The Garden of Forgotten Wishes by Trisha Ashley is a gorgeous, warm hug of a read that has the most relaxing pace to it and just gives off these nice soothing vibes to it. It sounds strange to describe a book like that but that’s the way the book made me feel. There wasn’t any great mystery to it, or sense of urgency that the story needed to be rushed, instead it was a lovely, calming read perfect to take your mind off all the goings on in the world,.. well at least for a few hours or so. The storyline is very easy to follow and it’s full of wonderful descriptions of the village of Jericho’s End and of the gardens the main character Marnie sets about restoring alongside Ned.

There were appearances by numerous characters that have previously featured in books by Trisha. Some I remembered and others I had not come across before. I still have her Christmas book from last year, The Christmas Invitation, waiting to be read on my Kindle and some of those characters pop up here so it’s definitely made me want to move said book to the top of my Christmas reading this year. I love spotting old familiar faces and they are weaved effortlessly into this new story.

As per the title, this story centres around a garden at Old Grace Hall in the village. I know next to nothing about gardening, flowers, herbs etc.The extent of my gardening skills is to mow the grass once a week so truthfully I thought I might find the subject matter a bit boring but this wasn’t the case at all. In fact, it was the total opposite as I found the descriptions of the work being done, the various flowers and the whole history behind the gardens simply fascinating. It’s the sign of a good author that they can make a topic you are not familiar or really have no interest in become intriguing and having you eager to learn more. Here Trisha Ashley deftly weaves the story of the restoration of the Victorian garden alongside that of Marnie, newly arrived to the village and seeking some solace but at the same time she has a connection to Jericho’s End that she doesn’t want certain people to find out about.

Marnie has been living in France with her adopted family the Ellwoods, who took her in when her mother died, ever since her life fell apart when her controlling ex husband Mike dealt her one final blow. One that she could no longer withstand and which left her professional reputation in shatters. She has kept herself busy moving around various chateaux’s in France working in gardens but now that she has heard that Mike has remarried she feels the final shackle of the past has finally fallen away and that perhaps she is safe to return to England. She sees a job advertised in Jericho’s End which is where her mother came from and where she told her daughter never to return to but Marnie wants a new start and the job opportunity sounds promising.

Mike seemed to be an awful character who constantly undermined Marnie at every available opportunity. Her self-confidence was in pieces and he had had her under his control so her independence had gone out the window. The final straw was when he made her employers believe bad things about her and sent in a resignation letter which he himself had written. No doubt about it Marnie arrives in Jericho’s End with scars but she feels its safer now to return. Will this new job allow some light and happiness back into her life?

Trisha Ashley’s books always have such a colourful, vibrant and eccentric cast of characters that add that little bit of something special to her stories. Lavendar Cottage is host to Elfida, who runs the café Ice Cream and Angels, and her sister Myfy, who is an artist, and whose husband lives close by. The pair are quite quirky and whimsical and it is they who have asked Marnie to tame their garden but she will also work for their nephew Ned who is attempting to restore the gardens of Grace Hall which he has inherited from an Uncle. It soon transpires that Ned was at the same college that Marnie had attended and they actually knew each other but as with Marnie, Ned has been publicly bruised and his days of TV presenting gardening shows are gone but maybe because he would prefer it that way?

Instantly you feel a connection between the pair but given their own individual histories they don’t really want to act on it. Instead they skate around each other for a lot of the book but working on restoring the long lost apothecary garden and all the different planned areas that Ned has envisaged slowly does start to bring them together. Yes, you can see the ending coming a mile off and it is slightly predictable but who really cares when the story is so pleasant and inviting. You are just happy to follow Marnie’s journey as it’s not too taxing and there is something rather special and captivating about it.

I loved how everyone welcomes and embraces Marnie into the fold. She really wanted a clean slate and I think the others could sense that she needed time to heal and the garden would allow her to do this. I loved how full of love she was for gardening and the restoration. In that sense she shared a common bond with Ned and she really came on board with him in a bid to get the gardens open to the viewing public. It was a labour of love that radiated from the pages and perhaps this labour of love would develop into something more? James and Gertrude who work in the gardens were brilliant characters too offering humour and laughs when needed. The only thing I will say is that the slight ‘magic’ aspect in relation to the legend of the waterfalls that Marnie must tend to the surrounding area each day. Well that just seemed a bit too far fetched for me and the book would have been fine without its inclusion but that’s just my own personal preference.

