Review: 'The Little Village Bakery' by Tilly Tennant (2016)

Meet Millie. Heartbreak has forced her to make a new start and when she arrives at the old bakery in the little village of Honeybourne she is determined that this will be her home sweet home. Her imagination has been captured by the tumbledown bakery but with no running water and dust everywhere, her cosy idea of making cakes in a rural idyll quickly crumbles.
Luckily the locals are a friendly bunch and step in to help Millie. One in particular, Dylan, a laid-back lothario, soon captures her attention.
But just as Millie is beginning to settle in, an unexpected visitor from her past suddenly turns up determined to ruin everything for her. It’s time for Millie to face the skeletons in her closet if she’s going to live the dream of running her little village bakery, and her blossoming romance with Dylan.
Promise me a story about a small cosy village, a bakery, and give me a pretty colourful book cover to look at, and I'm your girl. I know we've seen a lot of chick lit novels the past couple of years that focus on characters starting or working at their own bakery/cake shop, but it's a trend I can't get enough of just yet. So when Tilly Tennant's 'The Little Village Bakery' popped up on my NetGalley page, I immediately got excited and looked forward to giving it a try. I was actually already familiar with Tilly Tennant's writing since I've read 'Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn" and, most recently, 'The Accidental Guest', which I both really enjoyed, so when I needed a pick-me-up read a few weeks ago I knew this one would most likely do the trick!
Millie wants nothing more than to leave her current life behind and start over somewhere new, and Honeybourne seems to be the perfect place. After purchasing an old bakery that's in desperate need of renovation Millie is focused on this new project of hers and leave her old life behind. The locals are friendly and welcoming and ready to give Millie a hand. Especially local playboy Dylan and his sister Jasmine immediately warm to the new girl in town, but Millie seems a bit reserved and not yet ready to share her story. Until a familiar face from her past shows up in town, ready to disrupt Millie's new life, no matter what it takes...
I love it when the story inside a book matches its lovely front cover on the outside, and that certainly the case with Tilly Tennant's 'The Little Village Bakery.' I already expected this to be an enjoyable chick lit read, but I have to admit I enjoyed it even more than I anticipated. Tilly Tennant's writing fits this genre incredibly well, if you ask me. A good division between description and dialogue, chapters that are well-paced and of a good length, and just the kind of writing that made me feel as if I was flying through it while I was reading. The plotline (female protagonist wants to leave past behind, moves to small village where she starts her own bakery) isn't the most original one, but the author gave it her own twist and I have to say I'm one of those readers who will probably never tire of this particular plotline, haha!
The book has a great character at its core in the form of Millie; I liked her but was also intrigued by her and wanted to know what had happened to her in the past, so that definitely kept me reading. As can be expected in a lovely town like Honeybourne there are a number of fascinating and entertaining locals; I personally warmed most to Jasmine and Ruth, but I think there's something for everyone in there. I have to agree with some other reviewers that I was surprised that the bakery didn't really play such an important role in the novel; I missed all the cake and overall yummy-ness, but it doesn't change the fact that this is a great read. 'The Little Village Bakery' ticks all the required boxes for a warm-hearted and simply great chick lit read and since it is only the first part of a new book series by author Tilly Tennant, I am already incredibly excited about what is still to come...!

Rating:9,5/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.