User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
5☆ A Charming, feel good read, that I fell in love with!
First of all I want to start by saying this is one of my favourite spring covers so far.
It's gorgeous and makes me smile!
Spring at The Little Duck Pond Café is the first book in a fabulous new series. I am very excited about!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this delightful short story. It made me laugh out loud so many times, it warmed my heart, bought back memories of my Aunt and her Alzheimer's, I loved all the wonderful quirky characters and best of the gorgeous duck pond and the beautiful Café.
When Sylvia takes Ellie in after she falls In the sludge of the duck pond, Ellie is shocked by what she sees in Sylvia's eclectic Café. There is clutter & antiques everywhere. Each holding a special place in Sylvia and her late husband heart.
Ellie is running away from a broken heart and Sylvia offers her a 6month lease on the flat above The Little Duck Pond Café.
Ellie jumps at the chance, packs her bag and leaves to start a new adventure in the Town her mum grew up in.
Sylvia has decided that in 6months time she is going to sell the quaint but eclectic Little Duck Pond Café. But Ellie has other ideas she thinks she can save it.
Zak is Sylvia's Nephew and he first meets Eellie when she is climbing up his tree taking photographs of the gorgeous quaint village.
He is very handsome and might just be what Ellie needs to get over her cheating Ex!
I adored this charming, heartwarming short story and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
If you are looking for a feel good, laugh out loud, poignant read that will melt your heart, make your tummy rumble and make you fall in love with The Little Duck Pond Café then this is definitely a book to read!
Thank you to Rachel Random Resources for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
My Review is also on my blog website:
https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2018/0...
Rating: really liked it
Reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.com
Ellie Farmer is in Sunnybrook, Surrey, taking photos for her mum who has Alzheimer’s, as her mum grew up in the area and Ellie is hoping to jog her memory with pictures of some of the local places. The little village is lovely, and the residents are even nicer. Something that Ellie quickly realises when she falls into the duck pond.
Sylvia runs the ‘Duck Pond Café’ and helps Ellie in her hour of need with a change of clothes, a warm drink and a listening ear. Ellie tells her all about her situation with her mum and her ex-boyfriend.
Being the helpful person she is, Sylvia offers Ellie the flat above the café on a six month lease and tells her about a job just down the road. After some persuasion, Ellie agrees to move to Sunnybrook, but will six-month be long enough?
‘Spring at the Little Duck Pond Café’ is the first in a planned series of book by author Rosie Green (alias of another author).
The book, at only 127 pages, is quite short, but it sure packed a lot in and was a joy to read. I was hooked from the very beginning and read it within a couple of hours. I didn’t want it to end.
Ellie is a lovely character. So down to earth and very realistic. She is caring and always one to offer a helping hand. She has had a rough time lately and is trying to move on, so moving to Sunnybrook is perfect for her.
There are also lots of other amazing characters in the book, including Fen, Rose, Maisie and the gorgeous Zak. Zak is a writer struggling with writer’s block and has headed to Sunnybrook to try and work on his book. He is a mixed up character, but his heart is always in the right place.
This waa just an enjoyable story. It had me laughing and smiling for most of the way through. There are some touching moments, especially with Ellie’s Mum, which was handled with pure compassion and knowledge.
I now can’t wait for book two – ‘Summer at the Little Duck Pond Café’
Rating: really liked it
Favorite Quotes:
… all the bravado drains out of me, leaving me feeling like a balloon three days after the party.
After all, they do say the joy of being a grandparent is that you can hand the little terror back at the end of the day . . .
My Review:
While reading, I vacillated in how to rate this slowly developing and somewhat bittersweet tale about a small British village, where each of the main characters appears to be in a transitional stage in their lives. The premise was relevant and the storylines and writing were chaste enough for my elderly mother’s church ladies book club, yet still held my attention, which is rare ;). As the first story in a trilogy, the stage was being set for subsequent installments, which was thankfully done without feeling like an information dump - yet it felt a bit flat to me. While there were humorous items and amusing observations, the story seemed to come up a little short of a Four-Star ranking, but close enough. I enjoyed the quirky characters and look forward to their future antics and adventures and proudly have two new additions to my Brit vocabulary list which now includes “came a cropper” which is to fall headlong, and “browned off” which is to be greatly annoyed. I do love being able to claim learning something new.
Rating: really liked it
This story was a real delight I really enjoyed getting to know Ellie and the lovely people who live in Sunnybrook. It's only a short story but in that time you meet Ellie who is having a terrible time of it what with family and romantic issues. That's where The Little Duck Café comes in and provides a break that is just what Ellie needs. The length of the story meant I read this book over one evening even though it is a shorter length I didn't feel like the story was rushed which was perfect.
