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stormshultz's review against another edition
3.0
I want to open this by saying normally I really enjoy Jenny's books, but this one... well, this one fell a little flat. I listened to it on audio, so I'm not sure how this translates to pages but this story was at least 4hrs too long. It's a 12hr audiobook and 8hrs in and I was like ??? why is there still so much left?? Nothing big had happened. I love the idea of leaving the big city to take over a sweetshop in a village. That's one of my favorite tropes, but this one just dragged on. There were four love interests at one point (??) and most of the characters were pretty flat, given that this is a 12hr long book. I liked Lillian, the quirky candy recipes at the beginning of each chapter, and I enjoyed Rosie too, although I wish she would have gotten her stuff together quicker. There was a decent amount of swearing too (which isn't abnormal for Jenny's books, but just a warning if you're planning on listening to it with kids around). And I didn't really care for how one of the love interests, which seemed to make the most sense for Rosie, suddenly ended up being gay but there was no hint of that? Instead, she realizes he's gay because of the pants he decides to wear to the town fair, which admittedly made no sense to me and it felt a little weird to write off one of the love interests that quickly. *Sigh.* Oh well, everyone has a book fall flat though! I do recommend the Beach Street Bakery series by Jenny if you're looking for a cozy baking themed read in a small town!
blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
Rosie goes to stay with her great aunt Lillian, who owns a sweet shop. A sweet shop that has stood empty since Lillian is not feeling well. Mmm candy! Yes there was a lot of candy mentioned in this book, especially since every chapter started with that.
A nice little village where everyone knows each other.
A store that can get on its feet again.
A woman looking for a second chance.
A man looking for healing.
Aunt L looking back at her own love life, oh btw, I did not like that the flashbacks were in cursive. Her life made me a bit sad. She said she was happy, but still. Men are such eejits.
And then, Rosie looking at her own life. At her work. At her stupid boyfriend, omg, I so wanted her to ditch him. A mama's boy, who would never do anything for Rosie.
It was a sweet book. It made me have candy, evil book that it was.
A nice little village where everyone knows each other.
A store that can get on its feet again.
A woman looking for a second chance.
A man looking for healing.
Aunt L looking back at her own love life, oh btw, I did not like that the flashbacks were in cursive. Her life made me a bit sad. She said she was happy, but still. Men are such eejits.
And then, Rosie looking at her own life. At her work. At her stupid boyfriend, omg, I so wanted her to ditch him. A mama's boy, who would never do anything for Rosie.
It was a sweet book. It made me have candy, evil book that it was.
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
This is my third opportunity to enjoy Colgan's storytelling and it was a great choice for the end of our pandemic year. It has been four years since I read anything by Colgan and I hope I don't wait so long again. I learned a lot about British sweets and that was fun.
chatdunoirreadsalot123's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve read many of Jenny Colgan’s books. Met many women who started over in a small town or at a remote island. Nina is still my favorite, but Rosie now takes the second place. What a delightful story!
jennie_cole's review against another edition
3.0
Sweetshop of Dreams is a feel good, quick read by Jenny Colgan. This story revolves around Rosie Hopkins who works as a Nurse Auxiliary in London. She is then asked to go to the small town her family is from to help her Great-Aunt Lilian get back on her feet. This involves getting her back to health, cleaning up the family sweetshop in order to sell it, and get Lilian into a home. Like all Colgan novels where an outsider comes to a small UK town Rosie is charmed by the town and makes some friends as well as some enemies.
This is one of those palette cleanser novels where it is nothing too intense, is fast paced, and give you something enjoyable to read just when you need a book like that. If you need an idyllic town story with a female lead who finds herself pick this one up.
This is one of those palette cleanser novels where it is nothing too intense, is fast paced, and give you something enjoyable to read just when you need a book like that. If you need an idyllic town story with a female lead who finds herself pick this one up.
mari_escapeinabook's review against another edition
4.0
Such a cute and utterly charming read, add a bit of sweets and a little heartache and it is near perfection. A great start to the reading year of 2013.
kirstendumo's review against another edition
4.0
I quite enjoyed this one. I had to quiet all the reality questions I had about the story and just roll with it. Loved the setting and the characters, and as a big candy fan I loved the sweet shop.
hannah_who's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
2.5
Easy read but predictable. Liked the Aunt's story more
specialk3782's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoy Jenny Colgan’s series. This may not be my favorite of them all but enjoyable nonetheless. I love the coming of life to the sweet shop and the reference to all the different sweets. The character of Gerard makes me cringe during the whole story but it works in the big picture.
_rebeccareads_'s review against another edition
4.0
I've been wanting to read 'Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe' for ages, but never got round to getting hold of a copy, so I was delighted when I found this book in a local bookshop. I began reading as soon as I got home that night.
The first thing that drew me in was the amazing descriptions of the sweets, and in particular the extracts from Aunt Lilian's book at the beginning of each chapter. I love traditional sweetshops, and the book really reminded me of when I was little.
I also loved the extracts from the 1940s when Lilian was younger, as I love reading war fiction. What I really loved, was how both the past story and the modern were linked together, and how the characters all linked together really well, and how the village people all know each other, as I think thinks like this/neighbourhood friendliness are often taken for granted nowadays. I really disliked the character of Gerard, but I loved the rest of the characters.
This is the first book I've read by Jenny Colgan, but I will definitely be reading more. A really easy to read book with some beautiful descriptions.
The first thing that drew me in was the amazing descriptions of the sweets, and in particular the extracts from Aunt Lilian's book at the beginning of each chapter. I love traditional sweetshops, and the book really reminded me of when I was little.
I also loved the extracts from the 1940s when Lilian was younger, as I love reading war fiction. What I really loved, was how both the past story and the modern were linked together, and how the characters all linked together really well, and how the village people all know each other, as I think thinks like this/neighbourhood friendliness are often taken for granted nowadays. I really disliked the character of Gerard, but I loved the rest of the characters.
This is the first book I've read by Jenny Colgan, but I will definitely be reading more. A really easy to read book with some beautiful descriptions.