The Beachside Sweet Shop by Karen Clarke

The Beachside Sweet Shop (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

Reviewed by Emma (SCR) on

4 of 5 stars

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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.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 6 March, 2017: Finished reading
  • 6 March, 2017: Reviewed