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julieclair's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A sweet story focusing on reassessing career and relationship choices during mid-life, and the possibility of changing directions. Well-depicted contrast between city and country life. Endearing characters. Looking forward to reading more of this series.
melindamoor's review
3.0
Mixed Feelings.
On a very positive note, I enjoyed this book a lot. It is an easy, engaging read with a lovely, relatable MC, a low-key romance and pleasant story.
I loved the fact that Roxanne is no spring chicken, but rather a mature (? :) ) woman in her late forties. She has a fulfilling career as a fashion director of a stylish magazine without being a slave either to her job or her appearance, has no children, but is neither apologetic, nor devastated about it, just accepting that life had something different for her in its store. She is not a very practical, but a thoroughly nice person, had disastrous relationships in the past and her present boyfriend -Sean, a much-sought photographer- does not show any inclination for settling down with her either.
When her magazine is taken over by a new editor with rather different ideas & mentality from hers, Roxanne accepts her offer of going on a sort of sabbatical & decides to visit her sister in their Yorkshire homevillage where Della runs a cosy, successful (cook)bookshop. There she befriends Michael, the owner of the newly set-up bakery and slowly, though unintentionally, learns to let go of her former existence and finds new purposes to her life.
For the "negative" side: the title is very misleading. The eponymous bakery hardly features in the story at all & I know it feels like hairsplitting when I say this, but there is no mention of a single cupcake in the book, although the cover blurb mentions them with relish.
OK, so it is not really about the cupcakes, rather about the inconsistency bw the cover blurb and the actual content of a book. Roxanne and Michael bond over anything else -dog-walking/pub-visiting/meeting in the bookshop- but certainly not over cupcakes.
Also -and I find this very annoying in general, but here I was practically pissed off- we have a case here what I call "book-abandon".
The story -while of course it implies that it will be a happy ending- has not what I would call a full closure. The author just leaves the story, the characters and us readers hanging almost in mid sentence and we are cheated out of at least 2 chapters: one, where everything is wrapped up nicely and another titled "1 year later" or something. There are lots of unfinished storylines that would deserve a decent conclusion and so would we, readers.
And what kind of ending is this anyway?
" 'She is a friend of mine, Roxanne replied. 'He name is Isabelle Jerome'. "
This is Roxanne's story, Isabelle is hardly there, so why is it her name that ends the book????? It is awkward and out of place.
Arc provided by the Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
On a very positive note, I enjoyed this book a lot. It is an easy, engaging read with a lovely, relatable MC, a low-key romance and pleasant story.
I loved the fact that Roxanne is no spring chicken, but rather a mature (? :) ) woman in her late forties. She has a fulfilling career as a fashion director of a stylish magazine without being a slave either to her job or her appearance, has no children, but is neither apologetic, nor devastated about it, just accepting that life had something different for her in its store. She is not a very practical, but a thoroughly nice person, had disastrous relationships in the past and her present boyfriend -Sean, a much-sought photographer- does not show any inclination for settling down with her either.
When her magazine is taken over by a new editor with rather different ideas & mentality from hers, Roxanne accepts her offer of going on a sort of sabbatical & decides to visit her sister in their Yorkshire homevillage where Della runs a cosy, successful (cook)bookshop. There she befriends Michael, the owner of the newly set-up bakery and slowly, though unintentionally, learns to let go of her former existence and finds new purposes to her life.
For the "negative" side: the title is very misleading. The eponymous bakery hardly features in the story at all & I know it feels like hairsplitting when I say this, but there is no mention of a single cupcake in the book, although the cover blurb mentions them with relish.
OK, so it is not really about the cupcakes, rather about the inconsistency bw the cover blurb and the actual content of a book. Roxanne and Michael bond over anything else -dog-walking/pub-visiting/meeting in the bookshop- but certainly not over cupcakes.
Also -and I find this very annoying in general, but here I was practically pissed off- we have a case here what I call "book-abandon".
The story -while of course it implies that it will be a happy ending- has not what I would call a full closure. The author just leaves the story, the characters and us readers hanging almost in mid sentence and we are cheated out of at least 2 chapters: one, where everything is wrapped up nicely and another titled "1 year later" or something. There are lots of unfinished storylines that would deserve a decent conclusion and so would we, readers.
Spoiler
I mean what will become of Roxane and her planned new shop? How will her relationship with Michael evolve? What happens to the Bakery? How about Isabelle? Elsa?And what kind of ending is this anyway?
" 'She is a friend of mine, Roxanne replied. 'He name is Isabelle Jerome'. "
This is Roxanne's story, Isabelle is hardly there, so why is it her name that ends the book????? It is awkward and out of place.
Arc provided by the Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
drlottiereads's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
iammread's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
wenchpixie's review against another edition
4.0
A little clunky to start, but from about the 3rd chapter, as charming and engaging as the bookshop.
mollyalderson's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I really struggled with this book. I thought it was going to be really enjoyable, but I don't think I enjoyed the plot, I know I certainly didn't like the ending. It felt so rushed and not as considered as perhaps the rest of the book. In addition, I don't think I liked the main character Roxanne. So, yeah, overall this has just left me with many questions lol
b_harrington's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
A super easy read, something for a holiday or a long train journey. The characters have simple challenges to overcome, which they do, quickly and easily. “Problems” are instantly solved, and everything is entirely predictable. These comments aren’t criticisms! A lighthearted, simple read is exactly what you want from a book like this.
I probably wouldn’t want to read another by this author, simply because my preference is a slightly more challenging/ emotional plot, but I enjoyed the hours I spent with this book.
I probably wouldn’t want to read another by this author, simply because my preference is a slightly more challenging/ emotional plot, but I enjoyed the hours I spent with this book.