Carole Matthews (1) (1957–)

Fay Merryweather runs Fay's Cakes from her family home by the canal in Milton Keynes. She also sells cakes from her late father's beloved narrowboat, The Maid of Merryweather. Ably helped by her rude and abrupt, but fiercely loyal, Latvian assistant, Lija, she also looks after her mother, who just won't get out of bed. Fay is basically a doormat but a lovely one, in a relationship with the very steady, Anthony. That is, until the gorgeous Danny Wilde glides up on his narrowboat and rocks show more Fay's world.

This is the first Carole Matthews book I have read in a long time but the title of this book made me want to read it so much and I absolutely loved it. It's certainly made me want to read another by this author. Fay is a lovely character and I wanted to shake her when she was letting people walk all over her. And I can certainly understand what she saw in the young and handsome Danny. Probably my favourite character was Lija, I just loved her attitude.

This book made me smile and also feel the injustice of Fay's life. And who could resist such a wonderful setting. I found myself imagining the tables and chairs by the canal with gorgeous cakes on them. Fabulous book - couldn't put it down. show less

{stand alone. chick-lit, romance} (2008)

Fern works as a barmaid and in between pulling pints at the King’s Head she sings in the pub, accompanied by her best friend Carl. She’s struggling to make ends meet because she also tries to help out her brother Joe who is a single parent to six year old Nathan who has bad asthma. Then she gets a temping job as assistant to world famous opera star, Evan David, and at the same time she and Carl try out for the TV talent show Fame Game.

On the whole, show more I found this a gentle book. I liked Fern’s story and the way her family was described. I can relate to her exasperation with her parents who have been married so long they tend to take each other for granted and one snaps at the other while the other is rather oblivious. She got young Nathan right; he’s not a martyr or annoying or sickly sweet. The ending was a bit of a fairytale and a bit sudden after all her struggles - but that’s why we read, right; for the happily-ever-after.

But I didn’t buy the romance; it seemed shoehorned in afterwards and you can still see the gaps. The obligatory ‘misunderstanding’ was … I’m not sure how to describe it. Flimsy? Non existent? Embarrassing on Fern’s part, yes. But there was no attempt to mitigate it and only a half-hearted attempt to explain it to her and trying to build the suspense by keeping the reader in the dark failed miserably. I could have done without the last chapter, myself. I was hoping, right upto the end, that she’d pick the other one and I really don’t get why she didn’t. There was no reason (apart from surface insta-attraction) or even chemistry shown for her to pick the one that she did.

But I still enjoyed the rest of the story.

(June 2023)
3.5 stars show less

I do love my Brit chick lit so it's no surprise that I really enjoyed this one. I rooted for Ayesha, Sabina, Joy, Hayden & Crystal the whole way through. I quite liked how each of their stories unfurled after first getting Ayesha's story. The cover pulled me in and the summary made this one a definite must read. I worried Ayesha's husband would find her. I hoped for Sabina's first words and wondered what those would be. I hoped Hayden got some help for his anxiety problems because no matter show more how nice the manse he lived in or how lovely the people who resided with him, I wanted him to get out into the wider world again after his terrible heartbreak. I thought Crystal was just a breath of fresh air even with her struggles and as soon as Joy's story of how she came to be living at the house was told, I had all kinds of sympathy and care for her, crankiness and all. I thought they were all endearing and I enjoyed reading about them. It's definitely the sort of book I'd recommend for travel or a long weekend if you're a chick lit or contemporary fiction fan. A satisfying read. show less

This book sounded like the perfect light read for my vacation- a tight group of friends bonding over exotic chocolates and tales of woe should be an automatic chick-lit home run. Unfortunately, this book was more a swing and a miss to me because the main protagonist Lucy was clearly more caricature than character.

I would like to believe that no self-respecting young woman would truly be so proud of her ability to stick with a serial cheater of a boyfriend. I would like to believe no show more self-respecting young woman would be so proud of her absolute inability to perform any of the basic functions of her employment. I would like to believe no self-respecting young woman wants to read and sympathize with so vapid and annoying a main character.

It was a real shame to me that Lucy was so stereotypical and idiotic a character, because the problems faced by the other women in the book rang true and could have elevated this book above the fray if they hadn't been constantly undermined by clumsy babbling irritating Lucy.

A disappointing 2.5 stars. show less