I was so hooked with the last two books in Cathy Bramley’s Ivy Series that I found myself finishing them quickly. On “Autumn,” we finally find out Tilly’s “secret,” the one she couldn’t talk about even to her new closest fiends, and it is heartbreaking. I admit I thought the worst – that she had a criminal past, but what it was was no less heartbreaking. It was also good to see her in the best place, seemingly ready for love via Aiden, and we get to see all of those culminate during the allotment’s Halloween party, but even the best laid plans do sometimes not work out, and because of a misunderstanding or two our herione, by the end of this installment, isn’t where we want her to be. Bramley has a great knack for moving things along well, and I am still hooked, hoping against hope that Tilly finds her happiness.

And we get to the her conclusion in “Winter,” and I have to admit I shed a few tears here. When, at the Christmas party, Tilly gets an award for all her contributions to the allotment, I just saw tears in my eyes – nice to see her in the best palce after everything she has gone through) and I feel like I went through all of it with her) And we also get the epilogue on the romantic status – and I admit I was a little bit shocked to find who she ends up with, although all signs pointed there, I thought her alternate choice could have worked out as well. But all is well that ends well, and I really enjoyed this series of books, and look forward to future offerings from Ms. Bramley.