The Little Bakery on Rosemary Lane: A feel-good romance to warm your heart

This is the second of the "Rosemary Lane" tales that I've read. I started this immediately after reading the first, The Little Bookshop on Rosemary Lane. I do like the technique used in some of the "village-type" novels I've read to feature one villager in a novel, then that character becomes a more minor player with a new lead character in the next book...and so on. So far there are only two books in this series, but I do hope to see another come along. Roxanne, Della's sister, is the star of this second book, and the scene changes from London to Yorkshire. Roxanne is, at 47, at a crossroads in her fashion magazine career, and she returns to Burley Bridge, the place she escaped from at eighteen. Della is skeptical that there will be enough to amuse Roxanne, even for just a summer's visit. The sisters grow closer, Roxanne rekindles some old friendships and some new ones as well. Truly a "feel good" read with only two minor flaws - and those only if you read the books back to back. The time frame in the second is off by about a year and the color of the bookshop door is different! Only reading the books nearly as one would show up these tiny mistakes.

Love the story, love the characters! Would have liked more of the story devoted to the actual bakery on Rosemary Lane. Thought the amount of story about the actual bakery - the operation, the bakery specialties, etc. - was lacking. The bakery seemed peripheral to the story - and, yet it rates a place in the title of the book! Again, I do enjoy the characters and Ellen Berry's writing and would recommend it for cozy entertainment on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. And it was a surprise as I'd read the first book, but this one was from the perspective of the sister, and I wasn't expecting that! It was a fun twist and I enjoyed getting to know both sisters. I look forward the another book. Will it be from the perspective of the dispicable brother? Or the lovely daughter? I can't wait to see what happens next on Rosemary Lane.

I enjoyed reading this book, I think because I pretty much knew everything would turn out in the end and sometimes you just need to read that kind of a book. I like that it had a bit of comeuppance for those who deserved it and good things happened to your favorite characters. I really liked the sort of mysterious older neighbor and that, each in their own way, looked out for the other. Overall, a most pleasant read!

loved this wonderful sequel to "the bookshop on rosemary lane"; the characters, yorkshire, everything. although, i would have liked to see roxanne wise up a little sooner...anyway, i am looking forward to the next installment.

Loved it! Well written and entertaining. A great follow up to the first book. I wish there was a third to this series!!

After reading the Bookshop on Rosemary Lane, I got this one. Entertaining, fast read, but very predictable.

Great book for just a light enjoyable read. I needed that, after dealing with hurricane damage and frustrations of getting repairs.

I picked up this little treat that I had picked up on amazon on offer a few months back, and although I enjoy a lot of chick lits, this one really took me by surprise – I was fully absorbed in the story, loved the writing style and the city/countryside contrast was relatable and amusing.I hadn’t read the previous book in this series ‘The Bookshop on Rosemary Lane’ but judging by reviews on amazon, I can see that whilst Berry has used many of the previous characters to provide the background to this plot, she’s also created an entirely new story by shifting the focus onto a new main character. This book can definitely be read as a standalone, but I have to admit, I really want to read the previous book now!The prologue is told from the perspective of Marsha who has been brought into a fashion magazine to get profits up, Marsha is concerned that Roxanne won’t like the changes that are about to happen but knows how important Roxanne is to the success of the magazine.The opening chapter then flicks to Roxanne becoming our main character and we’re thrown into her world of management nightmares, arrogant boyfriends and cooking disasters. Whilst you’re probably rolling your eyes now and going “Chloe that’s just chick lit vibes all over”, yes it was, but there was something a lot more relatable about the way Berry writes it.The blurb lets us know that Roxanne is heading up to Yorkshire since her career is in turmoil. Since I knew this was going to happen, I had in my head that it would only be a few chapters in London and then the story would sweep us up and surround us in countryside air and flair. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t happen until a third of the way through the book, I liked that the build up wasn’t rushed and I appreciated getting to know Roxanne in her ‘natural’ (city) environment.Up in Yorkshire, Roxanne creates blog posts for the digital part of her magazine, so readers can read all about her fashion disasters, but more importantly, she works alongside her sister in the bookshop Della owns (explored in the first book). Roxanne’s perspective begins to change, she realises what makes her happy and realises how many things she should be grateful for.Of course, it wouldn’t be a chick lit without a little romance, and Michael; the owner of the bakery, keeps Roxanne questioning what she really wants from a relationship. I loved watching their friendship begin to grow into something much more.Perfect book to unwind to, which lets you shrug off what’s going on around you and have a good giggle!

