5-Star Review - "The solution to the romantic dilemma was perfect for the situation and I applaud the author for this. This story warms the heart and reminds us all that we are essentially the same. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it... " Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite She yearns for a simple life – a home and someone to love. Can she find the courage to make her dreams come true? Joanna Marshall dreads a future alone. After eighteen years of sheltered family life, she’s devastated at the loss of both parents – and worse, she’s forced to lodge with spiteful Aunt Ivy. Joanna struggles to decide whether to hold on to the familiar, and stay with her bitter aunt, or to find the country cottage she’s inherited from her mother and face the daunting prospect of a friendless, loveless life. Tearing herself away from all she’s ever known, she steels herself to start afresh in a place she can’t even find on a map. But without anyone to guide or advise her, Joanna fears her lack of experience will drive her back to her relatives and a life of dependence. With the help of her new neighbours can she embrace the complications of falling in love with her boss and building a new life? A Cottage In Plotlands is the heart-warming first standalone book in The Heart of Plotlands historical romance saga series. If you like sweet romance, family loyalties and deep bonds of friendship, then you’ll love Dawn Knox’s uplifting and moving story set in the 1930s Plotlands of Dunton, Essex. Buy A Cottage in Plotlands to experience a little Plotland community spirit today! 5-Star Review "A Cottage in Plotlands by Dawn Knox is a sweet, historical romance that will appeal to lovers of happy endings. Joanna Marshall is just eighteen years old and very much an innocent. When her father died, leaving her and her mother in a tough financial position, the pair had no choice but to seek help from her Uncle John, her mother's brother, and his acerbic wife, Ivy. With Uncle John so often away for work, the pair mainly shared the house with the irascible Ivy. Desperate to save enough money to move into their own house, Joanna's mum worked at the local laundry and Joanna worked for a law firm as a shorthand typist. When her mum informed Joanna they almost had enough money for their own house, she was ecstatic; finally, they could get away from the ever-critical and constantly harping Ivy. Her joy quickly turns to horror when tragedy strikes and Joanna suddenly finds herself all alone in the world. Does she stay with her aunt or does she try to find the country cottage her mom has left her? Her journey to The Plotlands will be laced with new challenges, new friends, and a possible life-changing romance. A Cottage in Plotlands is a gentle examination of the class system in England which, after WWI, was coming under greater pressure. Author Dawn Knox does a wonderful job of showing the juxtaposition between the "haves" and the "have nots", the elites and the working class. In a society that was slowly emerging from the strict rules that these two classes could not possibly mix, the love that grows between Joanna and her employer, the young lawyer Ben, is at the core of this novel. I loved how many of the characters in this story, such as Aunt Ivy, Mrs. Pike, and Ben's mother were overdrawn to give added impetus to their classist attitudes. I appreciated the almost frontier-like attitude of the residents of The Plotlands. They may not have emigrated overseas but their camaraderie and their shared experience in a new concept of suburban living, away from the dirt and grime of London, was certainly something unique for working-class folk. The idea that the common working man was entitled to some degree of natural surroundings, healthy environment, and minor luxury was a new concept and one the residents adopted with gusto. The willingness of strangers to help a struggling young woman on her own was a testament to this frontier spirit and flew in the face of typical English reserve. The solution to the romantic dilemma was perfect for the situation and I applaud the author for this. This story warms the heart and reminds us all that we are essentially the same. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it." - Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite