Book Review: The Great Village Show, by Alexandra Brown

Tindledale is in a tizzy . . .

The Village Show competition is coming around again and after last year’s spectacular failure, the villagers are determined to win. Meg, teacher at the local school, is keen to help and to impose some much-needed order.

After a terse encounter with a newcomer to the village, Meg discovers that it is celebrity chef and culinary bad boy, Dan Wright. Meg thinks he is arrogant and rude but rumour has it that Dan is opening a new restaurant in the village which could really put Tindledale on the map.

As things come together, villagers old and new all start to come out of the woodwork, including new arrival Jessie who seems to have it all. But first impressions can be deceptive and Meg discovers that when it comes to Tindledale – and Dan – nothing is ever quite as it seems . . .

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Having adored the wonderful Great Christmas Knit Off, I was so excited to be heading back to Tindledale for The Great Village Show, so big thanks to Harper Collins UK for providing me with a review copy via NetGalley.

The Great Village Show is a standalone novel, so don’t worry if you’re new to Tindledale, you can dive right in. However, as I often say, I do recommend reading The Great Christmas Knit Off first, so you don’t spoil anything in that one if you choose to read it! (We’ve got winter weather in August at the moment, so why not go for a Christmas book?!)

Our leading lady of Tindledale this time around is Meg, the cross-stitching, wine-making bunny owner – that’s right, cross-stitching, wine-making bunny owner! That alone is enough to make me love and adore her. She’s also acting principal of Tindledale School, and with dwindling numbers, it’s looking like her school may be shut down. Luckily, Tindledale is one little village that won’t go down without a fight!

With the Village Show just around the corner, the villagers club together to plan for the Greatest Village Show the UK has ever seen – or at least one of the Top 10, hopefully, which should get them enough recognition to save their beloved School, and boost the economy for the whole village.

Getting aggro from celeb chef and bad boy, Dan Wright, who’s just blown into town, is not making matters any easier for Meg right now though. Even if he does look like John Snow, that doesn’t mean you get away with being all moody and brooding and sexy and whatnot…I digress…! It’s certainly a distraction she doesn’t need, that’s for sure! With his moods blowing hot and cold, can Meg really trust him to help with the show, or will he only complicate matters? He may be a pain, but I couldn’t help falling for Dan’s bad boy attitude from the get-go (I do love me some Kit Harrington!), and found myself getting as frustrated with him as Meg did.

Luckily for Meg, other newcomer to Tindledale, Jessie, seems a lot more reliable and willing to help, even if she seems to have a lot going on behind closed doors. Her triplets alone would be a massive boost to the school. I loved the compassion and camaraderie shown in the friendship between Jessie and Meg, and thought the strength of trust and friendship was portrayed beautifully here.

I am just so utterly in love with Tindledale and all its wonderful villagers. I loved how this book also explored the effects that larger cities and corporations etc can have on a small village, where they depend on local trade. Tindledale gives me that real warm, fuzzy feeling as they all pull together to protect the village they love.

A wonderfully sweet, warm and funny tale that I definitely recommend for the chick lit lover.

Rating:

Release date: 30 July 2015
Publisher: Harper
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