12.16.2022 | Friday

Farm to Fabre

category: Book Reviews
tag(s):
0 Comments

Farm to Fabretitle: Farm to Fabre
author: Dahlia Donovan
published: 29 November 2022
publisher: Hot Tree Publishing
genre(s): romance
pages: 127
source: client
format: manuscript
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

rating: five-stars

the blurb

When Andriana Milne-Marchetti kisses an old family friend under an apple tree, she never imagines he'll run halfway around the world and stay gone for three years.

Thirty-five-year-old asexual Andie runs a small remote family farm in Scotland. She's happy with her fruit trees and berries. Her Airedale terrier, Rupert, provides all the companionship she needs.

But her heart longs for one man, who probably never felt more than friendship for her.

Silver fox Docherty Fabre returns home to Scotland, hoping to break through a year-long battle with writer's block. He's taking up residence in a tiny cottage on the Milne-Marchetti farm. Now, if he can avoid embarrassing himself for a second time in front of Andie, everything will be fine.

Their second chance at romance comes from a year-long lockdown that prevents them from running away from their feelings.

With no one else around, can they find love in the orchard one more time?


a few notes

keywords/phrases: autism, asexual, May/December
mood reading:
in the mood for a sweet, emotional romance
bonus points:
representation

my review

One of the things I love most about Dahlia Donovan’s books is that they highlight characters that I feel are too unseen in romance. Farm to Fabre does that perfectly with Andie and Doc.

The story is set against the backdrop of Andie’s farm, where Doc has come to stay in a cottage on the property just in time for COVID lockdown. I loved the way Dahlia used real-world events to add such a sense of familiarity to the story.

This is truly a character-driven book, especially with the forced proximity scenario. Andie is a wonderful character! She’s smart, independent, and full of love and compassion, and completely comfortable in her asexuality. Doc is equally a great character. He’s incredibly intelligent, but as an autistic, often finds interacting with people difficult. The way they come together, the patience and compromise between them, makes for a beautiful story. And rounding out the cast of characters, is Rupert, Andie’s dog, who was adorable!

Farm to Fabre is such a great love story, a second-chance romance with wonderful characters!

About Dahlia Donovan

Dahlia Donovan wrote her first romance series after a crazy dream about shifters and damsels in distress. She prefers irreverent humour and unconventional characters. An autistic and occasional hermit, her life wouldn’t be complete without her husband and her massive collection of books and video games.

Rating Report
plot
five-stars
characters
five-stars
writing
five-stars
pacing
four-half-stars
Overall: five-stars
::spread the love::

Leave a Reply