The blurb:
Jaz Winters stuck a pin in a map and fled to the village of Sunnybrook, looking for a brand new life – and after a rocky start, it’s beginning to look as if she made the right decision. Her blossoming friendship with Ellie and Fen has seen her through some dark times, and she’s managed to land two jobs – waitressing at The Little Duck Pond Cafe and working as a weekend tour guide at Brambleberry Manor, the country house that’s been in Fen’s family for generations.
Sure, life isn’t totally perfect. There’s the irritating know-it-all guy who keeps popping up on her manor tours, for a start. He seems determined to get under Jaz’s skin whether she likes it or not. But she supposes he’s a small price to pay for the relative peace she’s found, living in Sunnybrook.
But just as Jaz is beginning to think rosier times are on the horizon, a shock encounter looks set to shatter her fragile happiness.
Will she be forced to flee from Sunnybrook and everyone she’s grown so fond of? Or will she find the strength to stand her ground and finally face up to the nightmares of the past?
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Romantic Comedy / novella
My review:
I enjoyed my first visit to Sunnybrook, and so I was looking forward to my second; I was not disappointed.
Summer at the Little Duck Pond Cafe follows the story of Jaz Winters, who is introduced in the first novella. It was good to get to know her better, to learn her backstory and to witness her growth as the story progressed. I also enjoyed revisiting other characters from the first book and discovering how their lives had moved on in the passing months.
Those who live in and around the Little Duck Pond Cafe are warm and welcoming, making it easy to lose yourself in the story as you happily become absorbed into the world of this lovely community. I liked Jaz and was willing her to achieve her happy ending, even if I wasn’t always sure about the way she was going about it.
Rosie Green writes novellas with a fast pace, plenty of plot and delightful characters. They are quick reads, with a big heart, leaving you with a warm, happy feeling, long after the last page is read. I look forward to reading the third in the series.
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Back in May, I also read Spring at the Little Duck Pond Cafe, but as I knew this lovely blog tour was coming up I thought I would save sharing my review until now:
The Blurb:
Fleeing from a romance gone wrong, Ellie Farmer arrives in the pretty little village of Sunnybrook, hoping for a brand new start that most definitely does not include love! Following an unscheduled soak in the village duck pond, she meets Sylvia, who runs the nearby Duck Pond Cafe. Renting the little flat above the cafe seems like the answer to Ellie’s prayers. It’s only for six months, which will give her time to sort out her life, far away from cheating boyfriend Richard.
But is running away from your past ever really the answer?
Clashing with the mysterious and brooding Zack Chamberlain, an author with a bad case of writer’s block, is definitely not what Ellie needs right now. And then there’s Sylvia, who’s clinging so hard to her past, she’s in danger of losing the quaint but run-down Duck Pond Cafe altogether.
Can Ellie find the answers she desperately needs in Sunnybrook? And will she be able to help save Sylvia’s little Duck Pond Cafe from closure?
Genre: Contemporary Romance / novella
My review:
This lovely novella provided a wonderfully entertaining read that made me smile a lot. I’ve read some novellas that feel too short or light on plot but this certainly wasn’t one of them. I loved it and it had me hooked throughout (no duck pun intended).
The characters were likeable, believable and warm, and the setting was gorgeous. I fancy a trip to the Little Duck Pond Cafe myself!
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About the author:
Rosie Green has been scribbling stories ever since she was little. Back then they were rip-roaring adventure tales with a young heroine in perilous danger of falling off a cliff or being tied up by ‘the baddies’. Thankfully, Rosie has moved on somewhat, and now much prefers to write romantic comedies that melt your heart and make you smile, with really not much perilous danger involved at all, unless you count the heroine losing her heart in love.
Rosie’s brand new series of novellas is centred on life in a village cafe. Summer at The Little Duck Pond Cafe, published on 18th June 2018, follows the first in the series, Spring at The Little Duck Pond Cafe. Don’t miss Christmas at the Little Duck Pond Cafe now available for preorder.
You can find Rosie on Twitter.
Thank you, Rosie, for two great reads! Thank you, also to Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources for the advance copy of Summer at the Little Duck Pond Cafe, and for having me along as part of the blog tour.
My reviews are posted on Amazon UK and Goodreads. xx
