Member Reviews

Unfortunately this book was not for me, it was a bit slower than I would like and it just didn't hold my attention. I am sure other people will love it!

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Great writing. Enjoyed this read. Kept me reading and wanting to finish and have the happy ending!
Patrick and Amy were just adorable and are a gorg couple. Just wish it was real life.!

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Tash has the perfect life, at least it appears that way from the outside! She has a good job, amazing house and a boyfriend who loves her. Tash cannot help feeling like something isn't quite right though, and this is confirmed when she meets Kit at a book club. Can Tash realise what is wrong with her life, and can she discover what and who it is she really wants?

This was a quick and enjoyable read for me. Tash was a likeable character, and her boyfriend Adrian, was incredible well written. I had an instant opinion on him, which as it turns out, was well justified. I found myself rooting for Tash and her friends, and I absolutely adore Kit, not to mention Biddy, who turned out to be a rather helpful side character. I cannot wait to dive into the next book, which is all about Emma!

This is the second book in The Little Book Cafe series, and this time, it focuses on Emma, and predominantly her relationship with long term boyfriend Ollie. They've been together since they were younger, but recently Emma has found herself getting distracted and bored, and then teacher Joel comes into her life. Will Emma's head get turned?

I enjoyed this book. It was nice to read about Emma, having first been introduced to her in Tash's story. I did think that at the start of the book, she didn't treat Ollie like she should've, but it was lovely to see how this affected them and how their relationship changed as a result of this. It was also nice to be reintroduced to Tash and hear briefly how things are going for her after the results of her story!

I am looking forward to reading the final book in this series - Amy's Story!

Amy's story is perhaps my favourite of the trio! She does not have a lot of self confidence, and runs the bookshop in Berecombe. She becomes close and friendly to Patrick, an Irish writer, and she quickly realises she has feelings for him, but Patrick will never return them, or so she thinks!

I really loved this story! Seeing Amy's confidence and friendships with Emma and Tash grow made me smile, and Amy's relationship with her mother also start to repair itself, it was such a nice story to end the novel on!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the complimentary ebook copy on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

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I love a book about book clubs, female friendships, and their lives outside of the club. This is charming, heart warming, and a bit surprising. I liked the structure of the story - telling each characters story individually but always bringing it back to the club. I'll look forward to more from Georgia Hill!

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Lovely cover that drew me to the book. The book was lovely. A feel good read perfect for this time of year lazing on holiday or in the garden. It was easy to read and well written. Great read

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The first thing that took my notice is that although this isn’t a sequel to Millie’s Cupcake Café, it references to the characters and the story from those books a lot. However it’s easy enough to pick up on what happened in her other series, and it doesn’t detract from this one.

I really liked that this book was made up of three short stories all set in the same timeline but following different member’s of the Book Café’s Book Club.

TASH

The first story follows Tash, an estate agent who seems to be leading a perfect life. But there’s a lot of darkness lying underneath the facade and this story was definitely my favourite of the three as it covered some very hard topics, which is something that you don’t really see very often in ‘women’s fiction’.

Just as a warning to sensitive or younger readers, this story contains abuse and domestic violence. It is also a little explicit at times, especially at the beginning. But once again, unlike most ‘women’s fiction’ it has importance to the plot.

If you might find these themes upsetting, I can assure you that the other stories are both clean and more light-hearted, and it won’t take anything away from the overall plot by skipping the first book. Hill catches you up efficiently in the next one with what happened in book one, without you having to read it in all it’s quite disturbing details.

However, I prefer a book that isn’t afraid to cover hard topics and found this a really powerful short story. It was full of feminist strength, and made up for the dark with some lighter moments.

I feel a little conflicted about the romance in this story though, as although it was sweet, the book didn’t really need it as it felt a little soon after what Tash went through. At the same time it gave us an uplifting, hopeful ending which I did like.

Tash was a pretty flawed character in general, which is also something I feel we need more of in ‘woman’s fiction’. But although flawed, she’s a strong character and I was rooting for her throughout the book, and I felt so angry about her situation along with her.

Finally, I just need to give Hill a massive thank you for letting Tash sort out her own problems, instead of having a romantic hero swoop in and rescue her (as that would have ruined the whole story for me). The love interest just picked up the pieces left afterwards and helped her heal instead, and that was the right way to do things in my opinion.

