Book Review: Finding Home by Kate Field

Title: Finding Home
Author: Kate Field
Publisher: One More Chapter
Publication date: April 16, 2021
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Romance
One Sentence Summary: Mim has lost everything except her car, until a chance encounter with a sweet, yet wealthy couple gives her the option of a new life and more than she ever dreamed of having.

Finding Home is one of those saccharine fluffy novels I normally avoid, but this is described as an uplifting read and just sounded so sweet that I decided to give it a try. I must admit there was one, or two, times I was tempted to quit or put it down and never pick it back up because it was fairly predictable, but I’m glad I soldiered on because it turned out to be sweet, but in the best possible way.

One Woman’s Journey to Finding Family

After the unexpected death of her boss, Mim is both out of a job and a home because her boss’s daughter hates her. Stuck with living out of her car, at least until the new year when she can look for a new job, she unexpectedly comes across Bea and Bill Howard, a wealthy couple from Devon. They’re in desperate need to get home, but their car has broken down. Mim offers to drive them, unaware of how drastically this one kind gesture will change her life.

Yes, Bea and Bill are disgustingly wealthy, but they have big hearts, and so do their four grown children: Corin, Ros, Olly, and Lia. They all take to Mim and include her as one of their own. But, after years of being on her own, Mim is dead set on making her own way. At the same time, there’s just something about this family that makes it difficult to say no to them.

Told from Mim’s perspective, Finding Home really is a sweet, uplifting story without being cute. If anything, perhaps the Howards were a bit too perfect, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have their own problems. Anyways, it’s really the beautiful story of a thirty-something woman who essentially has nothing, but who gains everything through the course of the story.

At the beginning, I admit I was a little bored. It all seemed very predictable, especially the love interest. Usually, I abandon those kinds of stories, especially if they’re romances because predictable doesn’t keep me interested. But, since the publisher had offered this one to me, I felt obligated to keep reading. I’m actually very glad I did because it absolutely was an uplifting read of true love and found family. Everything the description promised, it gave.

I did go in expecting the romance to be at the forefront, in all the ways that makes romance romance. But Finding Home didn’t actually do that. It was amazing how well it managed to skirt around the romance while also providing a rather realistic love story. I thought it was amazingly well done, and was just so sweet and beautiful. I also loved reading Mim’s journey, which overtook the romance, so I missed all the formulas of romance to really enjoy a story about people and the goodness in their souls.

That’s really what this book is about: the good in people. The Howards have all this money, but no real direction. It’s clear they each want to do something more, something better, to prove they’re not rich and spoiled, but they needed Mim because she’s so down to Earth, so beaten down without having her spirit beat out of her. I loved that both the Howards and Mim needed each other, and the inherent kindness in each of them just came out so easily. I also appreciated all the wrenches thrown in their ways because it proved just how strong they all are, how big and caring their hearts are.

Finding Home is a lovely, fluffy story, but, looking deeper, there’s an incredible, rich story of people, and I did find myself enjoying it by the end.

A Hardworking Woman and a Wealthy Family

Finding Home is Mim’s story, so it’s centered around her. Raised mostly in care, she never had a stable home until hired to help run a hotel for ten years. But that ended abruptly, leaving Mim living out of her car. Mim, though, does what she does best and survives. She knows only to rely on herself and work hard. I really loved that Mim felt like an older, seasoned human being. She’s seen the good and the bad and endured it all. Hers is a hearty spirit, and, despite having things torn from her throughout her life, she’s still cheerful and so witty. I couldn’t help but be charmed by her. I especially like that she’s in her thirties, so she comes across as mature, steady, and thoughtful with a fierce loyalty.

Finding Home also has some incredible secondary characters, from the Howards to two ladies Mim takes to swimming with to all the people of Littlemead. They were all well-crafted and played their roles to perfection. The Howards behaved suitably wealthy, but with really beautiful hearts under all that money. The villagers, most of them, were charming and friendly and really took to Mim. I did get confused more than once between the two women Mim swims with, though. As for the love interest, he is, in every way, a perfect match for Mim. It’s almost too perfect, but he himself isn’t, which made their relationship really lovely.

By the Sea

Finding Home is set in a lovely idyllic village on the sea. Everything about it felt beautiful and wonderful, and it all thoroughly charmed me. I loved how present the sea was in the story. It did make things feel a little chilly weather-wise, but I did love the sense of being right by the ocean. The village wasn’t exactly well-described, but it felt like a typical charming English village, so it was easy to fill in the gaps.

Much of the story, though, is set at Vennhallow, the Howards’ home. Described as a massive place, it did indeed feel massive, both inside and outside. It clearly came off as the home of a wealthy family, but the family itself was so warm and inviting that only their naivete about what ordinary people go through brought out the social divide. Mim lives on the grounds on Vennhallow in a caravan, one of many that play a role in the story, and I couldn’t help but picture a lovely little meadow.

Everything it Promised to Be

Finding Home is a sweet, fluffy story, but, underneath, it’s also something more. Uplifting and heartwarming, absolutely. Light on the romance, surprisingly. I loved how it focused on Mim’s journey, making it more than just a light, fluffy read. It is a quick read, though. The writing is tight and the pace perfectly even, so it’s easy to just breeze through it. Finding Home is a perfect light read with a lovely balance of story and romance, and absolutely delivers on everything it promised.

How many cups of tea will you need?

4 cups

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Thank you to Claire Fenby from One Chapter More and NetGalley for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

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