Book Description:
From the author of the #1 BESTSELLING The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay
All our favourite characters from Cockleberry Bay are back, including Hot, Rosa Smith’s adorable dachshund, and his new-born puppies.
Now successfully running the Cockleberry Café and wishing to start a family herself, Rosa feels the time is right to let her inherited corner shop go. However, her benefactor left one important legal proviso: that the shop cannot be sold, only passed on to somebody who really deserves it. Rosa is torn.
How can she make such a huge decision? And will it be the right one? Once the news gets out, untrustworthy strangers appear in the Bay, their motives uncertain. With the revelation of more secrets from Rosa’s family heritage, a new series of unpredictable and life-changing events begins to unfold.
The Gift of Cockleberry Bay concludes this phenomenally successful series in typically brisk and bolshy style, and will delight Rosa’s many thousands of fans.
My Thoughts:
The story is set over the second half of the year so we get to enjoy summer, autumn and winter in Cockleberry Bay. Being a dog lover, I especially couldn’t wait to read this book to catch up with Hot, the sausage dog, as well as his pups. I love how even the animals are characters in their own rights and I’m glad that the author gives them some spotlight time.
Even though the author gives enough background to the previous novels in this series, I do think it would be best to read in order still. The businesses in the area play a big part in the story, more so the shop that Rosa was gifted and is now time for her to pass onto another deserving person. Whilst there are some new characters in this book, the majority of them are ones we have already gotten to know over the course of the other books in the series and they are very much integral to the storyline.
Life is never dull in the bay with someone always being in need or the residents rallying around each other. I do love this part of a small community. Things are far from straight forward though with certain characters keeping secrets or telling lies. All in all though it makes for an enthralling read.
The Gift of Cockleberry Bay was a heart-warming read and one I enjoyed immensely with characters who I have become to know well and love. I’m happy yet sad that there is only one more book in the series yet for me to read. Whilst there may not be anymore books after the fourth in the series, the author has a great backlist of novels that I will be able to dive into which I look forward to. This series in particular stood out to me as the characters are ones that readers can relate to. They have their flaws as at the end of the day, none of us are perfect. Some are overcoming losses as well as addiction and I have to applaud the author for writing about it so well. A novel that ultimately will leave you feeling uplifted and want to do something nice for someone else!
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