A delightful read that certainly picked up pace into the second half. A tale of lost and rediscovered loves against a background of house restoration and giving an interesting insight into the art of stained glass creation and restoration. A book of many parts and characters. There are themes running concurrently and augmenting the storyline of the main characters Carey Revell and Angel. Carey is a house restorers and TV programme host who is dumped by his girlfriend and loses his job but unexpectedly inherits Mossby an ancient pile with its own tales of love and tragedy. He gets in touch with an old friend Angel who is an expert in working with Stained glass. She has recently lost her partner in life and work but also lost her business. Can the work on Mossby be the catalyst to restore their lives ? Mossby has its own tale to tell and this runs alongside the present day storyline . The book emanates love, hurt betrayal and mental and physical restoration in an intriguing and beguiling story

Another great read from Trisha Ashley, I just can’t get enough of her books. In this one we meet Carey a presenter of his own tv programme on restoring houses and Angel a stained glass artist.. Friends from when they were children they both have to overcome difficult circumstances. Can they help each other to find their happy place? It’s great being back near Halfhidden where the cast of characters are becoming more familiar with each book.

It’s not often that a house is the lead character of a story but in this case it is. The story of Casey, Angelique and Mosseby house is written in Trisha Ashley’s distinctive style and it is wonderful to revisit the village of Halfhidden and its inhabitants. I only wish the house was real because it would be fabulous to visit.

Having read most of Trisha Ashley’s books and loving them I was really looking forward to the House of hopes and dreams and although I did enjoyed it (it’s a lovely story) , I have to say it isn’t one of trishas best. Unfortunately it was all to predictable, it lacked the romantic chemistry between the two main characters Angel and Carey, unlike Trisha s other books to the point where you knew they would end up together but didn’t care enough about them to bother if they did or didn’t, and as for the historical story at the beginning of every chapter, in some parts it was so boring I skimmed over it.
Im not saying this is a terrible book and would still recommend any Trisha fan read it anyway as it is a nice escapism story but for me this was just so so.

Welcome to the latest novel from Trisha Ashley, being luckily enough to receive it for review, I got stuck straight in. I didn't even look at the blurb on the back to see what I was going to be reading about as I knew it didn't matter as I would instantly be involved in the story.

And so I was.

Carey is recovering from a serious cycle accident, he has lost his job, his girlfriend and is very much down on his luck and feeling sorry for himself. When he unexpectedly is left a house , in fact his ancestral house, Mossby he decides that perhaps this is the change he needs.

Angel is an artist, a stained glass artist and has been happy in her workshop creating pieces of work alongside her partner Julian. When tragedy strikes for a second time, Angel is left without a home, money or even a workshop to earn money in she is cast adrift.

Carey knows Angel is the woman he needs to help with the rather unique pieces of stained glass windows in the house which also have a story to tell, Carey finds her a roof to seek sanctuary under both to live and to work.

Perhaps being involved in restoring and creating a home, both Carey and Angel will start to restore and create something better in their lives.

This story has it all, different plot line, characters to equally love and despise. Within the first few moments of meeting Nat, Julian's son and his girlfriend I had the measure of them and seethed quietly about their actions as I watched Angel struggle to come to terms with so much in a short space of time.

Add into the mix, Clem the Mossby gardener and Ella who has an obsession with only cleaning the wood panelling in one part of the house. Molly and her modern meals on wheels, as well as Nick the tv producer wanting to capture it all on film for posterity (and money). This book has a lot going on and I learnt about the stained glass process in a lot of interesting detail which did not come across as a dry textbook information; rather from someone who had hands on experience or at least thoroughly researched.

This book has everything you might want in a book, romance, death, big houses, dogs, cake, quirky characters, history and laughs. Not sure you could ask for more really?

A favourite of mine for 2018 and it's only February, I could in fact go back to the beginning and read the whole thing again!

Trisha Ashley is one of my favourite authors as soon as I started reading I knew it was a winner.
The history of the Revell manor the secrets to be reviled, the hiding places and a mystery to be solved unexpected twists.
The lost jewellery and the beautiful stain glass windows the description of glass technique and putting it all together.
I couldn't fault this book it was amazing and I couldn't put it down .
I would definitely recommend Trisha Ashley new book .
Thankyou for letting me read and review this wonderful story.

​​Very enjoyable story that kept my attention throughout, I do love Trisha Ashley's style of writing.

The main story is about Carey who is just recovering from a bike accident when he finds out he has inherited an Arts & Crafts house called Mossby from his uncle who has just died. Carey is a larger than life figure and I really liked his character. He used to present a house renovation program on TV but has just been replaced and lost his job.

Angel is a glass artist who lived with her partner, both personally and in the glass business, although the house and business was her partner's, even though they had been together for over 10 years. Her partner then died and his son and wife, who hated Angel, came in and took over everything, throwing her out, because of issues with the will and inheritance.

I did find Angel a bit annoying to start with, she just accepted everything and didn't put up any sort of fight about being thrown out of her home and business. The son and wife were just horrible people, and the whole situation just really irritated me.

Carey then contacted Angel as he needed help to make a new TV program about renovating Mossby, and persuaded Angel, his best friend, to help him. Luckily there was an old disused glass studio in the grounds already from a previous female glass artist who had lived at Mossby, which is a main reason Angel was persuaded to move to Mossby to live and start up her own glass business.

