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The Twenty Dates by Ko Porteous #Review #EmptyNesters

It is good to return to The Empty Nesters series by Ko Porteous. The Twenty Dates was published by All Ways Publishing Ltd on October 8th. You can read my review of Book 1, The Freshman Parents   here The kids have left, assuming love endures. But can yours? Book #2 in The Empty Nesters Series   Claire’s marriage is in (total!) crisis. Her husband, Mark, is distracted, presumptuous, and utterly clueless - smart scales for their 19th wedding anniversary? Really? Perhaps she'd be better off alone. At least there'd be less laundry.   When Claire suggests separating, Mark panics. He asks for one last chance: twenty dates, one for each year of their marriage, to prove they're better off together than apart. What follows is a series of adventures Claire never saw coming - some mortifying, some exhilarating, and some that make her question everything she thought she knew. About Mark. About marriage. And about the woman she's quietly become while she wasn't payin...
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Daydreams and Doughnut Cake by Rosie Green #Review #LittleDuckPondCafeBook40

 

Welcome to Book 40 in the Little Duck Pond Cafe series! Daydreams and Doughnut Cake is the latest novella by Rosie Green.

 
With help from the Little Duck Pond Café girls, Rosie's Spice Kitchen is becoming a firm favourite at the Lockley Meadow farmers' market. But when shocking things start happening and a face from the past stirs up memories she would rather forget, widow Rosie's hopes for a better future for her and her little daughter, Amelie, are suddenly dashed. Has someone discovered her devastating secret? The secret that is preventing her from moving on and finding love again?

Meanwhile, new mum Ellie and step-daughter Maisie are both hiding emotional secrets of their own


 My Thoughts

This story follows on from the last in the series. Rosie appeared in the Pop-Up Cake Shop as a customer and has now been persuaded to try her hand at selling her spicy food at the market in Lockley Meadow. A single parent and widow she has struggled to start again but is determined to build a new life for herself and her daughter. You do sense that she has an unresolved issue from her past as she has moved away from her friends and is looking for a new start. Her reaction when she thinks that her past might be returning shows you that whatever happened, it had a profound effect on her.

   Rosie seems like an optimistic and hardworking character  and she fits in to the friendship group which has sprung and is based around the Little Duck Pond Cafe stories. Ellie has now had her baby and as far as anyone else is concerned, she is managing well but Rosie recognises how hard it is with a new baby and they build quite a rapport. With friendship and new starts at the fore, you feel on solid ground with this story which is just as enjoyable as all the others.

In short: new starts and past friendships 

About the Author

Rosie’s series of novellas is centred around life in a country village cafe. Look out for DAYDREAMS & DOUGHNUT CAKE, out in June 2025, and TEACAKES AND TANGOS, which will be published in August 2025.

You can read my reviews of more of this series here:

Spring at the Little Duck Pond Cafe   |  Summer at the Little Duck Pond Cafe |  Christmas at the Little Duck Pond Cafe | A Bakery at the Little Duck Pond Cafe   |  Confetti at the Little Duck Pond Cafe  |  Lemon Drizzle Mondays at the Little Duck Pond Cafe  |  A Cornish Summer Holiday  |  Lucy's Great Escape  |  Sweet Pastries and Sourdough    |  A Summer of Surprises  |  The Wedding Cake Wish  |  Snow Falls over Sunnybrook  |  Chocolate Cake for Breakfast 
 |  Jingle Bells in June    |  Sun, Sea and Strawberry Shortcake
  |  Clara's Secret Garden  | Clara's Christmas Magic |  A Winter's Wish  |  Kind Hearts and Coronets |  The Lottery Win  |  A Kiss Under the Stars  |  A Cosy Cottage Escape  |  A Winter Wonderland  |  The Sunshine Sisters: Aurora | The Sunshine Sisters: Skye |  The Sunshine Sisters: Blossom  |  The Sticky Toffee Pudding Club  |  Cosy Nights and Snowball Fights  |  Maddie's Christmas Wedding  |  The Forever Home  |  The Pop - Up Cake Shop
 
You can follow Rosie here:   Twitter 

Amazon UK |  Amazon US
 
      

Check out the rest of the tour!

 
 


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