Book Review: The Village Shop For Lonely Hearts by Alison Sherlock

After losing her job in New York, Amber Green isn’t looking forward to visiting her godmother in the sleepy village of Cranbridge. With its empty lanes and rundown shops, it’s hardly a place to mend her lonely heart.

But when Amber discovers that Cranbridge Stores, owned by her godmother Cathy and son Josh, is under threat of financial ruin, she realises that her skills as a window dresser might just be able to help save the struggling shop.

When disaster strikes, Amber and Josh must unite to save both the shop and the village from flooding.

Can Cranbridge Stores become the heart of the village once more?

And as the village begins to come back to life, perhaps Amber will discover a reason to stay…

I have become a fan of Alison Sherlock’s novels and was so pleased to be able to take part in the blog tour.

Amber has just returned from New York, having lost her job. Her plan is to join her parents in New Zealand but first, she visits her godmother, Cathy who runs the village shop in Cranbridge.

When Amber arrives, she finds Cathy on the eve of finding out results following cancer treatment and the shop is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Then there is Cathy’s son, Josh. When Cathy leaves him and Amber in charge of the shop for a while, feelings emerge. Does Amber’s future belong in New Zealand or Cranbridge?

Cranbridge sounds so idyllic. I got a bit of a Beaulieu feel from it actually. I know I want to go visit, especially if it’s Christmas.

Amber is a fantastic character. She’s warm and relatable. At the beginning of the book, she’s at rock bottom and she doesn’t know what to do next. It was great to see how she and her feeling of self worth changed through the book.

Josh, Oh Josh. If there are any Gilmore Girls fans out there, he gave me a bit of a Luke vibe. He’s a little grumpy but beneath that, he’s a loveable, dependable, honourable man.

I felt for both he and Amber actually. Both of them are a little lost. I became incredibly invested in their story. I fell in love with the other inhabitants of Cranbridge and, as this is book one in the Riverside series, I hope we don’t have to wait too long before we see everyone again.

There were some wonderful laugh out loud moments in this novel. This is a gentle, enchanting book full of warmth, love, humour and romance but above all, it’s about friendship, love and finding the place you belong in the place you’d least expect.

I hope you get a chance to put your feet up with this book and escape to Cranbridge for a while. I loved it.

About Alison Sherlock…

Alison Sherlock is the author of the bestselling Willow Tree Hall books. Alison enjoyed reading and writing stories from an early age and gave up office life to follow her dream. Her new series for Boldwood is set in a fictional Cotswold Village and the first title will be published in July 2020.

Say hi to Alison via Twitter, Facebook and Bookbub.

The Village Shop For Lonely Hearts was released by Boldwood Books on 9th July. Click to view on Amazon UK.

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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.