BLOG TOUR: Bea’s Book Wagon - Julie Haworth

Set in the fictional Sussex village of Blossom Heath, and featuring characters you will know and love from Julie Haworth’s RNA Katie Fforde Debut of the Year Always By Your Side and follow up New Beginnings at The Cosy Cat Café, Bea’s Book Wagon is a cosy, uplifting and comforting romance that tells the story of two love-interest heroes vying for Bea’s heart – her artisan-cheesemaking childhood sweetheart and a knock-you-off-your-feet property developer. 

After impulsively jacking in her dead-end temp job and investing her life savings in a ramshackle old horsebox, Bea sets about turning her dream of running a bookshop into a reality, and opens Bea’s Book Wagon. But it’s not all smooth sailing, and as Bea struggles with the challenges of running her own small business, she can only hope that her love of literature and the power of reading can help transform the lives of her friends, her community and herself in the process.

 

What did I think?

Bea's Book Wagon is my third virtual visit to Blossom Heath and I absolutely loved it.  You don't need to have read Julie Haworth's previous novels to enjoy this one but you will definitely want to read them if this is your first visit to Blossom Heath.

It was lovely to catch up with some familiar faces but this is very much Bea's story.  Bea loves books so I had an immediate affinity with her.  Once the panic subsides after resigning from her job she decides to do something she really loves: sell books and share her love of reading.  An old horsebox may not sound like the ideal bookstore but with a little help from her friends Bea transforms it into something special.

I adored Bea from the very start and she has the most amazing ability to be able to match a person to a book so she's the perfect bookseller.  As well as starting her business, Bea meets Lochlan in a very swoony Mr Darcy moment that had me reaching for my virtual fan, but it was farmer Nathan who I was hoping would win Bea's heart.  You will need to read the book to find out how it all ends though!

Cosier than your favourite pair of slippers, Bea's Book Wagon is a delightful, heartwarming and captivating book.  One not to be missed for book lovers!

I received a gifted paperback to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe - Julie Haworth

New Beginnings at The Cosy Cat Café tells the story of Tori who, after being dumped and left stranded by her long-term boyfriend Ryan on a trip of a lifetime to Asia, returns home to the sleepy Sussex village of Blossom Heath with her tail between her legs and her dreams shattered. Donning her frilly apron to help her Mum, Joyce, behind the counter at The Cosy Cup Café, Tori starts to believe – with the help of a hunky fireman and a clowder of rescue cats - that perhaps the secret to her future happiness might lie closer to home than she ever thought possible.

 

If you love your romance with a side order of cake, cats and cosy community dynamics, this is the purrfect uplifting, feel-good read from the winner of the RNA Katie Fforde Debut Novel of the Year 2023.

 

What did I think?

This gorgeous novel is the purrfect pick-me-up that warmed my heart and uplifted my spirits.  It's a fabulous book in its own right and can be read and enjoyed as a standalone but it's even better if you've visited Blossom Heath before in Julie Haworth's delightful debut novel, Always By Your Side.  It was so lovely to see some of the characters I'd met before and it felt like catching up with old friends.

New Beginnings at The Cosy Cat Café is Tori's story and it's not going quite how she planned.  I was so upset (and mad) for her when her boyfriend Ryan decided he 'wasn't a relationship guy'...perhaps he should have mentioned that a tiny bit earlier during the four years of their relationship.  What a snake!

Tori returns home to Blossom Heath to help her mum in her cafe and her visit to Asia inspires her to change the cafe into a cat cafe.  With the help of the wonderful community, Tori's dreams are sure to become a reality and maybe the man she's really supposed to spend her life with is just around the corner.

There's a lot going on in the book to keep the reader interested and entertained from start to finish.  I think I read it far too fast, devouring every word as if it was the last book I'd ever read, so I do plan to read it again when I next fancy a trip to Blossom Heath.

Uplifting, heartwarming and simply delightful, New Beginnings at The Cosy Cat Café is a real gem of a book and it is one I will treasure.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: Always By Your Side - Julie Haworth

When school teacher Rose loses her dream job at a London primary school, her self-confidence takes a knock. Worse still, her stockbroker fiancé, Ollie, sees it as the perfect opportunity for her to join his firm, which only adds to the feelings Rose has that their relationship might be coming to an end.

 

An unexpected phone call, and an elderly aunt who’s taken a fall, means Rose must drop everything – including Ollie - and return to Blossom Heath, the Sussex village she grew up in.

 

With no job to rush home to, Rose decides to stay in Blossom Heath for the Summer, trading London for the idyllic countryside. Here Rose finds herself reconnecting to the village life of her childhood in more ways than one, including falling head-over-heels for local farmer, Jake.

 

So when her London life comes calling, Rose is faced with an impossible choice… to return to the high-pressure life of her past, or embrace the joy of a new life in the country.

 

What did I think?

Oh I really enjoyed this!  It's an absolutely gorgeous heartwarming read that left me with a huge smile on my face.

I adored everything about the main character of Rose.  Rose is a marvellous teacher and it's no surprise that she has lost confidence in her ability with a demonic headmaster and a selfish fiancé constantly pecking away at her dream career.  Getting the call to look after her elderly Great Aunt Jean in an idyllic country village gives Rose the perspective she needs to find out what is really important to her.

Rose's fiancé Ollie is my idea of a nightmare partner.  He doesn't support Rose and thinks she's wasting her time teaching when she could be working in his firm, doing a meaningless job that she would hate.  Farmer Jake, on the other hand, shows Rose that the right man will be supportive and loving, without having to make huge gestures or buying expensive gifts.

Of course, the star of the show has to be Scout, the dog that Rose rescues.  Scout has a huge impact on Rose's life and helps her to make some difficult decisions.  I was on the edge of my seat when Rose and Scout's perfect relationship was threatened and I loved this tense addition to the story.

Julie Haworth very cleverly shows the stark contrast between town and country throughout the book; it's not just the pace of life, it's people, schools, jobs, homes and communities that are completely different.  As much as I would hate everyone knowing my business, I would much prefer to live in Blossom Heath than London.

Beautifully written, incredibly uplifting and completely heartwarming, Always By Your Side is a delightful debut novel and a worthy winner of the Romantic Novelists' Association Katie Fforde Debut Novel Of The Year 2023.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

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