Balancing the Books to 21st February – Jill’s Book Cafe

On the acquisitions front, a pretty good week I think. Though after last week, anything would have been an improvement. Some great freebies, a Kindle daily deal and a pre-order. I decided to include it now (though it’s not due until June) because come June I’ll forget and as it was only 79p it’s not going to really make a dint in the book budget when the money actually goes out. Plus. who knows what I might be buying in June, posting it now might get me out of a tight spot if I’ve been overbuying! But a good week on the reading front meant the gap between the two wasn’t huge.

Read more: Balancing the Books to 21st February

After a surfeit of billionaires and hockey boys I needed a palate cleanser – no pun intended when you see what I chose to read. I decided I ought to go back and read some of the books that have been on my Kindle for a long time, the first one I bought in 2015! Balanced against that something that was bought recently.

I decided on The Heavenly Ice Cream Shop because the weather was so cold and miserable it seemed a good idea to read a book with a summer setting. Anna and Imogen find themselves unexpectedly inheriting their grandmothers ice cream shop, so this follows them on their journey. As well as the shop, they both have relationship issues to juggle and contend with. The book ends with a HFN. It was a good read and led me to reading the follow on (also sitting on my Kindle). That one meant a move to Italy, specifically Sorrento, always a good setting. This caught up with Anna and Imogen further down the line. Anna has moved to Italy with her partner and Imogen has been pursuing a photography career, but is still reluctant to settle with hers. Happily all is finally resolved in this one.

As I was immersed in ice cream I thought I’d read Summer at the Ice Cream Cafe by Jo Thomas. This one sees Beca returning to her Pembrokeshire coastal hometown after 20 years away in London. She’d left home as a teenager, feeling a misfit and embarrasment, talked about and judged by the small minded townsfolk. Returning was a gamble and meant facing those same people, including her childhood friend Griff, who she’d always been in love with. Her return though, was designed to be a change of pace, not just for her but the children she intended to foster. Step forward Blake and Joe unexpectedly dropped on her in a crisis. Not the the younger children she’d intended to care for but a surly teenager and a ball of energy determined to be useful and wanted. Well worth the read to see how the story played out for everybody, largely aided by copious amounts of icecream/gelato. What you might find odd amidst this ice cream fest is that I rarely eat ice cream so it doesn’t normally feature on my radar. It gives me a brain freeze and headache, though I will admit it’s something I’m prepared to risk when there’s a decent rum and raisin on the table.

My next read was a recent purchase The Matchmaker of Perigord. I loved this for more than just the premise of barber Guillaume having to retire due to the majority of the men in his small village now being bald. Deciding to become a matchmaker might seem a strange choice as so many of the villagers don’t speak to each other because of old slights and continuing vendettas. It had lots of heart and humour, but also at the centre the lost love of Guillaume himself and what happens when she returns to the village after many years. It’s a great read but the added unknown attraction for me was the location. I was well aware it was Perigord, but it turns out the locus was largely Perigord Vert which was an area I holidayed in for a number of years. So I knew all the towns and villages mentioned in the book and it brought back lots of happy memories as I knew exactly the bridges, the small shops, the town halls and the old mills and chateaux that featured.

My final read, featured something I was also very much at home with – a pub quiz. Four strangers sign up to form a quiz team. They all have their own reasons for wanting to escape their lives and hopefully making new friends. But as they progress in the quiz league, their personal lives continue to deteriorate until it looks as though their Quiz Final hopes might not materialise. While the pub quiz nights were fun, the bits inbetween followed the individual characters as they dealt with their real life issues, debt, heartbreak, redundancy, a fractured marriage, mental health breakdown. The characters weren’t always likeable at times, but they got under your skin and had you rooting for them anyway. So I’d recommend joining the Red Hot Quizzy Peppers for more than just quiz night.

Books Purchased

Books Read

Books Purchased

The Ex-Cavenger Hunt by Kendall Hale (free)

Is it worth looking to the past to find your future?

According to this article, I might’ve already met my soulmate . . .

And I missed my chance to find the love of my life.

It’s the cherry on top of an already doomed situation. If I don’t find my own date for my sister’s wedding, I’m stuck with the worst groomsman as a date.

The answer is simple: go on a quest to reunite with my exes and figure out where everything went wrong—or right.

The execution…not so much: Out of desperation, I accept help from the least likely source.

The secret weapon: Ethan Montgomery, notorious womanizer, brother of the groom, and my consolation prize if I can’t bring a real date to the wedding. Unsurprisingly, he’s also invested in not being my date for our siblings’ wedding and is willing to help me at all costs.

The complication: As we navigate through a maze of my past relationships, unexpected feelings begin to surface, blurring the lines between our roles as partners-in-crime and something more.

The decision: With time running out and the wedding fast approaching, I must choose between giving love a second chance with one of my exes or taking a leap of faith into the unknown with Ethan.

The outcome: Will this journey lead me to my true soulmate, or will I discover that the love I’ve been searching for has been beside me all along?

