Book Review: The Perfect Hideaway by Alys Murray

Alys Murray’s latest book, The Perfect Hideaway, is now available as the third book in the Full Bloom Farm Series. If you haven’t started this series, check out The Magnolia Sisters and Sweet Pea Summer first.

I was really looking forward to The Perfect Hideaway because Annie Martin is my favorite character from the other two books. This book was everything I’d hoped for and more! The earlier books gave some inklings that Annie was more complicated than the Anderson sisters, or the rest of the town, gave her credit for and in this one we find out why (but don’t worry, no spoilers here).

Social media influencer Annie Martin has decided to leave Los Angeles behind and move to Hillsboro in Northern California full-time. She’s fallen in love with the small town and adopted the Andersons as her own family, but not everyone in town is ready to welcome her with open arms.

Surly local newspaper reporter George Barnett is certain there’s more to Annie and her brother Luke than meets the eye. Ever since they came to Hillsboro, he’s wanted to find out more about their past so he can write an expose that catapults his career to new heights. In his experience, rich people usually leave behind the bodies of all the people they’ve stepped over to get where they are and he’s convinced the Martins are no different.

Annie knows George has been digging around trying to get dirt on her brother, and she’s not about to let him hurt the most important person in her life. So, she offers herself up instead…even though she has more to hide than her brother. That’s because the only dirt that exists on Luke was really all her doing.

In exchange for the exclusive, George agrees to help Annie with her efforts to find a match for Rose, the only Anderson sister she hasn’t already tried to help steer toward love. He’s only in it to get the scoop on the Martins…or is he?

What begins as two people pursuing separate agendas begins to become more personal over time. I loved the dichotomy of Annie’s bright, sparkly personality paired with grumpy, skeptical George. Beneath all of their banter is an undercurrent of attraction, but they’re each hiding secrets from their past they’ll have to reveal if they want to go any further.

This was my favorite so far in the Full Bloom Series! Go ahead and grab The Magnolia Sisters and Sweet Pea Summer, if you haven’t already, and then dive into this charming small town romance set amidst the backdrop of beautiful Northern California.