Title: The Village of Happy Ever Afters
Author: Alison Sherlock
Genre: Women’s Fiction
My Rating: 5 out of 5
Synopsis
Molly Hopkins has happily watched all of her friends’ dreams come true on Riverside Lane. Deciding to follow her passion for baking, Molly with the help of her friends takes the plunge and opens a Tea Garden in the village hoping to make it a summer to remember!
Meanwhile, after a rather public end of his marriage, Logan Armstrong trusts no one but his beloved Grandad. He just wants his brief stay in Cranbridge to be as quiet as possible. But his Grandad has other ideas; he dreams of seeing the old watermill working again which might just mean Logan has to ask the village for help.
Can Molly finally overcome her lack of confidence and believe in her abilities to make the tea garden a success? Will Logan discover that Molly might just be the one to mend his broken heart? And will both of them realise that life is for living and loving?
Over a long hot summer in Cranbridge, perhaps everyone’s dreams of a happy-ever-after can finally come true.
My Review
I absolutely loved this story – it was just full of joy. We are introduced to the main character of Molly as she is doing yet another good deed for someone else, instead of thinking about herself. This time Molly is dressed as an Easter Bunny as part of the easter egg hunt for the youngsters of the village of Cranbridge. Molly has been struggling with confidence and belief in her own skills. She struggles with saying ‘no’ to people and always puts others’ needs before her own needs and dreams.
Logan has come back to Cranbridge and the safety of his Grandad to escape the scandal of his wife being caught with her television co-star. With his marriage over, Logan decides to stay in Cranbridge on a temporary basis whilst he works out what to do with his life. Feeling embarrassed by how his marriage ended and thinking that everyone in the village will be gossiping about him, Logan throws himself into the one thing that still gives him pleasure – his work as a furniture maker. His beloved grandad, Stanley, tries hard to get Logan to get more involved with the local community.
Molly and Logan form a really good friendship and work on bringing together all the local residents of Cranbridge to work on making a Community Garden, and eventually helping persuade Molly to follow her dreams of baking and making cakes, as she opens a Tea Garden as well. The more time Molly and Logan spend together, we see the chemistry between the two of them develop even more. Could there really be more to it than just friendship? Or will Logan leave Cranbridge when the lease of his workshop ends like he always intended or does Molly mean more to him than he realises?
The Village of Happy Ever Afters really is such a beautifully written story. The characters of Molly and Logan are fantastically written, but all the other characters play an important role in the development of the story. At the heart of this story lies a message of community spirit, fun, friendship, laughs, and love. And probably most importantly, the message of never giving up on your dreams. An absolute must-read from me – I just loved it!
Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for providing the materials for this post and organising the Blog tour. Be sure to check out the other blogs that participated in this Blog Tour.
