Published By: Boldwood
Released On: 06/01/2022
Life at Hedgehog Hollow is never dull, although Samantha hopes that the new year ahead will be a little less chaotic as she prepares to marry the love of her life, Josh. But disaster strikes when she checks the rescue centre’s bank account after the festive season and discovers it has been emptied. Who would do such a thing, and why? With the future of Hedgehog Hollow now in jeopardy, planning a wedding has lost its shine.
Phoebe is desperate to escape the shadow of her family, infamously known for their attacks on Samantha’s beloved rescue centre. Could the kindness of the Hedgehog Hollow team be the chance she needs for a fresh start, or will her family’s secrets continue to drag her back?
*****
Thanks to Boldwood for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I only recently came across Jessica’s work with a Christmas novel of hers, and absolutely fell in love with her words. I haven’t read any of her “hedgehog hollow” books before and this being book number four, I was a little apprehensive that I might not know what was going on, but Jessica has kindly provided an update on the characters and the story so far at the start of this book, so you can quickly get up to speed. I did still get slightly lost at times but it was great having this to refer to.
Making hedgehogs the main focus is a genius move, as everyone loves hedgehogs. You get dog people and cat people, fish people, horse people and snake people, but I’ve not met anyone who doesn’t love a hedgehog, which instantly warms you to the story.
Each character is so wonderfully written and developed. You feel for them; scared for them, sad for them, happy for them, warming towards them – you go through every emotion. There were some characters I liked more than others, and some that, no matter their supposed redeemable aspects, I couldn’t gel with.
There are some very tough subjects touched upon – domestic violence, child abuse, drug abuse, self-harming, PTSD, fraud – and it’s all so sensitively written about.
My only slight negative is I wish the outcome of the Tina storyline (I won’t go in to too much depth for fear of spoilers) was given in more detail as, considering it takes up a lot of the first 1/2 of the book, the resolution was all a bit too quick for me. But this didn’t detract from any of the positives, and I think I’ll try to pick up the rest of the series to read as it was lovely.
Books By Your Bedside 
Thanks for reading A Wedding at Hedgehog Hollow and for sharing your thoughts. I hope you do have a chance to go back and read the others. I write some books in the same setting that are designed to work as standalone stories but this one is very much a series where the themes build and the characters develop so, although each book is a complete story, those who’ve read them all would agree it’s a richer reading experience.
Thanks also for your constructive feedback. Funnily enough, I did toy with making more of the Tina storyline but it was a very conscious decision not to because of the place Phoebe was in by that point. Tina’s control of her life was over and it therefore felt appropriate that she was not given the headspace by Phoebe or the page space from me to depict how much Phoebe had moved on.
Really appreciate you reading my stories and hope you enjoy others if you get a chance to read them 🙂
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