Fay Merryweather runs her cake shop from her beautiful garden. She whips up airy sponges and scrumptious scones, while her customers enjoy the lovely blossoms and gorgeous blooms. Looking after the cake shop, the garden and her cantankerous mother means Fay is always busy but she accepts her responsibilities because if she doesn’t do all this, who will?

Then Danny Wilde walks into her life and makes Fay question every decision she’s ever made.

When a sudden tragedy strikes, Fay’s entire world is thrown off balance even further and she doesn’t know which way to turn. Can Fay find the strength to make a life-changing decision – even if it means giving up the thing she loves the most? Life, love and family are about to collide in The Cake Shop in the Garden.

Fay Merryweather has the perfect job. She runs her own cake shop in the garden of the family home, together with her feisty, yet trusty assistant Laja.

Yet in her personal life, her situation couldn’t be much different. Her mother is a demanding, bed-bound, arrogant woman, who relies on Fay for everything, and her partner of ten years treats her as if they are an old, married couple, even when they don’t live together.

When Danny Wilde walks in to her life and Fay’s heart does a little flutter, could this be the change that she is so desperately in need of?

‘The Cake Shop in the Garden’ is an easy, sweet, chick lit novel, perfect for your summer holiday read.

Fay for me was a bit of a hot and cold character. I never fully got a picture of what she looked like, or why she took the world on her shoulders, and at times she came across as bit of a doormat. Yet she was also a caring, considerate woman who always put other peoples’ feeling before her own.

Her mum, a lazy battle-axe, treated her terribly and like dirt, yet Fay ran to her every beck and call. Just like her partner Anthony, who put his golf and bell ringing above Fay, and her sister Edie who used her like a bank, taking Fay’s savings.

When Danny walks into Fays life, she begins to feel that there is more that she could be doing with it. Danny makes her feel alive for the first time in years, and she starts to lose her inhibitions.

My favourite character though, wasn’t one of the primary ones – he was a secondary character called ‘Stinky Stan’. He was full of wisdom and intellect and had many a wise word to tell Fay.

Although I fully enjoyed the book, there were little things I would have loved to have been different. I would of loved to have seen some cake recipes in the book, like some other novels have done. I would also have liked to have gotten a bit of a background on Fay, and for her to lose that damn cardigan!

Overall, The Cake Shop in the Garden is a pleasant summery read that felt like pure escapism.

Hello! I’m a writer of romantic comedy, drinker of champagne, baker of cakes and eater of chocolate. I live in the Costa del Milton Keynes with my dearly beloved, Lovely Kev, in a minimalist home with no carpets, curtains or ornaments. I like walking, dancing, Zumba, movies and watching rubbish telly.