The Union Street Bakery by Mary Ellen Taylor - #bookreview

Life can turn on a dime. It’s a common cliché, and I’d heard it often enough. People die or move away. Investments go south. Affairs end. Loved ones betray us... Stuff happens.

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The Blurb

This was a charming story which I really enjoyed.

Daisy McCrae’s life got off to a rocky start. Abandoned by a mother she never really knew, she was adopted into a family she’s never truly felt a part of. Thirty years later, her life is just as rocky. Between losing her job and her boyfriend, she’s lost all sense of self.

Now Daisy is back where it all began: the Union Street Bakery. She’s resigned to living in the bakery’s attic, learning the family business, and saving it if she can. But patching up the holes in her relationship with her sisters is another story.

So, too, is the century-old journal she inherits. Written by an enslaved girl named Susie, the weathered pages offer Daisy a glimpse into a past that has everything to do with her present.

As Daisy learns more about Susie, the town, and her family, she starts to see who she’s been and who she wants to be―and realizes that maybe, no matter how much you’ve lost, there’s always something more to find.

From the bestselling author of The Brighter the Light comes a bittersweet and hopeful story about how one woman’s journey into her family’s past helps her embrace her future.This is the first in the Union Street Bakery and I'm already looking forward to reading the next one, Sweet Expectations, which I already have downloaded to my kindle.

My Review

The book centres around three sisters, Rachel, Margaret and Daisy McCrae with the latter of the three being the main character. Daisy is a successful and determined woman but when she loses her high powered job in finance, and separates from her fiance, she moves back home to her family in Virginia. There she finds the family bakery business close to financial ruin and she steps in to help save it.

Daisy is also the only one of the sisters to be adopted and has always struggled with feeling like 'a real McCrae' and finding her place in the family. When Daisy inherits a 19th century journal from an elderly customer she couldn't be more surprised. At first appearance, the journal seems to have been written by a literate slave girl called Susie.

Susie is someone that Daisy has known all her life. Her ghostly form has appeared to her since her childhood and now she is back at the bakery, Daisy still hears her... along with another ghostly presence who makes it clear he wants her gone.

The bakery itself is every bit as important as the characters.  I thought it was a lovely touch to include some of the recipes at the back of the book.

This was a gripping and engaging novel which I really loved. It is a multi-faceted story and the author does a fabulous job in bringing together the present and the past, and with a paranormal aspect thrown in.

The book is about love, belonging and identity. It is about second chances and having sufficient faith and trust to start again, not just for the people but for the bakery itself.

An excellent novel which I highly recommend.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1662531002

Publisher:  Montlake

Formats:  e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:  335 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Blackwell's

About the Author

Amazon Charts bestselling author, Mary Ellen Taylor’s love of her home state Virginia is evident in her contemporary women’s fiction, including After Paris, The Promise of Tomorrow, Winter Cottage, Spring House, and Honeysuckle Season. She brings her new home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to life in her latest novel The Brighter The Light and When the Rain Ends.

As do so many people, her protagonists search for their place in the world, exploring issues of family, home, love and belonging. Inevitably, Mary Ellen’s stories interweave setting, history and mysteries that span past and present.

You can also find her at:

Author Website

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(ARC courtesy of NetGalley)

(author media courtesy of the Author)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Not Moving Out by Jon Rance - #bookreview #blogtour

 

Freya and I agreed to meet at Pelicano Coffee Co in The Lanes, which we had been to before during happier times and it was one of our favourites...

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The Blurb

Spouses Without Benefits - how can you move on without moving out?

Freya and Joe’s marriage has fizzled its way to the end, but for financial reasons, and to support their daughter in her final year of school, they decide they need to keep living together for six months.

They know it won’t be easy, but for Joe at least, it provides creative rewards: a struggling sitcom writer, he has found his new project. Why not write about his own situation? And the network loves it.

There is just one problem - Freya doesn’t know.

Can Freya and Joe navigate the six months together and might they find out something new about their relationship?

My Review

I enjoyed reading this rom com very much and it has a lot to offer.

The chapters are told from the points of view of the two main characters, Joe and Freya. They live with their teenage daughter Dolly who is heading off to university in the next six months. Joe and Freya's marriage has come to an end, but they agree to live in the family home until Dolly leaves.

From Joe's chapters of the book, we can ascertain that he still loves Freya. As a writer of sitcoms, he hasn't had much work of late and so decides to write a sitcom based around their situation. He knows that he must tell Freya and hopefully, receive her approval but he just never seems to find the right time to tell her.

