The Juniper Gin Joint

by Lizzie Lovell

'The perfect pick-me-up for summer!' -- Phillipa Ashley

'Like a complex gin, brimming with botanicals, this delicious book offers a giant swig of a story full of characters, wit and warmth' -- Jules Wake

When life gives you lemons, make gin and tonic!

It's been a tough year for empty-nester Jen in her seaside Devon town; her kids have left for pastures new and her husband's left for another woman.

Home alone with her eccentric home-brewing father and a Jack Russell, she is just getting her life back on track when her job at the local museum is threatened by her first love and nemesis, Councillor David Barton, who intends to sell the beautiful old building to a pub chain. But help is at hand from her colleagues: Jackie, a former Greenham Common warrior; Tish, a flamboyant historian; and Carol, mega-flirt. Plus newcomer and former campaigner, Tom. Who happens to be a widower. And quite sexy. And also the owner of a Jack Russell.

The key to saving the day and putting the town back on the tourist map could lie just within reach - when reaching for a cold gin and tonic, that is. Mother's Ruin to some, gin is the making of Jen when she comes together with her friends and family to save the museum and open an artisan distillery in the basement.

With its debauched local history of smuggling, can gin be the town's saviour and bring love back into Jen's life?

• ISBN10: 1760632694
• ISBN13: 9781760632694
• Publish Date: 1 November 2018 (first published 5 July 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: AU
• Imprint: Allen & Unwin
• Edition: Main
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

The Juniper Gin Joint was a cute, easy read. I must confess to not having a lot to say about the book - especially since it was mostly building up to being a gin joint rather than us actually getting to see the gin joint in action. There was a lot of showing, rather than telling where despite being written in first-person present-tense it skipped over a lot of important scenes I would have liked to have seen.

While I liked the general plot, I do wonder exactly who has half a million pounds lying around randomly to offer with the purchase of a run down museum. It’s almost pie in the sky - not to mention, Jennifer’s sons boyfriends parents offering another half a million, without wanting to see a business plan or anything. Like if you look too closely, you see problems. If you ignore all of that, it’s a fun, light read. Jennifer is an easy to like character and I LOVED her dad immensely.

I hate myself for being so picky, but there were a few editing issues. The spelling of Kerrang as Kerang. The use of “sarney” instead of “sarnie”, even though the correct usage is used later in the novel (that, in particular, is annoying). Otherwise the writing was fine, the novel is just over 300 pages and I flew through it in an evening.

I would definitely read a sequel - to see them flourish with the gin joint, to see it progress since we didn’t really see that here. I like Lizzie Lovell’s storytelling, she writes characters you really like, inoffensive and I’ve learned so much about gins I could open my OWN distillery. The Juniper Gin Joint was a lovely read, and I would definitely read a sequel.