Series Name: Little Beach Street Bakery # 1
“These were cathartic tears; unstoppable but somehow not upsetting. She let them fall, couldn’t wipe them away even if she’s wanted to with her doughy hands, and tried instead to be, for once, in the moment—not regretting the ways things has worked out, or panicking madly about the future, or thinking about what she could have done differently, or said to Chris, or worked on or planned for, but instead listening to the radio, which had changed now to another pop song she loved, and the splashing, and feeling the dough change and mould under her fingers as the sun sparkled on the now empty sea.”
Jenny Colgan’s Little Beach Street Bakery will warm your heart and make you fall in love with the English seaside.
Trying to escape the aftermath of a disastrous break-up and business failure, Polly decides to move to a quiet seaside town. Her new small flat (which should probably be condemned) sits above an abandoned shop and provides a sense of quiet that Polly really needs in her life right now. She finds herself starting to bake bread again, and her heart begins to heal with each loaf she makes. Polly realizes that maybe she can take this baking hobby of hers and make it into something more. With the help of some local fishermen, an eccentric millionaire, and Huckle the hunky honey man, Polly starts to work towards making a new life for herself.
There is just so much to love about this book. Jenny has this ability to create characters and places that have some much life and depth that you feel like you are living in this little seaside town with Polly. The baking scenes in this book are the best, I felt like I could smell and taste the breads Polly was making. By the time I was done reading this book, all I wanted to do is go into my kitchen and bake bread, yum!
Polly is a fabulous character: she is caring, witty, and brave. It’s not an easy thing to start over in life, but I love how Polly didn’t spend the entire book wallowing in self-pity. She does have a few romantic interests in this book, which keeps things super interesting and leaves you guessing who she will end up with. Each of these men are really different from one another and I really enjoyed reading Polly’s interactions with them. Each relationship has a lot of depth and wasn’t just thrown into the book for no reason (Jenny always has a reason for everything writes, which I love). Huckle was my favourite love interest, he is as sweet as the honey he sells. I definitely was rooting for him throughout the whole book, hoping he would be the one Polly would end up.
And finally, I have to talk about the character that stole my heart, Neil the puffin. I didn’t think it was possible to love a bird as much as I love this puffin. He is so delightful and cute. Anytime I would read a scene that Neil was in, I just was so happy (it’s like watching a cute cat video). I know I can’t have one, but I want one lol. I can see why Jenny loved writing his scenes. He is one amazing little puffin.
This book has romance, food, love, beautiful countryside, and one adorable puffin. I can’t wait to read the second book in the series Summer at the Little Beach Street Bakery.