3 Stars

“Home is Where the Heart is” is the second in the “Rosebrook” series. I want to preface my review by saying I didn’t read the first, “The Duchess and the Dreamer,” so if I’m missing something, that’s why. This is an age-gap, opposites attract romance.

Ashling (Ash) and Archie are colleagues for the Rosebrook Village Trust. Ash (23) was born and raised in Rosebrook. She loves her small village and has no plans to leave. She’s a romantic and loves to read romance novels in her spare time. Archie (36), on the other hand, wants nothing to do with love or small village living. She likes her life in the city and doesn’t seem to mind her long commute every day.

They spend a lot of time bickering and antagonizing one another. Normally I don’t mind this kind of interaction. It’s entertaining for me and builds up the dynamic between the leads. However, I had issue with it this time. Archie is dismissive towards Ash for her age and love of romance novels. She was immature and acted out in childish ways. I found her too off-putting to really want them to be together. Ash was sweet and rather naïve and I felt she deserved better. Archie also has a very quick turnaround in her feelings that made me feel confused and I was wondering if I missed a chapter where her feelings were flipped because it was so unexpected. Once her feelings are changed and she decides to pursue Ash, the cheesy romance begins. There were some over the top moments that I found entertaining but it was still too late for me to really enjoy.

I did enjoy the Rosebrook community. I love the idea of a safe place for all types and classes of people. It’s also environmentally friendly where they’re actively trying to change things for the better.

All in all, I think this will appeal to Frame’s fans. It’s got her typical butch/femme couple with a diverse and varied group of side characters. If it weren't for Archie's attitude in the beginning I would've enjoyed this a lot more.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had such a bright image of Ashling, she's my type of heroine- loves being alone, introvert and reads romances all the time! Yes please!

When she meets Steff (Archie) their worlds collide, they had great chemisty and I loved their story.
This was new to me author and I loved her style!

This book I believe is going to turn into another series by Ms Frame. Seeing as this is titled ‘Rosebrook # 2. Nothing gets past me. Ha!
Steff Archer (Archie) lives in the city and the idea of actually living in the small village where she works is just not going to happen. The city's full of sights and sounds 24/ 7 while here in Rosebrook it seems the village closes up pretty early, No night clubs, plays to attend, no long list of available women for Archie to woo for a night or two. She doesn’t do relationships. Never having one has allowed her to go through life not being torn apart like her parents were. Keep in mind her father has and did put his past behind him allowing him to live his life on his terms. Archie hasn’t reached the age where being alone is that big a deal. But she is getting older so maybe it’s time to settle down. Never in a small village like Rosebrook.
Ashling O’Rourke has always lived in Rosebrook and intends on staying there. Her life for a long time has been helping her father, since her mother has died. Her main entertainment is reading romances, especially historical romances. But now that the Duchess of Rosebrook, Clementine has married Evan Fox. Both wanted changes made to the village so as to entice others to follow in their wake they needed some locals to help bring that about. So for the first time Ashling has a job helping the Duchess with all the work involved.
Ash is attracted to Archie from the start of them working together but Archie won’t allow herself to think of Ash that way, she’s too old for Ash. Or so she thinks. Ms Frame gives us a story that we have all read before but with enough twists and turns to make it her own. Very enjoyable read.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke Books

After reading this book about the village of Rosebrook, I wanted to move there. Jenny Frame did such a wonderful job developing this sustainable, eco - friendly, inclusive and safe environment I would move to such a place in a heartbeat. Jenny Frane wrote this story with layer after layer of character development and secondary characters that all added to the charm of the story. While the two main characters Archie and Ash started out as antagonistic work colleagues that beautifully developed into a phenomenal love story. It was the slow development of the story that made it so believable. While these two women were the main characters the many characters in the story enhanced the beauty and understanding of the special environment that is Rosebrook. The secondary characters had remarkable storylines them self which were interesting and in someway lead to a better understanding of the thinking of the two main characters.
I can’t recommend this book enough it has everything you’d want in a story that takes you to another place, plus it is so well written and developed that it would be a shame for anybody to miss this beautiful story.

This is one of the most exciting books I’ve read recently and will definitely go to my to-read-again list. The main characters were both very well developed with their own quirks and vulnerabilities. Their chemistry came alive, and their scenes together were sizzling hot. Their verbal foreplay was so well written and the author did a fantastic job creating that sense of anticipation and buildup. This is the author’s best work to date.

