When change is on the way, which course to follow?

Synopsis

Will this summer change everything for Trish – and for Brambleton?

Trish has spent years turning her beloved café-bookshop, Prosecco & Prose, into the social heart of Brambleton – until London developer Charlie Blackthorn arrives with plans for a sleek boutique hotel next door.

Handsome and confident, Charlie is certain he knows what’s best for Trish and Brambleton. His proposal splits the village, stirring wounds and firing up opinions.
When Brambleton’s anonymous new agony aunt weighs in, Trish is pushed out from the safety of her café counter into a summer of impossible decisions. Charlie may be infuriating, but he sees strengths in her she’s long forgotten, and his kindness unsettles her more than his hotel ever could. As tensions rise, should she defend her little kingdom from change… or dare to imagine something bigger?

Escape to Brambleton for a story of love, laughter and new beginnings.

A Perfect Devon Summer is a cosy, feel-good summer romance filled with small-town, rural life charm, community spirit, and slow-burn and clean chemistry. Featuring grumpy sunshine, opposites attract, forced proximity, and city meets country. Expect village gossip, secrets, and an anonymous agony aunt. A heart-warming tale of belonging, confidence and new beginnings – all set against the glorious Devon coast.

Perfect for fans of clean small-town romance, escapist summer reads, and binge-worthy village series with emotion, humour and heart.

My review

Trish’s café – bookshop Prosecco & Prose is the heart and soul of Brambleton. Trish has worked hard to turn her business into a success and with everything that has happened in her life, she couldn’t be any prouder. That is until a London developer, Charlie Blackthorn, arrives in Brambleton and wants to open a boutique hotel right next door. Charlie is confident that his hotel will only benefit Brambleton. But his arrival and his idea are dividing the village, as there people who think that the hotel is exactly what Brambleton needs, but there are also people, Trish included, that believe that the hotel will change the heart of Brambleton and not for the better. There is one way to stop the build of the hotel, but that also means that Trish needs to step out of her comfort zone and the safety of what she has now. With everyone having an opinion on what should be done, and an anonymous agony aunt spelling her (unwanted?) opinions, Trish needs to decide which direction her life will take. And then there is the matter that no matter how infuriating Charlie may be, he sees in Trish what she has long forgotten about herself. And the way he keeps on helping her, even if it may jeopardize his own plans…

This is a series that I have enjoyed reading, so obviously I had to add this book to my reading pile. And perhaps this book is the one I loved the most.

If you don’t immediately take a liking to Trish, there is something wrong. Because she truly is the heart of Brambleton, or rather her Prosecco & Prose is. But of course a business can only be successful if there is an amazing person running it. And of course Trish is exactly that.

Not only does she love running Prosecco & Prose, but she isn’t looking for making the most profit as possible, but she wants that Prosecco & Prose is a place where people can enjoy a drink, but also lose themselves in books and  have a place where a chat is always possible. Prosecco & Prose is truly a place that Brambleton needs and sees as the soul of their village.

But no matter how much Trish loves running Prosecco & Prose, it is also obvious that the past is still a burden. Not only to her, but also to her father. And that burden makes Trish hold back, lose herself too. But it especially scarred her father, Manuel.

I have to admit, that seeing how Manuel is keeping Trish back from going for the expansion, I didn’t like him. Instead of supporting his daughter, he tries to keep her small. I just couldn’t grasp why a loving father (which he absolutely is), would act in that way. But I also have to be honest, once the details of the past came out, the injustice of it, I could truly comprehend where Manuel was coming from.

Charlie’s arrival in Brambleton causes a great disruption. Not only for Trish, as the hotel would decrease the area of her own business, but also that people believe that it would change the whole dynamics of Brambleton. And let’s be honest, Charlie’s initial behaviour, closed, cold, dismissive and overconfident, doesn’t help.

And his arrival makes Trish wake up somehow. It makes her wonder if expanding, and thus taking a risk, is what she truly wants to do with her business. Trish gets advice from everyone around: expand, don’t expand. Of course the poor woman does not know what to do. However, to me it also felt that she was making a decision while her heart wasn’t completely in.

I saw it more as some kind of rivalry contest between Trish and Charlie, the desire to keep Brambleton as it is versus change and innovation. Rivalry yes, but in a teasing way too. Because as Trish and Charlie are neighbours, they see each other all the time. And while there are moments where they clash, the moments where they open up, have honest conversations and even help each other out, were the moments that warmed my heart.

They show us that rivalry doesn’t mean being nasty towards each other, there is always respect between both parties. Respect that also changes in that openness that I already mentioned earlier.

The more time Trish and Charlie spend together, the more they realize there is more than what they both initially thought, and that the both of them have been scarred by the past, which they have been kept hidden for far too long.

And that understanding, the growing connection between them, brings them also closer. Keep your friends closer but your ‘enemies’ closer somehow seems very applicable in this case (but in an honest, genuine way 😊). It shows how feelings can change from one way to the complete opposite.

This isn’t the kind of story where everything is straightforward, where there one right and one wrong. This is a story where characters learn (from each other), change, open up, evolve for the better. Obviously it isn’t without any hiccup, but that isn’t in real life, is it?

And that reality, of changing emotions, growth, acceptance is what made me love this story. It feels raw, real, yet it also is a warm story showing once again what a unique yet wonderful community Brambleton truly is.