Normally this would be just one month at a time but I realised that I haven’t done one for a while so you get two months in one go, here are the books I read in June and July. I’ve included a link to Amazon UK as I read them through Kindle Unlimited but I’m sure they are available in other formats and on other platforms. The links below are affiliate links.
Autumn Leaves (Chloe’s Cream Tea Cafe) – Rosie Chambers
As summer drifts into autumn, Devon’s newest café owner Chloe Hamilton swaps serving ice-cold fizz and cucumber sandwiches for warm, spiced pumpkin latte and gooey chocolate brownies as she prepares to host Willerby’s annual Autumn Leaves party.
With the preparations in hand, and against her better judgement, Chloe agrees to help handsome Matt Wilson on one of his outward-bound expeditions – camping under the stars is the perfect chance to relax and get to know him better.
But the cooler weather brings with it a sense of peril when one of the wild camping group is shot with a bow and arrow! Is it an unfortunate accident, or is something more sinister afoot in picture postcard Willerby?
Once again, Chloe finds herself joining forces with Matt to solve the mystery, otherwise her dream of building a new life at the Cream Tea Café on the gorgeous Devonshire coast could be over before it’s begun.
Christmas Tress (Chloe’s Cream Tea Cafe) – Rosie Chambers
It’s Christmas at the Cream Tea Café!
As Chloe Hamilton rustles up a new batch of snowman-shaped cookies, even December’s wintery weather can’t dampen her spirits. With her friends Grace and Josh tying the knot on Christmas Eve, and her beloved Cream Tea Café staging its very first Christmas Carousel competition, there’s so much to celebrate.
But when one of the stag party members is thrown from his cycle during a sprint through the woods, things turn distinctively frosty. With someone potentially targeting their wedding guests, Grace pleads with Chloe to once again join forces with hunky outward bound instructor Matt Wilson to solve the mystery and save her wedding.
With so much at stake, they need to act fast. Can they find the person responsible before Willerby’s winter wonderland turns into a Christmas catastrophe?
The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts – Annie Darling
A delightful new series set in a quaint old bookshop, for fans of Lucy Diamond and Jenny Colgan. Where happy ever after is only a page away…
Once upon a time in a crumbling bookshop, Posy Morland hid in the pages of romantic novels.
So when Bookend’s eccentric owner, Lavinia, dies and leaves the shop to Posy, she must put down her books and join the real world. Because Posy hasn’t just inherited an ailing business, but also the attentions of Lavinia’s grandson, Sebastian, AKA The Rudest Man In London™.
Posy has six months to transform Bookends into the shop of her dreams but as Posy and her friends fight to save the bookshop, she’s drawn into a battle of wills with Sebastian, about whom she’s started to have some rather feverish fantasies…
True Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop – Annie Darling
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of a good job, four bossy sisters and a needy cat must also have want of her one true love. Or is it?
Another delightful novel from the author of The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts. Perfect for fans of Lucy Diamond and Jenny Colgan
Verity Love – Jane Austen fangirl and an introvert in a world of extroverts – is perfectly happy on her own (thank you very much), and her fictional boyfriend Peter is very useful for getting her out of unwanted social events. But when a case of mistaken identity forces her to introduce a perfect stranger as her boyfriend, Verity’s life suddenly becomes much more complicated.
Johnny could also use a fictional girlfriend. Against Verity’s better judgement, he persuades her to partner up for a summer season of weddings, big number birthdays and garden parties, with just one promise – not to fall in love with each other…
Surprises in Seabury – Beth Rain
(Part Three in Hattie’s Story – Read Sandwiches in Seabury and Secrets in Seabury first)
This is Seabury – where everyone knows everyone, the average tourist hasn’t got a clue it even exists, and that’s just how the locals like it!
Another day, another full house of bookings at the new Pebble Street Hotel restaurant. Head chef Hattie Barclay is thrilled – and completely exhausted. Things are going well. Maybe a little too well…
She hasn’t really had the chance to explore her new home much… or her new boyfriend, come to that. In fact, she’s not even sure she can call Ben her boyfriend when they haven’t had the chance to do much more than escape for an occasional walk on the beach. Hattie’s quickly discovering that living in a hotel room doesn’t lend itself to… well… you know! And Ben doesn’t seem too keen on inviting her to his place for some reason.
When Lionel lets slip about a potential rival for Ben’s affections, Hattie realises that she might have bigger problems on her plate than her ridiculously busy schedule.
Just to complicate matters further, there are rumours of another chef in town. One with a ridiculous orange top-knot and a notoriously short fuse… it seems that Marco Brooks is in Seabury and determined to stir the pot!
