Book Review:  The Cafe at Marigold Marina by Tilly Tennant  @Bookouture @TillyTenWriter

The Cafe at Marigold Marina
by Tilly Tennant  

 

Welcome to the café on Marigold Marina, where the smell of freshly baked cakes fills the air and the boats bob merrily in the mellow evening sun. But will an unexpected meeting mean the chance to love again or a broken heart?

When Rosie inherits the café on Marigold Marina after her husband’s tragic death, she is determined to pour her heart into his dream. Nine months later, as she serves coffee and cakes to customers, she is all smiles and laughter. But when the sunshine-yellow doors of the café are closed, she allows her heart to break all over again.

Rosie doesn’t have much room in her life for anything but the café. But when Kit, the mysterious owner of a bookshop barge, starts to come by regularly for lunch, she finds it difficult to ignore his dark eyes, disheveled curls, and the fact that he has his own sorrows. Rosie finds it easy to talk to Kit and as they swim together in the sparkling marina waters she hopes she can help Kit the way he has helped her.

But just as she is letting herself open her heart, she learns the shocking secret that the husband she loved for so many years kept hidden from her. And when she discovers that Kit is hiding things too, she fears she has been foolish to trust again. Should she close her café and move away from the marina? Or take a risk and give love another chance?

An absolutely gorgeous and heartwarming read about what can happen when you leave your comfort zone and listen to your heart. Fans of Shari Low, Heidi Swain, and Nicola May will fall in love with The Café at Marigold Marina.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

There were emotions, all jumbled up inside her, so many she was overwhelmed. She couldn’t pick out a single one and feel it.

 

‘You said you wanted to broaden your horizons and push yourself to do new things.’ ‘I meant like trying a new flavour of crisp.’

  

My Review:

 

This was an easy-to-follow and engaging small village read with a couple of challenging characters that I just wanted to give a good pinch or ten.   The small riverside village and its populous of quirky residents were so well detailed I feel I could recognize and greet them in passing. The main character of Rosie was timid and anxiety-ridden and basically allowed herself to be a doormat, which was rather tedious at times yet the insights and observations written for this character were realistically true of many people.   Tilly Tennant’s stories are so well-honed and complete they could easily be transferred immediately to the screen as sharp visuals scrolled through my brain throughout perusal.

 

 

About the Author
Tilly Tennant was born in Dorset, the oldest of four children, but now lives in Staffordshire with a family of her own. After years of dismal and disastrous jobs, including paper plate stacking, shop assistant, newspaper promotions, and waitressing (she never could carry a bowl of soup without spilling a bit), she decided to indulge her passion for the written word by embarking on a degree in English and creative writing. She wrote a novel in 2007 during her first summer break at university and hasn’t stopped writing since. She also works as a freelance fiction editor and part-time lecturer.

Tilly also writes young adult fiction as Sharon Sant. Find out more about Tilly and how to join her mailing list for news and exclusives at www.tillytennant.com