The Cosy Coffee Shop Of Promises - Kellie Hailes || Netgalley Review

A dream come true? 

 Mel’s dreams of opening a cosy little coffee shop are finally coming true! She’s determined to serve the best flat whites and crumbly pastries in Devon – and nothing, not even local pub owner Tony or his fancy new coffee machine, will stand in her way.

 The trouble is, her mother is coming to town, and Mel’s in desperate need of an instant boyfriend. And whilst Tony might be her business rival, he’s also totally gorgeous and would make the perfect fake fiancé…

 A deal’s a deal, surely there’s no chance that Mel could actually fall in love with Tony?

I am always a coffee shop book fan so when i wasn't sure where to turn next in my reading choices i spied this on my netgalley TBR.

Mel has had one dream to settle down in a place where her dream coffee shop can thrive, a place where there is little competition so she doesn't run the risk of having to move on again. So when Tony the owner of the local pub gets a fancy coffee machine she is less than impressed, great - she purposely picked Rabbits Leap because of that reason, no other coffee machines.

So Mel has to come up with a compromise and one that she needs - she will help Tony with the pub - teach him to cook, get him to not use the machine if he will for a few short days pretend to be her fiancee whilst her mother visits. Its only for a few days, what could go wrong? Mel already knows Tony's reputation so there isnt that much hope he will fall in love with her, he doesn't do love. The hard part will be convincing the village.

"She smiled often, but that particular smile, her warm, welcoming full-bodied smile...she only let it loose every now and then, and when she did it could warm the coldest of winds. The stoniest of hearts"

I forgot how much i love the fake fiancee concept in a book, its been a while since i read one and i just think done well they can be wonderful and this was done well. I expected there to be more emphasis on the coffee shop element as you know - the title but what i discovered is the title is more symbolic. The coffee shop is Mel's dream but the story is much more.

Mel is slightly lost and just wants to focus and settle and at first glance she appears feisty, strong willed and has it all together but as you get to know her we discover alot more about her and her past. Why she was so determined to have a fake fiance for when her mother visits. Tony - the barman and fake fiance is so focused on keeping the local pub running he doesn't have time to love anything else. However as he loves it so much he agrees to help Mel as she can help him and hopefully get the pub back from the brink of disaster. I really enjoyed watching the relationship develop as the pair spent time together.

Kellie has written a lovely book, its sweet, funny and in parts infuriating. Its main focus is the two main characters with very little back ground noise from others and i enjoyed that for once. I felt like that way i could really spend time with them both. If you like something nice and sweet. I would suggest you pick this up.

I rated it 3/5 and i recieved an e-arc from netgalley in exchange for review. If you want to pick up your own copy - you can get one from amazon here

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At the age of five Kellie Hailes declared she was going to write books when she grew up. It took a while for her to get there, with a career as a radio copywriter, freelance copywriter and web writer filling the dream-hole, until now. Kellie lives on an island-thats-not-really-an-island in New Zealand with her patient husband, funny little human and neurotic cat. When the characters in her head arent dictating their story to her, she can be found taking short walks, eating good cheese and jonesing for her next coffee fix.