Izzy Dane, aged sixteen, was in a car which crashed on the driveway of a large house in the English countryside. The village of Halfhidden, Lancashire, lost one young person that night and three more young lives were affected. Years later, Izzy is in an engagement with an Oxford doctor she doesn't really know all that well, having worked overseas in textiles and non-profits, when she returns. CREATURE COMFORTS are to the fore.

Debo who is Izzy's aunt runs a perpetually underfunded dog rescue centre, and Izzy goes to stay here, since her parents have died and their home has been sold. Izzy's already had a wake-up call about her fiancé Kieran's father. Relations are frosty. At this point I found it awkward for the reader that the characters all talk about various issues concerning the past - including that past car crash, which Izzy can't remember, and an unknown heir to someone else. It's natural that Izzy should want to catch up on all the local gossip, but to us newcomers it's just a string of names at first, though with charmingly cutting remarks added. A hotel runs haunted weekends and Izzy's pal Lulu wants to expand this to longer haunted holidays. Izzy volunteers to help with organising the dog rescue centre more efficiently while she's establishing a fabric business.

The descriptions of the village are intense and evocative, from lichen-scabbed gateposts to opening spring flowers and Portmeirion pottery plates. As is often the case, the big dogs are the ones which are dumped to rescue centres; a gorgeous Newfoundland is one. There are plans aplenty to attract tourism. Rufus Carlyle, antique dealer, is a newcomer, the unexpected heir mentioned above, and he seems to be putting a spoke in a few wheels, but actually his relative Dan has been feeding him unflattering information about everyone... all the gossip in this village seems pointed, nasty and divisive. So much of it dates back to that car crash which Izzy is only now starting to remember... is there some hidden truth which others would prefer not to emerge?

With some gorgeous recipes such as cinnamon and sultana swirls, CREATURE COMFORTS will make a lot of friends. We meet engaging or surly characters, visit historic and charm- filled landscapes, take a trip back to the fateful night when Izzy was injured and the dynamics of the village changed forever. Will the truth bring her happiness or destroy her newfound friendships? Stroll along to Halfhidden and enter a story of determination, character growth and learning the true nature of love. English author Trisha Ashley is a Sunday Times best-selling author, with several other titles of modern women's fiction to her credit. If you enjoy CREATURE COMFORTS you can look out for many more great stories.