KEEPING THE PEACE by Hannah Hooton is a fun read filled with entertaining characters and dangerous cottage renovations. If you've ever dreamed of moving somewhere and starting over, this book is for you. I give it 4 stars, and will enjoy re-reading my favorite parts for a good laugh.
KEEPING THE PEACE tells the story of Pippa, a waitress and girlfriend of a self-centered aspiring actor, who inherits a horse, Peace Offering, and a cottage from her uncle, the black sheep of her family. She nearly sells the horse in order to fund the renovation of the cottage, but changes her mind at the last minute when she discovers that her crazy Uncle Dave dreamed of entering Peace Offering into a particular race.
She practically falls into a job at the horse training facility where Peace Offering is being stabled, and eventually falls in love with Peace Offering's trainer, Jack. Jack is a proponent of keeping work and romantic relationships separate though, and so the tension between Pippa and Jack builds for a long time until one of them makes a move.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The banter between Jack and Pippa is hilarious, and Pippa's newbie mistakes (in horse racing, clerical work, and home renovations) are infamous. The book is paced well, and the characters and plotline are absolutely believable. Between the kooky characters and rural setting, the book reminded me of a cross between the movies Bridget Jones' Diary and The Holiday. I laughed a great deal.
The romantic drama was well written and is a good depiction of how fears and insecurities can affect a relationship, both before and after consummation. The development of Pippa and Jack's relationship is also well-timed in that there is a clear description of how much time is passing.
On a technical note, some of the paragraph and sentence structuring could be revised to provide readers with a clearer understanding of the dialogue and narration. Other than that, though, I loved this book. I would highly recommend KEEPING THE PEACE to all adult readers, as the language and love scenes make it inappropriate for those under 18 years of age.
**Review originally written for The Romance Reviews.com at http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooksreview.php?bookid=9105