There is a lovely heartwarming vibe to the story that is a perfect pick me up but there is also a more deeper emotional aspect to the story as you see Ellie and her mother interact. Even though the weather isn't very Spring like at the moment this book definitely made me smile and made me look forward to the months ahead!
I'm so happy that this will be a series and I get to re-visit Sunnybrook and the people who live there. Spring at The Little Duck Pond is a wonderful story with themes of new beginnings, friends, family and of course romance!
Five stars from me!
With thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for my copy. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.
Rating: really liked it
My Review Spring at The Little Duck Pond Café by Rosie Green
A sweet romance story. Extremely digestible and not too long-winded.
The Good
A sweet family story, love the mum dementia angle and cozy cafe and cakes. The characters were delightful and Zac the dreamer type of man you could fall in love with.
The Bad
No sex for sex sake!
The Ugly
Dementia is ugly. I did like the way that the author referred to The Thing. I think all woman do that I remember calling someone monster toad for a long time!
An enjoyable Novella - 4 Stars
Rating: really liked it
The good stuff first - this is a charming little book, a quick read and reasonably well edited.
The less good stuff - the book attempts to be too many things and doesn’t quite accomplish any of them.
The protagonist is Ellie (I finished this story 20 minutes ago and had to look up her name, that says a lot right there) who ends up in a cute little English village when her city life goes down the toilet in the most overused cliched way possible (sidebar - that she refers to the OW as ‘Thing’ is horrid, the ex who couldn’t keep it in his pants gets the benefit of the doubt and more respect than he’s due, but his mistress does not). Ellie is then surrounded by a new and eclectic friend group, all of whom will doubtless show up as protagonists in future novels in the series. It had potential to be a great ensemble piece, but not enough was given about the secondary characters to make them fully fledged. Again, I think because the writer is saving them for future books.
Ellie has the self esteem of a bowl of potato salad. She’s one of those irritating heroines who falls over her feet and face in the presence of testosterone. (No one is going to accidentally say ‘loving room’ instead of living room because they’re attracted to the man in the room. Come on.)
Zak is the hero, I think. He’s described in the blurb as broody, but he’s not actually in the book much, certainly not enough to make any impression. Their interactions over the span of the story measure in the single digits. This is really not a romance, despite how it’s marketed.
But it’s not the character piece that it aims to be either. Ellie doesn’t experience any growth. She doesn’t tackle her demons, doesn’t look at her own culpability in how her life unfolded. She doesn’t even forge out her own new path, simply lets a different bunch of people make decisions for her. It’s deeply unsatisfying as a reader to see no difference in a character from page 1 to 127.
So it’s cute, safe, and short. But it’s incredibly empty.
Rating: really liked it
OMG, what a delight to finally see where it all began! To see Ellie in the aftermath of her break up with Richard. How she first meet Zak and Maisie! Oh and off course, Sylvia and meeting Rose! I am going to sound so sloshy but my heart just sang. I will admit cried too!
I absolutely adore this series, and I will admit it’s so nice to be back with one of the original girls. Don’t get me wrong I do love Madison, Katja and Primose but there is something so special about Ellie, Fen and Jaz. This trio is the foundation of this series and I am so glad that it got extended from the original plan of just three books!! Three books! Who would Adam and Eve it!
Because I, wrongly, started the series at book two I missed out on the initial meet up, not that I ever felt like I was missing something. I really wasn’t, but it just adds to the magic reading book one and seeing how it all began with climbing a tree and a dip in the pond.
This series has always made me smile, and it’s one I love dipping back into. I am with old friends and seeing Ellie and Zak fall in love was so lovely especially as I am going to read book eight! And well it’s about Ellie and Zak!
I did fee for Ellie at the start with her breakup and you see the loss of confidence in her. But the meeting of Maisie soon changed that for her and it opened Zaks eyes too! These novellas are just one of pure heart-thumping love, one to last the lifetime. Yes, we have a bit of drama now and again with misconceptions but in this novella that was a bare minimum and in such few pages you are given a new family to care about and to love as your own.
I know there is a 9th book on its way too, I can’t wait for that. But with such a huge cast of characters, I really can’t see this series slowing down. Now I have read the first book I now have the complete history of the girls and can enjoy it even more!!
Rating: really liked it
What I Loved: The charming conversations in this cozy story made this book so lovable. I loved the way Ellie thinks with funny things like “Oh nightmare!”
How I Felt: I loved the characters in this book. Sylvia is probably my favorite character actually and I would love to see more of her in another book (and maybe I will get to since this is a series). Ellie is a bit of a hot mess with all the things going wrong in her life and I appreciated her character flaws that came with these issues. The romance was perfect and I enjoyed that story line. I felt that the two characters had chemistry and found myself rooting for them from the beginning.