I really did enjoy the time I spent reading The Garden of Forgotten Wishes. There was just enough meat in the story, so to speak, with the family aspect of the plot in relation to Marnie and this was balanced nicely with some friendship and love all whilst the garden projects were ongoing. As the blurb does say the garden is a way of helping them to heal and recapture the forgotten dreams they’ve let get away and shows it’s never too late to explore second chances. It’s certainly a delightful read that will please many readers.

A nice read, though I didn’t enjoy this as much as many. I suspect this will appeal more to those who like to garden as this is a central theme running through the book - the gardening bits rather bored me I’m afraid.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc, which I have enjoyed reading.
This was a delicious and warm inviting book to read, it was a delight from start to finish. A wonderful book to escape into and enjoy,particularly if you enjoy gardening.
The storyline and the characters were interesting and entertaining and the book was very enjoyable.
Highly recommended

Five years ago, Marnie run to France to escape her controlling and manipulative husband. Now he’s finally signed the divorce paper and she is free to go back home to England. With a new job, a new flat that comes with an intruding cat and possible new friends, Marnie is looking forward to a fresh start. She moves to Jericho’s End to help restore the gardens of Old Grace Hall. Jericho’s End is also the place of origin of her mother, the place her mother had warned to stay away from, so Marnie hopes to find answers about her mother’s mysterious past.

Marnie is a fantastic character. She is very realistic and I really felt for her as she still struggles with the scars from her past. For her Jericho’s End represents a refuge, a place that will give her a new beginning, but also the truth about her mother’s past and the reason behind her sudden departure from the village.

If you love gardening, you are going to adore The Garden of Forgotten Wishes. It’s so full of detailed and rich descriptions of the beautiful gardens at Old Grace Hall that I could practically picture them in my head. And, if you love ice-cream, there are just as many detailed and rich descriptions of mouth-watering homemade ice-cream.

I love Trisha Ashley’s novels. They are uplifting, engaging, and beautifully descriptive and they never disappoint. In The Garden of Forgotten Wishes there is romance, friendship, family drama and it will completely capture you. If this is not enough to encourage you read it, then don’t miss the amazing recipes at the end of the book.

Trisha fans will most likely have read previous books that have familiar place names and characters within this book. This is a beautifully written heartwarming story and may actually be my favourite of Trishas to date. I loved the detailed description of the gardens and you could totally imagine them and picture them coming back to life. As always we meet some wonderful characters, other than one odious ex husband,and look out for Casper the cat. A completely engrossing,enjoyable story. I heartily recommend reading this one.

When Marine was a little girl her mum use to tell her stories of Jericho’s End, where she had grown-up as a child. The stories seemed quite magical to Marnie but her mother warned her never to go there. Marnie’s mum tragically died and she was young. Marine was adopted by a lovely family and grew up happy with a ‘sister’ that became her best friend.
After a disastrous marriage, she needed a complete get away from it all and a new start. When a dream job came up in Jericho’s End including accommodation, it is all too good to miss, after all, no-one will know who she is, will they? This is a beautifully written uplifting story by Trisha Ashley, who always seems to make me want to be the leading character in all her books. Marine is a lady that you just want to find a fairy tale ending.
Jericho’s End is one of those small places that is steeped in family history passed down through the generations. So it isn’t just the gardens that Marine goes digging about in. My imagination ran wide with this book and all the lovely, and at times, strange characters that the author had brought to life.
I swooned over Ned, wanted to eat ice cream continually and cringed at Wayne and his dad! It all made me feel like the place was cut off from the real world, all cocooned in its own haven but it is always too easy to forget whose is on the outside of the village.
A lovely, lovely story again. I always finish reading with a sigh and a smile with these books.
I wish to thank the publisher and NetGalley for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

The garden of forgotten wishes is a treat for nature, garden lovers. The lead character's are living a new chapter of their lives and rebuilding themselves along with a long forgotten and neglected garden.

I absolutely enjoyed the whimsy and the garden in this story.