EMMA

Emma is my spirit animal. Full Stop.

Not only does she still live at home with her parents in a busy household, she also has an obsession with crisps. And anyone who knows me will also know that crisps are my thing! I agree with Emma, crisps sandwiches are valid food, and crisps are a perfectly good early morning snack.

She is also OBSESSED with books and reading.

“Everything’s bigger in books. More vivid. More…” she shrugged, “Oh, I don’t know, more everything.”

It also freaked me out, because there was a Red Arrow display in the last story, and a carnival in this story. And my town has both of them every year, so I’m sort of secretly wondering if Hill has gotten inspiration from my town. Probably not but the similarities freaked me out a little.

And the weirdness didn’t stop there. Emma’s boyfriend is on-call for the lifeboat service. Which really took away from the romance for me because his plot and story-line reminded me so much of my brother which really ruined any chance I had to get sucked into their love story, because it was just weird.

However, Hill obviously had a really good understanding of what it’s like for families of people working on-call for lifesaving services, she did a really good job of putting that experience in to words. So I could really appreciate that.

It was just really weird how much I had in common with this story, just really weird.

Compared to the last story though this one is a lot lighter and cuter and more of what I’d expect from a work of ‘woman’s fiction’. And I especially loved all the references to Poldark.

Once again though, Emma is a character with flaws, and that’s one of the reasons I rate this book so highly overall.

AMY

I really enjoyed Amy’s story. It was the most relevant story to the title, and the only one actually set in the book shop.

Patrick is also my favourite of all the love-interests in the three books. He’s just really sweet and kind, and he’s also very bookish and a writer! What’s more to like?! But their love story is more about overcoming the past and facing up to the future which leads to a really heartfelt story overall.

The romantic plot in Amy’s story was also the most relatable to me out of all of them.

But once again, I really liked that this wasn’t just about the romance. It was all about discovering inner confidence and working through family struggles, and that gave it so many layers that I wasn’t expecting when I’d started reading.

The side-characters were wonderful in all three stories, especially Biddy who provided a much needed comedic break in the darker parts and gave fantastic advice to our protagonists when they needed it the most.

I also liked that it was set in the west-country as I grew up there, and still love reading stories about that area.

There is one negative that I can point out in these books though. And that’s the title. It is called ‘The Little Book Café’. But as I mentioned earlier, Amy’s was the only story actually set in the Book Café. Instead all the characters tied together due to the book club and I was left wondering why this book wasn’t named after that instead? It seemed like it was just named to fit in with all those other ‘the little cafe/shop’ books that are around at the moment.

All in all, I’d picked this book up, hoping for an easy read to combat some of the more heavy stuff I’ve been reading lately. And for the most part I got that. It was easy to read and lighthearted. But it was also darker than I was expecting and a lot deeper, and that’s definitely not a bad thing. I really recommend this book as it’s really varied and dynamic. There’s a little bit of everything in it and that makes it a great read.

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3.5 stars
This book is made up of three stories following the lives of three friends: Tash, Emma and Amy. I enjoyed various elements of this story, especially the bookshop and book club. It was a pleasant, heartwarming read but not my favourite that I've read recently.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I received The Little Book Cafe by Georgia Hill as an ARC from NetGalley. I enjoyed this book and found it a fun read. It tells the stories of 3 friends - Tash, Emma & Amy - and I love that the primary setting is a book cafe. The book is divided into 3 sections and each section tells a different story. The women are very different but despite their differences they are great friends. I enjoyed the interactions between the main characters and the supporting characters.

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I felt as this was three books in one, it was a rather long read. I'd rather have come back to it every now and then rather than all in one go. I loved Tash's story most, found Emma's rather dragged. Amy's was enjoyable.

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This was a fab little book. It’s split into 3 sections and each one is about a different person. I loved following the lives of each girl and I just wanted the best for them all. The style of writing made for a really easy read and the chapters were lovely and short! I would definitely recommend this book and I can’t wait to read another by Georgia Hill.

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Such a cute and interesting story. The characters in this book were hard not to fall in love with. I thought the entire book moved at a great fast pace and I loved every part of it. I am looking forward to reading more books from this author. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and write about this book.

