The Beachside Sweet Shop: A feel good romantic comedy (Beachside, #1)

by Karen Clarke

'Within the first page turn I was laughing out loud... It was a delight to read.' 5* Rachel's Random Reads

When Marnie Appleton inherited a sweet shop from her grandfather she was determined to do his legacy proud. The shop has been a much-loved feature of the little seaside town of Shipley for years, but now Marnie needs to bring it up to date, and she's recruited gorgeous new assistant Josh to help.

Marnie gets busy redecorating the shop and choosing delicious new sweets to stock, but things are never that simple: new neighbour Isobel, a fame-hungry blogger, is on a crusade against sugar, and she'll go to any lengths to secure bad publicity for Marnie's shop.

Marnie fights back with homemade sugar-free treats, but with her best friend Beth heavily pregnant, her grandmother Celia recovering from an operation, and her very recently ex-boyfriend Alex returning to Shipley with a new love, Marnie has a lot on her plate.

And then there's Josh, with whom Marnie is struggling to keep her relationship strictly professional...Will both the sweet shop and love flourish?

A deliciously heartwarming read about family, friends and handmade coconut ice. Perfect for fans of Cressida McLaughlin, Debbie Johnson, and Tilly Tennant.

What people are saying about The Beachside Sweet Shop:

'I do love a book that can make me giggle after just a few pages. As well as being funny, the storyline had a homely feel to it, reading it made me feel comfortable, relaxed and welcome...It's amazing how much drama one little sweet shop can create! I was captivated, and sometimes surprised, by the goings on in the little village shop...a bright read that left a smile on my face and my taste buds in need of some sweet treats.' 5* V Family Fun

'I smiled all of the way through this gorgeous heart-warming read. A lot of the sweets reminded me of my childhood. The fictional Seaside town of Shipley sounds gorgeous, I almost packed my bags and started looking on TripAdvisor for a place to stay. The characters and storyline are just everything I adore in a book. I can honestly say that I felt quite sad to be saying farewell to everyone at the end.' 5* The Reading Shed

'Brilliant! Such a beautiful, heart warming story! Loved every word! So well written. A magical, feel good tale. Loved, loved, loved. Highly recommend it to everyone.' Renita D'Silva

'Had me chortling away...really funny...A fabulous candy cane of a read. I absolutely loved it.' 5* Short Book and Scribe

• ISBN10: 1786810379
• ISBN13: 9781786810373
• Publish Date: 2 March 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bookouture
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 312
• Language: English

Reviews

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free for a Blog Tour in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Thank you to  Bookouture for accepting my request to review this book via Netgalley. I have a bit of a sweet tooth so when I saw there was a book all about sweets I knew I had to read it. Warning before you read this you might want to get a bag of your favourite sweets.

Marnie took over the Beachside Sweet shop from her Gramps. She'd enjoyed working there as a child/teenager and thought it was a good way to save some money so she could go travelling. She also couldn't bear to see the shop sold and the rest of the family didn't want to run it. I really liked Marnie. She is instantly likeable and you can't help but root for her immediately. She's a genuinely nice person and you want everything to go right for her

There are also a whole host of great side characters in this book. With pregnant BFF Beth, who is hilarious. Ceila, Paddy, Harry, Aggie and Josh. All these characters had their place in both the story and Marnie's life. I have to confess that I have a little soft spot for Josh.

The book was easy to read and the ending gave you the warm fuzzies. It was well written and had a good pace. I think this story was about more than romance, it was about family. There are also some classic laugh out loud moments that I really enjoyed.

I look forward to see more from Karen in the near future.

[Leah]

I wanted to love this book. A book about a sweet shop sounded like heaven, especially as I have first hand knowledge of a sweet shop, but the more I read, the more infuriated I got. You ever get that feeling a book just wasn't for you? That's how I felt about this one. I thought it would be, I thought it would be fantastic, and I'd be able to nod along with all the anecdotes (to be fair, I could agree with a few of them mind) but Marnie was so incredibly frustrating as a character. If she didn't want to be in Shipley, why didn't she bloody well leave? Instead that's all I heard; how frustrated she was, how she didn't want to be there, how everyone in her life had decided to die or break their leg so she just HAD to stay. It was obviously all an act, though she got furious when it was pointed out. THEN! Just when she had decided to go travelling she became furious at people making plans for the sweet shop. I felt like I had whiplash. I just wanted to shake some sense into her and tell her to stop acting so childish.

Another thing that baffles me, is that Marnie broke up her relationship - her boyfriend left for New York without her, because she couldn't go because of the reasons I said above (death/broken legs etc) yet she still pines for him. I forget his name. Alex? Andrew? I feel like it's Alex, but I could be wrong, because he was a bit forgettable. You broke up with him! You have no right to feel aggrieved if he moves on! What, you don't want him but no one else can have him? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? *Rages* I understand there will still be emotions there, and she obviously only broke up with him so she could set him free, blah blah blah, but that still gives you no right to be furious that he's moved on, WHEN YOU TOLD HIM TO GO.

You're probably wondering why I gave this book three stars, since I haven't yet had a good word to say: BETH AND JOSH. Beth was a fantastic best friend, with a good quip ready whenever it was needed and it made me sad she was shoved into a corner, so Josh could shine. Not because I didn't like Josh - I LOVED Josh. He was fantastic. But I felt like poor Beth got pushed to one side and could have been utilised so much more. She was incredible. Like I said, so was Josh. Josh was by far the best thing about this book (although Marnie's grandmother Celia comes a close second and Chester the dog a close third). He lit the book up, he brought a spark and I cannot for the life of me understand why Marnie went back to Alex. I mean, all that build up for Josh/Marnie and JOSH JUST LEAVES? And Marnie just lets him! And runs right back to Alex *eye roll* y'see what I mean when I say I had whiplash? Jesus, lass, pick a bloke and stick with him.

I genuinely wanted to love this book, I really did, but it just frustrated me to an unreal level. Marnie was so wishy-washy, unable to make a decision, unable to deal with this awful blogger woman who was intent on ruining her business (because bored yummy mummies do that???? They picket businesses because sweet shops are just hell on Earth basically?? Forgetting that eh Tesco and Asda and any other supermarket in the world PLUS the newsagents that was down the road, also sells sugar-filled sweets???) and I just wanted her to have a bit of gumption, a bit of spark, if you're not happy in your life, change it. It's simple. You don't want to run a sweet shop - sell it. She seemingly had enough money to travel for the rest of her life, so go for it if that's what you want. But MAKE. A. DECISION. I am not a fan of characters who hide behind other reasons for not doing stuff.

I've become far too critical of the genre I once devoured. If I had read this five years ago I would have loved it, without picking up on any flaws (except the Josh thing, that will have always have bugged me). It would have been a fantastic read, but it's the kind of book I've read time and time again. I've said it before on social media, I hate reading about people who hate their home towns, as if they're the worst places in the world, as if the grass really is greener on the other side - it isn't - no matter where you go in life, it's all the same: work, home, work, home, work home. That's life in Shipley or New York - you can't survive on fresh air.

I appear to have run out of steam. TL;DR? There were bits I liked, genuinely, but it is the bits I didn't like dominating my review, so *shrugs* what can ya do? I felt how I felt.