Can Ben survive the roasting that’s coming his way? Will things between him and Hattie finally start to sizzle? Or is Hattie’s newfound happiness destined to boil over?
Nothing Like at Dane – Keri Bloomfield
The Danish concept of hygge is a wonderful thing. Even if most fail miserably when they try to pronounce or explain its true essence. Unless you’re a Viking of course.
As Keri stood in the departure lounge of Auckland International Airport with her four-month-old baby, searching for her flight on the board, hygge wasn’t on her radar. In hindsight she agrees it probably should have been.
But she’d never imagined a chance encounter with a Dane in a crowded bar in her home city of Wellington would lead her here, a mother, about to circle the globe, with no knowledge of when she’d return home.
Eighteen thousand kilometres away a new life awaited her in Denmark. A country where babies sleep outside, the word for bread is seemingly impossible to pronounce and a country in which immigration challenges abound.
A witty observer of cultural nuances, Keri reveals the day-to-day realities of a New Zealander living her best life in Denmark. From integration interrogations to rye bread misdemeanors, Nothing Like a Dane provides a humorous and heartfelt insight into creating a new life in a faraway land.
And what did she learn? That it’s not all hygge and pastries. Even in Denmark.
Crazy in Love at the Lonely Hearts bookshop – Annie Darling
You can go crazy searching for the one…
Nina is addicted to bad boys, the wilder, the better. Despite her friends’ misgivings, she firmly believes that true love only takes one form: wild, full of passion and fire and punctuated by tempestuous arguments. She won’t settle for anything less.
But years of swiping right has uncovered nothing but losers and flings, and Nina is no closer to finding her One True Love than she ever was. And when a man from her past walks into the shop Nina knows she has nothing to fear: the geekiest boy in her school has become a boring suit with no chance of making her heart go pitter patter.
Which just shows how little Nina knows about her heart…
The Library – Bella Osbourne
Two lonely bookworms. An unexpected friendship. A library that needs their help
‘A touching story of a friendship between a troubled teenager, a yoga-practising farming woman in her seventies and a local library. A delight!’ – Sunday Times bestselling author Katie Fforde
Teenager Tom has always blended into the background of life. After a row with his dad and facing an unhappy future at the dog food factory, he escapes to the library.
Pensioner Maggie has been happily alone with her beloved novels for ten years – at least, that’s what she tells herself.
When they meet, they recognise something in each other that will change both their lives for ever.
Then the library comes under threat of closure, and they must join forces to prove that it’s not just about books – it’s the heart of their community.
They are determined to save it – because some things are worth fighting for.
The Old Sugar Wharf Pretty Beach by Polly Babbington
Settle down with the brand new romance trilogy from Polly Babbington & binge-read as she transports us on another glorious voyage to life by the sea… to the gorgeous setting, the tumbledown houses and the utterly fabulous characters of Pretty Beach. Lose yourself in the wonderful world that will make you want to pack up your things and head to the English coast.
If you love Polly’s unique take on romance by the sea, you’re going to adore the next series where we meet new character Phoebe and follow along as she finds herself unexpectedly in the beautiful little town by the sea.
Phoebe Tillington has spent years waiting. Way too many years. And so when she arrives in our favourite little town, she decides that she will never wait for anything or anyone ever again.
As we watch her land in delightful Pretty Beach and the town wraps her up in its charms we ooh and ahh and wonder quite how she’s going to get on. Will she forget the past and settle into coastal life?
Despite thinking that she has nothing, no one to love and nowhere she really belongs, things begin to change when a man at the end of the garden takes her very much by surprise.
Get lost in Polly’s magical love, life and friendship ingredients and be whisked away to a place where the sea sparkles, the sun shines and the locals say hello as they go about their business.
*The Old Sugar Wharf Pretty Beach is Book One in the Sugar Wharf trilogy & book thirteen in the PRETTY BEACH series.
All books can be read as standalones but it’s best to start with The Boat House Pretty Beach.*
New Beginnings on Sunflower Street by Rachel Griffiths
After accidentally becoming the centre of a social media scandal, Ivy Hamilton flees her glamorous life in London and comes to Sunflower Street to hide away and lick her wounds. The idea of staying at her elderly aunt’s home doesn’t hold much appeal but she has nowhere else to lie low.
IT specialist Zach Ritchie is reeling after being betrayed by a close friend. Following years of moving around with his military family, he’d love to find a place to call home and to feel that he can put his trust in others again.
When Ivy and Zach meet, they’re surprised to find that they enjoy each other’s company and the calmer life that the pretty village of Wisteria Hollow has to offer. But they can only run from their lives for so long and soon, their pasts catch up with them.
Will Ivy and Zach return to the lives they know or will they enjoy new beginnings on Sunflower Street?
