Welcome to Hope Meadows

The sun is finally out, and Bookends has the perfect summer treat for readers of feel-good women’s fiction. Summer at Hope Meadows is the first novel in a series set in Welford, a little village in the Yorkshire Dales. It’s packed with animal adventures, sunshine, gorgeous details about country life, and, of course, romance! It’s based on the Animal Ark children’s series (which included such titles as ‘Pony on the Porch’, ‘Puppies in the Pantry’ and ‘Kittens in the Kitchen’) and features the main characters – Mandy Hope and her best friend James Hunter – as grown-ups, exploring what happens next. Mandy is now a qualified vet, and she’s moving back to Welford from Leeds to help out in Animal Ark, and James runs a coffee shop in York, and is getting married to his partner Paul. There’s drama, heartache, a few weepy moments… but it’ll leave you with a huge smile on your face, and feeling like summer has truly arrived.

Read the opening chapter here.

In case you need a reminder, here are some members of our colleagues talking about their childhood memories of Animal Ark: