Jaffareadstoo is thrilled to be hosting one of the stops on today's blog tour for
The Second Chance Cafe in Carlton Square by Lilly Bartlett
What's it all about
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| Harper Impulse 23 June 2017 |
One chance isn't always enough…
Everyone expects great things from Emma Billings, but when her future gets derailed by an unexpected turn of events, she realises that getting back on track means travelling in a different direction.
She finds that new path in the closed-down pub on Carlton Square. Summoning every ounce of ingenuity, and with the help of her friends and family, she opens the Second Chance Café. The charity training business is meant to keep vulnerable kids off the streets and (hopefully) away from the Metropolitan Police, and her new employees are full of ideas, enthusiasm … and trouble. They'll need as much TLC as the customers they’re serving.
This ragtag group of chancers have to make a go of a business they know nothing about, and they do get some expert help from an Italian who's in love with the espresso machine and a professional sandwich whisperer who reads auras, but not everyone is happy to see the café open. Their milk keeps disappearing and someone is cancelling the cake orders, but it's when someone commits bloomicide on all their window boxes that Emma realises things are serious. Can the café survive when NIMBY neighbours and the rival café owner join forces to close them down? Or will Emma’s dreams fall as flat as the cakes they’re serving?
What did I think about it ...
In this second book we see the
welcome return of Emma who we met in The Big Little Wedding in Carlton Square.
We are now a couple of years further on and Emma is not only embracing young
motherhood, but she is also about to realise her ambition of opening a cafe in
Carlton Square which sells teas, coffees and delicious cakes. This is no
ordinary venture, as Emma is determined to make a success of her newly fledged business
whilst, at the same time, giving vulnerable youngsters a unique chance of
learning a useful skill.
As with all of this talented author’s
work, the book gets off to a zinging start. Emma is a feisty heroine, and her
solid determination to make her business succeed against all the odds makes for
some lively banter between the deliciously quirky characters, who flit into and
out of the action, and who give the story its heart and soul.
As with any series, it's much better
to start from the very beginning in order to really get to know the
characteristics of the story, and yet, this book can easily stand on its own
merits as a standalone, as the author does a great job of bringing everything to
life in such a way that you soon start to feel comfortable with the place, and
become equally fascinated by its people.
Written, as always, with genuine
warmth and with the author's fine eye for
detail, this story shows both the best and the worst of people, but what really
shines through is the author's absolute commitment to entertaining storytelling, which always makes her books such a joy to read from beginning to end.
Best read with ...A half-caffeine,
no-foam, fat free, triple shot latte..
Lilly Bartlett’s cosy romcoms are full of warmth, quirky characters and guaranteed happily-ever-afters. Lilly is the pen-name of Sunday Times and USA Today best-selling author, Michele Gorman, who writes best friend-girl power comedies under her own name.
Follow on Twitter @MicheleGormanUK
#SecondChanceCafe
My thanks to the author for her kind invitation to be part of this lovely blog tour.
You can read my review of The Big Little Wedding in Carlton Square by clicking here
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