Stately Pursuits by Katie Fforde

Stately Pursuits Reviews

• 
  Jacob Proffitt

  This had kind of a slow, mostly chick-lit start which I found interesting. Initially. I liked the manor and the community and I thought Hetty was engaging. What I found increasingly hard to understand was her relationship with Connor. I mean, he's completely awful and yeah, she's stuck with him because he has more right to inhabit the house than she does, technically speaking. So she can't exactly shut him out or avoid him completely. But he's mean and angry and his goals are diametrically opposed to hers so I don't get how lenient and tolerant she is.
  
  When it became clear that he was to be the romantic interest I waited for him to mellow. Or show a softer side. Or be kind to her. Or even stop being so ragey-mean to her. And then I waited some more. I was still waiting when I got to the end. I'm sorry, but when you have a guy who threatens violence, and the girl takes actions that indicate she took those threats literally seriously, there needs to be a response to that. A walk-down. I need something to indicate that he either regrets that threat or that she knew he wasn't serious and it was part of their interplay. Threats of violence to people weaker than you are vile. People who indulge that sort of behavior are, at a minimum, uncivilized and unworthy of extended association. Why Hetty would ever want to be alone in his presence mystifies me. Falling in love with him is sign of serious psychological issues and I'd much rather see her get treatment than end up with him.
  
  Which completely eclipsed my other problem with the story—that I kept waiting for events to turn dark. There are a couple of secondary plot lines that borrow their gravity from darker eventualities that were close to likely on the probability scale. Even one tipping into that harsher side would have taken the tone of the story into enough drama to weigh down the narrative. So for a large part of the second half of the story I had the open question of whether Fforde was a tease leveraging those darker possibilities with no intention of allowing them to manifest or if she intended to "go there" with one or two and let this be a more dramatic than bucolic background story. I think I'd have respected her more with the latter. But it turns out to be the former. Which I don't really regret because I wasn't in the mood for more drama. But still, it felt a bit cheap.
  
  So yeah, one star. A lot of the side stories and background were intriguing. I liked the community and many of the secondary characters. But the drawbacks overshadowed the mild interest in the end.
  
  A note about Steamy: There isn't much explicit sex, but there's some. Very low on my tolerance scale, though.
• 
  Mulva?

  Didn't think it was "amazing", but I really liked it a lot. Probably the best Fforde book so far... and I've read most all of them.
  Still... the story was the same old, same old,
  I have have house...
  I need to fix it...
  There's a big, gruff, hot, angry man...
  We fight a lot....
  Guess it's love.
  hahaha!
• 
  Olga Godim

  Sometimes, I open one book after another, old favorites or new novels, and nothing works. Yesterday was one of those days. I couldn’t get into one book – a good mystery – and closed it after a few chapters. Started another – a new fantasy I’ve been waiting for – and couldn’t read past chapter three. I’ll return to them both but I wanted something light and fluffy, charming and mindless, and I found it all in this book. I finished it in one sitting, read it all night and enjoyed it. I smiled almost the entire time. A very therapeutic book.
  After the protagonist Hetty finds her jerk boyfriend and boss in bed with another woman, she is heartbroken and unemployed. With nothing better to do but sigh despondently and wallow in self-pity, she accepts her mom’s suggestion to house-sit an old house belonging to her distant, many-times removed octogenarian uncle, while he is in the hospital, having surgery.
  The house is about 600 years or more and in bad repair but charming. It seems to be the pride of the locals, the focal point of the village, but the uncle’s heir, Conan the Barbarian, wants to demolish the house and sell the land for an amusement park as soon as the old uncle is dead. Hetty sides firmly with the villagers and their campaign to save the house, She hates the Barbarian in absentia, theoretically.
  Well, the heir’s name isn’t really Conan the Barbarian, it’s just the local community’s nickname for him. His name is Connor Barrabin, but Hetty doesn’t meet him until page 70. Before that point, the book is slow and mostly filled with a narrative summary. A bit boring, but I kept reading, hoping for something to happen, and it did as soon as Connor appeared on the scene.
  The story is told from Hetty’s POV, but Connor is the best character, colorful and contradictory and very male. He is not perfect but he is a solid and respectable presence on every page, even though his communication skills leave much to be desired – by Hetty. Like most manly guys, really. For the readers though, Connor is the source of constant humorous misunderstandings and some of Hetty’s more scatterbrained but delightful escapades.
  She seems flakier, sometimes even silly, although she is the one who changes the most in this book. It’s her story after all.
  The writing flows artlessly, with a little humor and a little sex, very tasty, nothing hot or sizzling. A romantic story at its best, forgettable but fun.
  
