Today I’m reviewing the latest in the Little Duck Pond Cafe series. Many thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for having me and sending me a copy of the book to review.
The Book: As the nights draw in, gingerbread lattes and festive hot chocolates are on the menu, and the Little Duck Pond Café girls are gearing up for the cosiest time of the year. But new recruit Laurel just wishes she could sleep through the whole jolly affair! It might be October, but she’s still haunted by the events of last Christmas. Could a new start in Sunnybrook help to heal her heart?
Purchase Link
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cosy-Nights-Snowball-Fights
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR8BNTRL
The Review: I’ve read and reviewed pretty much all of the Little Duck Pond Cafe books and they are still as supportive, heart-warming and cosy as they were in the first few books. In this one we are back in Sunnybrook and back in the cafe itself. Laurel is trying to come to terms with, and recover from, something that happened to her just before Christmas last year, and isn’t keen on being reminded of the festive season again when it feels like it’s still too soon. Laurel has been through a lot and it’s understandable she wouldn’t feel at all like celebrating. As well as Laurel’s story we have some snippets of the run up to Maddy’s wedding (which is the next book in the series) and a few new characters to meet.
I loved this book, that’s probably to be expected since I know this series well and don’t read and review what I don’t enjoy. However I felt this one was a little different. There’s a lot in it for Laurel, as I’ve said she’s been through a lot, but she doesn’t dismiss what’s happened and move on quickly, which I liked. Also her past is told at various points throughout the story which was new and I liked that it was revealed in this way. There are some fun moments in the story such as fun with snowballs as the title suggests and some other creative use of snow, which I was quite impressed by.
As I’ve said these books are cosy and heart-warming and this one was no exception. There was a lot of snow and ice in the story and while it could have felt a little chilly because of this, the cosy factor was ramped up by some of the new characters, and the multiple hot chocolates that appeared. This is actually an ideal book to read with a hot chocolate, and a blanket if you have one. While it’s not especially cold here at the time of writing this, reading this book definitely made me feel warm and snug. Another brilliant read and one that you could read without prior knowledge of the series as there’s enough character explanation that you shouldn’t feel completely lost as to what is going on.
The Author:
Rosie Green’s Little Duck Pond Cafe series of novellas is centred around life in a village cafe and most can be read as stand-alone stories. (‘The Sunshine Sisters’ is a trilogy within the Little Duck Pond Café series and it would benefit from being read in order: Aurora, Skye and Blossom.) Look out for ‘Cosy Nights & Snowball Fights’, and ‘Maddy’s Christmas Wedding’, both out later this year in time for the festive season!
Follow Rosie on Twitter – https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green88