I know this book will appeal to a lot of readers, but sadly, I wasn’t one of them. Perhaps I just don’t vibe with the type of humor in this book. This book also employed many stereotypes that I personally don’t care for.

My favorite aspects of the book, by a landslide, were the setting and the side characters. I loved the concept of Rosebrook as an eco-friendly, accessible, LGBTQ+-inclusive village I loved Evan Fox’s (one of the MCs in The Duchess and the Dreamer, which I haven’t read) enthusiasm for the Rosebrook community and for making the world a better place. I appreciated the diversity of Rosebrook’s residents, for example: a woman in a wheelchair who’s given proper agency, a trans man whose backstory isn’t revealed unless he gives explicit permission to do so, a mother with PTSD learning to embrace her love life, several queer couples, etc. The MCs’ fathers (one of whom is gay!) are sweet, wholesome men who deserve the world. There are even some mentions of historical queer romances that I loved and wanted to know much more about!

Unfortunately, the beautiful setting and lovely side characters couldn’t save the romance for me. Ashling O’Rourke (23, lesbian) and Steff “Archie” Archer (36, lesbian) are forced to collaborate on Rosebrook’s administrative duties while Evan and her partner Clementine are away. When Ash was new to Rosebrook, Archie asked her to "make the tea like a good little secretary" (ugh!) and the two have butted heads ever since. Ash is mostly sweet and lovable, but I found that she didn’t have much personality. Archie was definitely my least favorite of the two, and I can’t say I ever liked her much. Archie is constantly condescending toward Ash in both her thoughts and actions, and it got really old after a while. These condescending thoughts also got repetitive: How many times did we have to be reminded of their age difference? How many times did Archie mentally dismiss Ash due to her lack of romantic experience and sheltered background, while never having had a serious romance herself? There’s one part of the book where Ash thinks of Archie as mature, and that made me laugh because so many of Archie’s actions are evidence to the contrary. The protags also play mind games with each other (Ash flirting with another character to make Archie jealous, Archie lying about her actions to appear less invested than she really is), which I didn’t like at all. The romance gets slightly better as the story goes on, but the end of the book, I still had no faith that Ash and Archie could stay together long-term.

There were also two very random chapters featuring Evan’s and Clementine’s POVs — one near the beginning and one near the end. Chapter Two even opens with a very explicit sex scene between Evan and Clementine, which was, um…an interesting choice. I’m not against having multiple couples’ POVs in a romance novel (I think this is done well in Unrivaled by Radclyffe, in which the other couple’s POVs are integrated well throughout the entire book), but I don’t think the ones in this book are necessary at all.

Tl;dr: I can tell Jenny Frame is a great writer and I adored the Rosebrook setting. However, I felt nothing for the romance except for some flickers of annoyance.

content warnings: divorce (side characters, past), loss of a parent to cancer (past), graphic sex, homophobia, transphobia, mentions of PTSD, mentions of war, parental rejection

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Upping my rating by one star because of Rosebrook and Frame handling all the tough issues mentioned in the book sensibly.

Steff “Archie” Archer (36) and Ashling O’Rourke (23, lesbian) got off on the wrong feet when Archie mistook Ash as the office tea girl. Despite them being secretly fond of each other, Archie doesn’t do relationships and finds their thirteen-year age-gap too big to bridge. But romance-loving Ash isn’t about to let that become an obstacle.

I love this world Frame has created, the inclusive Rosebrook and all the wonderful residents. Many issues were mentioned, including being displaced by war, homeless LGBTQ+ youths, mistreated because of mental health history, disability, etc. There is also a heavy emphasis on the environment, including beach cleaning, saving the bees, and being vegan. I absolutely love the concept Rosebrook is built upon, the characters (most of them are queer!), as well as the historical queer people.

So it is very sad that I did not care for the main romance at all.

Even though Archie prides herself as being a “mature” 36yo, she reads way younger than that, being somewhat unreasonable and lashing out at her dad (Adam Archer is the sweetest man), which means that the age-gap aspect of the story didn’t feel like an actual age-gap. I didn’t feel any chemistry between the mains and enjoyed all the side plots better. That being said, the relationship development did get better after some time and it’s kind of cute.

What was sort of confusing was the three scenes that are in Clem’s and Fox’s POVs, one of which opened with them getting intimate. At first, I thought this book would have four alternating POVs throughout the story like Longing for You did, but it ended up being the three ones near the opening and ending. Personally, I’d prefer if we only have Archie’s and Ash’s POVs as I don’t think the other ones were necessary.

