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A review by modernwysewoman
A Summer Escape and Strawberry Cake at the Cosy Kettle by Liz Eeles
5.0
This was my first visit to the village of Honeyford and the Cosy Kettle cafe, which is located within Flora’s bookshop. I was hooked by this idea alone as it is my absolute dream to one day own a bookshop/cafe combination. Although this book is the second in the series, you absolutely don’t need to have read the first book to enjoy this one.
Poor Flora though isn’t having the greatest time at the start of the book, not only is she worried that she may never be accepted by the villagers of Honeyford she also catches her husband doing the dirty with a young waitress.
Quite rightly Flora storms out, and after a few nights spent in the spider infested attic of the shop is taken in by the wonderful Luna. I adored Luna as a character as she struck me as someone who didn’t give a damn about how people viewed her, she would live her life as she pleased. Infact at this point a special shout out should go to Sidney who absolutely defines the term of growing old disgracefully.
I’m not going to go into the ins and outs of what happens in the book as I wouldn’t do it justice. One thing I do want to commend though is how the author highlighted how subtle emotional abuse can be, although that term may be slightly too harsh for the relationship between Flora and her husband Malcolm. Malcolm has led Flora to believe that she needs him, she can’t survive on her own. He belittles her bookshop calling it a hobby and when is caught out having an affair blames it on Flora. This constant and subtle undermining of Flora’s thoughts and feelings is all too common in relationships and is harmful.
I found Liz Eeles writing around this theme to be powerful and to see Flora grow from someone riddled with self-doubt and constantly questioning herself, to being strong enough to make her own decisions was delightful.
This was a charming and delightful story perfect for long summer days. Yes it does tackle some harder issues but with the perfect blend of humour that they don’t take away from the joy of the story. The characters are a wonderful bunch and I feel that the romance added the perfect touch to this well-crafted book.
*****
The publishers Bookouture invited me on to the blog tour for A Summer Escape and Strawberry Cake at the Cosy Kettle by Liz Eeles and provided a kindle copy to read via Netgalley. I received this product for free in return for providing my honest and unbiased review. I received no other compensation. All opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own. I would like to thank them for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Poor Flora though isn’t having the greatest time at the start of the book, not only is she worried that she may never be accepted by the villagers of Honeyford she also catches her husband doing the dirty with a young waitress.
Quite rightly Flora storms out, and after a few nights spent in the spider infested attic of the shop is taken in by the wonderful Luna. I adored Luna as a character as she struck me as someone who didn’t give a damn about how people viewed her, she would live her life as she pleased. Infact at this point a special shout out should go to Sidney who absolutely defines the term of growing old disgracefully.
I’m not going to go into the ins and outs of what happens in the book as I wouldn’t do it justice. One thing I do want to commend though is how the author highlighted how subtle emotional abuse can be, although that term may be slightly too harsh for the relationship between Flora and her husband Malcolm. Malcolm has led Flora to believe that she needs him, she can’t survive on her own. He belittles her bookshop calling it a hobby and when is caught out having an affair blames it on Flora. This constant and subtle undermining of Flora’s thoughts and feelings is all too common in relationships and is harmful.
I found Liz Eeles writing around this theme to be powerful and to see Flora grow from someone riddled with self-doubt and constantly questioning herself, to being strong enough to make her own decisions was delightful.
This was a charming and delightful story perfect for long summer days. Yes it does tackle some harder issues but with the perfect blend of humour that they don’t take away from the joy of the story. The characters are a wonderful bunch and I feel that the romance added the perfect touch to this well-crafted book.
*****
The publishers Bookouture invited me on to the blog tour for A Summer Escape and Strawberry Cake at the Cosy Kettle by Liz Eeles and provided a kindle copy to read via Netgalley. I received this product for free in return for providing my honest and unbiased review. I received no other compensation. All opinions expressed are truthful and 100% my own. I would like to thank them for the opportunity to read and review this book.