• 
  Audrey Stark

  This book was so promising! I loved the idea of a novel about a woman fixing up an old house and her life along with it. Then romance happened! It was horribly chliched, I felt embarrassed at parts because it was so awful. In addition to the strange format of the book, I could not stand to watch as the protagonist's impression of the antagonist changed. It was unbearable. I knew what would happen, it did, and I nearly threw the book across the room because I could not shake the unfavourable impression of the antagonist when he began to shift. I would not recommend this book.
• 
  Casey Carrick

  A great weekend read! So much fun and totally romantic. Makes you want to start a new life project and learn something unfamiliar.
• 
  Alison

  Classic Katie Fforde!
  
  Hetty Longden has lost her home, her boyfriend and her job when she discovers her boyfriend Alistair (and boss) in their bed with another woman, because he couldn't think of how to tell Hetty he'd found someone else!
  
  Her mother, being the interfering middle-class English mother that she is, finds Hetty a temporary position caretaking Great Uncle Samuel's decrepit stately home while he's in hospital. Drawn almost against her will into the life of the local village, Hetty and the villagers cook up a plan to make the house self-sufficient through visitor days, fairs, and dinners.
  
  There's added drama because Samuel's heir, Connor Barrabin who's living and working in Turkmenistan, wants to turn the whole place into a theme park. Just when things are going well Connor arrives the night before a car boot sale
  
  There's romance. strident villagers, glamorous neighbours with a heart of gold, grumpy heirs, nefarious loan sharks and errant boyfriends aplenty in this charming gentle romantic comedy.
• 
  Amy

  Really didn't like the love interest in this one - I get liking the gruff/silent but strong type, but this guy has lousy communication skills and insults the heroine without ever apologizing to her later. So much of romance is about escapism, and by escapism I mean putting yourself into that story, and I wouldn't like to be talked to or treated like that.
• 
  Katie

  This was fun! It was what I wanted out of the book. Old fashioned chick lit. Fun side characters, good community stuff, and a nice romance.
  
  Also fulfills "Forced Proximity" for
  Ripped Bodice bingo.
• 
  Rachel Gilbey

  It's been a while since I was able to treat myself to one of Katie Fforde's huge back catalogue of books, and I'm glad the opportunity finally presented itself. However I can't help but think I would have enjoyed it even more had I read it when it was first printed, instead, of many years laters, after having read her later books which do get better and better by the book.
  
  Unfortunately some of the slight problems I had with this book, were nothing to do with the content itself, but that I had won a paperback of it in a competition, and its only as I started reading, I discovered it had that old second hand book smell to it, which unfortunately I don't find that pleasant, so I found I was struggling to read the book for comprehensive periods of time despite enjoy the story.
  
  I would describe this as a warm hearted book, and that if you love your stately home renovations and tours then this will be ideal for you. Hetty and Connor are at loggerheads from the start, but they do say there is a fine line between love and hate, and with both of them incapable of expressing how they may feel, I found it really frustrating to read and not want to knock some sense into them.
  
  I just didn't really take to Hetty, she seems to remind me of myself in some respects and that is quite uncomfortable to read. She is a character who seems unable to take control of her own life, allowing others to dictate her job, her love life, her role in life generally.
  
  The writing feels like it is the early basis of how Katie Fforde is as a writer today, in that is very descriptive draws you into the story and is fairly easy to read. The story flows well, and you are introduced to some lovely characters.
• 
  Sonia Cristina

  This is one of those severe cases in which I read the book at the wrong time and I'm sorry because it is a sweet story and, at the right time, I would've loved it. However, this week it just wasn't flowing and it was boring and I couldn't follow the dialogues and the storyline...😖 It's me, not the book.
  