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I discovered after I requested this that this is a compilation of 3 stories. so I was able to manage my expectations. as novellas are not my favorite. I enjoyed Amy's story the most. Though short, I found it to be well-rounded and the sweetest. Emma's story was okay, but it felt a little short and fluffy. You know about Emma from Tash's story, but I didn't learn much about Oliver so I didn't connect to their relationship. I have mixed feelings about Tash's story. I found Tash judgmental and rude in the beginning that it made it difficult to like her. About halfway through I started enjoying her story more and Kit was probably my favorite love interest. I feel like if you've read Hill's previous books set in this town than you would like reading these.

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This is the first book written by Georgie Hill that I have read, and I've become a huge fan. The characters of the three friends featured are very well developed. Each has some drama/growth to go through to be ready to find a worthy love. The dialogue is what really captured me. I'm from the West Coast, transferred to the South via the Mid-West. I find language and vocabulary very interesting, and "listening" to the characters of The Little Book Café just tickled me! I look forward to reading Ms. Hill's other books!

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This was such a lovely read <3

I really liked this book and the idea of Book Café, it made me want to go out and find one which I can regurarly visit to drink coffee, read books and attend book clubs.

Tha characters in this book were very relatable, likable and I fell in love with them almost immediately. Each woman was different and each had her own story to share.

The story really surprised me, I really liked that there was this suspension and I couldn't put it down.

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First, I must say I love the cover art! Now, to the story. The Little Book Cafe is an adorable story of 3 friends and a book club. We find out about each of their lives. It's interesting to see the differences and similarities between the three. It's a cute fast entertaining read. I recommend when you just want something warm hearted to enjoy.

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Honestly - I wasn't particularly sold on this book. Although I haven't read any other books in the series, so I hadn't had time to fall in love with the characters. This book was three novellas in one, but I found that only the ending of each "Story" really had my attention.

From Tash's Story on page 1, you dive straight into sexual scenes which certainly triggers the abuse she is about to face - a complete surprise when I expected to read a light hearted romance thats for sure. This was definitely a little off-putting and I was tempted to not finish the book at all. I did carry on and found that while the beginning of her story seemed slow - the second half of her story certainly redeemed itself and gave me everything I expected considering the tough topic.

Emma's Story was next - again, I found the beginning of this super slow and not much to grab my attention. She has relationship issues where she takes her boyfriend for granted, only to soon realise she is making a mistake, again this book only grabbed my attention during the second half of her story - which again, redeemed itself.

Finally, the book finished with Amy's story - which is all about her confidence following a recent 'jilting' at the alter, and battling with her weight and her mean mother. Whereas this book was the only story that I actually liked from the beginning, the ending was what disappointed me. I don't want to give too much away so I won't go into massive detail, but the deciding factor for me on this book? 'I don't care if he's married" COME ON. I know it's fiction, but I really hate the cheating trope, so unoriginal.

I gave this book two stars as some of the writing style flowed well and it dealt with different dramas well... a bit of warning would have been nice, however I don't think this is the series for me unfortunately.

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I liked the three stories as a whole - seeing each of their lives from a slightly different angle to in the other stories. Time scale was a bit unrealistic but if you ignored that, it was fine.

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The perfect book for a rainy afternoon, or any afternoon really. Tash, Amy are talked into joining a book club at the book store Emma manages. Each friend has her own story to tell but they are nicely interwoven. The path to true love does't love smoothly for any of them, but the hallmark of Georgia Hill's books insures it will all some out right in the end.

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A lovely light happy read. A great pick me up for this time of year. The pace was great and the story kept you hooked. The characters are well written and likeable. This is the first book I've read by Georgia but I will definitely be reading more.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest review

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How lovely it was to be back in Berecombe, home of Millie Vanilla's Cafe - and to discover that the Little Book Cafe is an extension of it.

Split into three parts there were all released separately too, this really is a lovely story.

Well 3 lovely stories as all 3 parts do work completely by themselves. My favourites were Tash and Amy, but I did enjoy Emma's section too.

All three ladies are friends and have a love of books. Tash and Emma work together, so I felt I already knew Emma quite well as the focus moved to her.

Tash is having a horrible time of things at the moment, and I was willing her to find the strength to do what to the reader seemed obvious. Emma is trying to better herself and gets her mind turned by all sorts of things. Amy needs to get on better with her mum and will she ever get together with the man of her dreams.

Incredibly enjoyable, quick to read, with fab descriptions, plenty of both books and food, not to mention recurring characters in the small town, this really was a joy to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Impulse for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

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