Bea's Book Wagon by Julie Haworth

 

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.

I have been really looking forward to the release of Bea’s Book Wagon because I love books about fictional entrepreneurs especially when it involves bookshops!

This book really didn’t disappoint it was such a wholesome read that I didn’t want to put down, I was routing for Bea to make a success of her mobile book business and I was also rather envious of her courage to take such a big risk and put everything she has into this business. 

The support she receives not just from family and friends but also from the community who she is managing to bring together with thanks to a mutual love of books which was so comforting. With the book being set around Rye it all felt very easy to visualise with the thanks to the authors descriptive writing but also this was helped with this being a location not too far from where I live so this gave the book an added sense of excitement and familiarity.

Although the romance side of this book had a predictable outcome I still loved watching every moment unfold, I could smell a bad egg straight away when meeting one of the love interests and also could see early on that there were a couple whole were clearly meant to be so the romantic in me was cheering from the sideline!

This is one of my favourite reads of this year full of ambition, love, friendship and a love of books. If your looking for a wholesome feel good read then this book will tick all the boxes.

Available to buy here

New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe by 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.

It has been a long time since I have read a book with an uplifting cosy feel good vibe but that is exactly what I found in New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Café by Julie Haworth. Now I admit I absolutely adore books that have start up businesses in them especially bakery and café ones so I kind of had an idea this book was going to be a winner for me before I even started the book.

Tori has been having an adventurous time travelling around Asia with partner Ryan when out of the blue he ends things between them. Tori heads home and with all her future plans now shattered she is at a loss until her mum offers her the opportunity to take over the Café and put her own stamp on the place. Touched by her time in Asia and the cat cafés she visited she has an idea that may also help other in the community of Blossom Heath.

I love that this book was set in Rye too as it is somewhere local so it makes this book feel so real and I found myself getting pulled into the excitement of Tori’s plans for the Cosy Cat Café. We get to see the hoops she has to go through to try and get her idea off the ground, with the support of those around her but also the reservations of others to deal with too.

Community spirit is certainly at the heart of this book and friendships old and new as well as a fizzing romance all help to make this book an absolute joy to read. It highlights that if we all work together a lot more than our actions and ideas can often help other people too.

This was certainly the perfect book at the purrrfect time for me.

Available to buy Here!