In this fascinating and engaging new novel, readers follow Andi Glover as she takes on a new live-in job at Templewood Hall for the eccentric Lady Dawe and her son Hugo. At first thinking this job will be like the novels she so loves, Andi has no idea what plot twists and adventures are ahead of her, especially since bumps in the night, a temperamental cat, a missing heir, ghostly figures, and generational secrets might be turning this life into a mystery novel rather than a romance. As she grows accustomed to life in Templewood Hall and discovers why she’s here, new friends and new secrets continue to change her life to the point where she wonders if a happy ending is in her cards. Entertaining, complex, and trope-subversive, readers will love this funny and fascinating new novel for its twisty plot and the big reveals in store. Andi is a relatable and unique protagonist whose background is more formative than she had hoped, while the dramatic nature of the novel’s events and her own relationships really draw the readers into the story. Funny, unexpected, and charming, this is a fantastic new novel from Jane Lovering that book lovers will enjoy.

This is a book for all of us who dream about being whisked away to the countryside to work in a huge estate surrounded by books and those of us who wish their lives could play out like their favourite fictional heroine. This book follows Andi trying to make a life for herself as she realizes that real life is not the same as fiction. My favourite quotes from the book are "Books have to have some kind of arc and if only life followed that pattern it would be so much easier, wouldn't it? If we all knew we had a purpose, or an end goal. A final chapter." and "Literature had, once again, misled me."

good romance and loved meeting the many people around the hall. loved that she finds the secrets and even finds love. Loved the family

My second book by this author and I really enjoyed it. Jane writes characters so well

And I loved books and so a job, cataloguing books in an old stately home, is right up her street. It also means a bit of stability away from her flighty parents. But what mysteries are held inside the house and just who is Andi going to meet?

I really enjoyed this book, thank you NetGalley

Jane Lovering is a new author to me. I absolutely loved this book. It was slightly different to the type I usually read but not too different. The main character has learnt all she thinks she needs to know from books but she soon discovers that may not always be the case! She absolutely loves books so is excited when she has the chance to work in her dream job! When she does it feels as though she has stepped into the pages of one of her beloved books. But she soon finds that you can’t learn everything from books although you can learn a lot! I highly recommend this book and will certainly be reading more of Jane Lovering’s publications.

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This was a really enjoyable read from an author that I (up until now) was never familiar with. This book was set in Yorkshire but most of it took place in Templewood Hall which was really creepy and enjoyable both. I wasn't sure what to expect after the taxi driver was so hesitant to allow Andi to stay at the home but what resulted was a mix of really dry humor which made from a hilarious read. Some of the descriptions and metaphors for food were absolutely enjoyable and amusing - they also made me hungry more than once!

Andi was a bit of a hard character to truly like - she has so many dreams, some are just a bit too far fetched to be reachable. Her whiny attitude and overall her constant frustration and notions for this romantic life just really got a bit annoying at times.

The middle of the book dragged - it was very repetitive and hard to remain focused on. The last 15% or so really did pick up and I enjoyed the way that it ended.

Overall it's a really quick read! Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lovely book that was so cozy and heartwarming. I enjoyed it a lot!

I hoped for more from this cozy romance. It was billed as a mystery with supernatural elements hinted at, but it would be a stretch to call it a mystery and it is not supernatural. Andi grew up traveling with her parents on a bus and has no prospects in life so she takes a boring job at an old mansion for a nasty rich old lady. Along the way she wonders about strange sights and sounds, and she absolutely seriously considers marrying the old lady’s son so she has a future even though she has no romantic feelings for him. How can I like this character?

Add in some slightly cringey attempts to write about a topic I won’t name since it’s a spoiler, and this just wasn’t a really fun read for me. I can’t comprehend a human being this absolutely void of any real interests, dreams or even romantic types. I finished it to find out what happened and to review it, but it was unsatisfying.

I read an advance copy of this book for review.

A cosy, fun read with a slightly dark twist.

I loved the characters and the storyline throughout. A beautiful story!.

*Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.*

I loved this cosy romance with a gothic twist! Such a fun and easy read that was hard to put down! Perfect quick read! I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC

2.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the early ARC!

This is another one of those books that had a far more interesting story to be told. Happily Ever After follows Andi as she begins her new job cataloging the library of Lady Dawe’s Templewood estate. While the summary promised twists and turns galore, I couldn’t help but feel they were more like slight curves. There were mentions of things that I felt never led to any pay off and I found the ending to be underwhelming.

For a character who has lived and breathed books, I expected Andi to be way more enthusiastic at the prospect of her mission for Lady Dawe, but she seemed rather unenthused. Her love and life built on literature hardly played into plot except for maybe once, and it was hard to see what she loved so much about the books she read. It felt more like vague references were being made, but there was hardly any emotion behind them. I think if you took out those references and her book lover trait, the story would’ve been exactly the same. I also didn’t find Andi as interesting of a character as Hugo. I think a story surrounding his secret would’ve been far more interesting. In the end when he talked about his future endeavors pursuing his passion, that to me sounded like such a fun story! It also felt as though he put more value on his and Andi’s friendship than Andi at times. The interactions with him and his mother when she found out about his secret is another moment I would’ve liked see more fully fleshed out, rather than the way it played out.

The book did have some moments that I liked, particularly Andi’s interactions with Jay, and The Master. The chapter titles were cute as well, though I’m not sure they were needed. Overall, I just found the whole story dull and not as exciting as I had hoped. It’s unlikely I’ll read anything from this author in the near future.