This situation perfectly sums up why their marriage has fizzled out. Although Joe's job as a writer is in itself an ability to communicate ideas and feelings to others, when it comes to doing so with Freya he never seems able to do it. He has been unable to communicate with her about so much and keeps his feelings to himself. He is a jovial character, preferring to consistently see the positive side of life, even when it is sometimes inappropriate.

Although it is Freya who has instigated the separation, I got the distinct impression that deep down she still loved Joe. However, her frustrations with him override her feelings. The whole book has a will they/won't they vibe and I found myself rooting for them throughout.

They were both good characters who were fun to read about. I thought the author did a great job with portraying them and their attitudes and feelings. The secondary characters were equally well written. 

I thought this was brilliantly written, and the author captured the atmosphere in the house skillfully. Conversations with friends and family about the situation were excellently done and stopped the book becoming too insular.

This book both saddened and amused me at times. It was extremely funny in parts which balanced perfectly with the less happy points in the novel.

It is an extremely well put together novel and I highly recommend it.

Book Details:

ISBN:  978 1804368589

Publisher:  Hera Books

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  352 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

JON RANCE writes novels about love, family, relationships, and all the messy bits in between. His novels have been described as hilarious, romantic, and perfect for fans of Mike Gayle and Beth O’Leary.

 His first two books, This Thirtysomething Life and Happy Endings, were published by Hodder and Stoughton. Since then, he has written numerous novels including, Sunday Dinners, Dan And Nat Got Married, and The Worst Man. Jon signed a two-book deal with Hera in 2024 and the first novel, One Hundred Moments Of Us, was published in August 2024. The second book, Not Moving Out, a second chance rom com, will be published in May 2025.

Jon grew up in England and studied English Literature at Middlesex University, London, before travelling the world and meeting his American wife in Australia. He now lives in California with his wife, two kids, and a dog called Pickle, where he writes full-time and drinks far too much tea.

You can also find Jon at:

Author Website

Twitter / X

Instagram

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Bluesky

(ARC and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)

(bookshop.org affiliated)

The Vintage Village Bake Off by Judy Leigh - #bookreview #blogtour

 

'In the presence of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we have come together to witness the marriage of Harriet and Geoffrey, to pray for God's blessing on them, to share their joy, and to celebrate their love.'

The vicar smelled of something muddy and a strong whiff of aniseed. Hattie wondered if he'd just finished a quick burial outside. He must have rushed into the vestry to dust the soil from his hands and swig a swift glass of Pernod before starting the marriage service. She squinted at Geoffrey, sombre in his grey suit, through the dense net of her veil...

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Now in his seventies, Robert Parkin is stunned to find himself the unlikely sex symbol of the village gardening club.

Living in happy solitude with his cat Isaac Mewton in the Devon village of Millbrook, entertained by his mischievous chickens and goats, Robert has never figured out the rules of romance. But as the local ladies vie for his company, it soon becomes clear that Robert’s Victoria Sponge cake is the lure, and as his baking prowess grows, so does his confidence.

Cheesecakes, meringues, puddings, Robert can do it all, but his real masterpieces are his scones – ginger, rosemary, coconut, fruit, his recipes are inspired and soon come to the attention of the local media. Which county does the best cream tea – Devon or Cornwall? It’s time for an age-old debate to be settled with a competition.

Robert’s sisters Bunty and Hattie are both at crossroads in their lives, so news of their brother’s baking competition is the perfect excuse to bring them to Millbrook. And as the siblings relish each other’s company, and Robert relishes being at the heart of his community, a summer of scones may just light the way to long-lasting happiness for them all.

***

This book was fun to read. It focusses on how we are never too old for second chances and how it is never too late to delve into new opportunities.

Whilst Hattie is the main character, it is really the story of three siblings of mature years, Hattie, Robert and Bunty. The author has developed their characters brilliantly, and they were each a joy to become acquainted with.

However, there was also a cast of secondary characters who were equally well drawn. I loved the vicar's daughter, Tilda, who is part of a punk band called Armpit. Jacko, the self-centred plumber, as well as the various women who are vying for Robert's attention. All extremely well drawn and who added an extra nuance to both plot and character.

What was delightful in this book was observing how Hattie grew as a person. Having escaped her marriage to the coercive and controlling Geoffrey it was marvellous to observe how she grew in strength and character.

It was a character led book set in an English village in Devon. The author conveys the feeling of community very well. Devon is a beautiful part of the country, and she did a great job in demonstrating that through the narrative.

It was a heartwarming and lighthearted novel which was a pleasure to read, and I recommend it.

ISBN: 978 1785132230

Publisher:  Boldwood Books

Formats:  e-book, audio, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  336 (paperback)

About the Author:

Judy Leigh is the USA Today bestselling author of The Old Girls’ Network and Five French Hens and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.

(e-book and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)