Blog Tour - The Little Bakery on Rosemary Lane by Ellen Berry

Today I am pleased to welcome Ellen Berry to my blog to celebrate the publication of her new book, The Little Bakery on Rosemary Lane, where we are invited to return to Rosemary Lane in Burley Bridge.

Prepare to fall in love with beautiful village of Burley Bridge.

Growing up in a Yorkshire village, Roxanne Cartwright couldn’t wait to escape and make her place in the world. Now, thirty years later, she’s a fashion editor living a glamorous life of perennial singlehood in London – or so it seems to her sister Della. But when Roxanne finds her career under threat, she feels herself pulled back to the quiet village she’d been so desperate to leave.

As Roxanne reacquaints herself with life on Rosemary Lane, she slowly makes a surprising discovery: the people who live in Burley Bridge are, well, just people – different from the fashion set she’s used to, but kind and even interesting. Michael, a single dad trying to make a go of a small bakery, particularly so. Little by little, cupcake by cupcake, Roxanne and Michael fall into an unexpected friendship.
Could there be a life for Roxanne after all, in the place she’s spent years trying to escape?

Ellen Berry and the publishers, Avon, Harper Collins, have been really kind and given me a sneak peek extract from the book .....

Roxanne murmured in agreement, once again visualising the chilled glass of wine she would soon be clutching at Sean’s party. Usually she was happy to work late, but she was now experiencing a strong desire to escape from the building as soon as possible. ‘Everyone hires people they know,’ she said, trying to remain professional rather than letting rip with how she really felt. ‘Cathy brought me in, remember? We’d worked together before too. It’s natural to want people you trust.’

‘Yes, but that’s because you’re the best,’ Serena declared, ‘and this is different. Tina’s pages are a mess, more like a tatty old catalogue than proper fashion – and come on, we’ve all heard what she’s like to work with. She’s had her assistants and interns in tears. No one seems to last there more than a couple of months . . .’

‘I’ve heard all that too,’ Roxanne remarked, touched by her friends’ loyalty, ‘but we haven’t actually worked with her ourselves. We should just keep an open mind . . .’

‘Oh, stop being so reasonable!’ Serena exclaimed. ‘If it was me, I’d be having a complete meltdown.’

Roxanne forced a brave smile, pulling out her topknot and shaking her hair loose to signify that they had given the matter of Tina’s imminent arrival quite enough of their attention for now. ‘Don’t worry,’ she remarked dryly, ‘I’m saving that for Sean’s party so as many people as possible are there to witness it.’

And now she was extracting her make-up pouch from her bag, plus the original 60s black dress she had earmarked to wear tonight, and which was ideal for this kind of office-to-party scenario as it simply didn’t crease, even after being scrunched in the bottom of a shoulder bag.

She turned to Kate and Serena, who were still looking mournful in the wake of the day’s news. ‘Come on, you two,’ Roxanne said briskly. ‘Let’s get ready and off to this party. Anyone would think we weren’t desperate for a drink.’

I really enjoyed this book because I love authors who create their own settings and through a series of books, the readers are invited to visit and meet new characters within the village. Ellen has created a lovely village, Burley Bridge, and our first visit introduced her to The Bookshop on Rosemary Lane and this again plays a big part in this new book where we meet a rather dishy, newly separated, bakery owner, who along with his two teenage children and dog, are a great addition to the village, opening a bakery and encouraging lots of new visitors to the village.

Roxanne is a great character, who had moved away from the village to work in London, at one of the top fashion magazines. She has carved out a career for herself and is renowned as one of the best stylists, creating superb fashion shoots, however as her bosses look to modernise the magazine she is unsure if her position is safe. I think that this is a very relevant subject with many magazines looking at their online presence and also how their readers shopping habits are changing.

Burley Bridge sounds like a great place to live or visit and I am really enjoying this series of books. They are a great easy read, but I love that a cast of characters are building throughout the books, and even though the books can be read as standalone novels, they are great as a series.

I am already looking forward to book three, which I am hoping will continue where this one finished, the door has been left open for Roxanne to continue to live in Burley Bridge and maybe return to her roots - but will it be with the hunky baker, Michael?

Thank you to the publishers, Avon Books, and the author, Ellen Berry, for sending me the book to review and inviting me onto the blog tour.