A Summer of Surprises, Little Duck Pond Café - Rosie Green

 

When Ruby Watkiss lands a job at the True Loaf Bakery, she feels as if the sun has finally come out. Having been through a traumatic time that wrecked her confidence levels, it’s a joy to be working for Ellie, and now all Ruby wants is to lead a quiet life and support her mum in getting the help she needs.

But life, it seems, has other plans for Ruby.

Working alongside the bafflingly rude Hudson Holmes would be bad enough – but then odd things start happening. It seems that someone is out to sabotage the café and bakery, and to her horror, Ruby finds the finger pointing at her.

Desperate to prove her innocence, she teams up with the most unlikely person in order to get to the bottom of what’s going on. Tailing suspects and hiding in bushes isn’t something she ever imagined she’d be doing, although her partner in mystery-solving seems the perfect man for the job. Can they clear Ruby’s name by discovering the real culprit?

With all the drama afoot, at least there’s no time for romance. Because that’s the very last thing on Ruby’s mind these days. Or is it…?

Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/3feTsKn

My Review:

One of my favourite series! After 16, Rosie has built quite the community whilst still managing to keep the stories fresh and different. If you haven’t read any of the series, don’t be put off. You can totally pick each up and read as a standalone, they include enough information to give you a bit of background but not too much to put off those that have read them.

I am always jealous of those stumbling on this series for the first time and them being able to work their way through them all!

Introduced to some new characters, you soon learn a lot about them as well as how they will fit with the rest of the community. I loved Ruby, and her relationship with Hudson. Their mystery solving is second to none, I loved it, fun and interesting! I was trying to figure it all out alongside them but Rosie did very well at keeping the mystery going for us readers. I changed my mind so many times, I really couldn’t figure out who was behind the sabotage.

Whilst these books are cheerful, fun, reads they do incorporate serious, sensitive topics and issues. Rosie does very well at tugging on our heartstrings, playing with our emotions and hitting us straight in the feels.

Another fabulous visit, I am already looking forward to the next!

Author Bio:

Rosie 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.

Her series of novellas is centred around life in a village cafe. The latest, ‘Sweet Pastries & Sourdough', is out now.

Look out for more Little Duck Pond Café tales in 2021!

Follow Rosie on Twitter - https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green88

Tell me a Secret - Jane Fallon

Available here 

Goodreads Blurb:
Holly and Roz spend most of their days together. They like the same jokes, loathe the same people and tell each other everything. When single mum Holly gets a shot at her dream job after putting everything on hold to raise her daughter, she assumes her friend will be dying to pop the champagne with her.
But is she just imagining things, or is Roz not quite as happy for her as she should be? As Holly starts to take a closer look at Roz's life outside their friendship, she begins to discover a few things that don't add up. Who is the woman who claims to be her ally? 

My Review:

I am a big fan of Jane Fallon's books; they are easy to read and definitely good for a brilliant binge read on a Sunday Afternoon just like I did. (I sat with a big hot choc and just read it in it's entirety). I've only read a few of Jane's books (the rest I have now quickly ordered) and love her style. I loved how this book wasn't based on romance but on friendships and competition within a work environment. 

Tell me a Secret focuses on office rivalry and sabotaging others to get what you want. We discover how looks can be deceiving and that the friendships we cherish aren't necessarily as solid as they seem. Can you really believe everything you are told and should you always watch your back when promotions are on the table. 

Holly, our main character, is being given the chance to prove herself in a new role and definitely doesn't expect her closest work friend to be trying to sabotage that. Holly is confident and likable, wanting to be liked and determined to do the best job she can. I was relieved she had some common sense and could tell that someone had it in for her, I'd granted her more intelligence and was right - very pleased Fallon didn't portray her as some useless 'victim' that couldn't see what was blatantly in front of her face. I know she came across as nervous at first but her change in job role is bound to affect relationships with colleagues but these nerves are quashed as the book progresses and we do see Holly turn into a confident and well liked manager. This shows how much the character develops throughout the story.

The side characters were fantastic, well written and all adding something important. Roz was a wonderful 'villain' in this piece; I didn't like her from the off. Loud, overbearing and a bully, Roz manipulates others especially if she sees them as weak. Towards the end we learn of a  version of Roz, an explanation as to why she does the things she does - nothing excusing what she has tried to do but an opportunity to see that people may have things happening in their lives they want to keep quiet. 

Although quite a serious take on rivalry between colleagues/friends there are many moments of comedy, especially through Holly's best friend Dee and her husband. They get involved and seem to relish the opportunity to spy on people and go on fact finding missions. Dee is a great character and a brilliant friend.

If you have read Jane's books before you won't be disappointed. If you haven't then you need to brace yourself for laughs, gasps and shocks - I've even been known to shed a tear . It's a fast paced read, Jane doesn't hang around - which I like. It's cleverly written to make you want to keep reading, so make sure you have time as you will not want to put this down!

Comfy Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