I’ve been a bit obsessed with checking my reviews/ratings for book 2 in the Hedgehog Hollow series – New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollows – for two reasons:

1. They have accumulated at a rate I’ve never seen before on any of my books
2. There weren’t any 1 or 2-star ratings among them and I was intrigued as to how many I’d get before I received my first

The book was released on Thursday 7th January so it is day 19 now. After only a week, I was astonished to have gathered 100 ratings/reviews. Only two of those were 3-star which, although classed as ‘negative’ on Amazon doesn’t unduly concern me. Readers use the ratings differently and for some this is a case of enjoying a book but not having your socks blown off by it.

I hadn’t expected to get to 100 without any 1 or 2-star ratings/reviews so, once I did, figured it would only be a matter of time before that happened. This is not me being negative; it’s an inevitability that not everyone likes the same thing and there will always be those who don’t enjoy what an author writes and shares that feedback through negative reviews/ratings.

The number passed 200. Then 300. Still no 1 or 2-star ratings/reviews. Surely there was no way I’d get to 400. But I did. This afternoon, I got a screen shot at 402 reviews with no 1 or 2-star ratings/reviews. I’m a bit gutted as I’ve just realised that my screen shot doesn’t actually tally and it says 402 ratings at the top but 399 in the breakdown box but I did refresh it later and it was showing 402 in both boxes but I didn’t take another screen shot as I hadn’t realised it had been incorrect before.

Another refresh took me up to 405 and 2 x 2-star ratings (no review) had crept in. So now there are two properly negative verdicts (alongside 20 x 3-stars) but I am absolutely thrilled to have got beyond 400 before that happened. I doubt it will happen again so thank you to the hedgehogs for capturing readers’ hearts and to everyone who has left kind words or a positive rating. This spurs me on to keep writing.

They have also reached their highest UK Kindle chart position so far at #169.

If you haven’t already downloaded New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow, the price is a bargain 99p on Apple, Kindle and Kobo so grab a bargain now.

And as the second batch of hedgehogs hit their 400 milestone, the first batch in Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow have just hit a mammoth one passing 1,000 reviews/ratings this afternoon. Woo hoo! Hurrah for those hedgehogs!

Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow joins Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes and Starry Skies Over The Chocolate Pot Café in the 1,000 Club although Carly is well on her way to 2,000 with 1,799 at the time of writing.

Thank you for the hedgehog love. And the Christmas books love. And all the love for any of my other stories.

Wishing you all a fabulous week.

Big hugs
Jessica xx

You can find my author page on Amazon here.