Without a Map by Nick Levy (free)

Clara Herrera is a backpacking blogger traveling WITHOUT A MAP. Ben Murphy is a luxury travel writer who never got directions in how to love. When she wins a competition to join him on a trip to India for Holi, the festival of love, they’re both forced to confront their tortured pasts and opposing ideas about how to live in the present. Can they navigate their way around the world—and each other?

‘The perfect opposites-attract st

The Winning Ticket by Allison A Andrews (free)

Following a humiliating break-up, Brianna returns home to Brisbane with her little dog, feeling like a shadow of her former self. But living with her parents again isn’t ideal, and her sister is determined to get her to socialise with their old friends on her first night back. Despite wanting to stay home and wallow, she instead comes face to face with her old high school crush, who is looking even better five years later.
Having spent several years working for his father in rural Queensland, Jake wins a luxury apartment back in Brisbane, the city he grew up in and where the friends he loves are all busy getting on with their lives. But when his best friend’s little sister, Brianna—the girl he had secretly loved from afar in high school—returns and needs a place to stay, he doesn’t think twice about offering her the apartment under one condition: let him stay whenever he’s in town.
After picking up their friendship like no time has passed, being back in each other’s lives has them questioning what they really want from life and love while dealing with overprotective friends and family, and begs the question – does friends-with-benefits ever truly work?
Set in Brisbane, Australia, The Winning Ticket is the first book in the Circle of Friends series, a series of interconnected stand alone novels following the lives and loves of a group of friends as they navigate through their mid-twenties and thirties, finding love and themselves along the way.

Made for You by Claire Cain (free)

My Gram is the only family I have left, so when she asked for my help, I came running. Besides, a fresh start in her small town after blowing up my entire life seemed like the logical solution instead of wallowing in jobless misery for the rest of measurable time.

But then Gram’s next-door neighbor turns out to be the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen, and my calculations show I just made a huge mistake. Being captivated by Bruce Camden is not part of my plan—even if he is a retired special ops soldier with a penchant for shirtless wood-chopping.

Thankfully, Bruce finds a way to draw a line we can’t cross. Working for his private security company may be the answer to one of my problems, and it means we have a legitimate reason to keep our distance despite the blazing chemistry between us.

But seeing how seriously he takes his role as his younger sister’s guardian only heightens the pull he has on me, and before I know it, I’m doomed. There’s no mathematical proof to solve and find x for what comes next.

The man is chopping down my walls left and right, but when disaster strikes in a big way, where will we be when the dust settles?

Playing to Win by Sasha Lace (99p)

She only wants a winter fling with no promises. But rules are there to be broken.

Madison

After being jilted in Kentucky, playing for Calverdale Ladies in England was a chance to escape and spend Christmas alone, avoiding my feelings.

Which is how I’ve ended up snowed in at a Welsh pub with a retired rugby player who’s hot enough to thaw me out.

But when the snow’s gone, so am I. I won’t let another man in, not even one as gorgeous as Geraint…

Geraint

Running the pub, I’ve had flings with guests, but never one as sexy as Madison.

Too bad she’s so closed off. For both our sakes, we’ve agreed to keep our relationship physical. No attachments. No regrets.

Which is good, because I promised my dad I’d hold on to the Dragon Inn, no matter what. So I’m fine with no commitments, because I can’t ask a woman with a brilliant career in London to give everything up to be with me, in the middle of nowhere. Can I?

Ride Me Cowboy by Clare Connelly (pre-order 79p)

Beth

I came to Coyote Creek Ranch for a fresh start, one I desperately need.
My husband is dead; he can’t hurt me anymore. For the first time in years, I’m not looking over my shoulder.
I’m finally safe, and I’m not going to let anyone jeopardise that.
Especially not rugged, sexy AF cowboy Cole Donovan.
He watches me like he knows there’s something I’m hiding, like he wants to kiss it all better, but letting this cowboy in could be a one way ticket to disaster. Or it could be the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done…

Cole

I’ve spent my life fixing problems, and right now, the ranch’s financial mess is the biggest one of all.
My focus should be on that, not the new bookkeeper.
I don’t need any distractions—but Beth Tasker is one I can’t seem to shake. She’s closed off, skittish as anything, and it bugs the hell out of me. The more I try to keep my distance, the harder it gets to resist the pull between us.
There’s something about her that draws me in, something I can’t fight.
Or maybe it’s just that I don’t really want to.

Banana Pants by Penny Reid (free)

Estranged childhood friends unexpectedly reunite under bizarre circumstances and bicker their way to love in this bonkers romantic comedy.

Ava Archer misses her best childhood friend most especially during the month of April. Ask any tax attorney, it’s a lonely, grueling time of year. Luckily, Ava has just received a surprising and delectably absurd offer from her posh doppelgänger at work. She must pretend to be the aforementioned posh co-worker for one night at an extremely fancy party; a party so fancy, there exists absolutely no chance anyone will recognize her or suspect her ruse. . .

