Meet Me At The Cupcake Cafe (Cupcake Cafe #1) by Jenny Colgan

Book Review Dec 05, 2022

My review

3/5 stars

This book seemed to tick all of my boxes... rom-com, baking, friendship, general sweetness. In theory, this should have been perfect, a 5 star read, but in reality, something felt missing.

Issy was a nice enough character, there was nothing wrong with her per-say. But for some reason I just couldn't fully connect to her. I'm not entirely sure why. She was determined, she was courageous, she was friendly, but she didn't hold my attention as much as I expected her to as a lead character. I found myself much more drawn to the characters around Issy; Pearl and Louis were particular favourites, and I was very curious about the elusive locksmith character. I also thought Graeme was notably well-written because I genuinely couldn't stand him from the very start.

I enjoyed the plot in general, but the fact that it took me a while to get through the book suggests that it didn't engage me as much as it could have done. My biggest issue with the story was that it felt a little rushed towards the end, and not all of the plot-points felt resolved at the end of the story. I can appreciate that the author might want to explore the world further in follow-up stories, but that doesn't mean that storylines in this particular book can be left too open-ended (in my opinion).

The inclusion of recipes for the bakes that Issy was trying in the cafe were a welcome inclusion, and did a nice job of tying the chapters together and capturing the essence of the content in food. It also served to make my mouth water while I was reading, and I found myself eating my way through the book as well as reading through it!

The relationships in this book were also enjoyable, both romantic and otherwise; they felt wholesome yet realistic. I loved the developing sense of community around Issy, and found her two love interests to be totally plausible and dealt with maturely instead of just being given the rom-com dream treatment.

This was a good read, just not my favourite example of this particular genre.

Book blurb

Issy Randall can bake. No, more than that - Issy can create stunning, mouth-wateringly divine cakes. After a childhood spent in her beloved Grampa Joe's bakery, she has undoubtedly inherited his talent.

When she's made redundant from her safe but dull City job, Issy decides to seize the moment. Armed with recipes from Grampa, and with her best friends and local bank manager fighting her corner, The Cupcake Café opens its doors. But Issy has absolutely no idea what she's let herself in for. It will take all her courage - and confectionery - to avert disaster . . .