The Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond

Evie Flynn has always been the black sheep of her family - a dreamer and a drifter, unlike her over-achieving elder sisters. She's tried making a name for herself as an actress, a photographer and a singer, but nothing has ever worked out. Now she's stuck in temp hell, with a sensible, pension-planning boyfriend. Somehow life seems to be passing her by. Then her beloved aunt Jo dies suddenly in a car crash, leaving Evie an unusual legacy - her precious beach cafe in Cornwall. Determined to make a success of something for the first time in her life, Evie heads off to Cornwall to get the cafe and her life back on track - and gets more than she bargained for, both in work and in love...

I first found Lucy Diamond when she released Hen's Reunited, which I read in 24 hours. Sweet Temptation followed, another great read and so when I heard that she had a new release coming this year, I was looking forward to reading it.

The Beach Cafe is another great read by Lucy Diamond. Evie's life changes when she hears the shocking news that her aunt is killed in a car crash. After the funeral, her parents give her the shock news that her aunt has left her her beach cafe.

All her family are telling Evie to sell it, that she will be unable to make a go of the business, however following a solo trip to the cafe she is reminded of many happy times spent with her Aunt and is determined to make it work. Thinking she will be able to manage the cafe from her home in Oxford, she continues her usual routine however, a problematic temporary placement and discussions about her relationship with her best friend, along with staff problems at the cafe, she decides to leave Oxford behind and returns to her aunts flat to make a real go of the cafe.

The book tells of Evie's new life in her aunt's cafe, the difficulties encountered, new friendships made and lessons learnt. I liked Evie as a character and I would love to live in a Cornish village like Carrawen Bay. There appears to be a real village camaraderie, everyone knowing everyone else, looking after their own. Evie appeared to see the best in everyone, looking after the homeless girl who slept in a sleeping bag on Evie's front deck and offering her friends, daughter's boyfriend the opportunity to use the cafe to display his artwork.

Although Evie has difficulties with the locals initially, she soon becomes a part of village life and the cafe becomes an important part of the village, with Evie offering the cafe for the local book group, a Thursday girls night in and also a room for a local band to practice in.

I really enjoyed this book, it is a great read. Lucy's writing style is easy to read and is a great book to relax with and enjoy. This book is released in June and I think it will be a great holiday read and should be in every one's beach bag or hand luggage on a plane this year!

Thank you to Sue Mongredien and Panmacmillan for sending me this book to review.