Will Untangling A Garden Untangle Her Life....?
Marnie needs a new start. When she takes a job as a gardener she hopes that her green fingers will come up trumps. Delightful escapism from Trisha Ashley with a likeable protagonist, a colourful cast of supporting characters and a picturesque backdrop.

This story has a certain style of writing that I always associate with Trisha Ashley. Small charming villages in the countryside, large manor houses and gardening. I always know that I'm going to enjoy her books.
I found this book a lot slow to begin with, but it soon picked up its pace. This is a gentle and easy mostly, there are references of Domestic abuse as Marnie had been married to a controlling and coercive Husband
This book is set five years after she moves back to England, hoping for a fresh start.
The characters in this book are strong and varied. They really help to bring the story to life. There were many gardening references, although I know very little about it, I still found them interesting. Overall this is an enjoyable read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

An unusual plot, premise and setting which piqued my interest. This book reintroduces some characters from Trisha Ashley's previous work, but would work just as well as a standalone. I found this a gentle, relaxing read with elements of mystery and intrigue to keep me guessing.

Reading this book is like curling up in your favourite place, in your favourite blanket or chair, cosy, heart warming, quirky, comforting, and just pure bliss. Trisha Ashley at her very best!!! Now my new favourite book from her! Her writing is brilliant in description and vision. I had to read this slowly as it was so enjoyable and probably made it last twice as long......bliss!! I am still entrenched in the world of gardening Marnie, who wants to come home to a Lancashire village that her mother used to tell her all about. She meets an old friend from horticultural college there, and the gardens are gorgeous and quite inspirational. Can she make a new start and life here?
Cannot recommend this book highly enough, true writing brilliance from Trisha Ashley! LOVED IT!!!!

As a fan of Trisha Ashley's books I found this easy to get into from the start. As it's a standalone novel you don't need to have read previous books, but if you have you will recognise some of the place names and a one or two of the characters that crop up from time to time.
The main characters of the story are completely new but very relateable.
As a victim of coersive control from her ex-husband, Marnie has been living in France but finally heads back to England when she thinks her ex has finally moved on.
Ned has inherited a stately home and as a qualified gardener sets about restoring the grounds to become a tourist attraction.
Soon a different kind of attraction begins but a lack of honesty might derail the blossoming romance.

I am a great fan of Trisha Ashley and always worry that her new book will not be as good as her previous ones, but I need not have worried in this case.

It tells the story of Marnie who had escaped to stay with adopted family in France after an abusive marriage and works in France in various gardens and then decides to go home to England and gets a job in a small village tending two gardens in a place her Mum had told her never to go to but never why. One of the garden owners Ned she was at college with and after initial misgivings about employing her due to false rumours about her they soon get back to their friendship from college and work together to get the gardens ready to open to the public.

Lovely group of characters, family secrets and a hint of romance, make this book a delight.

I always look forward to reading a new book by Trisha Ashley; they are always full of interesting characters and situations. For returning readers, her books very often contain familiar characters too, which I always enjoy. This book is one of many set in a small Lancashire village and does indeed contain a few faces that I recognised from her last novel. I found it a quick but absorbing read.

The story revolves around Marnie, who has been living and working as a gardener in France for a few years, travelling around to avoid her controlling ex-husband. When it seems that he has turned his affections towards another unfortunate woman, Marnie decides to leave France and takes up a position as gardener in the little Lancashire village of Jericho’s End, once her mother’s home. The job comes with a small but cosy flat above an ice cream shop which is attached to a cottage inhabited by two rather eccentric sisters and a very large ginger cat who takes a liking to Marnie. While looking after the cottage garden, Marnie’s duties also involve helping to restore the large garden of the manor house next door. She is surprised to find that the large house and grounds belong to an old college friend, Ned, now a successful garden designer. After a somewhat rocky start, Marnie and Ned find common ground in their interest in the plants and the secrets that the overgrown garden gives up as they work. There are other surprises in store for Marnie as she settles into the job and life in the village, not all of them pleasant.

