‘A delightful heart-warming read…made me want to visit the cafe right now, meet everyone and share Maggie’s delicious cakes’ Phillipa Ashley, author of the bestselling Summer at the Cornish Cafe
Maggie’s café is at the very heart of Fir Tree Park. Business is booming, her lemon drizzle is the stuff of legend, her children are happy and life is good. But she hasn’t had it easy. When her husband Clint was sent to prison, she had to raise Josh and Kelly alone. But Clint can’t hurt them now, and there’s no denying that Paolo, the Italian football coach she spies every weekend out on the green, is more than easy on the eye.
It may be summer outside, but a new arrival in Fir Tree Park sends an icy chill through the café…
‘Warm-hearted and utterly lovely’ Sunday Times bestseller Miranda Dickinson
MY REVIEW
Add a cafe and a park to a book title and you have my interest! And this became a pleasant surprise as it turned out to be a little more than just the run of the mill light reads often associated with cafe settings, and developed into quite a moving look at a community, family and friends that revolves around life in the cafe.
It is told from a number of perspectives, which did get a little confusing, but I did enjoy all the separate strands that were nicely woven together throughout.
Maggie runs the cafe so is always baking the most delicious cakes, and has two grown up children Josh and Kelly. And Fern who works in the Cafe is also friends with Kelly from school. Pearl is a widow is often in the Cafe to help out when needed and has her own secrets that she is beginning to tire of keeping to herself. And we also meet Lacey as she starts training for a half marathon in aid of charity by running round the park, and finds the unlikeliest of training partners to help her. Ooh and it helped that one of the characters childhood crush was Matt Goss from Bros!! What good taste she has!! That is all it takes to win me over to a characters’ side!!
As we follow their individual and shared stories we get to see the women facing their fears, confronting the past and embracing their futures. Set in the most idyllic location it features some very endearing characters – ooh and cake! Lots of lovely cake!! A very enjoyable read!!
Thank you to Harper Impulse for an advanced copy of this in return for a fair and honest review.
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