Author: Julie Caplin

Published: September 2021 by One More Chapter

Category: Romance, Culinary, Travel, Book Review

Snuggle up in your favourite armchair and take a trip across the Irish sea for comfort food, cosy cottage nights and a heart warming romance…

Talented lawyer Hannah Campbell is after a change in her workaholic Manchester life – so on an uncharacteristic whim she books herself a place at the world-renowned Killorgally Cookery School in County Kerry. But on her first night In Ireland, sampling the delights of Dublin, Hannah can’t resist falling for the charms of handsome stranger Conor.

Hannah Campbell was enjoying kicking back and relaxing in Dublin, away from her frenetic life as a lawyer in Manchester.  She still wasn’t quite sure what had prompted her to book a six week course at Killorgally Cookery School, apart from the fact she’s embarrassed about not being able to cook and being totally outshone by her sister in the kitchen. A bonus is that the cookery school isn’t far from where her best friends, Aidan and Sorcha, live. 

Hannah was spending a night in Dublin before she collected the hire car for the drive to County Kerry. Relaxing with a glass of wine in the hotel bar after a day of sightseeing in the rain, the last thing she expected was an encounter that lead to much more with the charismatic and handsome Conor.

‘Hi, sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.’ The owner of the gorgeous eyes shot her a disarming grin as if he were used to disturbing females and it actually didn’t bother him one iota. ‘I didn’t realise anyone was sitting here.’

Neither broke eye contact and something bright and sharp fizzed in the air between them.

Then he went and spoiled it when he glanced back over his shoulder at the sound of a carrying female voice and hurriedly dropped into the chair beside her. He was hiding.

The next day finds Hannah on the road to County Kerry and the wonderful sounding Killorgally estate which, besides the school, comprises a working farm, gorgeous cottages for the students’ accommodation and beautiful views. There’s a great mix of characters, all well defined and individual with their own stories. I enjoyed the banter between them, the friendly relationships that developed and the way the farm was run with the students helping to tend the animals and crops.

Normally an extremely cautious person, always choosing the safe options, Hannah feels quite the opposite in Ireland. Her life in Manchester contrasts sharply with her feelings of release and pleasure in this new and different environment. That is until someone she didn’t expect to see again turns up. So much for thinking what happened in Dublin wouldn’t come back to bite her. 

The Cosy Cottage in Ireland was a delightful, fun, emotional and altogether engaging story set in an idyllic location, which was wonderfully and vividly described. Although this is book eight in the series, I believe each is a standalone read with different characters.

My thanks to Sara Roberts for the invitation to read the book via NetGalley.

Julie Caplin is addicted to travel and good food. Formerly a PR director, for many years she swanned around Europe taking top food and drink writers on press trips (junkets) sampling the gastronomic delights of various cities in Italy, France, Belgium, Spain, Copenhagen and Switzerland. It was a tough job but someone had to do it.

These trips have provided the inspiration and settings for the Romantic Escapes Series which include The Little Cafe in Copenhagen, The Little Brooklyn Bakery, The Little Paris Patisserie, The Northern Lights Lodge, The Secret Cove in Croatia The Little Tokyo Teashop and the latest addition, The Little Swiss Ski Chalet which was published in January 2021.

She also writes best selling novels as Jules Wake, which include Covent Garden in the Snow, Notting Hill in the Snow, The Saturday Morning Park Run, From Italy with Love and The Spark.

Image by Howard Walsh from Pixabay