As I expected, I thoroughly enjoyed this book; another hit for Trisha Ashley. The setting in this tranquil village with the river running through and the picturesque falls with the promise of fairies and angels left me feeling peaceful each time I read. However, the pace of the story quickened towards the end, when there was a great deal of drama all within a few pages. I liked Marnie as a character and enjoyed her ability to stand up to the somewhat moody Ned. I found him a bit annoying to start with, but he grew on me as the story progressed. I was intrigued by the cat in the story; his colour and great size were unusual. He was quite a formidable character with definite ideas of his place in the world. As well as the drama, romance and hint of magic, the book has quite a bit of humour in its pages, the old ladies living in the cottage providing a large proportion. They enjoy experimenting with new ice cream flavours, and there is an interesting selection of recipes at the end of the book for those readers possessing an ice cream maker. I can definitely recommend this book to other readers; if not familiar with Trisha Ashley’s work, this would make a good place to start.

Gardener Marnie wants to put down roots having escaped to France from a controlling marriage, she decides she needs a fresh start and gets a job in a rural west Lancashire village which her dying mother made her promise to stay away from.

The job comes with a flat above a café run by two sisters, and she tends their garden, and also assists next door neighbour Ned Mars with his.

Marnie remembers Ned from her college days but he’s far from the untroubled man she once knew. A recent relationship has left him with a heart as bruised as her own.

This is a lovely cosy read especially if you love gardening, and even if you don’t, it’s a nice, heart-warming story.

I particularly loved the fact that I recognised characters from a previous book “The Christmas Invitation”, and I thought the tie in was a lovely touch, although saying that, this is a stand alone story, and you won’t feel like you’ve missed anything if you haven’t read the previous book, it’s just like an Easter Egg on a DVD!

The characters were believable, and well written, I particularly loved Marnie, and wanted to put a friendly arm around her shoulder and protect her, although I don’t think she needed it, as her confidence grew alongside the forgotten roses in the garden!

There is an involved back story including many feuds and fights from previous generations which I found quite difficult to get my head round, but bear with it, as it’s all explained at the end!

This is a slow burner of a story, which was quite nice as it didn’t feel like everything was thrown into the pot all at once, and saying that the story did gather speed at the end.

What an amazing book. This is my first book by Trisha Ashley, although I do have a number of her previous books in my TBR pile I will digging out.

I loved the interlacing plot, how tales, rumours and gossip got twisted and edited over the years until the truth is finally discovered. More and more of the hidden past was revealed as r garden was pruned and restored,
I loved the easy friendship of Ned and Marnie, and how once they realised their feelings for each other it was full steam ahead, there wasn’t anything they couldn’t over come. I have a feeling Elf and Myfee knew a bit more from the start than they let on and just wanted to see the organic play of events.
Special mention has to go to Caspar the giant orange cat. I loved him, I loved his c-attitude and how Marnie was convinced he was talking to her. I personally felt that maybe he was watching over her, possibly embodying the spirit of her mother.
A beautiful story that I never wanted to end.

Another heart-warming read by Trisha Ashley. Wonderful characters, animals and a garden. It is as if we have stepped off the page into the garden itself

A gentle read for a lazy summer day. Marnie takes up a post as gardener in a place her long deceased mother told her never to visit. The story unfolds when she meets Ned who is restoring the gardens and of course a romance dies eventually and predictably ensue. There is a lot of background information tucked into the telling including ice cream making and garden renovation with for me perhaps a little too much of the latter. There is too a complicated side to family feuds and disputes. It just seemed to burn a bit too slowly for me particularly through the middle section then go at speed towards the end.. The characters were well sketched out and believable but it was just missing something for me

A lovely romantic read set in a beautifully described and detailed location, you can almost smell the flowers.
I really enjoy the fact that it intertwined with earlier books, there's a real sense of community. Fabulous characters, my favourite being Casper.
Perfect summer read.

A marvellous slice of horticultural escapism with trowel-loads of charm and everything we've come to expect from a Tricia Ashley novel. Cue the arrival of downtrodden heroine in waiting, Marnie, who fled to France to escape an abusive marriage and has subsequently developed a career restoring the gardens of French chateaus and manor houses. Upon her return to England, she settles in her mother's childhood environ of Jericho's End, where she is befriended by a cast of characters including the eccentric sisters, Elf and Myfy, curmudgeonly cat, Casper, and brooding former college friend, Ned. As Marnie and Ned work together to restore the garden to its former glory, family secrets unfurl, romance begins to slowly blossom and magic is literally in the air courtesy of the local fairy population. Thank you very much for the advance review copy, which I recommend as a wonderful, light thoroughly enjoyable summer read.