Summer at the Little Duckpond Cafe by Rosie Green #BlogTour #Review @rararesources

Summer at the Little Duck Pond Café by Rosie Green

Publication Date: 18th June 2018

105 pages

Book Description:

Jaz Winters stuck a pin in a map and fled to the village of Sunnybrook, looking for a brand new life - and after a rocky start, it's beginning to look as if she made the right decision. Her blossoming friendship with Ellie and Fen has seen her through some dark times, and she's managed to land two jobs - waitressing at The Little Duck Pond Café and working as a weekend tour guide at Brambleberry Manor, the country house that's been in Fen's family for generations.

Sure, life isn't totally perfect. There's the irritating know-it-all guy who keeps popping up on her manor tours, for a start. He seems determined to get under Jaz's skin whether she likes it or not. But she supposes he's a small price to pay for the relative peace she's found, living in Sunnybrook.

But just as Jaz is beginning to think rosier times are on the horizon, a shock encounter looks set to shatter her fragile happiness.

Will she be forced to flee from Sunnybrook and everyone she's grown so fond of? Or will she find the strength to stand her ground and finally face up to the nightmares of the past?

This novella is part of a trilogy:

Spring at The Little Duck Pond Café

Summer at The Little Duck Pond Café

Winter at The Little Duck Pond Café

Purchase from Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summer-Little-Duck-Pond-Cafe-ebook/dp/B07C5CL9XF/

My thoughts:

This is the second in a trilogy of short stories based around the Little Duck Pond Café in Sunnybrook.  Jaz Winters has ended up here after her partner Grant locked her out of the family home on Christmas Eve and went to his mother's house for the festive period, leaving Jaz to fend for herself.  Once Jaz has drowned her sorrows with best friend Jules - who happens to be mum to Grant's daughter Titch's best friend - she decides on a plan of action which will allow her to make a fresh start whilst not losing contact with Titch.

I liked the way the author didn't dwell too heavily on the gloom and doom side of the break up of the relationship between Jaz and Grant and kept the storyline optimistic without being unbelievable.  The group of girl friends which becomes established at the Little Duck Pond Café is very down to earth and it is good to see a story where the girls stick together and support each other without becoming man haters. It could have been very easy for the characters to become very bitter in their outlook where relationships are concerned but the author has steered well clear of this and kept things extremely civil despite the way Grant treats and speaks to Jaz.

Ellie's mum Rose is a fabulous character who despite having been diagnosed with Alzheimers is still very happy with her lot and has some great humorous lines in the book.  There are a nice quantity of characters in the cast of this book and their personal circumstances are all quite different which adds nice subtle back stories which tick along in the background.

This is another good example of how a short story can still deliver great entertainment.  The more short stories I read the more I am being convinced that a full length novel is not the only way to present a tale.

My thanks to Rachel Gilbey of Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to read this book and feature my review as part of the blog tour.

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About the Author:

Rosie Green has been scribbling stories ever since she was little. Back then they were rip-roaring adventure tales with a young heroine in perilous danger of falling off a cliff or being tied up by ‘the baddies’. Thankfully, Rosie has moved on somewhat, and now much prefers to write romantic comedies that melt your heart and make you smile, with really not much perilous danger involved at all, unless you count the heroine losing her heart in love.
Rosie’s brand new series of novellas is centred on life in a village café. Summer at The Little Duck Pond Café, published on 18^th June 2018, follows the first in the series, Spring at The Little Duck Pond Café.

Social Media Link:

Twitter - https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green1988