Author: Celia Hayes
Publisher: Aria
Publication Date: March 2017
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | Audible
Description: Can stepping out of your comfort zone lead you to ultimate happiness?
Trudy Watts has everything she's ever dreamed of: a job that she loves, a successful boyfriend and an ultra-modern apartment in one of the most fashionable parts of London. With a long-awaited promotion due to come her way and her wedding just around the corner, Trudy's life is just perfect...
That is until catastrophe strikes and her life is turned upside down. She's transferred to Turriff, a remote Scottish town to manage a small, struggling bank branch.
Her arrival is traumatic and she wishes she was anywhere but here... Until she sees him – Ethan, the charming pub landlord, who seems to enjoy nothing more than to tease her. And it's right there, in that pub, that her life will suddenly change...
My Thoughts: Upon meeting Trudy initially, she comes across as someone who is hard to get to know; she has her guard up and appears to be standoffish. After getting to know her, I learned that she is someone who is very career driven and has to work very hard to get to where she is at.
After her wedding plans go up in smoke and a night of drowning her sorrows in a bottle, she learns that she drunkenly applied for a temporary position in the bank at a branch in a very remote village in Scotland. The kind of village where shopping malls, movie theaters and a decent Wi-Fi signal are hard to find. Coming from London, it is a huge culture shock of sorts for Trudy. Along with this, her temporary position requires her to determine if this branch has any viability and is worth keeping or if it should be sold, which would mean a loss of employment for those working there. It would be a massive understatement to say that her arrival is not met with enthusiasm.
On the flip side, Ethan was very likable and easy to relate to immediately. Though he and Trudy butt heads and clash at every turn, he seems to enjoy it and often seeks her out, much to Trudy’s irritation. Trudy’s assignment is for six months and she seems to spend most of her time anxious for her return to London but I really loved how the more resistant she is, the more the town and the people in it grew on her.
I really enjoyed this story, especially when Trudy starts making a real effort to not only get to know the people she works with and other villagers but also coming up with ways to save the bank branch. The atmosphere of the village was quaint and though Trudy feels like a fish out of water, the charm is hard to ignore.
My Final Verdict: Overall, this was a very enjoyable story that I highly recommend to readers who enjoy contemporary romances and women’s fiction. I also recommend this story to readers who enjoy remote locations and the slower pace of small communities.
Thank you to the publisher, Aria, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.
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