Book Review: Summer Nights at the Starfish Café by Jessica Redland

I am so pleased to be welcoming Jessica Redland back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her new novel, Summer Nights at the Starfish Café.

Welcome back to The Starfish Café for a glorious summer, but with a few dark clouds on the horizon…

A new beginning…

As her summer wedding to Jake approaches, Hollie is excited for their new beginning as a family. But when some unexpected news threatens the future she and Jake had hoped for, Hollie will need to find the strength to overcome heartache once more.

A fragile heart….

Single mum, Kerry, loves her job at The Starfish Café, but behind the brave smiles and laughter with customers there is a sadness deep within. So when someone from her past re-appears in her life, Kerry can either hide away or face her demons and try to finally move on from her heartbreak.

A summer to remember…

For Hollie and Kerry it promises to be an emotional rollercoaster of a summer, but the community at The Starfish Café will always be there to help them through – after all, with courage nothing is impossible…

 *****

Hollie’s wedding to Jake is approaching and she can’t wait. However, the reappearance of an unwanted visitor and some devastating news threatens to derail their happily ever after.

Kerry is single and raising four children. She loves her job at the Starfish Café. There’s even the chance of love. Then her ex reappears.

Can Hollie and Kerry get through the summer or will things get in their way?

Oh it’s so good to be back with the residents of Whitsborough Bay and the Starfish Café. It’s like catching up with old friends.

This is book three of The Starfish Café series and although I throughly recommend reading the first two books in the series as they are amazing and give you a richer backstory, I feel that you can read this book as a standalone.

Hollie is such a warm character. I love her. She’s strong and has been through a lot. As has Kerry. She deals with her situation well and I feel she’s very relatable, knows her own mind and is a wonderful mother.

I will always have a soft spot for Jake and Artie.

Being from the south coast and living near the sea by one of their bases, I love how the RNLI is featured in this series and how it highlights the brilliant work they do.

The plot is a rollercoaster of emotions and doesn’t stop. I was smiling, laughing and cheering one minute and in floods of tears the next. There was one particular event I have personal experience with and although it knocked me for six a little, Jessica Redland dealt with it with much sensitivity and conveyed the emotions so well. I wanted to reach in and give the character such a hug.

I raced through this novel and had such a book hangover once it ended. I am keeping everything crossed that this isn’t the last we see of these characters. I already miss them. I actually think that Larissa’s story moving forward would be interesting.

Summer Nights at the Starfish Café is a novel full of charm, warmth, love and friendship. If Whitsborough Bay sounds like the perfect escape and you’d like a novel with wonderful characters and a great story, this is the book for you.

I loved it, incase you hadn’t guessed already. Haha.

About Jessica Redland –

Jessica Redland writes emotional but uplifting stories of love, friendship, family and community. Her Whitsborough Bay books transport readers to the stunning North Yorkshire Coast where she lives with her husband, daughter and sprocker spaniel.

Her Hedgehog Hollow series, set in a hedgehog rescue centre, takes readers into the beautiful rolling countryside of the Yorkshire Wolds.

Say hello to Jessica via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Bookbub. Click here to sign up to her newsletter. 

Summer Nights at the Starfish Café is book 3 in the Starfish Café series and was released by Boldwood Books on 6th April 2023. Click to buy on Amazon UK and Waterstones. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.