Unfortunately Carey had a couple of distant 'relatives' still living on the property that he had issues with (his uncle's second wife's daughter & her husband and occasionally their fame seeking daughter). The husband was no problem, a very hard working gardener and well worth his salary, but the daughter Ella was very odd. She had a fascinating with polishing the panelling in an old wing of the house. I thought Carey was far too lenient with her, she was always turning up where you didn't expect her and was so miserable.

I really liked the whole concept of the book itself, and loved revisiting the area that a few of Trisha Ashley's other books are set in. An intriguing book with a mystery running through it. I enjoyed the way bits of the story flipped back and forth through the previous generations as the story of the old house slowly revealed itself. I loved Fang the dog too - little terror that he was!

I absolutely adored this book although I had absolutely no knowledge of stained glass!
The story follows Angel and Carey who both find themselves single, although in very different circumstances. When Carey inherits a house he also inherits a family secret.
Fantastic book, I couldn't put it down. I loved the characters, I loved Fang and I thought the descriptive writing was incredible
Thank you for letting me read and review this book!

Review shall be on my blog 01/03 thecosiestcorner.blogspot.com

Now I've read a book by Trisha Ashley, I was so excited to read another one! The cover of this one in particular drew me in instantly and I thought it was absolutely stunning. The house in the background is beautiful and I adore the greenery all around the house with the flowers on either side.

From the start I was sucked in to the story and I really enjoyed getting to know the characters. The story follows Angel, who is a stained glass window designer/restorer and Carey who has recently inherited a house from his uncle unexpectedly! The two were inseparable when they were younger, but things fell apart when Angel met her husband and moved away with him. Now that her husband had unfortunately passed away, she is single again and is looking for work after learning that her future seems uncertain.

Luckily, Carey is looking for someone who help restore Mossby back to it's former beauty and calls upon Angel to help him. As well as Angel, Carey asks a number of other friends, neighbours and others to help him get the house back in shape and along the way we see Angel and Carey slowly getting back to the way things were before Angel moved away. I found the story to be heartwarming and engaging and I couldn't wait to read on and to see how it all worked out for the characters.

The characters themselves I found myself really connecting to and the story was so well told that I flew through the pages. There are laugh-out-loud moments and moments where I was really feeling quite emotional! Overall, I really enjoyed another novel by Trisha Ashley and I would urge you to pick up her novels! Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for a chance to read this novel, which I have received honestly.

Another fantastic book from Trisha! A brilliantly romantic feel with excellent snippets into the past.

Angel and Carey have known each other for most of their lives, they grew up together, were at the same university and drifted apart when Angel met Julian and went to live and work with him.
Angel is a stained glass designer who loses her job and home when her partner Julian suddenly dies, Carey her childhood friend who is recovering from an horrific accident has unexpectedly inherited Mossby, a rundown house from an uncle he didn’t know existed. He asks Angel to come and help him to restore it. When she realises it is Mossby he will be restoring she jumps at the chance because her idol Jessie Revell used to live there..
This is an excellent story with an interesting subject matter with lots of colourful characters. Running parallel to Angel and Carey’s story is the story of Jessie a stained glass designer who lived at Mossby in the early 20th century. A good warm hearted book with intrigue, friendship, humour and a touch of romance which was a joy to read.

I was very excited to read this new offering from the amazing storyteller, Trisha Ashley. I could hardly wait to get started on the book, and, once I had opened it, I was instantly immersed in the story.



This is the tale of Angelique (Angel) Arrowsmith, a stained glass designer and restorer who has been in a long-term relationship with fellow artisan Julian, but finds herself facing an uncertain future upon his sudden death. Fortunately, her childhood friend, Carey Revell, comes to the rescue and asks her to help him restore the rundown mansion he has just unexpectedly inherited. The mansion is a rambling affair, with ancient and more modern parts, extensive grounds, secret passages and priest holes, talk of ghosts, and of course several stained glass windows in need of attention. Carey enlists an army of friends and a growing number of neighbours from the village to help in his project, while Angel is joined by stained glass workers from her old workshop.



This is truly an epic and heart-warming tale, full of humour, intrigue and a cast of interesting and often zany characters that grows and grows with each page. At the beginning of the book, following Julian's death, Angel's plight is so well told that I actually found myself enraged by the injustice she experienced. However, this is balanced by later events in the story and support she gets from friends. The narrative from the present day is cleverly intertwined with an account of her life from an earlier inhabitant of the house, who lived there in the early 20th century. Her story adds nicely to the intrigue connected with the house's history.



If you are a fan of Trisha Ashley's books, you may, like me, be excited to meet up in this story with some familiar faces from the village of Halfhidden, previously featured in her novel, Creature Comforts. Whether you are a fan or have never read any of Trisha's books before, I would heartily recommend this one; be warned though, you may find yourself unable to put it down.

FAb read I couldn’t put it down. Love story of the times but goes back in history and loved them snippets! Really good

After Carey unexpectedly inherits a house, and Angel loses her home, they end up together trying to unravel the secrets of the house.

I also liked how it bought backsome of the characters in Halfhidden as well.

Thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for a copy of this book. A brilliant read. A tale that slowly develops, a mystery that unravels, friendship, loyalty, love ... this book has it all. I couldn’t put it down once started.