The Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond

Whilst I am waiting for some of my favourite authors to release their new books I have found myself reading a few books by authors I have not tried before. I have just finished The Beach Café by Lucy Diamond. I have seen books by Lucy Diamond on the shelves before but they have never seemed to stick out for me until I came across this one which once I had read the blurb I decided to give it a try.

Plot
Evie Flynn is in a relationship which doesn't seem to be going anywhere and is also stuck in a job which she hates. Evie is thrown a life line when she receives tragic news that her dear aunt Jo has died in a car crash but has left her precious beach café to Evie. This is an opportunity for Evie to make something of her life. Surely she can run her aunts café how hard can it be?
Evie soon finds out that running the café although enjoyable is hard work and she is missing her life back home will she be able to stick out running her Beach Café or will she decide to sell up and head back home?

My Opinion
I was looking for a summer read, as a few people have asked me to recommend a great holiday read and although I have read some great reads recently I have yet to find one that has been released this year which really gets me in the holiday mood! This was why this book took my eye as I was sure with the title The Beach Café it was sure to get me in the right mood.

I found that the book had a slow start but by chapter 5 the book started to pick up its pace and I really started to slip into the story. The remainder of the book continued at a comfortable pace. Personally I felt that we didn't need the first part of the book as the story really started for me when Evie arrived in Cornwall.

The main character in this book is Evie. Her character was easy to warm to from the start of the book. She seems to be stuck in a rut and is unsure of what to do about it. She is the black sheep of her family and her family always seem to be sitting waiting for her next failure to happen. It was great to see the determination in Evie to prove to her family that she can achieve something without failing miserably. As the reader we can see that Evie's relationship with Matthew is going nowhere and I was glad that the relationship was not drawn out to long as I think this would have dampened the storyline.

I really enjoyed the mix of characters in this book and the relationship between Evie and the other characters come across so well. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Evie and her chef Ed and Phoebe who was a teenage homeless girl who Evie reached out to. I thought I knew what the outcome of Phoebe was going to be but I was wrong! Although Evie was our main character we did learn about each of the other characters stories which made each of the characters feel more meaningful. I was glad that the book wasn't predictable other than the romance side of things in this book which is why I found it very hard to put this book down.

I thought the storyline was perfect and enjoyable. the story being based in Cornwall was a nice touch and made the book feel more realistic with it being set in a familiar place.

I would recommend this book as a holiday read although a word of warning put it in your hand luggage as the book is 489 pages long so will damage your luggage allowance! After reading this book I will keep my eyes open for future book releases by Lucy Diamond.