Book Description:
With their lives exactly what they've always dreamed, Matt and Julianne await the arrival of the third member of their family — but their happiness is threatened when their landlady Mathilda announces her intention to sell their beloved Rosemoor Cottage for an impossible value. Devastated, Julianne struggles to accept the cold reality of her and Matt making their home elsewhere.
Matt's life has taken a new turn as he finally puts aside his academic workto pursue his gardening hobby as a career: his first new job as a landscape designer involves neglected Penwill Hall's 'lost' garden — one with a truly romantic Cornish past. But the task of restoring its legendary beauty from nearly seventy years ago proves difficult among the ruins lost in weeds and wilderness.
With notions of secret gardens and wartime stories echoing in her thoughts, Julianne is determined to help Matt and the estate’s new owner after the discovery of a hidden mural in the hall itself, depicting a breathtaking garden that may well be the lost one. Her efforts to uncover the past lead her to a curmudgeonly local gardener who just may hold the knowledge that would restore the 'lost garden' to its former glory. Will Julianne's quest help her find a way to deal with losing the home she loves?
Hellos and farewells abound as Dinah returns to lend a helping hand at Cliffs House and Julianne relives her favourite memories of her and Matt's beloved cottage in Book Twelve — the final instalment in the bestselling series A WEDDING IN CORNWALL.
A huge thank you to Sandie for letting me share about my book with her readers! It’s called A Garden in Cornwall and happens to be the last book in a series of twelve novellas about an event planner named Julianne who lands a job at a Cornish manor house. This scene shows Julianne and her husband Matt at home on a lazy Saturday morning, reading the paper and speculating on possible names for their yet unborn baby—right before an unexpected announcement leaves them slightly uneasy about the future:
My Matthew. From Ivy League career to itinerant gardener, to incredible husband and father to be. I was so proud of him; and so glad that, right now, we were both exactly where we wanted to be in our lives. Both happy in our work, both happy at what was about to change with a third addition to our home, all while living in the Cornish village we both loved so much.
I covered his hand with mine, then stroked his dark head of hair with my free hand. "I guess maybe we should think about getting up soon," I said. "That, or finishing our list of possible names."
He rested his head on my shoulder, closing his eyes. "We could try that brunch recipe from the food column," he said. He moved aside the news section and the drama pages, feeling around in search of another section of the paper, this one featuring the cheese and tomato flatbread we had drooled over earlier.
"Sounds yum. There are some sun-dried tomatoes in the cupboard, and some fresh ones in the bowl beside the fridge." I folded back the quilt, covering our weekend paper and the list of names I had made on a pad of paper. Matt's hardcover copy of Cornish Heaths and Heathers fell on the floor as I climbed out of bed.
I pulled on a jumper and a pair of leggings, and smoothed my rumpled, reddish-brown bedhair. "I think there's some fresh basil on the kitchen sill," I called to Matt. I could almost taste the golden, melted mozzarella now, enfolding those sweet little tomatoes we had picked out at the market yesterday.
Matt was reading a letter from the stack of yesterday's unopened mail. "Did you see this?" he asked me. "This letter from Mathilda?"
Mathilda was our landlady, who seldom visited but kept in contact with us via letters and phone calls regarding our lease. "I did," I said. "I thought it was this month's rent notice, so I didn't open it."
"She’s putting the cottage up for sale," said Matt. "At the end of this month."
The cottage. Our cottage. Our home. If my jaw could drop to the floor, it would do it at this moment. An earthquake was rattling inside me.
"What?" I said. "What? No — no, she can't do this. She can't sell our home like this."
"She doesn't want to own a rental property anymore," said Matt. "She's promised us thirty days' notice if someone buys it, but she won't renew our lease at the end of the year, even if it hasn't yet sold."
The shock was enough to make me speechless. No one could buy it, not our home. Not this cottage, where I had first lived. All its memories came flooding back to me. Of Matt living here when I first came to Cornwall; of us decorating a Christmas tree together in this living room. Of my living here to feel closer to Matt while he was overseas; of our first year of marriage celebrated in this kitchen. I had missed this place terribly when we moved to America for half a year, and coming back to it had felt so right.
Strangers couldn't live here. It wasn't possible. I wasn't ready for someone else to make memories in this place, which felt as much a part of me as my own arm. This was definitely a terrible, horrible mistake of some kind.
Buy your copy here: http://smarturl.it/agardenincornwall
About the Author:
Laura Briggs is the author of several lighthearted romance novels and novellas, including the bestselling Amazon UK series A Wedding in Cornwall. She has a fondness for vintage-style dresses (especially ones with polka dots), and reads everything from Jane Austen to modern day mysteries. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with family, caring for her pets, going to movies and plays, and trying new restaurants.
Social Media Links –
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlaurabriggs/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaperDollWrites
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