Rating: 4.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel

 

Peter Griffin was supposed to be bound for the Olympics. After years of success in the equestrian ring with his mare, Annie, it was their time to go for the gold. Until an accident cost Peter his future. Thankfully, Annie survived, but Peter is badly injured. With a badly broken leg, it seems doubtful Peter will be able to compete again and he finds himself adrift and without purpose.

Reed Androku is new to the McAuley-Griffin farm, but as a horse rehab specialist, there’s none better. And unlike back home in Russia, Reed’s taste in scarves and nail polish are accepted on Tulip Farm. Reed knows Annie needs to work, it’s the only way she’ll be happy, but it means convincing Peter and the rest of the family, which is no easy task.

It’s Reed who slowly helps Peter start to live again and together they find a measure of peace during the slow process of Peter’s recovery. But with a dangerous ex-husband making threats and strange accidents on the rise, Reed and Peter must navigate a perilous and unknown path in order to the save the farm they love.

Challenge Month 2021Remedy is the first in the Tulip Farm series and I loved almost every minute of it. Peter and Reed were strong characters and I was drawn into their romance from the start. But the book has an equally strong set of secondary characters and a vibrant sense of place. There are some mild pacing issues and the antagonists are somewhat predictable, but for the most part, Remedy was an exceptional read.

Peter and Reed click early on and their romance reads as natural and instinctive, without feeling formulaic or boring. Each of them is dealing with demons and while the book has a healthy dose of angst, it’s never overwhelming. There were a few times when I felt that Peter accepted his change in reality a little too easily and I wanted some more exploration of his feelings, etc, but he and Reed were both well-rounded characters that seemed believable.

The plot to Remedy is generally strong and this is rounded out by an engaging secondary cast. From Peter’s siblings and parents to his therapist, the author has built a strong, compelling community of people invested not just in Peter and Reed, but in the farm and the work it does. It also helped to flesh out the world for future books in the series. The bad guys here are pretty one note thugs, their actions telegraphed and not particularly clever. There isn’t a complete resolution to the story and presumably this will be picked up in the next book, but it gave the ending something of an abrupt feel. The pacing to Remedy is decent, but does stumble in a couple of places. This doesn’t last long and never pulled me from the overall plot. I think the only reason I even noticed it was because the rest of the writing was so strong.

Remedy was excellent initial entry into the Tulip Farm series and one I thoroughly enjoyed. It was also my choice for Under the Rainbow Week in our Reading Challenge Month as it features a non-binary character. I’m definitely looking forward to the next installment and I think any reader who likes a proper romance with a dollop of angst will find themselves enjoying Remedy.

This review is part of our 2021 Reading Challenge Month for Under the Rainbow Week! Leave a relevant comment below and you will be entered to win a fabulous paperback book bundle from Carina Press (you can see the details on the bundle in our Prize Preview post)! Commenters will also be entered to win our amazing Grand Prize sponsored by NineStar Press: a Kindle Paperwhite loaded with 50 NineStar Press books! And don’t forget if you read along with your own challenge book this week, you can earn ten contest entries for writing a mini-review on our wrap up post on Friday! You can get more information on our Challenge Month here (including all the contest rules) and more details on Under the Rainbow Week here