  ***
  
  Sweet quotes:
  
  " 'Do you miss him?’
  She shrugged again. ‘It’s like being permanently hungry. Sometimes you have this great ache in your stomach. Sometimes it fades and you hardly notice it. But the moment you stop being busy, it comes back.’"
  ~ Hetty, chapter 15
  
  "Oh, hell! I love you, Hetty. I love you with my heart and soul and body. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, nothing that you could do that would make me stop loving you."
  ~ Connor, chapter 25
  
  "'If you marry me, I’ll give you all my worldly goods and the moon and stars as well.’
  ‘The mousse will do to be going on with.’"
  ~ Connor/Hetty, chapter 25
• 
  Cathleen

  It was better than average romantic fiction because Katie Fforde creates a very likable main character in Hetty, and the setting is nicely realized. As others have written, the plot is predictable, and all the loose bits are happily tied up at the end. My guess is that Fforde has been heavily influenced by Jane Austen; the novel recalls the misunderstandings and misperceptions, the character types of a Jane Austen novel--the smart, independent young woman, the haughty but appealing man, the bevy of exceedingly involved village acquaintances. It's an enjoyable summer light read.
• 
  Hayley Noble

  
  
  I have read this book quite a few times, but I feel a bit like it should be more adult for its market. I love the tension between Hetty and 'Conan the barbarian' and it kept me glued and made the book impossible to put down. I also loved the fight to keep the house in order. However a lot of talk about virginity and safe sex made me feel like I was back doing sex ed at school, and made the more racier Scenes a bit unrealistic.
• 
  Mary Pessaran

  I enjoyed the setting of this book and I liked the main characters. Very important in a romance to like the main character. I did have an issue with Hetty's boss/beau breaking up with her by allowing her to find him in bed with another woman. (not really a spoiler because it happens so early in the book). It seemed unusually cruel and not believable. It was probably a device to gain sympathy for Hetty, but, as readers, we don't want to have to suspend disbelief too much. I guess my other issue was with Hetty's new love. I am way too much of a romance reader to accept that she's going to fall for a guy who she considers majorly unattractive. So yes, I am being contrary here. (My name is Mary). I want the story to be close to reality but I want all the characters to be at least mildly attractive, so when we imagine them, we have smiles on our faces. I do like Katie Fforde's writing and would definitely give her another go.
• 
  Tea Leaves and Reads

  Great for a summer read - not too heavy, easy going, likeable characters - what more is there to say?!
• 
  Haley

  This was the first book in a long time that I read just for fun! I love Katie Fforde because she writes cute, clean romances. This book was probably one of my favorites because of the story line, but I was disappointed that it wasn't as clean as her other books. This is one of her earlier books, and apparently they aren't as clean as her later books.
• 
  Gabi Coatsworth

  Very dated, largely because of the ‘hero’ Connor’s way of talking to Hettie. When he says ‘you bitch’ it’s supposed to be amusing, and when he threatens to rape her, it’s not intended seriously. But today of course it would be. So the dialogue made me squirm. Which is a shame, because I’ve enjoyed other books by her.
• 
  Allison

  Not as good as Highland Fling but we all could've guessed that. The male lead in this was surprisingly agressive--as in calling the lady he loved a bitch. Am I just missing the british humor of it all?
• 
  Ririn Aziz

  3.5 stars
• 
  Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance

  One step up from a Harlequin
• 
  Liz

  So not a good hero. If anyone mentioned the r word to me, I'd be out of there quick as lightening. So old fashioned and creepy.
• 
  Neenee

  Needed some fluff in this awful weather.
  Thank you, Katie Fforde. I enjoyed this thoroughly.
• 
  Nancy

  This was a cute story.
• 
  Rachael

  Please excuse the very very bitty review that follows:
  
  Quotes:
  • 'Love, hate, frustration and pure rage churned about like an emotional soup: it was quite impossible to extract one ingredient and react to it separately.' - p316
  
  Notes:
  This book was given to me by a work colleague who thoroughly enjoys Katie Fforde’s novels and had a couple spare. As expected the story was pleasant and fluffy and relaxing to read. I did enjoy it, and appreciated the characters with solid personalities!
  
  It was a nice, easy, relaxing read and I started enjoying it quickly, with the distinguishable characters and their solid personalities.
  
  I found the relationships with the different guys (Conner, Peter and James) a bit weird.. I was also disappointed that no one could just be friends without love and/or lust being on the cards. Hetty acted like she wanted to be simply friends with certain guys, then she asked them out, kissed them on the cheek, and they started to ask her about sleeping around with the others… do they ever think of anything other than sex?? And don’t they know what friends are??
  
  I loved Caroline with her quirkiness and bursts of excitement – she was just what Hetty needed when she was feeling down and pessimistic.. Not to mention she’d be a fabulous friend to always have around.
  
