Caragh Reviews // The Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond

Publisher - Pan Macmillan
Published - June 2011
Format - Kindle
Synopsis - Evie Flynn has always been the black sheep of her family - a dreamer and a drifter, unlike her over-achieving elder sisters. She's tried making a name for herself as an actress, a photographer and a singer, but nothing has ever worked out. Now she's stuck in temp hell, with a sensible, pension-planning boyfriend. Somehow life seems to be passing her by. Then her beloved aunt Jo dies suddenly in a car crash, leaving Evie an unusual legacy - her precious beach cafe in Cornwall. Determined to make a success of something for the first time in her life, Evie heads off to Cornwall to get the cafe and her life back on track - and gets more than she bargained for, both in work and in love...

I came about The Beach Cafe in a long roundabout way. Over Christmas I was looking for short Christmassy reads. Partly because I wanted to get into the festive spirit and partly because it was a last ditch attempt to complete my reading challenge (which didn't exactly work out...). I came across a couple of short stories by Lucy Diamond which kind of sucked me in, and then I realised they were actually part of a bigger book!

The Beach Cafe begins with Evie Flynn having some kind of a crisis about the life she is living. Her favourite Aunt has passed away and amidst her grieving, she has to face up to the fact that her long term relationship with Mr Sensible just isn't working out. Evie makes the enormous decision to move to Cornwall and take over Aunt Jo's cafe.

Evie proves that no matter what stage of life you're in, change is always possible and can definitely be for the better. Of course, Evie's transition is far from smooth, but after facing crisis after crisis, she finally lands on her feet. It's not easy but with the right people surrounding you, anything is possible and everything can be overcome. It was definitely a big change from the usual YA that I read and was mostly featuring adults and "adult" problems. I use quotations because i'm no expert in who can experiences particular issues.

The Beach Cafe isn't a book that really stays with you and has some great meaning but I honestly really enjoyed it. It was a simple read and was definitely fun! I'd recommend it as a beach/holiday book for anyone who's already making summer TBRs.