the whole a nice gentle romance/feel good book perfect to take on holiday.

I had my very own romance in the Lake District when I was in my early 20s. This book brought back many of my favourite memories. I liked how well the characters were written. I have never read anything by the author but I will now because she tied together some suspense and wrote the emotions perfectly.

Oh, this book was an absolute treat of a read! From the beautiful setting of the lakes to delving into the world of Beatrix Potter, it was every book lovers dream!
Just as Autumn did, I completely fell in love with the village and if I could have moved in there myself, I would have! The cosy houses provide the perfect place to rediscover her gift of illustration and style, after loosing her grandparents. I could almost imagine the animals coming alive myself as they were described! It was truly beautiful and has me longing to revisit Hilltop and the lakes again.
I loved the development of the friendships and relationships between the characters, Autumn and Rosie's friendship really made me smile. The proper letter writing between them was such a lovely touch, this book was nostalgic of so many lovely things, it just made it such a magical read.
I'll remember this one for a long time to come, a perfect read, snuggled up with a cuppa or two! I simply could not put it down!

"Autumn Laine has lost her creative sparkle. After losing her grandad and her job as an illustrator in quick succession, she is at a crossroads in life and needs a break." - These first two sentences of the synopsis were all I needed to dive straight into this new story.

After reading 9 previous titles from Jessica Redland, I knew that I was going to love it, and I did! Jessica knows how to pack a punch in her books, and heavy topics aren't being brushed aside.

Knowing that his book is just the start of a brand-new series, I already cannot wait to see what's in store for Autumn, Dane, Rosie, Alice and all the other wonderful characters already present in this book. Highly recommend picking up this book and get immersed into the setting of the Lake District.

Having lost her beloved Grandad, her job is a greeting cards illustrator and her creative spark Autumn Laine knows she needs to try something new. Staying with her parents in Paris fails to ignite her imagination, so she moves back to England and goes to stay with her pen pal Rosie in the beautiful Lake District.
Autumn is hoping to be inspired by the place her favourite author Beatrix Potter loved so much.
When Autumn literally bumps into Dane, who has also moved to Wilowdale to start again, she begins to wonder if it isn’t only her creative spark that’s been missing.
This lovely, warm, book, set in beautiful scenery is a wonderful story of friendship, love and finding the courage to start over. I hope this is the start of a very long series set in the Lakes.

A brand new series from Jessica Redland and it’s amazing! I’m quite new to the Lake District area, I’ve only visited a few times and seemingly the very touristy parts but it was great to read about places that I’d heard of, passed, or stopped off at., it helped me connect with the characters and the whole story. I’ve visited the Beatrix Potter museum in town, but not Hill Top Farm as I had small children who were only interested in the characters of Peter Rabbit but this book has really made me want to go back and visit Hill Top and get the fuller ‘Potter’ experience.

Another thing I loved about this book was that an entire friendship and essentially the basis of the book revolves around writing letters as children. I loved that Rosie and Autumn kept it up for 24 years and became life long friends. I loved my pen pals as a child and wish I’d kept in touch, receiving letters on your doormat is something lost on children these days, it’s all emails, texts or FaceTimes.

Dane was a great character too, I loved his quiet calm presence. His back story really touched me, forced into a relationship so early and a career he wasn’t passionate about, I’m so pleased he got his happy ending, and still had a great relationship with his son. Autumn’s back story was equally as heartfelt, I really felt for her and her grandad after her miscarriage, and how by not talking about it for 14 years had a real effect on her that she wasn’t even aware of until she finally tried to move on. Her and Dane make a great couple in so many ways, I can’t wait to see what literary projects they come up with in the future.

Rosie and get mam Alice have quite a story to tell, I’m hoping it includes ‘His Lordship’ in some way. I can’t wait to find out.

I love a Jennifer Redland book and this book was definitely the start of something wonderful. Whilst the romance genre generally doesn't give you many surprises in terms of plot, I really loved how much was put into character development in this book, every single character added to the story - EVERY SINGLE ONE!

