When Ruby Watkiss lands a job at the True Loaf Bakery, she feels as if the sun has finally come out. Having been through a traumatic time that wrecked her confidence levels, it’s a joy to be working for Ellie, and now all Ruby wants is to lead a quiet life and support her mum in getting the help she needs.
But life, it seems, has other plans for Ruby.
Working alongside the bafflingly rude Hudson Holmes would be bad enough – but then odd things start happening. It seems that someone is out to sabotage the café and bakery, and to her horror, Ruby finds the finger pointing at her.
Desperate to prove her innocence, she teams up with the most unlikely person in order to get to the bottom of what’s going on. Tailing suspects and hiding in bushes isn’t something she ever imagined she’d be doing, although her partner in mystery-solving seems the perfect man for the job. Can they clear Ruby’s name by discovering the real culprit?
With all the drama afoot, at least there’s no time for romance. Because that’s the very last thing on Ruby’s mind these days. Or is it…?
My Thoughts
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I have been a fan of the Little Duck Pond Cafe series from the very beginning, and each time I hear of a new book being released I find myself full of excitement at the thought of returning to the village.
In this latest instalment we are reunited with Ruby and Hudson, two characters who find themselves thrown together in some rather unique circumstances – and also two characters you will certainly remember from previous books!. When things start going wrong in the bakery she works in, Ruby finds herself in the firing line as the accusations against her start flooding in. Determined to prove her innocence in the matter, Ruby and Hudson decide to work together to try and discover who is responsible in order to clear her name.
This is so much more than your typical run of the mill ‘girl meets boy’ romantic tale, as this book also takes on a tale of mystery as Ruby embarks on the task of finding out who is behind the sabotage of the bakery. Both Ruby and Hudson have this truly remarkable way of bringing out the absolute best in one another, despite neither of them really being aware of this most of the time. Their companionship takes them on a Holmes and Watson inspired journey that provides us with humour, romance and drama throughout.
I have to say, this is quite possibly my favourite addition to this series to date. I loved the way in which the story was told and I found myself fully immersed in the lives of the characters and the drama that began to unfold around them. Ruby and Hudson are both intriguing characters that have their own stories to share and hurdles to overcome as the story progresses. It is always an absolute delight to delve into the world Rosie Green so wonderfully brings to life within the pages of her books, and how we are reacquainted with some much loved characters we have met in previous books too.
A beautifully written story that I simply couldn’t put down, I am already eagerly anticipating the next book by Rosie Green!
You can purchase a copy of this book by following the link below
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3feTsKn
About the Author
Rosie has been scribbling stories ever since she was little.
Back then, they were rip-roaring adventure tales with a young heroine in perilous danger of falling off a cliff or being tied up by ‘the baddies’.
Thankfully, Rosie has moved on somewhat, and now much prefers to write romantic comedies that melt your heart and make you smile, with really not much perilous danger involved at all – unless you count the heroine losing her heart in love.
Her series of novellas is centred around life in a village cafe. The latest, ‘Sweet Pastries & Sourdough’, is out now.
Look out for more Little Duck Pond Café tales in 2021!
Follow Rosie on Twitter – https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green88
*Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources and Rosie Green for providing me with a gifted copy of this book in return for my honest review. All thoughts are entirely my own and not influenced in any way.*
Victoria Wilks 