Reviewed by Emma Crowley
When Izzi pulls up in her battered old car outside the Candy Apple Café, she takes a deep breath and channels her trademark optimism. She’s run away to Honey Haven to escape the mess her life is in right now. Only, she hasn’t bargained on a handsome, broad-shouldered Scotsman appearing out of nowhere and grilling her on why she’s parked there… it turns out the baking work she has lined up is in his gran’s café and he’s her new landlord...
Cameron is immediately rubbed up the wrong way by Izzi’s upbeat vibes and yet, his eyes keep meeting hers across his gran’s cake display at the Candy Apple Café. Cameron’s heart beats a little faster every time she looks up at him through those long, dark lashes and there are only so many times Izzi can pretend she hasn’t noticed the way he towers over her, his dark brooding eyes failing to avoid hers…
Then Izzi and Cameron find themselves thrown together to organise the town’s autumn festival. Planning a spectacular cinnamon-scented event as a surprise for his gran, they find themselves pressed up against each other as they work to turn a crumbling castle into the perfect haunted house filled with sweet treats…
But he’s closed off his heart. And she’s only meant to be in town for a few weeks.
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Candy Apple Café to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Candy Apple Café is the first in the new Honey Haven series from Donna Ashcroft and the first of three books she is publishing between now and the end of the year which is quite a prolific output in a short space of time. A new sub genre in women’s romantic fiction seems to be appearing in the last year or two, that of autumnal cosy reads. To be honest I’d never read any autumnal themed reads before because it’s not my favourite season and I can’t understand how people go mad for pumpkins, Halloween, leaves changing colour etc. You get what I mean but I decided to give this one a go anyway because I enjoy the authors books and I thought the cover looked lovely. This was a very quick read with it being less than 300 pages. I read it on my Kindle and it finished at the 83% mark. So keep that in mind when you are reading as in my mind it did have a very quick and abrupt ending. But given it is the first in a series we may get to catch up with the characters in future books.
Izzi Beaumont arrives in the quaint village of Honey Haven in the Scottish Highlands just as the change of season is beginning to make itself known. She will live in a cabin in Cameron’s garden until the end of the year when she will then return to London to take up a job in a bakery. But what has caused her to uproot her life for several months? Well, hers is a complicated story and it’s all to do with family and a mysterious letter she discovered following the death of her aunt who had brought her up following the death of her mother. Izzi hadn’t an easy life been brought up by Regina. For some reason Regina resented her niece and made her life very uncomfortable. Poor Izzi never felt safe, loved or wanted. In fact loneliness was the main emotion she felt despite getting to work in Regina’s bakery. Izzi can’t quite believe that Regina was so mean that she didn’t leave the bakery to her in her will. So now Izzi, is once again left alone but after finding a letter which had been kept hidden from her she discovers she may have a relative living in Honey Haven.
The thread of the plot relating to the mysterious relative took a back seat for much of the story and to be honest I would have liked it to have been more to the forefront at times. Izzi rightly got caught up in her new life in the village and the people she met but I thought she forgot one of the main reasons she was there. I found that she became complacent in this regard whereas I wanted her to dig a little deeper and try and uncover exactly who the mysterious relative was instead of sitting around and waiting for the relative to make contact. Things did amp up a bit towards the end regarding this and as I was reading, I had developed some suspicions but couldn’t quite put my finger on anything specific. So, to this end it was good how things developed but I felt it was too rushed as it occurred too late. Even one more chapter would have helped given a more solid conclusion.
Throughout the book there are lots of mentions of autumnal treats that Izzi bakes in Maud’s café where she gets a job. I must admit it all of these descriptions did get my mouth watering and I was kicking myself that I had nothing sweet to eat as I was reading. Marshmallows, toffee, melted chocolate, cupcakes, pastries, rolls, breads. The list was endless and would have those who love all things cosy simply dying for that season to roll around. There are numerous characters only briefly introduced which I didn’t mind too much that we didn’t get to know them that well as I sense they will have their own stories in future books. Part of the fun is guessing who will feature in what’s to come. Alongside Izzi, Cameron is the focus of this book, he owns the cabin that has now become her temporary residence and when they first meet things don’t get off to a great start. Cameron is the typical man that quite often features in books in this genre. Drop dead gorgeous but grumpy and moody with a real chip on his shoulder for some reason. The explanation for this is given quite early on and I couldn’t blame him for being wary given the personal tumult that he has been through. Izzi appeals to him but he believes that he can’t let his guard down. Surly, suspicious and rude are other words I would use to describe Cameron and he can be a tough nut to crack but Izzi may just well be the person to do that.
As Halloween approaches and Maud’s plans are up scuttled, Izzi and Cameron join forces to secretly organise a Halloween village festival. Again this was mentioned and explored in a little detail but I would have loved more of it. It had the potential to really give the book a bit more oomph when needed but on reflection the development of the tentative relationship between Cameron and Izzi and all the complications that that brought was the main focus. I really felt this story was very different from what the author had written before. It was very steamy and spicy and this is not me being a prude but it felt misplaced given the nature and feel of her previous books. Some of the descriptions were very detailed and dare I say a bit OTT. I knew there was chemistry/a flame between the pair but was such focused detail warranted? It just felt out of place for me and if you were to judge a book by its cover you wouldn’t expect it here.
Despite the above-mentioned issue (that was my own personal opinion), The Candy Apple Café was an enjoyable, quick and easy read which showed two characters with wounds navigating deception and rejection entering a new phase in their lives. Whilst at the same time trying to help others and right some wrongs and find happiness and love in their lives. The Hot Chocolate Hotel is the next book in the series and will be published in November. September sees the publication of Christmas Actually, a stand-alone story and as I know from the past the author does Christmas books really well, I can’t wait for that one.
No comments:
Post a Comment