I loved The O’Maras Guesthouse on the Green and the Little Irish Village series so I was excited to read this stand alone. Although I found it a little slow starting I couldn’t wait to find out how it ended. Three friends who have known each other a long time support each other through their various relationships. Jess has lived in Dublin several years but her parents still live in New Zealand. She has a very domineering Mother who telephones regularly for updates about her relationships. How will Jess feel when her Mother reveals that she is coming to stay for two weeks? Read it, I’m sure you will enjoy finding out.

I love Jane's story, her love for old books and more so about the stories behind kids who've read them. Her journey to the Irish countryside, finding her lost reader and love for herself; I loved it all.

3.5/5

The Little Irish Farm by Michelle Vernal is a sweet rom com with interesting characters with a visual beauty of Ireland.

So the good parts... Even though it took me quite time to adjust with the slang/language of the book, once I did I really started to enjoy the book. There are colourful, lively characters, who never let us get bored along the story. Jess was lovely. The best friends, Brianna and Nora, Jess's mom Marian, and especially her dad! He is someone who can read his daughter like book, and is as supportive and encouraging as he can be! Amy's story was told very well. It did give a nice touch to the story. And Oh my god, Wilbur... He is definitely a cutie...

Now for the not so good parts... As I said it did take me quite a while to enjoy the story. And I felt like the author might have taken too much time to pave down the story foundation. And this by default makes the first few chapters lag the entire story. There are too long sentences, quite a lot, which eventually make the reader wander off sometimes. And it might be my total imagination, but I felt at first, Jess and Nick had far more chemistry than her with Owen... That the author is trying too hard to connect Jess and Owen... Though later that thought was quickly swiped away.

3.5/5 stars for me since I ended up enjoying the story more than I expected.

And if these tropes excite you,
🐷 Irish Romance
🐷 Small Town
🐷 Childhood Fairytales
🐷 Farmer × Writer
🐷 Unexpected Love Interest
🐷 Tragic Backstory
🐷 Power Trio
Might well try this one.

Thank you Author Michelle Vernal, NetGalley, and Bookouture for sending me this ARC. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Little Irish Farm is a lovely contemporary romance by Michelle Vernal with a small town feel even though most of the story took place in Dublin.

Jess Baré is a journalist living in Dublin, having moved there from New Zealand to get away from her mother and her overbearing, matchmaking ways. Jess is relatively content with her life, writing and spending time with her close friends and indulging in her passion of thrift shopping for vintage goods. Her greatest passion is collecting old children's books, and when she completes the set of one of her favourite series', she is inspired to look up, and write about the original owner of the book, after finding an inscription and the child's name inside.

Owen Aherne is the brother of Amy, the books original owner, and when Jess reaches out to him and finds out about Amy's tragic story, she is even more determined to write about her. After meeting the moody Owen, she has a hard time getting him out of her mind, and from there we watch a sweet romance unfold.

One of my favourite things about this book was the support and friendship between Jess and her two best friends, Nora and Brianne. They were so supportive of each other, even when they were being snarky and sarcastic with each other, it was refreshing to see such a great relationship between a group of women.

I found Jess's mother both funny and frustrating. I could understand why Jess was so annoyed by her mother at times, as she seemed to have a one track mind about how her daughter should live her life. It was nice to see them work out their differences by the end of the book.

If there was one problem I had with the book it's that I would have liked to see more of Jess and Owen together. I did enjoy their few interactions, but would have liked to see them together more.

Although this is on the funnier side, do have a box of tissues handy, because Amy's story was moving and had me in tears. I recommend this as a light, slightly emotional read for anyone who loves a good small town romance.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"The Little Irish Farm" evokes comforting sensation of a warm embrace on a chilly day. The narrative brims with wit, warmth, and love, pulling me deeply into Jess's pursuit of her aspirations amidst the lush Irish landscape. I enjoyed the heart warming story, and the characters are portrayed with a depth and relatability that truly resonate. For anyone in search of an inspiring, heartwarming story that instills a sense of hope and joy, this book is an outstanding pick. I wholeheartedly endorse it!
Overall rating 4.5 stars.
My thanks to Netgalley for providing me an advance copy of the book for my unbiased review.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

This was a wonderful women's fiction with a great plot and memorable characters. A very enjoyable read.

Witty dialogue. Interesting characters. Great friendships. Focus on what's important - family, friends.

I would have rated this a five-star except it had some open-door scenes which I would have preferred as closed-door.

Releases Aug. 28th. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

Jess who is a newspaper journalist has moved to Ireland from the other side of the world. She's an avid collector of childrens books. She discovers a inscription in her latest find and it seems such a sad one that she decides to try and find the little girl and it takes her on an unusual journey

This was a cute story, albeit a little slow at times. I had some trouble getting into it at first because of the slowness. But by about midway, I was invested. All-in-all an endearing story with an interesting premise.

This was a lovely premise of a story, tracing the owner of a child’s book that was given as gift many years before. As the story unfolded it ended up a little predictable but still very enjoyable. A lovely romantic story with the unusual back drop of a pig farm. A gentle, easy read.

