Product Description

Rosie and Mark, a couple living in chic urban squalor, pine for the rustic bliss of country life. Newly minted, Samantha and Guy want the same thing-on a somewhat grander scale. The four converge on the quaint village of Eight Mile Bottom. With its eccentric residents, including a reclusive rock star, a nosy postman, a foxy farmer, and one ghost with a knife in its back, the two couples are soon swept up in various romantic entanglements, mix-ups, slipups, and unlikely seductions in their search for ever-greener pastures.

Farm Fatale is another witty, irresistible gem from a hip and savvy author.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1268550 in Books
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Amazon.com
Farm Fatale is a breezy Cinderella of a novel, tarted up in wellies and corduroy rather than the more traditional ball gown. Its theme--Londoners move to the country--is a well worn one in British comic writing, and Farm Fatale hews closely to tradition. Rosie is a disgruntled illustrator, bored with city living and dissatisfied with her relationship. She convinces her crabby boyfriend Mark to move with her to the country. Samantha and Guy--a trophy wife and the man who bagged her--end up in the same town, dragging their pretensions along with them. Village life looks easy enough, but the four newcomers find plenty of pitfalls among the cows, the mud, the marauding hippies, and the leaky outbuildings. This is the kind of novel that ends with someone slipping a "pale blue Tiffany ring box" into the heroine's hand; the fun is in finding out just who that suitor will be. --Claire Dederer

From Publishers Weekly
As the old caveat goes: be careful what you wish for it might come true. Holden (Bad Heir Day) addresses what can possibly go wrong (and does) when one woman finally gets exactly what she wants in this energetic, witty tale. Rosie, an idealistic freelance illustrator, can hardly wait to leave her dingy London flat for a charming little cottage in the country. Mark, her live-in boyfriend, is less than enthusiastic about exchanging London's hustle and bustle for the bucolic life particularly when his "big break" at his thankless newspaper job seems just around the corner. But Mark's editor assigns him a new column based on the adventures of a "city mouse" in the country, and it looks like Rosie's dream has finally come true. Unfortunately, it's a nightmare. Their tiny cottage is just as "rural" and "historic" as it appears (complete with the attendant plumbing problems); loud hippie neighbors disturb their slumbers; and Rosie and Mark squabble over everything from gardening to the charms of the locals. However, the lovely old couple next door has a farmer nephew they're eager for Rosie to meet, and to her surprise, he turns out to be both young and cute. Toss in a reclusive pop star, a pushy second-rate actress and a gossipy postman, and decibel levels in the sleepy village of Eight Mile Bottom are soon rising to a decidedly unsleepy pitch. With enjoyable if limited characters and a wonderfully awful-to-watch side plot involving the truly horrible "Sasha Villiers" (her "stage" name), this lighthearted romp, surprisingly unpredictable, smart and fun, is refreshing fare readers can turn to when they're tired of lifeless Bridget clones.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Holden, the author of Bad Heir Day [BKL D 1 00], delivers another sharp and witty romance featuring British manners, money, and an entertaining mix of diverse characters converging in unlikely places. When illustrator Rosie's boyfriend, Mark, is offered his dream job of writing a newspaper column on country life, Rosie realizes her dream of leaving London. Finding a cottage in picturesque Eight Mile Bottom, they settle in, she happy as a clam and he increasingly frustrated. The local manor also has new residents, the wealthy Guy and his not-too-successful actress trophy wife, Samantha; and reclusive rock star Matt Locke has taken up residence in Ladymead, a grand turreted estate with centuries of rich history under its towers. Eventually Rosie's illustrations garner her a book contract, and she seems destined to find true love if only she can rid herself of the increasingly petulant and annoying Mark. Holden's wry wit will appeal to fans of Bridget Jones's Diary (1998) and other lightweight British chick books. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

"...and the church bells struck sixteen..."
Artist Rosie hates the noise, crowds, and pressure of living in her cramped London flat, and longs to live in a cozy old cottage nestled in a picturesque village, full of quaint, friendly folk. Her city-loving boyfriend finally agrees to move to the country, and they settle in the town of Eight-Mile Bottom, where a handsome farmer, a reclusive rock star, and some comic locals will change her life forever.

Told from Rosie's point of view, the story is very funny and at times, quite touching. It's easy to identify with her longing for love and fulfillment, as she charges full-steam ahead in pursuit of her dreams. Sometimes we wish Rosie made better choices, but it's a journey that will put a smile on your face. The story proceeds at a leisurely pace, with plenty of time to get to know all the fascinating characters that live in the village, from the nosy mailman to the hippie family next door. The narrative is full of British idioms and references that add flavor and humor; an audio book would definitely be fun to listen to, and, I think it would make a great movie.

"Farm Fatale" is a witty, hip, gossipy fish-out-of-water story that you won't want to put down. Highly recommended.

entertaining, but disappointingly lightweight
"Farm Fatale" starts off as a Bridget-Jones-style modern Brit comedy, but by the end I felt like I'd been reading an updated Harlequin romance. Holden does put unexpected plot twists into her book, but many of the characters who start out interestingly dwindle into stereotypes, and I was very disappointed by her unbelievable ending. The story includes mildly graphic but hurried sex scenes that are not particularly well-written. (Holden's mention of the "hungry throb" her character Rosie feels in a certain part of her anatomy irritated me for weeks.) This book might amuse you on a plane, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it.

Cute and Funny Summer Reading
This is a very funny, humorous book. City folk move to the countryside and have to deal with the gossipy locals. Rosie wanted to live in the country all along. She moves there with Mark who is only going because his newspaper is paying him to write a column about it. Funny situations happen in their lives which lead to a breakup. But Rosie finds romance with Matt Locke, the rock star who lives in the area. The entire book is really cute and funny. At first I was alittle worried about the british slang since I am from the USA. But the story moves along quickly and is very easy to follow. A great funny read if you are looking for a light fun book.