  There was a line that Phyllis said at some point that I really liked. She was talking to Hetty about Samuel wanting Connor to agree to take on the house voluntarily, rather than forcing the responsibility on him. 'It sounds to me like a newfangled way of bringing up children. A lot of damn psychological nonsense when a quick smack would do far more good.' - p262. In a way this is how I feel about most of the book – there were complications and a rollercoaster of changing and conflicting feelings and opinions, and the same problems re-emerging every after it seems they might have been solved... A lot of dilemmas and issues and arguments were had over not too much at times, and I just wanted to bash the characters heads together and sort it all out. But I guess that's life, isn't it? It comes with a lot of faff. We're confident then we doubt. We're silly sometimes. We see the best thing to do, choose to do something else, then scold ourselves for not being sensible. We dawdle and we, well, faff.
  
  Reading page 270... silly silly Hetty creeping around like an overdramatic moron... It isn't life or death, you know. Connor isn't going to kill you (no matter how many times you say he is). Sneaking around will surely only make it worse- oh, it just did.
  
  The love/hate relationship with Connor grated me a little.. (maybe mainly due to the use of the words 'love' and 'hate' - they're so strong and something like 'hate' rarely truly applies... yet Hetty uses it an awful lot.) Her avoiding him honestly hating him disliking him yadda yadda I don't believe it. Sounds like sort of thing you TELL other people (or yourself) but secretly feel differently.. I want Hetty to be uncomfortably honest about her feelings
  
  Page 285 - working on hating him.. should have suited Hetty...
  Finally it seems like Hetty is being honest with herself and the reader. She’s not exactly admitting to what she’s feeling.. but she’s using ‘should’s and noticing that what she ought to feel is not what she actually is feeling.
  
  Ending: So Hetty and Connor are together. That’s nice, I hope they live happily together. Connor was quite sweet in a lot of ways.. even if he does need to work on his anger-management skills a little. But since Hetty is quite outspoken herself they seem quite suited to each other. They just need to learn to tell each other the truth. But as I said earlier, I guess that’s life. Comes with a lot of faff.
  
• 
  Annette

  Everyone should read at least one Katie Fforde book. Because I believe everyone needs to be able to laugh out loud while they read.
  
  Hetty has fallen in love with her boss and they are in the midst of an affair. She is dreaming of marriage. That is until she is bringing his favorite food to his home and she finds him in bed with a lovely blond woman. He had planned this encounter because he did not want to actually tell her they were through.
  
  Hetty is a mild mannered woman who hates confrontation, but she is able to drive her car into his Porsche several times in order to express her anger.
  
  Her mother finds her a house sitting position. The “House” in question is an historic property belonging to a distant relative. Samuel is ill and must go into the hospital for surgery. He has let the house get worn around the edges. But, once Hetty gets a look around, she falls in love.
  
  She quickly finds out two interesting things. Her mother told everyone she met in the village about Hetty's broken heart. And the entire village wants the house to become the center of the village. The village is on a downward spiral and the consensus of opinion is the house becoming a tourist destination can help provide the village with new life.
  
  There is one small problem. Samuel's heir, Connor, plans to sell to developers and have a theme park created. When Connor unexpectedly arrives at the house a small war begins.
  
  Saving the House becomes the prime motivation for Hetty. Defeating Hetty becomes the prime motivation for Connor.
  
  The character development is terrific in this book. Hetty starts out being a mild mannered woman who becomes more and more confident as time passes. The people in the village expect her to be able to defeat Connor's plan, make the “House” into a wonderful tourist destination and solve quite a few problems. Connor turns out to be a very different man than everyone expects. He has a terrific sense of humor, he is willing to listen to other points of view and he has unexpected talents.
  
  The village is filled with characters who are very human and very funny. Caroline is a married woman who can get nearly any gentleman she meets to do what she needs done. Phyllis is a well organized woman who may have been a general in another life. Peter wants to be Hetty's main man but he seems to be rather mild.
  
  Eventually as everyone pitches in to help bring the House into compliance with rules and regulations of homes open to the public we see the true character of everyone.
  
  There is a lovely humor in the story. It is evident that Ms Fforde has great affection for her characters. Even Hetty's former lover gets his just desserts a couple of times, but in a most charming manner.
  
  The dialog is terrific. Hetty and Conner have wonderful conversations which made me laugh out loud.
  
  There is no real villain in the story. Everyone wants what they truly believe will be best. And getting to complete solutions is a very entertaining journey.
  
  There are surprises along the way. One of the biggest is the musical talents shared by Hetty and Connor. They create an atmosphere which simmers.
  
  This is a lovely book. Ms Fforde is definitely an author who creates stories which are filled with life's ups and downs, humor and a love of people. I don't think this is chick lit, I think it is life lit.
  