Desmond (Des) Sullivan is a thief. And not the heart-of-gold kind. He’s the steal-from-the-rich-and-give-to-the-also-rich-so-he-can-get-paid kind. He does, however, have one firm rule: never steal what the target can’t afford to lose. After a brutal falling out with his father, Desmond hasn’t returned to Chicago in over ten years. But when a good friend is swindled and something priceless is stolen, Desmond must return home, both as himself and his thieving alter ego.

Infiltrate a dangerous secret society of the world’s most elite billionaires while leveraging his estranged father’s resources and not blowing his cover? Sure. No problem. Or it wouldn’t be a problem if Ava Archer hadn’t just walked into the room, wearing a ridiculous wig, speaking with a preposterous accent, and pretending (badly) to be someone she’s not.

That Reunited Feeling by Nicky Redford

It’s seventeen years since I’ve seen my high school sweetheart. But here he is. Right in front of me. Stark naked.

A lot has happened since my teenage first love abandoned me and crushed my heart.

These days, Tom Dashwood is a billionaire global music mogul. And I’m a single mom with nowhere to live.

I only accepted this job as a live-in housekeeper for Tom’s aunt after she assured me that, since he lives in London now, I’d never see him.

But that wasn’t entirely accurate. And now here he is…wearing nothing but a sexy grin.

Quitting and leaving right now would be a good idea. Not agreeing to be his personal assistant during his extended visit would be even better. But I need the money.

So I’ll do this job until Tom goes back to London. And since the chemistry between us is hotter than ever, I might even have a one-night stand (or two, or ten) with him.

But I will not fall for him.

He nearly destroyed me once. No way am I going to let him finish the job.

Books Read

The Heavenly Ice Cream Shop by Abby Clements

When Imogen and Anna unexpectedly inherit their grandmother Vivien’s ice cream parlour, it turns both their lives upside-down.

The Brighton shop is a seafront institution, but while it’s big on charm, it’s critically low on customers.

And if the sisters don’t turn things around quickly, their grandmother’s legacy will disappear forever . . .

The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop by Abby Clements

Anna and her partner Matteo are ready to embark a delicious Italian adventure. After a year and a half running their ice cream shop on Brighton beach and raising their baby Isabella, Matteo is starting to miss Italy. A shared passion for ices means it’s easy to settle on a new business idea – they’ll open a shop in Sorrento’s cobbled square, a short walk from the sparkling blue sea. For a while, life is sweet; but then Matteo’s overbearing family get involved …

Anna’s younger sister Imogen feels like things are finally coming together – she’s living with boyfriend Finn in a beach house in Brighton, and her photography is taking off. Then her career stalls, and the lure of Capri – and a man from her past – prove difficult to resist.

Summer at the Ice Cream Cafe by Jo Thomas

A dream home
Beca Valentino is ready to escape the city. When she sees the perfect house for sale in her hometown, it seems like fate. Is this her chance to build the foster family she dreams of, on the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast?

A big mistake?
Returning home isn’t as easy as she thought, however. Her family’s beloved ice cream café is gone – turned into a soulless wine bar by her hateful ex-boyfriend. Reconnecting with her oldest friend, fisherman Griff, isn’t straightforward either. And when, instead of the children she expected to take in, two wary teenage boys appear on her doorstep, Beca fears she’s made a terrible mistake.

A recipe for change
But an old family recipe book is just the inspiration she needs. Soon, with a little help from friends old and new, Beca is selling mouth-watering homemade gelato from a pop-up café on the beach.

Then disaster strikes. Will the Valentino family legacy be lost forever? Or can Beca create a new recipe for happiness?

The Matchmaker of Perigord by Julia Stuart

A perpetual breeze blows through Amour-sur-Belle, a village so ugly that even the English refuse to live there.

Guillaume Ladoucette the barber is forced to give up his business as the advancing age of his customers means many have gone bald. He decides to set himself up as a matchmaker instead, for, despite its name, love is the one thing that Amour-sur-Belle lacks. Some shun Denise Vigier because her grandmother was found guilty of horizontal collaboration during the war. The bar owner refuses to serve Madame Fournier, the mushroom poisoner. And Madame Ladoucette and Madame Moreau have been trading insults for so long they have become almost a form of greeting.

‘Not everyone falls instantly head over heels,’ the matchmaker counsels. ‘Love is like a good cassoulet, it needs time and determination.’ But how can a matchmaker make love simmer – when he has not yet solved the problem of his own troubled heart?

The Lonely Hearts Quiz League by Lauren Farnsworth

When Bryony, Harry and Jaime step into the Five Bells, each has their own motive for being drawn into the warm glow of the pub.

Harry, recently single, can’t face his silent flat.

Jaime, new to London with her boyfriend, longs to find a fun crowd.

And Bryony is trying to locate the promising young woman she was, before a positive pregnancy test set her life on a different course.

When they spot the advert to join a quiz team and enter a tournament, each signs up, unaware that the organiser, Donna, has her own reason to avoid thinking about home.

After a few evenings, the strangers begin to see they have more in common than they realised.

But when everyone’s secrets are finally out on the table, will it sabotage the team’s chances of making it through?

The Verdict