[Book Review] The Cosy Coffee Shop Of Promises By Kellie Hailes & The Tea Farm Rose Peppermint Coffee

Title: The Cosy Coffee Shop Of Promises
Series/Universe: None
Author: Kellie Hailes
Publisher: HarperCollins UK/HQ Digital
Publication date: February 10th 2017
Page Count: 155 pages
Age Rating: Young Adult & Up (vague sexual references, vague mention of past near-assualt)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received an ARC to review
Publisher’s page: The Cosy Coffee Shop Of Promises

Curl up in The Cosy Coffee Shop of Promises with a latte and a scone, the perfect antidote to a grey day!

Mel’s dream of opening a coffee shop is finally a reality! A cosy little place turning out the best flat whites and most delicious pastries in Devon. In the picture-perfect town of Rabbit’s Leap no one can stand in her way – especially local pub owner, Tony. She doesn’t care how gorgeous he is, she will not let him steal her customers with his fancy new coffee machine!

There is only room in their small town for one coffee shop…but when Hurricane Val – aka her mother – is due to blow into town, Mel is in desperate need of an instant boyfriend. She can’t face another hunt to ‘find a man’ and while Tony may be her business rival, Mel can’t help but notice he’d make the perfect fake fiancé…

If they can strike a deal all they need to do is stick to it, no falling in love, no real feelings and definitely no dreams of a happy-ever-after!

My Review

The Cosy Coffee Shop Of Promises is a really cute, sweet romance following two small town business rivals, turned reluctant allies, who tread the fine line between love and hate until the scales finally tip the initially reluctant pair into a picture-perfect Happily-Ever-After.

In the small rural town of Rabbit’s Leap, local pub owner Tony McArthur is struggling to keep The Bullion, the pub he inherited from his father, afloat. He has a brilliant idea to bring in more customers and diversify his offerings – buy a coffee machine and start selling cups of joe to his patrons.

Local café owner Mel Sullivan is none too pleased when she lays eyes on the shiny new coffee machine sitting on the end of Tony’s bar. Mel’s already dealing with an unexpected, and unwanted, visit from her troublesome mother; she doesn’t need to deal with Tony stealing her struggling café’s few customers.

Before all heck can break out, the two business rivals come to an understanding – Mel will help Tony revitalize his pub, without stealing her customers, and Tony will help Mel keep her mother off her back by pretending to be Mel’s loving fiancé.

Tony and Mel are both surprisingly deep characters with Tony’s family obligations hanging like a weight around his neck and Mel’s troubled childhood causing her to be so closed off to allowing anyone in. Watching the two of them fight the unexpected attraction developing between them and their slow, inevitable slide into romantic feelings really had me investing in their happiness. The burn felt sllloooow though, like I was ready to knock some sense into some heads kind of slow, so I was thrilled when it all worked out. Mel’s mom, “Hurricane Val”, was my least favorite part of the book. She added a lot of depth to Mel and her struggles, but as a character she just had no saving qualities to me, as a mother she was disaster, and by the end I just couldn’t buy any kind of redemption for her.

The Cosy Coffee Shop Of Promises was a nice way to spend a comfy afternoon. Once I got over my initial disappointment that there was only a small amount of time spent in the actual coffee shop (I felt like the vast majority of the time was spent in the bar), I really enjoyed this cozy little romance. I would absolutely read more by this author.

In The Cosy Coffee Shop Of Promises, Mel wears her all black clothing and her spunky black and pink striped hair like a shield, but her pink-painted café with green trim and fairy lights contains peeks into her true, inner aesthetic: a rose-printed vintage cake stand, a vintage cash register, and a selection of vintage magazine for her customers to read while waiting (a sneak peek into her closet also proves to be rather revealing *wink, wink*). With her love of charmingly feminine touches, I think Mel would absolutely adore The Tea Farm Rose Peppermint Coffee Blend – a beautiful blend of coffee, peppermint, and rose buds that results in a wholly unique experience and a really lovely cup of coffee.