Product Description

A charming romantic comedy about a hard-up single mum inheriting a stately home - and a host of headaches - The perfect novel for curling up with during the long winter nights. Sophy Winter is not your typical Lady of the Manor!. When she unexpectedly inherits Winter's End - a crumbling mansion in the beautiful Lancashire countryside - it seems like all Sophy's prayers have been answered. She eagerly swaps life as an impoverished housekeeper in favour of her own team of staff. But Sophy quickly realises the challenge on her hands - the house is decrepit and its eccentric inhabitants are a nightmare. And once it is discovered that Winter's End played host to a young Shakespeare, the entire village of Sticklepond becomes curious about Sophy's plans, especially charming Jack Lewis. But is he really smitten by Sophy!or her newly-acquired cash? Meanwhile, Sophy's gorgeous head gardener Seth is the strong and silent type. But does his passion bloom for anything beyond the horticultural? As Sophy gets to grips with squabbling relatives, collapsing buildings and the ghostly presence of one of her ancestors, she wonders if Winter's End is not so much a gift from the gods as a mixed blessing...A charming romantic comedy for fans of Katie Fforde and Jill Mansell - guaranteed to thaw the coldest of hearts!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23288 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
Praise for Sowing Secrets and A Winter's Tale: 'Trisha Ashley writes with remarkable wit and originality - one of the best writers around!' Katie Fforde 'A lovely warm book, full of down-to-earth humour - and top tips on restoring a stately home!' Sophie Kinsella 'Full of comedy and wit.' Closer 'Trisha Ashley! makes for enjoyable reading.' The Times 'Fresh and funny.' Woman's Own 'Searching out something indulgent for curling up with as the nights draw in? Look no further ... with this Cinderella tale of love complete with handsome (natch) hero. Publishing News

About the Author
Trisha Ashley was born in St. Helens, Lancashire, and gave up her fascinating but time-consuming hobbies of house-moving and divorce a few years ago in order to settle in North Wales. Trisha is currently working on her next novel, Wedding Tiers, to be published by AVON in 2009.

Customer Reviews

Charming but annoying, too
I've loved Trisha Ashley's books for their originality and the strong, practical, earthy attitude of most of her leading ladies. Only in one of the more recent books (The Generous Gardener aka Sowing Secrets) was there an irritating element of spinelessness about the heroine when it came to men.

In the latest, Winter's Tale, it's back again and really set my teeth on edge for most of the book. Whilst sensible and efficient in all other aspects of her character, when it came to men this woman appeared to keep her brains in her knickers. I began to feel cheated by the author because she let this unlikely situation drag on for so long that it became an annoyingly obvious (and lazy) plot device. In contrast, the rival romantic development was tepid at best.

If it wasn't that the other elements of the story were charming and engrossing, I would have binned the book long before the end.

However, while it is my least favourite book so far, I still quite enjoyed it; but the 'romance' part was just too weak this time and she let the really quite nasty 'baddie' off far too lightly (again - see The Generous Gardener). IMHO, Ms Ashley's come-uppance for the men who treat her heroines badly has so far fallen far short of being really satisfying, aside from the classic frying pan incident!

I'll still look forward to the next book, but I do hope she goes back to her strong-minded heroines.

Another Trisha success
Trisha writes from the heart and pulls us into her Lancashire world once more. I loved the diary extracts and the intriguing language. She knows her subject matter and draws us into the world of old manor houses on their beam ends.Humour and wit aplenty in this story; a trade mark of her craft and her heroine truly loves the challenge. In these dire times, this is a comforting winter fireside read with lots of oddball characters to enjoy. For the romantic at heart. I look forward to the next.

A really good read
As a fan of Trisha Ashley's books I knew this would be good - but it wasn't just good it was excellent. Really enjoyable, funny, with lovable characters and beautiful setting. Thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoys subtle comedy and grat romance. Oh, and it doesn't do any harm that I was born in Lancashire and am an admirer of Shakespeare, but you don't have to be to enjoy this.