I did enjoy that we were given pieces of information about Autumns past in the form of flashbacks, and whilst I had a slight niggling worry about Rosie, I'm quite glad nothing sinister developed in that area (I read a lot of thrillers so I don't trust characters easily haha!).

The slow burn romance was lovely, but ended up being quite a fast burn. I loved the side characters, I loved how much description went into the landscape, the Potter references right the way throughout this book. I wish we learnt more about Alice, but I'm assuming we will with other books to come along (Great intro for it here though!)

I flew through this book. I finished it in ONE DAY. Wonderful book - easy recommend!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my copy of The Start of Something Wonderful by Jessica Redland in exchange for an honest review. It publishes July 17, 2023.
As usual, Jessica Redland delivers a wonderful book! I love how deep the relationships go, I love the character development, I love how I just don't know what's going to happen.
Something I especially loved in this book was the Beatrix Potter tie-in, I learned so much about her in this book. I just adored that! I highly recommend any of her books!

What a fabulous book and I can’t wait for the rest in this new series by Jessica Redland! I loved the main character Autumn and really felt for her. The story centres around how illustrator Autumn goes to the Lake District to stay with Rosie, her pen pal for 24 years, for a break after life deals her a couple of blows. She arrives in the gorgeous setting of the village of Willowdale and she begins to find herself again. The descriptions of the lakes, villages and places made me feel that I was there. There were some heartbreaking moments that were sensitively written as well as some lovely moments, like Autumn’s friendship with pen pal Rosie, her relationships with family and how her and Dan’s relationship develops. Thank you to Boldwood Books, Netgalley and of course Jessica Redland for the ARC

As the title states The Start Of Something Wonderful, this really is... the start of a fabulous new series.

The lakes just sound so idyllic and yes I did google some of the places to get a real feel for what I was reading Derwent Waters and Centenary stones wow views!!

I absolutely loved Autumn and Dane and I could really picture Autumn's drawings.

This is going to be a knock out series and I cannot wait to read more.

Loved it and would give the book 4.5 stars. There's something about Jessica Redland's books. I always fall in love with the characters and feel like I'm part of their life. The village of Willowdale sounded beautiful and a lovely place to live. I had to Google Cat Bells and Centenary Stones. The area is gorgeous, no wonder Autumn felt like she was home. Dane and Autumn were perfect for each other and not just because of their love of Beatrix Potter. They gave each other the confidence that they needed and helped each other with their spark. Loved learning all the facts about the Lake District and Beatrix Potter's life. Étienne’s response to Autumn after she tells him about what happened to her was horrible. It showed what type of person he truly was, especially since he claimed to love her and she was the one that got away. Autumn was finally able to draw again because she was living for herself and not having to worry about everyone else. There's got to be secrets surrounding "his Lordship" (Oliver Cranleigh) and his estate. Beautiful story about friendship, forgiveness, love and so much more.

Definitely recommend the book. Loved the characters, story and writing style. Hopefully there's more books revolving around the Lake District. Maybe one centering around Rosie and finding out the identity of the hit and run driver. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Boldwood Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I have loved all of Jessica Redland's books set in Whitsborough Bay and at the start of this was a little unsure but once the story moved to the Lake District it really hit the spot.

A perfect poolside read (which I did) and I look forward to more in the series.

I was a bit unsure about this at first. I usually love anything by Redland but this didn't grab me at first. When the story moved to Derwent Waters I began to feel that familiar pull of her books and became engrossed. Would love to read about Rosie and her mum in future books.

This book was lovely, just the total package. Strong characters, great plot, wonderful setting. Romance and personal growth..
I really, really loved this book, and all the references to Beatrix Potter and other authors. This book is perfect for fans of things like Under The Tuscan Sun.

Didn't love the start of the book but once it moved to Derwent waters I felt 'at home' again. Definitely looking forward to more in this series.

The starter book to a series is always going to be a bit different, setting the scene introducing the characters etc. I did enjoy the book and liked the new characters love the name Autumn. Beautifully described as always,love all the lake District places. It's like a soft blanket wrapping you up all cosy reading this book. Thank you so much netgalley for the advance copy