Overall: This is a quick read with a very light-hearted feel. The story was endearing and the writing was well-done.
To Read or Not To Read: If you are looking for a quick read to lighten your mood, this is it!
I was provided an advanced reader's copy of this book for free. I am leaving my honest, unbiased review voluntarily.
This review will post to my blog on 1/13/20. All of my reviews can be found at: https://shejustlovesbooks.com/
Rating: really liked it
Spring At The Little Duck Pond Cafe was a simple sweet romance/small town story. It's the first book in a series and its a pleasant bit of escapism for anyone that likes clean romances. OK, its not 100 % a romance, though there is something brewing with Ellie and Zack.
Ellie ends up in Sunnybrook in hopes of helping her mother, but has also found a new life there, almost by accident when she meets Sylvia after falling into the duck pond.
She's dealing with a failing relationship and the failing health of her mother that has early onset dementia.
I love Ellie's love for her mother, but I wish it would have been more realistic. There are medications that slow the progression of the disease.
I also loved all of Ellie's new friends in Sunnybrook and how she took to helping them, especially Fen.
This was a fabulous start to a series, and I really look forward to revisiting the characters in the next books.
Rating: really liked it
Two thumbs up! Ellie was easy to relate to, especially with her nicknaming certain pieces or people in her life - Thing. Haha The story had so much to offer and I was amazed of everything tucked in between the pages for a novella. I want to go to Sunnybrook and visit the Little Duck Pond Cafe! A quick and delightful read over my holiday break!
Rating: really liked it
This was a super short and sweet romance. I liked the characters and the way they interacted with each other. Zak's daughter was a surprise and the book did become heavy for a while there but the way everything was wrapped up in the end was upto my expectations. Plus all the bakery talk made me crave sweeets so much lol!
Rating: really liked it
Another great read look forward to next one
Rating: really liked it
This book was just what I needed after reading so many dark books lately. so fluffy and adorable and despite the length of the book, it handled some really important issues and I was hooked from the minute it started. I won't lie, I did bubble up at some of the scenes including Ellie's mother, who has early-onset Alzheimer's because this has affected someone very close to me and the book was able to describe the disease very accurately. slightly intimidated that the series is currently 14 books long HOWEVER if they're all as enjoyable as this one was, I'm super excited for it :))
Rating: really liked it
I found this to be such fun to read! The characters were adorable, as was the setting, and the book managed to pack so much in considering it is only really a novella! I'm desperate for more installments!!
We first meet Ellie as she's plucking up the courage to climb a tree!! What a way to start a book! But you soon find out there's a good reason for her mission and the lengths she goes to help her mum who has early onset Alzheimers, is admirable and just makes you love her even more! Ellie is also trying to escape the heartbreak she's suffering after finding out her boyfriend has been cheating on her, so maybe she needs an escape!
She is soon offered the chance to move on and make a new start and although she is a little hesitant she can see no other option, so grabs the opportunity to live in a flat above The Little Duck Pond Cafe where she has made a strong bond with the wonderful owner Sylvia. In her seventies she is finding the cafe a little bit of a struggle, but has many happy memories there, so in Ellie she finds someone she can talk to and to help out. Ellie also takes on a little job at a nearby bakery where she meets some different characters - some more likeable than others!!
Sylvia is also the great aunt to Zack who Ellie had the misfortune of annoying when she was trying to climb the tree in his front garden, so they don't get off to the best start, but the more time they begin to spend with each other thanks to Sylvia, the more they get to see different sides to one another
I loved the whole community feel of this and was totally swept up in the lives of the characters who all just felt like the kind of people you hope to meet and become friends with!
Rating: really liked it
Ellen needs a break. Her so called boyfriend has had a one night stand and she kicked him out. On deciding to forgive him, he said he didn’t want to come back. They had bought a house together and were planning a family so this has brought Ellen’s world to come crashing down. Her mother has early onset Alzheimer's and so to cheer herself and her mother up, Ellen decides to visit her Mum’s old stamping ground and take some pictures for her memory book. What transpires from this visit changes things. I won’t say too much other than to say this is an uplifting tale and a wonderful start to Spring. A time of new life and new beginnings and for some a chance to turn over a page and never look back. I really enjoyed this. It’s a novella length book, perfect for over a coffee or two. Find a comfy chair, a drink and a cake and breathe in some spring-time magic.
For more reviews please see my blog http://nickibookblog.blogspot.co.uk/
or follow me on Twitter @nickijmurphy1
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