A review by bbbeth
One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny

adventurous emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

Thank you to NetGalley and Mills & Boon for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

3.75⭐️

One Night in Hartswood is a really charming, quiet, heartwarming debut. I was drawn in by the little snatches of hints about the characters' backstories, and quickly grew to love them - Raff's quiet calmness with a racing mind, and Penn's gentle, ever so broken and yet still so charming spirit. 
The romance was well written, starting off as strangers who share a kiss, to a gentle friendship with wild sexual tension - I was rooting for them. 

While the characters did have reasons to lie to each other about their identities, I did find myself getting a little frustrated with how long it went on for, and then the inevitable fallout it caused - but I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope in general. Their reconciliation was really sweet. And I have to say, I was really gobsmacked for a moment when
we were made to believe that Raff had been killed off. My heart was in my THROAT for those pages, waiting for the shoe to drop. Thankfully it did and all was well...


I did find that the middle of the book edged towards too slow pacing, and I found some of those parts tricky to drag myself through.
 
But on a whole, I really enjoyed this book. What a lovely read.
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