All in all a wonderful world and concept with lovable side characters but not-so lovable main romance.

[content warnings: graphic sex, homophobia, trans rejection, mention of PTSD, mention of anxiety, mention of war]

This book made me want to stop reading romance novels. I've read other comments that it was too cheesy, too disneylandish and I agree. I need a story to have more content that just this. It was too high-school-ish romance. I couldn't finish it. It bored me to the point that I kept skimming forward, hoping to find something besides the conversations and arguments between the two main characters. The book was not realistic in their creation of a utopian village. It was painful.

𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘀𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀.

This is the second book of the Rosebrook series and I must caution that this series is not for people who want realistic stories. It's heartwarming for those who love extremely sweet fairytale romances, but for those who don’t, it will come across as cheesy and over-the-top.

While I don’t mind Frame’s kind of cheesy, I was annoyed with Evan's extreme personality in The Duchess and the Dreamer (Book 1). I enjoyed Book 2 more since we get Evan in smaller doses, as the newlyweds head for their honeymoon, leaving Archie and Ash in charge of the office. Archie and Ash are easier to like and possibly easier to relate to. They were also loggerheads at work in Book 1 and continue to bicker here. I like their bickering while it lasted because it produces good chemistry.

Archie and Ash also have different outlook on love. Ash is a romantic who wants to live the historical hetero age-gap romances she reads by the beach in a lesbian fashion whereas Archie is very skeptical about love and marriage. Their 13 year age gap also holds Archie back from acting on her attraction. But once Archie gets over herself, the story changes style to one about chasing the fairytale romance dream, and Archie morphs into the protective and chivalrous butch. While I think it’s sweet of Archie to want to give Ash her ideal courtship experience, using Ash’s favourite romance novel as a guide to planning moves and dates made me cringe a little because the novel is the cheesiest one with the worst sounding title.

Frame's books have a unique style. I don’t think it’s for everybody but I do enjoy them. This book can technically be read as a standalone for people who only want to read about Archie and Ash's budding romance but I don't recommend it to those who want some context for why this series is set in Rosebrook village.

this was an easy read. Ashling and Archie are likeable main characters. Great setting. This is also about being true to yourself. I definitely recommend 4.5 stars.





Thank you NetGalley and the publisher Bold Strokes Books for this ARC.

This is the second book in the Rosebrook series, it’s not necessary to read the first book to follow this romance. There is some overlap as it is in the same little town and the two mains of this book are introduced in the first book, and the mains from the first play a role in this book.
The author has an entire cast and a lot of opportunities to expand this series, but I think I will stop at this one. This author isn’t really for me.
It’s a bit too over the top romance for me. Exactly how it is described in this book actually, and I am just no into that.

Archie and Ash both work in Rosebrook on Fox’s fantastical idea to make a self sufficient town. When Fox and Clem set out on their honeymoon their right hands need to find a way to work together instead of being at each other’s throats. Fox and Clem come up with this scheme that is sort of a work place version of the parent trap, it’s ridiculous and annoys me. Archie is hung up on the failed and loveless marriage of her parents in an oppressive and conservative small town. Since her dad has come out and found a new lovely partner, but Archie isn’t open to anything serious. In her late thirties she things Ash is too young for her, Ash is 13 years younger. Not a massive problem, but Archie makes it seems like Ash is a little kid and that is what makes an age-gap romance for me, the balance is off. Archie comes around a bit towards the end, but the damage cant be undone for me.

I think the whole balance thing is what makes this one not work for me. I am sure there is an audience for this type of book, it just isn’t me, 2.5 stars.

Jenny Frame is a master story teller and I love that she doesn’t include unnecessary drama in the story lines. Archie and Ash are opposites. Ash believes in HEA, reads romance novels, and loves the same town that she lives in. Archie is a city person, a skeptic, and doesn’t believe in love. After continuously butting heads in the beginning, Archie begins to thaw. The story was great, the people diverse and welcoming, and this was a great weekend read.

Enjoyable and rather sweet. I’m not sure I bought into the utopian village community. Parts of it are a nice idea, but it felt a bit elitist. I’m not a fan of the notion that if the rich and the gentry are benevolent then they are therefore worthy. I’d rather they gave up the title as well as the money. But the gay twist on the lord of the manor is a fun idea and Jenny Frame definitely runs riot with the gentry in her books. I enjoyed this romance between the PA of the duchess and her ‘not the boss’ co-worker.

