Book Review: The Little Village Bakery by Tilly Tennant

The Little Village Bakery by Tilly Tennant
Release Date: 15th June 2016
Publisher: Bookouture
Buy: Paperback | Kindle
Rating:

Meet Millie. Heartbreak has forced her to make a new start and when she arrives at the old bakery in the little village of Honeybourne she is determined that this will be her home sweet home. Her imagination has been captured by the tumbledown bakery but with no running water and dust everywhere, her cosy idea of making cakes in a rural idyll quickly crumbles.

Luckily the locals are a friendly bunch and step in to help Millie. One in particular, Dylan, a laid-back lothario, soon captures her attention.

But just as Millie is beginning to settle in, an unexpected visitor from her past suddenly turns up determined to ruin everything for her. It’s time for Millie to face the skeletons in her closet if she’s going to live the dream of running her little village bakery, and her blossoming romance with Dylan.

We start our story in the idyllic-sounding village of Honeybourne as we are introduced to Jasmine and Rich Green. Happily married with three triplets, Rich is a musician and Jennifer runs her own craft business. So far so perfect…
However, we are then introduced to Millie. It’s clear that something awful has happened to Millie and she’s desperate for an escape route from her life. She decides that buying the dilapidated bakery in Honeybourne will give her the fresh start that she needs. However, she hadn’t banked on the building being quite so…well…dilapidated. Luckily the residents of Honeybourne including Jasmine, Rich and Jasmine’s brother, Dylan, are all only too happy to help Millie. In fact, ladies man Dylan would be only too happy to do so much more…
Just when things look to be going Millie’s way, something (or someone) resurfaces from Millie’s past and suddenly her happy ending looks in jeopardy…

I am ashamed to say this is only the second book by Tilly Tennant’s that I have read and after finishing this gorgeous, feel-good story I am sat here wondering why I didn’t devour all of her books a lot sooner? She has such an glorious way with words and her storytelling seems to flow so well. This was a really pacey read with plenty of both memorable and loveable characters who will definitely leave an impact. I also loved how there was an intriguing backstory going on and being the nosey person that I am, I was naturally desperate to see exactly what it was that Millie was running from.
Stories about starting over always appeal to me and this really a classic example of why I love these plotlines so much. They fascinate me and I think it’s partly due to the fact that so many of us would secretly love to just pack up and head for a village like Honeybourne and set up a bakery (well, I know I would…Wouldn’t you?) Part of the reason I think I loved this story so much was because Millie was effectively acting upon the dream that so many of us have. The journey is not always easy and there’s always that moment where it looks as though everything is going to go disastrously wrong, but will it all turn out well in the end? I loved these characters A LOT , so I was desperately hoping so. Don’t let me down now, Tilly…
I love reading about places like Honeybourne (and secretly pretending I live there. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.) Even it’s name evokes warm, gooey, summery feelings and Tilly’s wonderful writing really brought this lovely setting to life for me. I could picture it in my head and I am utterly thrilled that this is the first book in a series, so hopefully we will get to go back there (I’m missing Ruth and her talk of water infections already…)
I also loved the sense of community within Honeybourne. The residents were so friendly and eager to help one another. Jasmine and Rich were great characters (I had this wonderful picture of Jasmine in my head with her candyfloss coloured ringlets. She’s a character who will stay with me for a while…) I also liked lothario Dylan (despite his cheesy chat-up lines…) and of course, I was routing for Millie all the way (but I did desperately still want to know what had happened in her past that she was keeping schtum about.)

I don’t know what Bookouture are sprinkling on their Weetabix lately but I WANT ME SOME. They just keep firing out brilliant book after book after book and they have well and truly continued the trend with Tilly Tennant’s latest. I knew that I couldn’t go wrong with a Bookouture release and after loving one of her previous novels, The Man Who Can’t Be Moved, I had an inkling that I would be in for a treat with this story, but I honestly had no idea how much I would love it.

There is also no way on earth I am going to get to the end of this review without drooling over that GOREGOUS cover. It’s an absolute beauty and you know how I am a sucker for a good cover. There would be no way that I’d see this book sitting on a shelf and not be immediately drawn to it. It’s like cake for the eyes…

Chick-lit perfection, this is the perfect novel to spend a sunny afternoon with. There’s romance, humour, adventure, fun and drama. I am really excited about the #Honeybourne series and I can’t wait to go back. I’m really excited to see what adventures Tilly has in store for us next time…

A huge thank you to Bookouture for approving me on NetGalley to read The Little Village Bakery.

Tilly Tennant was born in Dorset, the oldest of four children, but now lives in Staffordshire with a family of her own. After years of dismal and disastrous jobs, including paper plate stacking, shop girl, newspaper promotions and waitressing (she never could carry a bowl of soup without spilling a bit), she decided to indulge her passion for the written word by embarking on a degree in English and creative writing, graduating in 2009 with first class honours. She wrote her first novel in 2007 during her first summer break at university and has not stopped writing since. She also works as a freelance fiction editor, and considers herself very lucky that this enables her to read many wonderful books before the rest of the world gets them.

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