Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

“Maybe it's not possible to let go of who you used to be and escape old patterns.” 💭 I was lucky enough to receive  La Dolce Veto  as both a digital and audio ARC, and I chose to read it first. Although I enjoyed it so much, I’ll probably go back and listen at some point too. I always find things I missed the first time around on a second visit. 🎧✨ Pick me up and put me back down in a traditional European village with sunshine, good food, good wine and nosey locals, and I’m in heaven. ☀️🍷 This is exactly what Caitlin’s book did for me. Izzy needs to run away, and so she does — to La Musa in Italy, a place filled with fond memories for her. It’s not quite the same as she remembered, but it’s good enough to hide away from the world for a while. 🇮🇹✨ I don’t usually go for a political romance, but the politics quietly simmered away in the background, which I really enjoyed. The Italian people and countryside are the things that will stay with me most though. The descriptions ...

“You’ve got to be incredibly confident in your transport choices to drive a highlighter pen on wheels.” 🚗💛 I was worried about reading Jaimie’s new book because I loved her Ever After Street series so much, but I needn’t have worried—The Sunshine Teashop is every bit as good. It has a new vibe, new characters, and lots of huggy moments. 🤗 As the book starts, we’re in Kent. No offence to Kentish people, but I want my cute romance books to be set in the countryside or near the sea. 🌊🌿 So imagine my delight when Dolly ups and leaves for a gorgeous village in Yorkshire. 🏡 (Yes, I know the synopsis says this, but I don’t read them! 😆) I was with Dolly every step of the way and loved how easily she immersed herself in village life. She had the little old ladies wrapped around her little finger—in a lovely, happy, friendly way—and, just as importantly, they had her back every step of the way. 💛 I did cringe a bit when she and her new-found builder friend, Reece, got out the paint rol...

“Inside was a message in her dad's handwriting.” 💌 The Lily Garden was April's read for #kindlecrushchallenge 📚 and a book that had been sitting on my Kindle for almost five years! This was the first Barbara Josselsohn novel I’ve read, and I loved it from beginning to end. ❤️ We spend the majority of the book in the small town of Lake Summers—a place where, almost thirty years ago, Caroline lost her parents. 💔 She left a few years later and never returned… until now. ✨ The story had everything I adore in a book: a close-knit community, 🏡 cosy spots to grab a coffee, ☕ a great food place serving delicious, mouthwatering dishes, 🍽️ and of course, a cute love interest. 💕 Throw a garden into the mix 🌸 and I’m all in! I really liked how Caroline’s daughter, Lee, consistently knew what she wanted throughout the book and stuck to her guns. 💪 Yes, other people tried to force their opinions on her, but in the end, her dreams shone through. ✨ Maxine and Gull are great characters...

“...this place has a way of encircling your heart, cocooning you in its warm embrace so that you never want to let go. Of it, or the way it makes you feel.” Falling for Polkerran Point was published in October 2025, and I’ve been putting off reading it. Why? Because it’s the final book in the series. I wasn’t (and I’m still not) ready to say goodbye to Cleggie and old Mrs Lovelace. I adore Mrs Lovelace’s mispronunciations—they’re hilarious, and I always enjoy the chuckles she brings as the story goes on. This book follows Ellie and Will in a second-chance romance, full of friendship, community spirit, and oodles of love. The lovely Anna is still there too, making everyone feel welcome around her kitchen table every single morning with coffee and homemade cakes—far too sociable for me, though maybe I could manage it occasionally! I’ve loved all the books in this series, and it’s definitely one I’d read again—high praise indeed. Please, Cass, I hope you have another equally unforgettable...

“You turned a dark magic spell into a field full of flowers?” 🌸✨ Shaedes of War is the fourth book in the series and such a fun read! It starts a little slow, but the intensity really builds as you go. 🔥 The trials gave me Hunger Games meets Triwizard Tournament vibes, and I loved them—especially the last one. 👀💥 Edmyn and Markis bring such a great contrast to the purity of the Shaedes, and their love for their mates is intense .❤️‍🔥 And wow… the spice in this one 🌶️🔥 let’s just say… toe-curling and mind-spinning. 😮‍💨 Oh—and Collin.🥹 You will fall in love with him. Such a sweet kid who just wants to protect the realm and become fae… but will they let him? 👀✨ As with the other books, I loved discovering the different Shaedes and their powers. Honestly, I’d take a bit of each… plus a dragon 🐉 (her name would be Cora. 💁‍♀️) Thank you so much to Jenny Grimes for including me on her ARC team. 💖📚 About the Book With everything to gain and even more to lose, will their love sur...

