Hill has created the most gorgeous town to be the setting for this book. We join Millie in Berecombe at her picturesque cafe with stunning views of the sea. Immediately the smell of cake and coffee fill your imagination and you know you’re in for a treat.
Millie is facing a nightmare situation that many independent cafe shops over the country face all the time – a multi-national cafe has decided to open up in Berecombe, with their lower prices, swanky new interior and exciting new coffees, how can Millie compete? Her fear resonates through the pages and you instantly feel protective of Millie.
With customers flocking to the competion, Millie is left with only the most loyal of customers and they swing into action to create a plan that will make her cafe full again. But with cash tight, will it work?
I loved the ideas that were thrown around and implemented, if my local cafe did only one of these ideas, they’d be busy everyday too! Nevertheless there is a sense of reality flowing through the plot, showing that nothing is ever easy and changes are never instant.
Luckily through the gloom, Millie has something that is lifting her heart – she’s met her dream man, but as she reaches the peak of happiness in her love life, like a wave, it comes crashing down as it’s revealed Jed has been keeping a number of secrets.
Now, what was really interesting, was the fact I was only a third of the way through the book before I got a bit of a surprise. Hill introduced another lead character who began to tell their story through their perspective and we watched as Millie’s story was entwined with Dora – her best friend (who we we did know about, but she’d been more of a background character) and the plot has now multiplied into further sub plots. Then!!! Again about two-thirds of the way through, Hill brought in another background character and gave them the spotlight too. I really liked this technique and the way it opened the plot – very clever.
Millie was definitely the star of the book though – her genuine approach to tackling both personal and business decisions made her the most relatable.
Perfect book when you need to fully unwind and take yourself somewhere completely fictional. It’ll leave you feeling content and relaxed!
Millie Vanilla’s Cupcake Cafe is out now in paperback and eBook versions by Harper Impulse.
Until next time, Chloé x
Reviews by Chloé 
Sounds good.
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