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The House of Birds and Butterflies  By  cover art

The House of Birds and Butterflies

By: Cressida McLaughlin
Narrated by: Katy Federman
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Publisher's summary

Abby Field loves every inch of Meadowsweet Nature Reserve on the idyllic Suffolk coast where she lives and works. Especially Swallowtail House, the rambling but empty country house that seems to look out at her each time she passes it’s shut-up windows.

When a TV wildlife programme choses a rival location for their new series, Meadowsweet is under threat – unless Abby can whip up a plan to keep the visitors flocking. But she finds herself distracted by the arrival of a brooding – and annoyingly handsome new neighbour… bad-boy novelist, Jack Westcoat.

With the pressure on, Abby and her cute rescue huskie, Raffle, must pull something special out of the bag. But with Jack in need of a good friend – and Abby feeling the pull of attraction, she can sense her resolve fluttering away…

©2018 Cressida McLaughlin (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Oh, I just love this story. All the characters are wonderful." (Isabelle Broom)

"I could hear the birdsong and smell the wildflowers as I read The Dawn Chorus...." (Sarra Manning)

"McLaughlin writes so warmly and vividly, the rest of the world melts away...I love that feeling!" (Kirsty Greenwood)

What listeners say about The House of Birds and Butterflies

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  • JJ
  • 12-28-22

Lovely story

This book is a great read, calm, entertaining and thoughtful, I very much enjoyed it!

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good story

I have enjoyed this story. however, the person reading, I don't care to ever hear her voice again. Penelope and Jack sound pretentious snobs, and Octavia is either American, or American/British, or can't actually decide what country she is from. The voice she uses for Octavia actually is like nails on a chalkboard. I have really enjoyed all of the audio books by this author, and I look forward to listening to more in the future. They are fun, light, full of friendship and love. Lots of dogs and other animals which is wonderful.

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Incredible narrator

I have hundreds of Audible books. Katy Federman is an amazing narrator! I would listen to anything she reads. (Yes, I loved this story, too.)

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Ummmm not clean and wholesome as described

Well, I’m a little intrigued about the story but by the 2nd chapter I was so tired of the f bombs.
I would think an author with multiple books would have enough talent to express thoughts and emotions without resorting to nasty language. Too bad.

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Nothing but swearing.

The first 1 1/2 chapters were tedious. By the end of chapter two it had dissolved into saying Fu— and bloody constantly. There was literally a sentence that said Fu— three times. This was advertised by Audible as clean and wholesome. How is that possible?

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