  
• 
  Keksisbaby

  Hetty hat eine Beziehung mit ihrem Chef, und als sie ihn im Bett mit einer anderen erwischt, ist sie gleich neben dem Freund auch noch ihren Job los. Wohin flüchtet man sich, wenn das Leben in Scherben liegt, natürlich zu Mutti. Doch die lässt sie sitzen mit einem maroden Herrenhaus, das Hetty hüten soll. Dessen Besitzer liegt im Krankenhaus und es ist fraglich ob er es noch lange macht. Die Dorfbewohner sehen in ihr die letzte Rettung des herrschaftlichen Baus, denn es gibt Gerüchte, dass der Erbe vorhat, das ganze Ding in einen Vergnügungspark umzuwandeln und keinesfalls an der Erhaltung als Kulturdenkmal interessiert ist. Zu allem Übel steht dieser Griesgram irgendwann auch noch vor der Tür und Hetty beginnt an ihm Überzeugungsarbeit zu leisten, denn längst hat sie sich in das Anwesen verliebt und fast scheint es so, dass der gefürchtete Erbe sich auch in ihr Herz schleicht.
  
  Ich hatte ja schon mit seichter Unterhaltung gerechnet, aber dass sie so seicht sein würde hätte ich nicht vermutet. Die Protagonisten blieben farblos, nur lose dahin skizziert. Es war niemand da, an den ich mein Herz hängen konnte. Dabei war doch soviel Potential vorhanden. Hetty eine junge Frau, mit gebrochenem Herzen, die ihre Leidenschaft in ein heruntergelebtes Haus steckt. Wieviel Enthusiasmus, wäre bei dieser Figur zu holen gewesen, stattdessen hatte ich immer das Gefühl, sie macht das alles nur widerwillig, aus Mangel an anderen Lebensoptionen. Und Connor der Barbar, der Held der Geschichte, ist unnahbar, ruppig und nicht mal gutaussehend. Normalerweise mag ich in Liebesromanen diese Sorte Mann. Die die erst gezähmt werden müssen, von der richtigen Frau. Aber Connor kommt mir hier etwas zu passiv und unbeholfen rüber. Also auch kein Sympathieträger. Eher die Sorte man, die man Augen verdrehend an der Bar stehen lässt.
  
  Ich weiß nicht ob ich der Autorin noch eine Chance geben sollte, aber diese Story hat mich nur gelangweilt. Mir fehlten sowohl die Höhen, als auch die Tiefen, die Tragödien, Verwechslungen und Spannungen, die menschliche Beziehungen nun einmal mit sich bringen und das obwohl mir klar war, dass dies keine Bildungsliteratur ist, sondern einfach eine Auszeit vom Alltag. Es war okay, aber vom Hocker gerissen hat es mich nicht.
  
• 
  Artemisa

  This book was a book market finding. I was in London and only took 1 book with me (Christmas Carroll,by Dickens) and my tablet decided it would not charge with the charger I had with me, so if I wanted to read something else I had to buy it.
  One day I was going to meet with some friends for a food festival, and it was on the South bank of London, and I remembered about the book market under Waterloo bridge.
  I was checking row after row of books, some looked promising, but nothing seemed to hit that perfect spot, until in the end of the second to last row I got to a set of books by Katie Fforde. I bought this one, but it was a bit of a random choice between her books.
  And unlike the Christmas Carroll, where I couldn't read more than a couple of paragraphs, I had a hard time putting this book down. I read it on the bus, I skipped a trip to Tate Modern to stay in a park reading, stayed in bed a couple of mornings just so I would know the next bit of the story.
  
  But lets face the facts, it's not the most original story. The blurb on the back makes it sound like there's a plot to commit murder, but that's not really true. It's just a story about a girl that gets asked to take care of a house that is falling apart, she starts to (re)build it up, and the heir finally comes out of the desert and he has a different view on the future of the house.
  I will not spoil it, but if you can't figure out what happens next, maybe this book isn't for you.
  For most of the book Hettie is the type of character that things just happen to, sure she reacts and tries to turn things over, but most of the time she is set into motion by events external to her (and she is pretty lucky with some of them). But the string of events is captivating. I just had to keep reading to check if Hettie would make it to the next milestone, and some of the milestone events are set pretty early in the story. First she has to get the house ready to open to the public, then she gets asked to host an anniversary party, and there is a loan payment hanging over her head...