An animal lover myself, I could not pass on the opportunity to read this super cute and cozy book about Jade Foster. After the death of her mother and a bad breakup from her boyfriend, she quits vet school and uses her inheritance to buy an old farm in the countryside. There she lives her dream and opens an animal rescue. She takes in unwanted and injured animals and gives them a second chance. On the first anniversary of her mother’ passing, she coincidentally runs into Finn McTaggart. He is not a local and just lost his grandparents who lived in the village. She can’t get him out of her head. Five months later, he comes back to the village to sort out his grandparents’ cottage so that his father can sell it. Jade offers him a job to do odd jobs at the rescue. And then there is Aiden Southerland, the divorced local vet who helps Jade wherever he can but is too shy to ask her for a date. Can Jade overcome her past and find true love?
I really enjoyed this easy and delightful read and found myself turning page after page. I grew fond of Jade and Finn (and all the animals) and cheered for a happy ending. The story is so well written and it gripped me from beginning to the end. I definitely want to read more about Duck Pond Animal Rescue and can’t wait for the next installment in this new series. 4⭐️
Thank you Netgally, Boldwood Books and the author for the opportunity to read this advance copy. The above is my honest review and own opinion.

A great romance set in an animal rescue centre. Jade and Finn are great characters but I found Aiden rather creepy, even at the end. I enjoyed the book but found the pace a little slow at times.

This book is brilliant! I literally could not put it down and the best news is it’s the first in a series and I cannot wait to catch up with Jade, Finn, Sarah, Callum and Ben again. A wonderful cast of characters - human as well as animals. I loved every page. I’m now going to investigate Della Galton’s Puddleduck Farm series.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. It was an absolute pleasure.

What a delightful new series and I loved the little links to Puddleduck Farm and vets.

Overall I liked the characters of Finn and Jade. They both had painful childhood pasts and never thought they could move past them but when they were together it just seemed as if none of mattered and they helped each other explore their trauma and move on from it.

I wasn’t quite so taken with Sarah and I felt her deception went on far too long and was very unfair on Jade and Finn. Four months of secrets and seemingly no real friendship between the women in that time, for me seemed odd. There was no mention of Jade missing her bestest friend and nephew over those months, when previously they spent a lot of time together with Ben visiting the animal shelter all the time. I found that odd and hard to get past, I was expecting a long heart to heart amongst the women very soon after Jade discovered the truth. I understand Sarah was scared but it wasn’t really fully explored so I felt it made her come off as a bad person.

However, that aside I liked Jade and Finn and the side story of Aiden and Kate. The goat incident really made me laugh. The friendship and love in the story was nicely paced and thought through. I wonder whose story we will get next.

Following the death of her mother, with whom she had a troubled relationship, Jade starts up an animal rescue centre. Needing help she employs Finn as a general handyman, he is at a loose end after being made redundant. Add into this mix Sarah, Jade's BFF and her young son Ben, plus vet Aiden and things don't go smoothly.
I have read and loved another of this author's series, Puddleduck Farm, I was looking forward to reading this first of a new series. The two are loosely linked with a welcome special guest appearance and have a similar theme. Both Jade and Finn have issues that they are struggling to overcome, compounded with a secret that risks spoiling everything. With the background of the animals and budding romance this is a very promising start and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

Absolutely loved this story, the characters, the setting and the ‘how on earth will this pan out and will there be a happy ever after?’ Throughly recommend, you will not be disappointed

After her estranged mother's death, Jade Foster opens Duck Pond Rescue, an animal sanctuary, while struggling with feelings of worthlessness. Finn, an artist posing as a handyman, arrives to help with renovations, while Aiden, the local vet, believes Finn isn't good enough for Jade. As they navigate a tangled story filled with sweet, fun moments, connections to Puddleduck Farm and a few challenges add humor and depth. The book offers a charming read, with engaging characters and anticipation for the next installment in the series.

Okay so i want to state firstly that "A new arrival at the Duck Pond Cottage" was incredibly cute and cozy with drama and tension between different characters. However this book was incredibly slow and tbh nothing would happen for multiple pages. The premises and space for events were there but i just felt like it could either have been shorter or events could have been added. I also felt like things were repeating themselves on some parts so it kinda brought my rating down. However this book for sure delivered a cute and cozy romance setting with a hint of drama and im all here for it!

