When Only Cupcakes Will Do by Daisy James (Book Beginnings & Friday 56)

As soon as I saw that Carina UK would be releasing a new Daisy James book on August 4th I knew I would have to get it. Luckily I was able to do so early thanks to NetGalley!

Friday 56 (share from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice
& Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader

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Amazon Description

When life gives you lemons, make lemon-drizzle cupcakes…Lucie thought that proposing to her boyfriend in Tiffany’s would be the best day of her life. Until he said no. In just a few seconds, her whole world is turned upside-down! And when she accidentally switches cocoa powder for chilli powder at work, she finds herself out of a job, too…
Baking has always made life better in the past, but can Lucie really bake her way to happiness? Starting her own company, selling cupcakes out of an old ice cream van might just be the second chance that Lucie needs!
Of course, she never expected to find love along the way…

Lucie has two things she loves -- her boyfriend, Alex, and being a pastry chef. For eight weeks she had planned the perfect marriage proposal and when it doesn't go as she had hoped everything starts to fall apart for her, including her job. It's like a domino effect. When dominoes fall unexpectedly you just set them back up in a sturdier and more stable pattern. Daisy James' When Only Cupcakes Will Do is the story of Lucie finding her perfect pattern and it's just as sweet as cupcake icing.... aside from the heartbreaks and frustrations and the occasional need for tissues. 

Even when Lucie's life was falling apart around her, James still made me snort-laugh. Luckily I read most of it while wearing dark clothing so the spurted coffee wasn't quite so visible. The tissues mentioned earlier helped to mop up the aftermath of the snorts even more than the random sympathy tear!

"If you don't mind my saying so, Lucie, you look like you've been flattened by a runaway steamroller and waited while it reversed to make sure the job was done properly." (9%)

All snorting aside, one couldn't help but feel sorry at the mess Lucie's life had become. It didn't pick up for her until she and her sister, Jess, decide to start a cupcake business together. It's so much fun to watch it all unfold -- even though I think I gained ten extra pounds reading about it all! Being a chef isn't just a job, but a passion and a reason to wake up in the morning. The importance of food oozes off of the page like the gooey center of a lava cake. 

"I need to work. I need to cook. Every memory I have has food in it somewhere; whether it be an aroma, a flavour on the tongue, a texture under my fingertips." (21%)

Of course, there's the romance and angst that has to be a part of most chicklits, and it's pretty obvious once you start reading as to who will end up with who. It doesn't matter, though. The how associated with who will end up with who is what matters and here it's done deliciously with a generous sprinkle of laughter.

Daisy James' If The Dress Fits is coming out in paperback!!!

I was beyond thrilled when I was contacted by Carina UK about participating in the celebration for the paperback release of If The Dress Fits by Daisy James coming up on July 14th! As of now there's no word on it also being released here in the US, but you can (and should) still get the digital copy and I'm sure that before long UK bookstores will have it on Amazon Marketplace.

I'm the third stop on the tour so make sure you go back and visit the first two ... and then after today go visit the rest! I know that it may seem like an awful lot of love for one book but, seriously? This book definitely deserves it!

My original post (along with a Teaser Tuesday) was posted in May just ahead of the digital release.

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Callie is going through stuff. Three years ago she basically ran away from her Yorkshire home, friends, family and childhood sweetheart and threw herself into designing and making couture wedding gowns. A famous actress is set to marry a rock star and has put out a call for dress submissions. Callie has toiled for months over her creation for the contest and just as the dress is about to be picked up to be taken to the final judging she receives a call to rush back home for a family medical emergency.  She's almost immediately faced with everything that she's been hiding from and her life gets turned upside down and inside out.

It's a story of love, of course, but not just the romantic kind. It's love of community, of what you do, and of who you are ... with a good smattering of craftiness, fashion and delectable pastries thrown in for good measure. I wanted to visit the little town. I wanted to attack and devour the cupcake pyramid. I wanted to learn how to knit.  I also wanted to shake Callie at times and tell her to snap out of it ... but seeing as how most of her friends did the same I guess it wasn't just me being overly snippy.

Highly recommended to chick lit lovers and I sincerely hope that Daisy James decides to revisit some of the secondary characters from this tale again. I would love to know what happens with them!

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Now, to be completely honest with you, I forget an awful lot of details about an awful lot of books after two months. This book definitely wasn't forgettable, though! I still wish I could wander up and down the streets of Althorpe and I still long for information on what my favorite characters have been up to since! I have yet to take up knitting and a cupcake pyramid still hasn't magically appeared for me to devour, but I'm still determined that some day I may have both. (I know, "may" doesn't sound very "determined" at all. I'm a optimistic pessimist.)

I was told recently that the "Faves on 4s" that I include with most of my Rambles have influenced more than a few book purchases. Since I don't typically include them with meme posts, my original review of If The Dress Fits was missing out. 

Not anymore!

Here are three of my favorite bits. To see all of them, of course, you'll just have to buy the book.

4% : Over the last three months her world had become a frenzy of late nights, cold pizza and too much coffee. She had existed on snatched naps at her work table. Mannequins heard her complaints, dressmakers' dummies her confessions, but there was nothing new there.

34% : 'People crave a return of real community spirit - the sharing of warmth, mutual support and friendship over a freshly prepared brew and an injection of sugar-sweet confectionary, not a cocktail down at the local win bar to douse the stress and boast about the last deal.'

54% : The room had come alive that night with the swirl of chatter and laughter that wrapped a cloak of comfort and serenity around the group. The shop shone with the promise of a bright future; several friendships had been forged that would never otherwise have been contemplated.

 

 

Teaser Tuesday & A Ramble - If The Dress Fits by Daisy James

I am so very glad that I requested If The Dress Fits on NetGalley and that Carina UK approved! It's being released this coming Thursday, May 12th.

Callie is going through stuff. Three years ago she basically ran away from her Yorkshire home, friends, family and childhood sweetheart and threw herself into designing and making couture wedding gowns. A famous actress is set to marry a rock star and has put out a call for dress submissions. Callie has toiled for months over her creation for the contest and just as the dress is about to be picked up to be taken to the final judging she receives a call to rush back home for a family medical emergency.  She's almost immediately faced with everything that she's been hiding from and her life gets turned upside down and inside out.

It's a story of love, of course, but not just the romantic kind. It's love of community, of what you do, and of who you are ... with a good smattering of craftiness, fashion and delectable pastries thrown in for good measure. I wanted to visit the little town. I wanted to attack and devour the cupcake pyramid. I wanted to learn how to knit.  I also wanted to shake Callie at times and tell her to snap out of it ... but seeing as how most of her friends did the same I guess it wasn't just me being overly snippy.

Highly recommended to chick lit lovers and I sincerely hope that Daisy James decides to revisit some of the secondary characters from this tale again. I would love to know what happens with them!