Review: Summer at the Castle Cafe

Summer at the Castle Cafe by Donna Ashcroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alice Appleton has moved to Castle Cove, Dorset following the death of her mother unexpectedly. Her mother's death has been a huge wake-up call and she realises that her life has become very narrow, she was too busy with her work in a busy restaurant to visit her mother until it was too late. Now she has big plans, to run the annual Castle Cove marathon in honour of her mother and to visit her father in Thailand. If only she could get over her pesky fear of the sea.

Jay O'Donnell has lived in Castle Cove practically his entire life. A carpenter and a volunteer with the lifeboats he is constantly disappointed by the risks people take with their lives, swimming and sailing when the sea is too rough. When he sees a woman in a wet suit at the water's edge when the sea is far too choppy for swimming he can't help but express his exasperation. The next day he can't believe it when he sees the same woman riding a bicycle without any lights through the countryside, in order to keep her safe he follows slowly behind her allowing his headlights to light the road for her.

Poor Alice is standing at the water's edge desperately trying to get up the courage to get her toes wet when an incredibly sexy man starts yelling at her and won't listen to anything she has to say. The following day she is nearly run off the road on her bicycle by the same man who followed her all the way to work, scaring her half to death.

Despite their inauspicious start Jay and Alice are also attracted to each other, but they each have their own issues to deal with which could easily tear them apart.

I was in a real reading slump, starting lots of books and giving them up half-way but this book lifted me right out. What's not to love about an OCD waitress and a carpenter who wants to save everyone falling in love in a small Devon town?

If you like the idea of cosy communities where everyone gathers at the local pub for food, live music and gossip, where school friends live and work closely together, and where the local postman can tell you the contents of your mail before you open it - then this is definitely for you!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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