Christmas at the Little Duck Pond Cafe
Rosie Green
Rating: 5 stars
Fen has always hated being the centre of attention.
She loves her new job, working behind the scenes at the Little Duck Pond Cafe and baking the scrumptious cakes that have helped its reputation soar. But frankly, she'd rather scrub the public toilet floor with a toothbrush than have to come out and talk to the customers.
She's always been happy to stay in the background as long as she has a good supply of books to escape into. That's her kind of romance - the fictional sort where she can read about other people taking a chance on love, but she doesn't have to risk her own heart.
But that was before Ethan Fox arrived in the village and turned her world upside down. Ethan is a leading light in the local amateur dramatics theatre company and Fen knows he's way out of her league. But when the popular village Christmas pantomime hits a crisis, Fen and Ethan find themselves thrown together.
Can Fen overcome her shyness and find the courage to step on stage and save the day?
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I've really been looking forward to reading Fen's story. She was so shy and reserved and I've really enjoyed reading about her in the past two novella's so I'm glad it's finally her time to shine! Although Fen comes across as quite shy to other people, when it's her talking in the novel she comes across as quite confident and funny really, which is interesting. Also, lets just take a moment to talk about this gorgeous cover! I love the pale colours, the red baubles hanging across the top of the cover and the snow! It's all so cute and pretty.
This novella was full of drama! It was far more exciting than the other two, I just felt there was so much going on and I loved it! With Fen, she has a massive crush on Ethan who convinces her to join the am dram group, but she soon realises that he's not all that he seems! I really hoped that things would work out for Fen, not with Ethan of course, but with the lovely Rob! He seemed like such a gentleman, and I was praying Fen would soon realise just how lovely he really is.
We also hear more about the other girls, Ellie and Jaz. Ellie's having a hard time of things lately, what with Maisie's real mum trying to worm her way back into their lives! Ellie gets really run down from it all and soon argues with Fen over her love life. It was quite upsetting reading about their argument - knowing just how much each of them was going through! I was hoping they'd make it up and become friends again. With Jaz, who has recently started dating Harry, she feels that Harry no longer loves her, after booking a lads holiday without telling her, and constantly letting her down with plans to go out with his friends instead, Jaz decides that enough is enough and applies for a job further away from Sunnybrook.
Everything comes to a magical end on the night of Fen's families traditional Snow Ball. Fen realises that Ethan isn't all what he appears after chasing after him, she then realises just how much she likes Rob. Ellie also is happy again, after Fen rushed off to confront Sophie (Maisie's mum) and scare her away from the family. Harry gets down on one knee and begs Jaz to stay in Sunnybrook because he will be lost without her. And most magical of all, Fen's dad comes home for the party! The novella is left on a happy ending and I couldn't have been happier. I'm getting more and more sad that these are coming to an end!
This novella was full of drama! It was far more exciting than the other two, I just felt there was so much going on and I loved it! With Fen, she has a massive crush on Ethan who convinces her to join the am dram group, but she soon realises that he's not all that he seems! I really hoped that things would work out for Fen, not with Ethan of course, but with the lovely Rob! He seemed like such a gentleman, and I was praying Fen would soon realise just how lovely he really is.
We also hear more about the other girls, Ellie and Jaz. Ellie's having a hard time of things lately, what with Maisie's real mum trying to worm her way back into their lives! Ellie gets really run down from it all and soon argues with Fen over her love life. It was quite upsetting reading about their argument - knowing just how much each of them was going through! I was hoping they'd make it up and become friends again. With Jaz, who has recently started dating Harry, she feels that Harry no longer loves her, after booking a lads holiday without telling her, and constantly letting her down with plans to go out with his friends instead, Jaz decides that enough is enough and applies for a job further away from Sunnybrook.
Everything comes to a magical end on the night of Fen's families traditional Snow Ball. Fen realises that Ethan isn't all what he appears after chasing after him, she then realises just how much she likes Rob. Ellie also is happy again, after Fen rushed off to confront Sophie (Maisie's mum) and scare her away from the family. Harry gets down on one knee and begs Jaz to stay in Sunnybrook because he will be lost without her. And most magical of all, Fen's dad comes home for the party! The novella is left on a happy ending and I couldn't have been happier. I'm getting more and more sad that these are coming to an end!