This book follows the almost enemies to lover tale of Archie and Ash from the first book in this series.

The first chapter was in my opinion a good start but it kind of went downhill from there. This book was rather uneventful.

I will say though that the characters are like-able and made a cute pair.

I didn’t feel the chemistry in the early chapters of the book and was a bit bored with the plot but when they finally got together they were a very cute couple.

Ending was a bit rushed but kinda goes with the character.

Recommend this book for a light casual read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in return for an honest review

Archer works for Evan Fox, CEO of Fox Toys. Rosebrook Village will not be an environmentally friendly place to live.

Evan Fox and her wife are going on a honeymoon. Archer and her younger co-worker Ash remain responsible when they are gone. They are forced to cooperate and do they feel anything for each other? Archer is single and Ach is so young. Will they find their way to their heart and home?

Really easy short reading. I couldn’t sleep in one night and read it. I have never read a story like this. But unfortunatelly I couldn’t connect with the characters.

We thank Netgalley.com and Bold Strokes Books for the opportunity to read this story in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy reading Jenny Frame romances and the Rosebrook series is especially enlightening with the work being done by Evan Fox, CEO of Fox toys, who is working to make Rosebrook a socially inclusive and an environmentally friendly village.

We were introduced to Ashling "Ash" O'Rourke and Steff “Archie” Archer, who both work for the Rosebrook Village Trust, in The Duchess and the Dreamer. Archie assumed the Ash was the office tea girl and they never got along. That continues in this book when Fox and her bride Clementine leave them both in charge of various aspects of the trust when they go on their honeymoon. Archie and Ash fight and they bicker until they eventually start to see positives in each other and mutual attraction.

This book has many themes including enemies to friends to lovers; an age gap romance (Archie is thirteen years Ash's senior); and Jenny Frame's ever present butch/femme dynamic. In addition, you will not be disappointed with the scorching chemistry between Archie and Ash as well as their love scenes. I thoroughly enjoyed this fun, lively book which mimicked the romance in a book that Ash was reading and that she convinced Archie to read. I hope that Jenny Frame's next Rosebrook romance focuses on Griff, the drifter brewery manager and head brewer. 4.5 stars

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book read like a Disney fairytale, which honestly isn’t my thing. It wasn’t bad, per se, but it just didn’t do much for me. It was a bit slow and slightly uneventful. They characters were ok, but the story was a bit too cheesy, and everything was just too polished and perfect. The exception to that was when the MCs step into the bedroom! That was as far from Disney as one can imagine to the point of being slightly jarring.

I could not get the feel of this book. its great work but its Im not feeling it. maybe since I could not like Ashling I could not like the book itself, there's something about her that's bothering me for some reason. I also felt 0 chemistry between her and Archie

Home is Where the Heart Is is set in the inclusive village or Rosebrook, a setting used in a previous book by Jenny Frame and that couple makes an appearance here as well. It's a sweet book following Archie and Ashling on their path to a happily ever after even though they appear to be complete opposites. It has the butch/femme dynamic, there is a bit of an age gap and for those who like enemies to lovers it should also be a good fit.
I loved the setting with the eco-friendly village striving to be a safe haven for all those who need it, the romance between Archie and Ashling is very sweet and it was a good book to relax with.
And even though there is nothing wrong with Ms Frame's writing style, I am figuring out that her books are hit and miss with me. This book I enjoyed but that was mainly because of the setting and the fact that I liked the couple, but the more books I read of her the more I get a a bit of an itch when it comes to the dialogue. It feels a bit forced at times and well, it just isn't for me.

Nevertheless, I think I lot of readers will definitely enjoy this sweet romance between a dashing butch and a lovely younger femme who's into romance.

***An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. ***

This book was very, very sweet and I think it was a perfect fit for me during a particularly intense week of work. Ashling and Archie were loveable and you couldn't help but root for them to find love together. Ashling loves regency romance books and wants to find a love that sweeps her up just like in those epic romance novels. Meanwhile, Archie's tumultuous upbringing has impacted the way she sees romance and relationships.

I enjoyed this novel, as it centres primarily on Archie 'wooing' sweet Ashling. Although I would've had issues if a woman tried to woo me by following a script from my favourite book, it was exactly what Ashling wanted and boy, did she get Archie deliver. It was so sweet to read and I am hopeful for more books in this series as the town it's set in sounds amazing!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.