“Amid the ruins of her latest relationship, Polly Waterford moves far away to the sleepy seaside resort of Polbearne, where she lives in a small, lonely flat above an abandoned shop.
To distract her from her troubles, Polly throws herself into her favorite hobby: making bread. But her relaxing weekend diversion quickly develops into a passion. As she pours her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, each loaf becomes better than the last. Soon, Polly is working her magic with nuts and seeds, olives and chorizo, and the local honey-courtesy of a handsome local beekeeper. Drawing on reserves of determination and creativity Polly never knew she had, she bakes and bakes . . . and discovers a bright new life where she least expected it.” -Little Beach Street Bakery, Jenny Colgan.
This is an adorable novel. I mean, we have setting of Cornwall, a baker who saves a puffin, a cute beekeeper, fishing boats, and island life! If you’re into cottagecore at all, this book definitely fits that genre!
We open with poor Polly having lost her business and in that process, also breaking up with her long term boyfriend. As any stable adult would do, she takes off and moves to Mount Polbearne, an island that doesn’t even have a bridge connecting it to the mainland.
(We’ve all been there, Polly.)
Life really starts to take off in Mt. Polbearne though. She rehabs a puffling, starts a feud with the only bakery in town (the owner also happens to be her landlady), and starts meeting a couple of the locals, including the aforementioned beekeeper and a cute fisher.
And then life starts going sour. As life tends to do. Turns out the cute fisher may or may not have another lady in his life, and the beekeeper has decided to jet off to America. And what is a girl supposed to do?
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Why: It was after I read Little Beach Street Bakery that I finally realized that it’s books like this that make me crave the idyllic life of owning a bakery and living in nowhere. (Now, it turns out that actually living in nowhere is a bit different and less picturesque, but I digress.) The thing is, books are meant as an escape sometimes. Perhaps, I don’t like that I live in the middle of nowhere, but if I read a book about a similar setting, it makes me motivated to like my setting. Little Beach Street Bakery did that for me. There’s just an easy, lazy day, summer read feeling about this book, and I love it.
Ending thoughts: This is a cute book, but there is some swearing and hints of sex, although nothing blatant. I enjoyed the setting and premise of the book a lot. Neil, the puffin, was an adorable and fun animal companion that won my heart. Having a bird as a pet is definitely unique!
As always, I hope you have a wonderful day!
–Storm
Storm Shultz 