When the need to escape brings you the safety you longed for

Synopsis

Dolly Lymford is having one of those days… 🧁🫖

The kind that starts with dreams of opening a café… and ends with discovering your boyfriend kissing your best friend!

Heartbroken and with nowhere else to go, Dolly accidentally-on-purpose borrows her now-ex-boyfriend’s campervan and drives until the road runs out. This leads her to Thimblenouth, a picture-perfect Yorkshire Dales village where life moves more slowly and the kettle is always on.

After literally bumping into gorgeous local builder Reece Sterling, Dolly begins to feel something she hasn’t in a long time: safe. She also rediscovers her love of baking, filling the campervan with the scent of warm scones and freshly brewed tea. And Reece is always around to share a lemon pie or two…

When Dolly has an idea to open her own pop-up café, Reece is all too happy to help. And as the summer sun begins to warm everything it touches, Dolly wonders if she’s finally found a place to call home… maybe even with Reece.

But can she really build a future on borrowed wheels?

A warm, uplifting story of fresh starts, village kindness, and finding love where you least expect it — best enjoyed with tea and cake.🍰

My review

Dolly Lymford never expected that the day she would be finally opening her dream café with her best friend, would not just end but also start terribly. Because when she finds her boyfriend kissing that same best friend, not only do they not realize just how much they betrayed Dolly, but that same boyfriend just throws her out of their home, just like that. Having no other option, being heartbroken and perhaps not thinking all that straight, and having the keys, Dolly decides to take the now – ex – boyfriend’s campervan and just drive. And driving brings her to a place that brought her a lot of happiness when younger, a little Yorkshire Dales village,  Thimblenouth. While several things have changed over the years, the small village’s way of life haven’t. Of course her arrival could have been better, as she literally collides with local builder Reece Sterling. With his positive attitude, as even a hurting leg cannot bring him down, Dolly not only becomes friends with her ‘victim’, but she also start to rediscover her passion for baking. Filling the campervan with lovely scents, gives her the idea to open her own pop – up café, offering her cakes and teas. And Reece is more than happy to help her out. But how long can her new found safety and hominess last, as in fact, she is running a business in a campervan that isn’t her and people are looking for her?

How excited I was when it was this book’s turn to be read! I knew before reading one sentence that the warmth would be flying of the pages. And I was right!

Although, the start for sure doesn’t seem so promising. And while I could understand Dolly’s initial excitement, as she is finally opening a café with her best friend, which is not an easy or cheap task, I knew that she would end up heartbroken.

It not just saddened me, but it also angered me reading how Dolly’s own boyfriend and best friend betrayed her. I can understand that feelings change, but at least have the guts to come clean about it, and not go behind someone’s back. To make things even worse, the despicable ex just throws her out of their home, with total disregard of her stuff.

So while it of course it is not the right thing to so, I could comprehend why Dolly decides to take the campervan and drive off. Not only because she needs a roof above her head, but also, and I liked it even more, how Jared cares about the campervan and it sounds for sure like sweet revenge! 😊

It is so recognizable that in times of need or distress, we go to a place of our youth, a place that used to bring us joy and happiness. So of course Dolly finds herself driven off to Thimblenouth, a place that holds exactly that for Dolly.

Seeing Dolly struggling with the campervan was both hilarious as recognizable. Hilarious because the panic Dolly feels and does not know how to drive such a big vehicle. Recognizable because that chaos and panic is what I have when driving a new car, or I am driving in a new place 😊.

And that chaos makes Dolly meet Reece. Meet… that is putting it kindly of course, as she drives him over, leaving him even with an injured leg. Hilarious for us readers, but for Dolly not so funny at all, and painful for Reece!

But this meeting, let’s just call it that, is the start of the actual awakening of Dolly. Because Dolly and Reece start to become friends, over her looking after Reece and taking care of his wound. And we get to know both characters, for who they truly are and not, in Dolly’s case, the person she forgot to be.

Reading how Dolly is finding her feet again, finding her passion for baking again, was just so sweet (literally and figuratively). Because over the years, Dolly somehow lost not only that passion, but also herself, her joy. And seeing the real Dolly reemerge was like I said, sweet but also rewarding in a way.

It needs to be said, it is also with the help of Reece that Dolly finds safety, joy, happiness and herself again. Because I have never met a more optimistic man than Reece. No matter what he encounters, what is happening to him, he always sees a silver lining. And that rubs off somehow to Dolly 😊.

But the further the story evolves, and the more we get to understand Reece and why he always sees things on the bright side of life. But especially that it hasn’t been always like that for him.

However, Reece’s kindness, care and support, that is something that not only Dolly needs at this moment in her life. I truly think that everyone needs a Reece in their lives, to understand that no matter how bad things may seem, there is always a way to look positive to it.

What I truly liked about this book, is how important it is to never lose yourself. And that if you have lost yourself, that you can find your real self back again. And that is something we need to remind ourselves…
What else I loved in in this book, is the sense of community. Not only the growing friendship and feelings between Dolly and Reece (which of course is delightful to read), but mainly how at one point just everyone of the whole little village is  joining forces. A community that sticks to how things were, but also a community that is welcoming, accepting and yes, hilariously funny! 😊

Obviously there is romance too, but it didn’t feel like Jaimie Admans is making that storyline her main plot. And of course Dolly cannot keep on running away from what happened back home. But once again, the running away isn’t the main plot. But finding a place to feel safe, to feel home, to feel yourself again, that is the main plot. To find your passion again, to find your spark again, to find people that will support you, understand you, and will help you no matter what.

Jaimie Admans once again swept me away with her latest books. The warmth, the love, the friendship is just something that you can feel on every page. And that made me devour the book at an impossible pace, as it was just impossible to put away! 😊