A Good Year for the Roses - by Gil McNeil (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Life hasn't been a bed of roses for Londoner Molly Taylor lately. Newly divorced and struggling to find a new home and a way to support her three boys, she's stunned when her beloved Aunt Helena dies and leaves her Harrington Hall, a three-hundred-year-old manor house on the Devon coast, where Molly grew up. But does Molly really want to run a bed-and-breakfast in an old house where the only thing that doesn't need urgent attention is Aunt Helena's beautiful rose garden? Or care for Uncle Bertie, an eccentric former navy officer with a cliff-top cannon? Or Betty, his rude parrot that bites whomever annoys it? Yet Molly's best friend Lola is all for the plan. "My heart bleeds. Your very own beach, the beautiful house, and Helena's garden. All you have to do is grill a bit of bacon."

But with Molly's conniving brother running the family hotel nearby, the return of a high school flame with ulterior motives, and three sons whose idea of a new country life seems to involve vast quantities of mud, this is not going to be easy. And then Harrington Hall begins to work its magic, and the roses start to bloom...

Warm, witty, and chock-full of quintessential British charm, A GOOD YEAR FOR THE ROSES is a story for anyone who has ever dreamed of starting over...with or without bacon.

Review Quotes

"A heroine whom readers will root for, and the fun quirky cast of characters (and animals) will keep the laughter flowing.... [A] story that fans of Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers will devour."--Library Journal

"Add A GOOD YEAR FOR THE ROSES to the growing number of novels in which unsuspecting women are lured to the countryside to be met with hilariously obstinate poultry, batty relatives, and hard-earned success. Utterly charming."--Booklist

"Delightful reading... McNeil's lovely prose and plotting make this offering a universal tale for starting over."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Gil McNeil lives in Kent, England, with her son and is currently working on the sequel to The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club -- as well as a scarf and a rather tricky jumper. (Author's name is pronounced "Jill.")