“It's accepting the value of things – an old pot, an old person – and understanding that those things have wisdom, that they have seen things. They have value in being.” The Little Teashop in Tokyo has been on my shelf for a couple of years after I found it in a charity shop one day. It was February’s choice for #thatbonkersbookclub, so I finally had the opportunity to dust it off (literally) and dive into cherry blossom season in Japan. It was a quick, cute read, and I loved hanging out with Fiona as she enjoyed her prize-winning trip to Japan. The family she stays with are instantly loveable characters, and I found it fascinating to discover their way of life — the simplicity of their home and the warm welcome Fiona receives the moment she steps over the threshold. I was intrigued by the many tourist spots that Fiona and her mentor, Gabe, visited. I’m not sure whether I’ll ever visit Japan, but if I do, I’d definitely want to go during cherry blossom season! About the Book Grab y...

“I swear this airline reminds me of The Flintstones. I'm surprised the floor doesn't open up and we land the plane using our feet.” 😂✈️ Told over the space of twenty-four hours, There’s Always Next Year was a fun listen, alternating between Dominique and his cousin Andy, who, although from the same small town in Indiana, have been living very different lives for the past two years. The story was engaging, with multiple plot threads culminating in a finale in the town square on New Year’s Day, when everything comes together. 🎆 I enjoyed the focus on the attempted redevelopment of the town, alongside Dominique and Andy’s relationship mishaps, as they navigated a chaotic New Year’s Day with some wonderfully crazy characters thrown into the mix. 🤪🏙️ Eric Lockley and Khaya Fraites, as Dominique and Andy respectively, were excellent narrators, drawing me into the manic, rushing-around-town madness that provides the backdrop for most of the story. 🎧✨ Although a Young Adult novel...

"Sometimes life calls for a pillow fort. And sometimes you just have to build that fort yourself." 🏰✨ Libby! Why am I only now just discovering you?! 📚💛 It's only February, and I think I've already found the book that is going to be in my Top Ten for 2026. This book is incredible — it made me cry proper tears 😭 (and books rarely do that to me). It's so sad, but so heartfelt, and most of all it's full of hope and promise. Hope that there will be happiness following grief, and the promise that you just need to give yourself time and allow other people to care for you. 🤍 I adored reading about Tilly and how she fell in love with reading again 📖, something she hadn't been able to do since before her beloved husband Joe passed away. It was such a gorgeous memory to have — a book from Joe for every month of a whole year 🗓️💌. Oh, and some of those books took her out of her comfort zone and pushed her to do things she would never have dreamed of doing befo...

"...family isn't just blood, it's the people you choose to bring into your life." I’ve joined a few challenges this year, and one of them is the #kindlecrushchallenge which is being run by @hook.me.a.book 📖✨ The aim of this challenge is to finally read some of those books that have been sitting on your Kindle forever. So, I started off with Forever Starts Now by Stefanie London 💕, which has been on my Kindle since 2021—and I’m ashamed to say it was also an ARC. 😬 I really have no excuse other than life getting in the way and new books constantly being added to the pile. 📚 Anyway, I’m here now and I’ve finally read it… and I really enjoyed it 🥰. We’re in the small town of Forever Falls 🏡, where Monroe is stuck in a rut and Ethan drops into town in an attempt to discover the truth about his father. In doing so, he also drops straight into Monroe’s life. 💫 The story is full of friendship, romance, family, and self-discovery 💖—everything that small-town life bring...

‘I want you to have everything you’ve ever dreamed of.’ ✨ I don’t know what it says about me, but when I read a book like this—filled with village life, crafting clubs,  🧶  eating cake,  and drinking tea  ☕  —I want to be right there in the heart of it all  This is despite the fact that I don’t particularly like “real people” and very much enjoy my own company! Jessica has the knack of enveloping you in whatever world she’s writing about, and Tomorrow Starts Today is no exception. 💛 I totally wanted to join Yvonne’s crafting club, chat to Trevor the parrot 🦜, and go for long walks around the Lakes, 🚶‍♀️🌿 what an idyllic part of England to live in! I loved the second-chance romance 💕, the friendships, 🤝 and the new challenges this book brought. It’s full of hope and optimism, and the reassurance that there is a brighter future out there for all of us. 🌈 Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Tomorrow Starts T...