By Jenny Colgan
This book was a birthday gift to me. I love food. I love desserts. I love cupcakes. When the title contains cupcake, it is quite fascinating to know what this book has to say to me. And as suspected, I loved this book.
Issy had a job, though it was dull and boring, it paid her bills and let her have weekends with friends. Though the intimate relationship with Graeme, her boss, is best kept as a secret in the workplace, she had peace of mind that, she had a boyfriend.
Issy Randall, after she is made redundant (she was let off as part of layoffs carried out) by the Property Developers of London, she worries a lot about finding next job in the economy nearing recession. She is in her early thirties. Her beloved grandpa, who once owned 3 bakeries, had to sell all of them to pay the clinic that takes care of him.
She loved the 5 am smell of freshly baked bread of Grandpa Joe’s bakery when she was a child. She grew fond of baking eventually. Her cupcakes are always welcomed by her friends, people at her regular bus stop to work and her colleagues. When she is in search for her next job, something dawns on her and she sets out to sell her cupcakes for her living. Her heart goes for it and of course, she knows the intricacies involved in starting a business, let alone a slightly posh cafe in the locality.
Something in her pushes her to go forward. She gets support of her friends and works so hard to make it happen. But Graeme dares to make an entrance, just to laugh at her.
The rest of the book is about how does Issy Randall handles her life and the business.
It makes sense when your friends help you, but it is really touching when people you rarely know help you at times, when you doubt yourselves. When you could see a person smile because of you, it is the bliss of a lifetime. You feel pretty good, contented and happy for them. This book sure has lots of these moments.
It is very common to find a work of fiction all about romance these days, be it a book or a movie. I loved how Jenny concentrated on them lesser, while paying attention to Issy, her heart, thoughts and state of being, as it should be.
Jenny Colgen made it so light-hearted. The recipes at the start of the chapters, which Grandpa Joe writes to Issy, were tried and tested by Jenny herself.
It was a funny journey all along, with oh my god moments, and a hearty laugh here and there. I enjoyed the whole time being at the Cupcake Cafe 😉.
It’s hurting my brain to try to bring this amazing book into a genre. I think, so did Goodreads.
If you are looking for a fiction, that is light, funny, moving and focused on a woman in her early thirties, there you go, meet me at the Cupcake Cafe.
Rating: 4.8/5
Lit Loom 