Books on Tour - A Summer Escape and Strawberry Cake at the Cosy Kettle by Liz Eeles

The Cosy Kettle café is the perfect place to escape this summer, for fans of Cathy Bramley, Jenny Colgan and Debbie Johnson. Guests can tuck in to fruit puddings and strawberry-studded ice cream, but for Flora, the warm summer breeze is blowing in big changes…

When Flora finds out about her husband’s secret fling, she escapes to the one place she feels safe: her beloved café, The Cosy Kettle, in the charming village of Honeyford. Serving up cream teas to her café regulars is the perfect way to soothe her broken heart, and although she’s never lived in the area, the little community welcome her with open arms.

She’s soon lodging with local eccentric Luna in her remote and beautiful Starlight Cottage, snuggled between rolling green hills. Luna’s handsome son Daniel lost his wife several years ago, and as Flora gets to know him, sharing walks through the blossom-scented woods, they both slowly begin to heal… and she realises that behind Daniel’s quiet exterior, there’s a passionate nature that makes her forget all about her ex-husband.

As she settles into her new life, hosting a baking competition for the village’s summer celebration seems like a great idea… but with Daniel’s mysterious silences leading Flora to believe he’s hiding secrets, she can’t help but wonder if she can really trust him. And when the race to bake the perfect Victoria sponge stirs up old rivalries between locals, Flora starts to feel like she’s bitten off more than she can chew.

After her new start, will Flora ever truly belong in Honeyford? And, this summer, can she risk opening up her heart again? 

Today I am really pleased to be taking part in Bookouture's Books on Tour to celebrate the publication of 'A Summer Escape and Strawberry Cake at the Cosy Kettle'.

This is the second trip to Flora's café, The Cosy Kettle, in Honeyford. I really enjoyed my first visit and so have been hoping to return every since.  The Cosy Kettle is the heart of the community with villages dropping in and meeting up with friends alongside visitors the village.Each bring their own stories and it has been great to listen to their conversations, their problems and life journeys.

This is the second book in the series, and while it can easily be read as a standalone it was great to learn more about Flora's home life and to realise that there was more going on than she let people know. Her quiet and private demeanour was masking her own problems which she keeps behind closed doors, instead listening to her customers problems and sharing their highs and lows.

However it is a chance meeting with Luna, the owner of a mystical shop, that makes Flora see her life from a different viewpoint and this encourages her to make changes and taking part in the preparations for the villages summer celebrations gives her another distraction and interest.

I really enjoyed my second visit and relaxed which reading more about the village of Honeyford's inhabitants and I hope that a third visit will be possible soon.

This is a great summer read.

Thank you to Bookouture for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.