Award-winning author Jane Lovering has written a modern-day version of Austen’s Northanger Abbey with her latest charmer, Happily Ever After.

Andi Glover loves nothing more than escaping between the pages of a good book – and with good reason. Brought up by unconventional parents who didn’t believe in sending their kids to school and a sister who escaped home as soon as she could, books for Andi have been a refuge, a sanctuary and a best friend when she needed one most. Not having had much experience in the real world, Andi thinks that she’s living in one of her favourite Gothic novels when she starts working for the eccentric Lady Dawe and her son Hugo at Templewood Hall.

Life in the big house is stranger than fiction. With things going bump in the night, a missing heir, ghostly apparitions and long-buried secrets, Andi begins to wonder just what she has let herself into by coming to Templewood Hall. However, things quickly begin to look up when she meets an inscrutable gardener who always appears just when Andi needs him most!

Jane Lovering’s writing shines in Happily Ever After. Heartfelt, whimsical and delightful, Happily Ever After is an enchanting contemporary romance that will make readers laugh and cry. An absolute joy to curl up with, fall in love with the wonderfully eccentric and nuanced characters that make up Jane Lovering’s latest enjoyable romance, Happily Ever After.

This book was a pleasant surprise.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, as it was a quick read and a good time.

It’s hard to pin down exactly how I feel about this book. The story felt scattered at times, with a meandering plot and eccentric characters that didn’t always hold my interest.

Andi, the protagonist, grew up living in a van with her family and has now adopted a similarly nomadic lifestyle. In search of some stability, she takes a job under the pretense of cataloging books at a grand estate. However, the real task—one she must keep secret—is to uncover the missing diaries of the late lady of the house’s former love, who has been dead for 50 years, so they can be published.

Andi’s tendency to get lost in her imagination, particularly her obsession with author Jane Olsen, often places her in dramatic, book-like scenarios—especially when it comes to Hugo, the heir to the estate. Over time, she begrudgingly forms a bond with “The Master,” the family cat who always seems to be underfoot. Meanwhile, her many blunders never go unnoticed by the estate’s sharp-eyed gardener, Jay.

Overall, the novel had its moments, but its scattered pacing and peculiar characters made it a bit difficult to fully engage with.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Jane Lovering’s books always go straight to the top of my reading pile, simply because they are such a pleasure to read, as well as just how wonderful her writing is and I’m always in awe of her storytelling magic.

Happily Ever After is for all us book geeks who imagine ourselves as the lead character in their favourite story, but needs to understand the fictional world isn’t always everything that sometimes we do need to separate fact and fiction, reality may at times suck but it’s all we have and we have to treasure it.

As always a fantastic and thoughtful creation from the amazing mind of Jane Lovering, the reason I keep coming back for more time and again. I give this and Jane all the stars I can find.

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

With all my respect to the author, I find myself cringing so much while reading this book: maybe it's not for me, but I hope for other that they meets their liking
Sorry to say it, but it's a DNF for me :/
Thank you, NetGally, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was such a joy. It gave everything you'd expect from a book of this genre (and with a front cover like this) but so much more. I'm naturally drawn to the romance genre because of the boost of instant cosy comfort that always comes between the pages. That often means predictability and heavy focus on one narrative or trope. Jane Lovering has so refreshingly given a modernized development on this!

Her character's were all well developed with their own histories and origins; which can be quite rare in a book under 300 pages. Another big highlight for me was that although the book is foremost a romance the actual relationship between our main character and her love interest was not what the story rested on. We're able to follow along as each of our character's comes into their own and travels through their own self discovery arcs. This is then all heightened as they interact with each other and the additional character of Templewood Hall comes into it's own.

I also feel I would be doing the book a dis-justice if I didn't mention the elements of LGBTQIA+. In short - they were naturally part of the story. Lovering tackled quite difficult topics like coming out to your family and the repression that many feel from the overbearing expectations of their parents. These weren't used as hooks or shock reveals. They were just a lovely element of character's that we enjoyably got to learn more about.

I'll happily be recommending 'Happily Ever After' as a refreshing way in which I hope the romance genre will begin to adopt more and more. I'll also be busy enjoying Jane Lovering's other books after having enjoyed this one so much.

I loved this story!, this one felt a little different to me than the usual romantic book and we had the added gothic element and of course a mystery to be solved. Add in that handsome broody love interest and it was pure perfection to me

Highly recommend!

A quirky story of people who aren't very adept at living in society, I did enjoy the isolated nature of the story and it's characters.

Lovering goes slightly Gothic with this slow-burn romance, with a story that also has a mystery to solve and a sister to reconcile with. There are also laugh-out-loud moments to break the tension. In short, this is one heck of a read.

I adored the main character, Andi, though she is a little rough at the start. However, her free-spiritedness and love of books endeared me to her. And she has a fabulous arc – in taking life by the horns, she learns lessons and develops so sweetly.

Then there is the cat. As a Whovian, I was always going to love something called The Master. This stinky side-kick is so funny, and is often Andi’s furry emotional support.

The twists and turns of Happily Ever After keep the story going at a steady pace. It’s never slow nor too fast, and I admire Lovering’s writing ability. There is romance, though slightly more of a side-plot than I tend to like. But it worked here. And there is a happy ending – obviously!

Heartwarming, entertaining, and suspenseful by turns, this story will appeal to fans of romantic mysteries and those who love a book with a touch of magic and mystery. An easy five stars.