Can't quite see why Mina would have been afforded a council house when she isn't on the dole and likely earns a good bit of dosh.

The council house was originally Mina’s mother’s. Mina, her mother and her younger sister lived there. Mina’s mother met a nice bloke and moved in with him, leaving Mina, her daughter Sal and Mina’s sister to live there. The council doesn’t know about this and it’s mentioned that this is something Mina worries about but…since those particular homes were slated to be demolished and rebuilt a while ago, and haven’t been, Mina doesn’t sweat it.

And aren't profs at Cambridge referred to as ‘fellows'?

Would someone of Mina’s social class know this? I’m curious myself.

By the by, Jamie Oliver would give a good rollicking to anyone today eating stodgy, fatten laden Toad in the Hole.

This is a dish Mina’s mother makes and from all the stuff they eat, I think her mother is into comfort food.

And I do hope the prejudice of Gypsy Travellers was accurately portrayed, although I can't imagine those pupils, or their parents, accepting friendship with outsiders as they are viewed as corrupting.

This is where the independence of Peter’s daughters comes in. One has befriended a Traveler girl and gets to know her (very slightly) older brother. The Traveler parents aren’t wild about all of this and hint of past problems they’ve had. They don’t appear to be welcoming the people of the village with open arms into their caravans but they are polite to Peter and his daughters.

Can't quite see why Mina would have been afforded a council house when she isn't on the dole and likely earns a good bit of dosh.

And aren't profs at Cambridge referred to as ‘fellows'?

Rosy Thornton‘s

a lecturer and Fellow in Law at Emmanuel College, Cambridge [...]. I teach and write on an eclectic mix of topics, including landlord and tenant law, trusts, homelessness, and women and the law.

So I expect she knows what she’s writing about when it comes to these topics. Maybe Mina’s house is an ex-Council house?

It’s funny that IPA is an unfamiliar term to people. It’s my partner’s favorite style of ale, and we rarely have trouble finding one on either side of the Atlantic. Oh, and I’ve always heard “tip” used to mean dump or landfill, in a rubbish context.

This sounds exactly like the kind of book I love. A slow exploration into people's lives and feelings without endless pages of characters sitting around thinking how much they want to boink each other. Going to add this to my shopping cart right now!

Thanks for the review.

(btw: has anyone reviewed Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen? Another gently written, slowly unfolding, gorgeous romance.)

I totally agree with AnotherLori about enjoying stories much more, and finding the HEA more believable, if I think the couple have had time to actually know each other, rather than deciding they’ve met their Soul Mate based on hormones and a weekend together. The chemistry must be present, but it’s almost impossible to truly know someone until you’ve seen them in different situations, interacting with different people. There’s a reason why the wedding vows say “in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer” — to my mind it represents not just the future but whether you’ve experienced enough of the past together to know how each will react.

IPA is a term I’ve learned recently. If you go to a liquor store and browse the beer section, you’ll see a number of packages that say IPA on the side. They seem to be increasingly popular here in Washington.

I read Garden Spells and liked it a lot. It has a slight paranormal aspect to it, but it’s a lovely story of family, siblings, food, and falling in love. It reminded me a bit of Mistress of Spices and Like Water for Chocolate in how the paranormal plays a role in the book but the human aspects are the actual emotional drivers. I liked her next book, Sugar Queen, but not quite as much.

And aren’t profs at Cambridge referred to as ‘fellows’?

By the by, Jamie Oliver would give a good rollicking to anyone today eating stodgy, fatten laden Toad in the Hole.

And I do hope the prejudice of Gypsy Travellers was accurately portrayed, although I can’t imagine those pupils, or their parents, accepting friendship with outsiders as they are viewed as corrupting.

Thanks for the review.

(btw: has anyone reviewed Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen? Another gently written, slowly unfolding, gorgeous romance.)

I’ve run into the IPA thing in a British mystery but I can’t remember which one right now. May have been a British television production.

Did it say that in the book about the call center policy? Because I'm kind of curious as I work in an insurance call center here in the States and customers can ask for a particular representative, especially if that rep is handling something for them.

Yep, it specifically said that it was the policy of her call center. Later someone else needs to speak with her and has to keep calling and calling until Mina answers the line.

This book looks interesting. I prefer slow, get-to-know you romances to the two-day-frak-and-fall-in-love varieties. Makes me wonder why I even bother with most romances. I suppose it’s that funny feeling in my stomach when they kiss.

And I love the cover too. Sort of retro and fun. Thanks for the review!

When he calls in the second accident, which occurs when he's playing charades with his twin daughters while driving, he remembers Mina's name and specifically asks for her, which is against all call center policy. It's then that Mina takes it upon herself to check into his policy at bit and calls him at home about his claim.

Did it say that in the book about the call center policy? Because I’m kind of curious as I work in an insurance call center here in the States and customers can ask for a particular representative, especially if that rep is handling something for them.

I love reading British books that have all the British styling and phrasing in them. I learn a lot of new things and get a great picture of another culture and way of life.

A “tip” in that sense is much, much larger than a dust bin. I tend to think of it as referring to something this size or this size.

Evo-stick – yep, it’s a brand name but I don’t know so many English brand names and still had to look this up to see what it is.

tip – trash, dust bin.

I had a wonderful time watching for little Britishisms to add to my store of knowledge gleaned over years of reading Chick Lit books. IPA and Evo-Sticks, Toad in the Hole and tips, HMV and “Just William.”

I suppose it would be clear from the context, but I’m curious because I’m from the UK, but I have no idea what IPA stands for. I Googled “Evo-Sticks” and it seems to have something to do with DIY but it seems to be a brand name rather than a name which describes any one product (unlike pritt stick). Were the “tips” referring to advice, or to the money you give waiters in restaurants, or to something else? And if you don’t call them “tips” in the US, what do you call them?