Something a bit different here on MizzWorthy today, but I’ve recently realised that although I share my big passion for makeup and skincare, I don’t really share much else, which I’d quite like to! One of the things I have always loved to do is get engrossed in a good book. It’s a habit I grew out of for a while, but recently I have rediscovered the joys of getting drawn into a good tale.

My reading habits are very varied – I like a book that makes me think one minute and the next I want chick-lit, the literary equivalent of daytime TV (it fills the time, but you know you’re not exactly expanding your horizons!)… the next I love a classic.

This time around I picked up a little chick-lit… I view these kind of books as a kind of stress relief, and lets just say thats been necessary for me lately!

The Blurb on the Back Cover;

“Issy Randall can bake. No, more than that – Issy can create stunning, mouth-wateringly divine cakes. After a childhood spent in her beloved Grampa Joe’s bakery, she has undoubtedly inherited his talent.

When she’s made redundant from her safe but dull City job, Issy decides to seize the moment. Armed with recipes from Grampa and with her best friends and local bank manager fighting her corner, The Cupcake Cafe opens its doors. But Issy has absolutely no idea what she’s let herself in for. It will take all her courage – and confectionary – to avert disaster…”

Why I picked it up… Cakes, romance and friendship seemed like a nice little piece of mental chewing gum. I also love tales telling the tale of the underdog, and fulfilling dreams… It cost me £7.99 and I picked it up in WHSmith, but you can get it much cheaper on AMAZON…

The Plot… Basically it doesn’t get much more complex than the outline above in the blurb, but add one clearly unsuitable suitor to the mix, as well as an obviously “perfect” bloke for our cake baking heroine, and a couple of friends with their escapades and you’ve pretty much got the picture. There’s also the odd smattering of recipes scattered through the book, as well as little snippets of the local characters and customers at the eponymous Cupcake Cafe, which add interest.

What Did I Think? My expectations of this book weren’t massively high, and were proved correct overall. The plot of the book was fairly predictable, which I don’t usually mind in chick-lit (lets face it, you know you’ll get happy ending in these books when you buy them!).

Unfortunately in this case, unlike with most other chick-lit books, the female protagonist didn’t have enough depth, or emotional intelligence to hold my interest, and I found myself reading the book more to find out about the other characters involved in the plot, rather than Issy. At certain points I wanted to reach into the pages and shake her… the bad boyfriend for example, practically has “arrogant waste of human organs” stamped all over him from the line he is introduced to us, and despite the fact that he craps on Issy from a great height several times, she keeps going back for more. The reason for this doormattery is apparently the fact that at 32 Issy is worried that she will never fulfil her dreams of having a family.

Now, as a newly single lady of a similar age, I can sympathise with that notion, but really, no one is that stupid, desperate or blind to put up with the crap this guy pulls!

Obviously Issy see’s sense in time though, and ends up with the “perfect” bloke, as we all knew she would…

Overall, I’d have to say I’m not bowled over by this one – if you are going to buy it I’d definitely trawl online stores for offers rather than paying full price for it. Has the main character had more sense, or an iota of dignity I’d have probably got on better with it. Overall a nice way to spend a couple of hours, but nothing life changing here. Reading this hasn’t made me want to rush out and read more by this author.

Please let me know your thoughts on this book too if you’ve read it, as well as whether you are interested in posts like these – I’m planning more posts about baking,and possibly other crafts too… So I’d love to hear your thoughts!