Today I hand over to Mandie who has a #booksontour review of Liz Eeles A Summer Escape & Strawberry Cake at the Cosy Kettle. Thanks to Noelle Holten for including us in the tour. Here’s what the book is about:
About the Book
The Cosy Kettle café is the perfect place to escape this summer, for fans of Cathy Bramley, Jenny Colgan and Debbie Johnson. Guests can tuck in to fruit puddings and strawberry-studded ice cream, but for Flora, the warm summer breeze is blowing in big changes…
When Flora finds out about her husband’s secret fling, she escapes to the one place she feels safe: her beloved café, The Cosy Kettle, in the charming village of Honeyford. Serving up cream teas to her café regulars is the perfect way to soothe her broken heart, and although she’s never lived in the area, the little community welcome her with open arms.
She’s soon lodging with local eccentric Luna in her remote and beautiful Starlight Cottage, snuggled between rolling green hills. Luna’s handsome son Daniel lost his wife several years ago, and as Flora gets to know him, sharing walks through the blossom-scented woods, they both slowly begin to heal… and she realises that behind Daniel’s quiet exterior, there’s a passionate nature that makes her forget all about her ex-husband.
As she settles into her new life, hosting a baking competition for the village’s summer celebration seems like a great idea… but with Daniel’s mysterious silences leading Flora to believe he’s hiding secrets, she can’t help but wonder if she can really trust him. And when the race to bake the perfect Victoria sponge stirs up old rivalries between locals, Flora starts to feel like she’s bitten off more than she can chew.
After her new start, will Flora ever truly belong in Honeyford? And, this summer, can she risk opening up her heart again?
Available from: Amazon | Kobo | Google Play | Apple Books
Mandie’s Thoughts
Flora loves working at her bookstore and café, it’s something she is proud of, unfortunately her husband thinks it is just a hobby and she should be supporting him running his restaurant just like she used to. When she discovers that he has been having an affair she is glad that she didn’t give in to him as she puts all her efforts into establishing herself within the community where her shop is based.
Now I will give Flora her due as I can honestly say if I was in her shoes it would be the cheating husband sleeping rough in the spider infested upstairs rooms of the shop and not me as like her I have a real fear of the eight legged beasts after I woke up once to find a really large one walking over my face. Thankfully Luna a fellow shopkeeper takes pity on her and invites Flora to stay with her. What she hadn’t bargained for was Luna’s son and grandson also being in residence, especially after she had spectacularly fallen out with them in her shop earlier.
Despite initially seeming like she was going to cave into her husband’s demands and go back home it was interesting to watch Flora as she battled with the safety of old routine, and the possibility of putting herself and her future first, finally admitting to herself and those close to her that her husband was actually a controlling, self-absorbed man who expected her to believe everything he said so that he could continue on as before. When she finally stood up to him and realised that she was capable of going on without him I did give a small mental cheer.
Her developing relationship with Luna’s son Daniel was nice to watch. Battling with his own issues looking after his son, he was quite distrustful of Flora at first, but when she bonded with Caleb and gave him an insight into his behaviour, they found a new respect for each other and it was his friendship that helped her finally realise that she really could go it alone.
This is the second book in the series and having only read this one I can honestly say that Liz Eeles has created a really grounded set of characters who all have their own quirks that will make you smile… you really need to check out some of Stanley’s proposed excursions… for an 80yr old he will certainly make you smile. A Summer Escape and Strawberry Cake at the Cosy Kettle is a great book for the summer holidays that shows that it’s never too old to follow your dreams.
About the Author
Liz began her writing career as a journalist and press officer before deciding that she’d rather have the freedom of making things up as a novelist.
Being short-listed in the Corvus ‘Love at First Write’ competition and the Novelicious search for a new women’s fiction star gave Liz the push she needed to keep putting pen to paper …. and ‘Annie’s Holiday by the Sea’ (her first published novel) is the result.
Liz lives on the South Coast with her family and, when she’s not writing, likes to spend time walking by the sea, and trying to meditate. Her ambition is to be serene one day …. she’s still got a long way to go.
Author Links: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Jen Med's Book Reviews 
Not one for me but glad to see you enjoyed it.
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