TBH I struggled a little bit with book. I found it a little hard to get into, and personally for me I thought the first half dragged a little.I really thought that the bakery aspect of the book would feature earlier on. But sadly it didn't.I have read lots of books by Ellen Berry. Ellen is a great writer who usually draws me in from the start. It's a decent book. Just not how I imagined it would be. Once into the bakery bits of the book. I did enjoy it a lot more. I hope that there is another book feturing more of the same characters and more from the bakery.

I haven't read the first book in this series - The Bookshop on Rosemary Lane but I may pick it up after reading this book. In fact, there is nothing about this book that screams sequel at you. A couple of times I wondered if Della's story had already been told but they were just vague wonderings as this is very definitely a book about her sister Roxanne. I also wasn't aware when I purchased it that Ellen Berry was a pseudonym of Fiona Gibson - there was a pleasant surprise as I am quite a fan of Ms Gibson's books.I quite enjoyed this book. In fact the first 40% I tore through but it seemed to really lose it's momentum once we moved from Rox's life in London to her arriving at her sister's flat above the bookshop in Burley Bridge. The London sections are written with a vibrancy that is sadly missing once moved to a more rural setting. This was disappointing as the whole point of the book, if the title is to be believed, is about Rosemary Lane. In fact, there is not really that much about the bakery at all so slightly misleading there. But I can see where it comes from.The characters are well written and I particularly enjoyed Isabelle, especially the reveal at the end of the book. She may be a very peripheral character but she is important to Rox and the reasons why she has made a firm friendship with a woman so many years her senior. Some of them are not so appealing and I found it a little lazy that Sean was painted rather blackly whilst Martin was a seeming paragon of virtue - not really like characterisation I have come to expect from books under her normal writing name.Despite this sniping and nit picking I did enjoy the book, although I was cursing myself for not reading something more festive due to the snow falling outside the window. I will possibly give the other books in the series a try - particularly the first one as I feel that there is much to learn about Della and her cosy little haven. I am pretty sure the third one will be about Rox setting up her little vintage shop on Rosemary Lane and will likely read that one as well - although there is nothing to indicate this is the truth or when this book may happen.Nice compact writing in easy chunks that you easily pick up and put down so a good read for the commute.

Loved this book i loved the first one where you get to know the caricatures the starting up of the cookery book shop and even though it's been a long time when I read that one it felt like an old friend you have just met up with has if no time at all had gone by.

Rosemary Lane is the location of a few books each focused on its inhabitants and their booming businesses as a background for great stories. So far I've only read this one but I'm looking forward to read the other books in this series. I love books, like this one, who let us understand the good and simpler things in life and the quality of living in smaller, warmer comunities. I also love we get to have older characters showing us that life after 40 can be as thrilling and unexpected as at 20. Great, fun reading!

Having picked up and put down a few times found the book easy to get back into. A good read and a happy ending. Hopefully there will be a follow up book about Roxanne and her vintage boutique and how her relationship develops with Michael from the bakery!! As for Sean, he was a loser right from the start.

A feel-good read. I always like to meet characters I've met before in earlier novels (The Bookshop on Rosemary Lane), and to see a different side to them. I thought this would be another story about a woman who makes good by opening her own business, but this was a little different, and probably more enjoyable. Will we meet more people from Rosemary Lane?

I have loved this series of books about Rosemary Lane, what a delight they were to read and I felt as if I knew the characters personally. I didn't want the series to end.

This author is very good, I have read other books by her and they have all been good.

Great locations and plot s -detailing about both settings help you understand the complexities of relationships, doubts and you hope for the best for each character -sucks you in so you just have to know what happens

The storyline is fairly obvious from the beginning but it doesn't make the book any less readable. If you like any easy to read modern love story this could be the book for you.

Great value

Excellent

Can't wait to read more about the village residents, and especially the village shops. Happy that the village shops are bringing the village back to life

Good