The little Irish Farm was a lovely read with characters I felt attached to. The story of the little girl who owned the book tugged on the heart strings somewhat and brought home a little of what people experienced.
My only issue was I had no idea why Owen had such an effect when the only initial interactions with him were brusque and grumpy; I struggled to see the attraction.

a journalist moves to Ireland, she searches for the original owner of a fairytale book. loved the setting and the characters.

This heartwarming story moves quickly with realistic characters. This talented author has written a cozy tale that is intriguing. Love and romance. Family and friends. Secrets. Recipe for an afternoon of reading enjoyment. Curl up in a comfy chair and be whisked to Ireland. Thanks Netgalley.

2/5
I really wanted to love this book, but it was such a struggle to read. I premise of the book was really interesting, but the execution just didn't follow through.

A light-hearted, witty romance that follows Jess Báre (pronouced beret), a self-declared Kiwi girl taking on life in Ireland's capital. Deciding to undergo some investigative journalism, by way of a children's book, her research leads her to a picturesque Irish farm in County Down and an Aran-wearing-farmer called Owen.

I'm always apprehensive of fictional romances based in Ireland and while The Little Irish Farm was cheesy and a little cliché, it was an easy-going read with likeable characters. It did feel a slightly repetitive at times, especially for a short read but if cute, light romances with little at stake are your thing? You'll enjoy it.

The Little Irish Farm was such a sweet book. Will she find her happy ending? Read this one and find out!

In The Little Irish Farm by Michelle Vernal, Jess Báre (pronounced beret), a transplanted New Zealander by way of Australia, who moved to Ireland for her career, finds herself in the middle of writing an article about a tragic event that happened 30 years prior. Jess’s adventures begin when she gets the idea to follow a child’s name written in a book that she purchased to see how the child had grown up and along the way, she learns about true love and finds herself and her career.

In general, the characters are believable, if not a little trite. You have a trio of friends, the married one, the fashionable one and Jess, none of the above. You have two love interests, the selfish, self-absorbed millionaire and then the one who is not. The situation is believable and interesting. The story of Amy, the child, is very interesting and is a good glue for the rest of the story. However, the love interest part of the plot is not new, and it is very easy to see who Jess will end up in the end. The pacing of the story is pleasant, and it is easy to read, fun, cute, but predictable. Parts of the story are very funny, especially the parts about Jess’s mom and her occupation, both literally and figuratively with undergarments. The intended audience of this book is rom-com readers, and it is a cute, fun version of your typical rom-com. I gave the book 4 stars for its humor and the sub-plot of the story of Amy. I would recommend this book to those who like sweet, fun, cute rom-coms.

Overall, The Little Irish Farm was a fun, quick read that gives you the feel-goods.

I enjoyed reading some of the Dublin scenes as it brought back memories of my visits there. The story itself failed to keep my attention. The characters were not particularly likable. There book moved slow and there was a lot of repetition.

It was a nice story, although I found it a little slow and things were repeated a lot. The characters were interesting and funny. A journalist looking for the original owner of a fairytale book and wanting to write her story was different. I loved the happy ending. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

This story has a cutesy title, a gorgeous cover and a mouthwatering blurb - all convinced me to request this book, and I feel they were all deceiving me.

Jess is a journalist from New Zealand with an interest in Irish fairy tales and children's books, hence why she moves to Dublin. She gets it into her head to find Amy, the owner of an old edition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with her name and address scribbled in. Instead she finds Amy's brother Owen, a pig farmer, and for a while dithers between him and a tool called Nick.

This story takes place in the year 2013. I feel it's important to mention that because it takes the author one third of the book to let us know, and by that time I was already up in arms about the wrong adding up of ages.

I'm sorry but I just couldn't get on with the people in this book.

I heartily disliked Jess. There is something wrong with her world view, she is extremely judgemental, makes disparaging remarks about beggars on the take and old people ("the woman had a face like a pushed-in jam tin"). She goes on about the innocence of bygone eras, defends the racist Noddy books and thinks the Brothers Grimm actually wrote their fairy tales instead of just collecting them. She tells Amy's story but somehow makes it all about herself. (BTW, did we really have to bring The Troubles into a romance book?)

Jess has friends called Brie and Nora who do nothing but discuss men with her and give bad advice. I pity the Bechdel test, it's being trampled on. Nora does things she doesn't like for a man, Brie is consumed by her unruly kids, and they all swear like sailors.

And then there is Jess' Mum who constantly wants to marry her off, berates her in long phone calls (I started to skip them after a while, they were so repetitive) and continuously sends her racy underwear, which I think is gross from your own mother.

I recommend a sensitivity reader goes over, among other things, the stereotypes like the dodgy waiter with the Spanish accent who can't even say Heimlich manoeuvre correctly.

You will like this book if none of this irritates you, you enjoy an easy romance and drooling over a piglet called Wilbur, the runt of the litter, and the strong farmer who looks after him and can even cook! But I'm afraid it wasn't for me.