Snowflakes Over The Starfish Cafe – Jessica Redland

Published By: Boldwood
Pages: 338
Date Published: 31/08/2021
Date Read: 01/08/2021

Two broken hearts.

Since she inherited The Starfish Café, Hollie has poured her heart into the business, striving to keep her mother’s traditions and warm-hearted spirit alive. But behind closed doors Hollie is searching for true happiness as she grieves the tragic loss of her family who were once the beating heart of the café…

An unexpected meeting.

Jake lives by two rules: don’t let anyone get close and don’t talk about what happened. Little does he know that a chance meeting at The Starfish Café, facilitated by a fluffy lost dog, is about to turn his world upside down…

The chance to love again.

Can Hollie and Jake break down the barriers that have been holding them back from finding love and happiness, before Christmas comes around? After all, with courage, nothing is impossible…

*Contains minor plot spoilers*

Thanks to Boldwood for an advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

I recently came across Jessica’s work and vowed to read through her entire back catalogue, so when the opportunity came to read an advanced copy of this, I snapped it up. Any book involving Christmas and snow is always guaranteed to make me happy, and when you throw in Jessica’s naturally beautiful writing style, it’s a no brainier – and yes I did read it accompanied by Christmas music in the heat of August.

It is a very contemporary story of love and loss and all the ugliness that comes with both. The lovey-doves bits aren’t sickly sweet, and the sad bits aren’t over the top. It’s like a warm hug in a book. It is fabulously festive but appropriate for all times of the year – but I have been known to read Christmas books in the height of summer so I’m not the best judge of when to read what.

Jessica doesn’t come out and tell you everything right at the beginning. We learn more about the characters as they get to know each other, which flows really nicely.

As someone who lost her father 10 days before Christmas in 2017, I know all too well how difficult the festive period can become. Jessica finds a right balance between a truthful heartbreak and tugging at heartstrings just for entertainment purposes.

Oh and it’s true that a dog can save you in your darkest days unlike anything else.