[.ca] Farm Fatale (ISBN 0452283027)

From Amazon.com:
Farm Fatale is a breezy Cinderella of a novel, tarted up in wellies and corduroy rather than the more traditional ball gown. Its theme--Londoners move to the country--is a well worn one in British comic writing, and Farm Fatale hews closely to tradition. Rosie is a disgruntled illustrator, bored with city living and dissatisfied with her relationship. She convinces her crabby boyfriend Mark to move with her to the country. Samantha and Guy--a trophy wife and the man who bagged her--end up in the same town, dragging their pretensions along with them. Village life looks easy enough, but the four newcomers find plenty of pitfalls among the cows, the mud, the marauding hippies, and the leaky outbuildings. This is the kind of novel that ends with someone slipping a "pale blue Tiffany ring box" into the heroine's hand; the fun is in finding out just who that suitor will be. --Claire Dederer

over-eager, but enjoyable enough:
As the title suggests, this is something of a comedy of manners, but a rather winking one pleased with its own cleverness, and overly eager that the reader should appreciate that cleverness. Various characters move from London to the suddenly-fashionable countryside and re-sort their lives, each eventually receiving his or her just desserts. Reading this is not an unpleasant experience, but it's not a very satisfying one, either. I'm happy reading novels with minimal intellectual substance, but this isn't just lacking intellectually -- with the possible exception of our heroine Rosie, the characters are extremely flat, and the humor is overly arch and, well, mannered, for my taste. The author's eagerness to entertain comes through every sentence, but she's almost working too hard. The book never relaxes, so it's difficult for the reader to do so.

entertaining, but disappointingly lightweight:
"Farm Fatale" starts off as a Bridget-Jones-style modern Brit comedy, but by the end I felt like I'd been reading an updated Harlequin romance. Holden does put unexpected plot twists into her book, but many of the characters who start out interestingly dwindle into stereotypes, and I was very disappointed by her unbelievable ending. The story includes mildly graphic but hurried sex scenes that are not particularly well-written. (Holden's mention of the "hungry throb" her character Rosie feels in a certain part of her anatomy irritated me for weeks.) This book might amuse you on a plane, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it.

Fun Summer Read for Young Ladies:
This is a fun read! I read it almost as soon as it came out and I had finished within a few days. Keep in mind that this is a fun read for someone who doesn't want to think. That is not an insult either! I have a very demanding academic workload and sometimes I need to kickback and drift to la-la land. There are some racy scenes that get your blood pumping. This is one of my favorites by Holden.

Cute and Funny Summer Reading:
This is a very funny, humorous book. City folk move to the countryside and have to deal with the gossipy locals. Rosie wanted to live in the country all along. She moves there with Mark who is only going because his newspaper is paying him to write a column about it. Funny situations happen in their lives which lead to a breakup. But Rosie finds romance with Matt Locke, the rock star who lives in the area. The entire book is really cute and funny. At first I was alittle worried about the british slang since I am from the USA. But the story moves along quickly and is very easy to follow. A great funny read if you are looking for a light fun book.

"...and the church bells struck sixteen...":
Artist Rosie hates the noise, crowds, and pressure of living in her cramped London flat, and longs to live in a cozy old cottage nestled in a picturesque village, full of quaint, friendly folk. Her city-loving boyfriend finally agrees to move to the country, and they settle in the town of Eight-Mile Bottom, where a handsome farmer, a reclusive rock star, and some comic locals will change her life forever. Told from Rosie's point of view, the story is very funny and at times, quite touching. It's easy to identify with her longing for love and fulfillment, as she charges full-steam ahead in pursuit of her dreams. Sometimes we wish Rosie made better choices, but it's a journey that will put a smile on your face. The story proceeds at a leisurely pace, with plenty of time to get to know all the fascinating characters that live in the village, from the nosy mailman to the hippie family next door. The narrative is full of British idioms and references that add flavor and humor; an audio book would definitely be fun to listen to, and, I think it would make a great movie. "Farm Fatale" is a witty, hip, gossipy fish-out-of-water story that you won't want to put down. Highly recommended.