The Peppercorn Project in Aussie Readers

Jan 19, 2016 Brenda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, own-read, rural, aussie-authors, net-galley, read-on-kindle, romance, 2016-release

Isabelle Cassidy and her two children, twelve year old Fletcher and six year old Mietta felt their grief at losing their husband and father deep in their hearts. Dan’s unexpected and tragic death left the three shattered and Isabelle struggled on a daily basis to cope with the simple task of living. When she saw the advertisement about The Peppercorn Project she decided on a whim to enter. After all, what did they have to lose?

Stony Creek was north of Adelaide in South Australia, at the foot of Isabelle Cassidy and her two children, twelve year old Fletcher and six year old Mietta felt their grief at losing their husband and father deep in their hearts. Dan’s unexpected and tragic death left the three shattered and Isabelle struggled on a daily basis to cope with the simple task of living. When she saw the advertisement about The Peppercorn Project she decided on a whim to enter. After all, what did they have to lose?

Stony Creek was north of Adelaide in South Australia, at the foot of the Flinders Ranges; and a long way from their home in Torquay, Victoria. The weekend Isabelle and her children made the long drive to Stony Creek, after being accepted as one of twenty families to be interviewed, she was assailed with doubt. Fletcher was surly and unresponsive and Mietta clingy – they still missed their father dreadfully. Was she making the right decision in contemplating a move away from everything they had ever known?

Matthew Robertson was one of the local cops in Stony Creek – he’d only been in the quiet country town for eighteen months, but he loved it. He didn’t want things to change so was against the idea of the Peppercorn Project – but he was overruled by the majority of the townsfolk. When he met Isabelle and her two children on the Saturday morning, he couldn’t get over her fragility and the sadness deep in her eyes. Matt’s kind heart stirred - he wanted to remove the sadness from Isabelle’s face…

Was it possible for the Cassidy family to move on past their grief in this gentle and caring rural town? And what was happening to make Isabel suspicious and doubtful? Could there be trouble in Stony Creek?

The Peppercorn Project by Aussie author Nicki Edwards is a beautiful story - a family broken by grief; a town filled with compassion and empathy plus a damaged cop. They all come together in The Peppercorn Project which in my opinion is this author’s best yet. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy to read in exchange for my honest review. ...more

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Jun 16, 2025 Catsalive rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2025, tower

A very pleasant tale. I love the setting in the small South Australian town of Stony Creek. The premise of the Peppercorn Project is great & I would have liked more about it, the other people involved & the effect the introduction of four new families had on the town. This concentrates on one family, Isabelle Cassidy & her children, Fletcher & Mietta, so I was a bit disappointed.

Matt Robertson, the local police sergeant, & recently widowed Isabelle fancied each other from the beginning, but I th ...more

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Jun 01, 2016 Bree T rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: aww2016, romance, arc, australian

After a personal tragedy devastates her life, Isabelle Cassidy applies to move herself and her two children from their home in Torquay on Victoria’s south west coast to Stony Creek in country South Australia as part of the ‘Peppercorn Project’ of the town. Stony Creek will be granting several families a home for a year for a nominal fee. It’s something that Isabelle desperately needs as her situation has left her with almost nothing. Her older son is at first, resentful of the move and an incide After a personal tragedy devastates her life, Isabelle Cassidy applies to move herself and her two children from their home in Torquay on Victoria’s south west coast to Stony Creek in country South Australia as part of the ‘Peppercorn Project’ of the town. Stony Creek will be granting several families a home for a year for a nominal fee. It’s something that Isabelle desperately needs as her situation has left her with almost nothing. Her older son is at first, resentful of the move and an incident during the interview almost jeopardises their chances. Despite that, they are given the opportunity to join the community.

I think that books featuring a widow or widower are very difficult to get right. There’s a difficulty in balancing a believable amount of grief with a realistic situation of moving on. I think for me, it’s difficult to imagine the death of my partner – I don’t want to even try. Add in the thought of what it might be like to move on to someone else…. it makes it harder to place yourself in the main character’s shoes, unless of course you have that situation in common.

Issie’s widowhood is relatively fresh when she meets Matt, the police officer in Stony Creek. She chooses to keep her history a secret as much as possible, preferring instead to tell people individually what happened to her husband, rather than having everyone know before she arrives, so for a while Matt isn’t aware that she’s a widow. His interest in her is almost immediate and although they do kind of get off to a bumpy start, once Issie and her family move to Stony Creek, Matt proves himself to be helpful and seems to fit effortlessly into their lives, first as a good friend and then potentially, as more. At times it appears almost too easy – her children adore him pretty much right away with her 12yo son even going so far as to tell her that if she wanted to remarry, someone like Matt would be cool. This, less than a year after the boy lost his father, did seem a trifle swift for a child of his age.

The romance is a very slow burn – presumably because of Issie’s grieving and healing process. A large part of the book is devoted to showcasing the small community as well as Matt and Issie’s developing friendship, which proceeds along in a gentle manner. Woven in (sort of) there’s a thread of story that almost becomes a line of suspense, suggesting that drugs have penetrated the small town, which is a great idea. However, it kind of amounts to little more than a few sentences between characters, Issie witnessing one or two things and the townspeople using the drugs thing as a way to suspect the newcomers through the Peppercorn project. It also ends in a very lucklustre and quick way, wrapping up and basically vanishing from the plot but the book keeps going for a little bit longer which makes the pacing seem slightly off. I think it would’ve been really awesome if that drugs plot was expanded upon a little more, used as a way to really examine the idea of the Peppercorn project, the potential fallout as well as the “them vs us” sort of divide that seemed to spring up almost right away. Newcomers to small towns can be often viewed as outsiders, not ‘locals’ until they’ve been there generations. It’s something that could’ve definitely gone a bit further, become a meatier part of the novel. Overall the tone is light and it still could’ve stayed that way by focusing on the issues and social aspects, rather than the crime itself.

The Peppercorn Project is a sweet story of a woman who learns to find her feet again after a terrible tragedy. Issie is a very likable character, just trying to do everything she can to give her children a better life, even if they perhaps don’t really understand why they need to move. I like my romances with a little more heat but there are plenty that will appreciate the slow and gentle courtship here, especially given Issie’s circumstances. The community is well constructed and portrayed, giving that genuine small town feel. Even with the small drug issue that arises, it still feels like the sort of place you would like to live, raise a family….or heal. I think Nicki Edwards is carving out a niche for herself in the rural genre with stories that leave you feeling good. ...more

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