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC!

This had a little bit of a slow start for me and then piqued my interest as the story progressed. Finn and Ben were by far my favorite characters. I loved how Jade worked so hard to rescue so many animals and made it her life's work.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

Really strong start to a new series, I really enjoyed the premise of the book and was great to escape to the countryside to read, look forward to seeing the series and characters develop further

Jade has her animal rescue which is what she’s always wanted. She runs into Finn several times before he starts helping her at the rescue.
This book has a big secret that really affects several characters. It’s a fast moving book with some romance
Some characters from this author’s other books cross over a little bit. It added to the story.
It’s a perfect beach read.

This was a cute story. I love the small town feeling and am partial to books with more going on than just the romance and this story was exactly that. This book and its set of characters are perfect for the cozy vibes and I'm excited to see what's to come in this series!

I read this as an ARC on NetGalley. This was a wonderful book about Duck Pond animal Rescue and the owner Jade. This book has wonderful characters, a secret child, animals and romance. I cannot wait to read more in this series and more by this author!

Absolutely loved this uplifting story about love and friendships.

Such a heartwarming and easy read. Jade is devastated that she’s lost her mother and never really got close to her. She meets Finn who is also at a crossroads they begin to work together and develop a close bond.

I love that there’s lots of sub plots which are interspersed throughout the story.

Loved it!

This is the first book that I read by a “new to me author”. I found out that she has written many books, which I now need to add to my ever growing to-be-read list!

I enjoyed Della Galton’s creation of a wonderful plot full of great characters, which included many animals! I was immediately drawn into the story and cared about so many of the people I met through reading the pages. So much emotion was going through me as I read about new love forming, and also heartbreak that was surely to come from secrets kept.

As always, in a romance book, all will be well by the end, as was in this case. That is why I read this genre. I want happy endings.

I want to thank Boldwood Books and NetGalley for giving me the pleasure of reading the advance reader copy, with no obligation to write a review. My review is written freely as a hobby, and is totally my own opinion, not influenced by receiving the ARC.

I received a free copy of, A New Arrival at Duck Pond Cottage, by Della Galton. from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Jade Foster lost her mother and ended her relationship, and start over by opening an animal rescue, she has Finn and vet Aiden vying for her attention, but Jade is not ready for a relationship quite yet. This was an interesting read.

new-series, first-in-series, romance, rescue-animals, veterinarian, rural, The New Forest, England, family-by-choice, family-drama, family-dynamics, secrets, lies, rehabilitation, remorse, relationship-issues, relationships, relatives, jealousy, self-worth-issues, estranged, inheritance, entanglements, HEA*****

After her estranged mother's death Jade Foster sets up an animal sanctuary, Duck Pond Rescue. She believes in the cause but feels a need to avoid people because she feels worthless. Finn is a jack-of-all-trades (but is really an artist) who comes to stay and work rehabbing the buildings. Aiden is the local vet who thinks that Finn is not good enough for Jade. Very entangled story but well worth reading.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Boldwood Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This was a lovely read, the characters were great as was the storyline. I would recommend.

after the death of her mother and a breakup with her boyfriend, Jade uses her inheritance to buy a small holding and set up and animal rescue. sweet story.

I'm going to keep it 100 - this book is super cute and has a great premise, but I think my ADHD had a big part in why I couldn't enjoy this book as much. The pacing with this book is SLOWWWW and felt like it was painfully dragging on. I found myself speed reading and skimming at some parts because NOTHING WAS HAPPENING. It was tough for me to get through, but I think that if this book lands in the right hands that it will be enjoyed and loved. I just don't think that I have the right attention span to give this book what it deserves, which is a bummer, because I really wanted to enjoy it.

I found myself most invested in the main character's best friend's son Ben -- the twist involved with him was really well done and I was SO FIRED UP about it. Sarah was a shitty person for the way she handled the situation with Ben's dad and I'm glad that Jade ended up betraying her trust to expose the truth!

I think that animal & romance lovers who can handle SLLLOOWWWWW books that lack dialogue will enjoy this book more than I did.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review - I am certain I have friends who would love this & that this book will be appreciated by a different audience. I would be willing to give other books from Della Galton a try in the future.