This book has a terrific premise – city slicker moves in next door to country girl – and the couple has excellent chemistry. I was totally caught up in the fun banter between Ian and Tessa, and I loved loved loved the cooking scenes! Overall, it’s good chick lit with a happily ever after. I enjoyed it. 

However, some technical issues frequently stopped me in my tracks. Commas appeared between words that a computer might recognize as two adjectives, but really they’re not:  

“He put two, double beds on the second floor.”

and

“She gave him the right-size, ice cream scoop.”

It drove this proofreading, copy-editing grammarian NUTS, as it happened on almost every page. 😳

I also had to suspend my disbelief quite a bit to get past the forced circumstances in which Tessa and Ian bump into each other or find themselves alone in each other’s company. Another contrivance I struggled to get past was the open relationship Ian’s fiancé wanted. Based on Ian’s character, I would’ve thought that to be a deal-breaker. Lastly, I thought it was unbelievable for a new male neighbor to just pop over to the female neighbor’s house every single day for dinner. They just met! I am a woman and there’s no way I’d welcome a strange guy into my house for dinner. Maybe it’s different for a Mill Pond rancher than for this born and bred Yankee. 

Because I enjoyed the cooking, chemistry, and setting so much, I’m inclined to pick up book two in the Mill Pond series. I just hope an editor takes a heavier hand. 🙂  

-calliope 

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