Semi-Sweet: A Novel of Love and Cupcakes by Roisin Meaney

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: 5 Spot (April 25, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446570117
• ISBN-13: 978-0446570114

Product Description

 

Hannah Robinson is just about to open the doors to her new shop Cupcakes on the Corner when out of the blue her boyfriend Patrick announces that he's leaving her for another woman. Faced with starting a business on her own, Hannah begins to wonder if her life-long dream has just turned into a nightmare. So her best friend Adam sets his birthday as a deadline - seven months to make her shop a success, or walk away from it all. And as Hannah immerses herself in her new business, she soon discovers that she's too busy to think about Patrick and his now pregnant girlfriend ...or to notice an increasingly regular customer who has recently developed a sweet tooth for all things cupcake. But while Hannah is slowly piecing her life back together, family friend Alice's is falling apart. Her husband Tom's drinking is getting out of control and things are about to get a whole lot worse. As the seven-month milestone approaches, Hannah must decide her future. And while she's figuring out what's really important, it becomes clear to everyone that happiness in life, and in love, is all in the making. (2008) 

 

About the Author

 

Roisin Meaney was born in Listowel, Co Kerry, Ireland. She has lived in the US, Canada, Africa, and Europe. In 2002, Roisin won the Tivoli Write a Bestseller competition with her first novel, The Daisy Picker, which was subsequently followed by Putting Out Stars. Roisin is currently based in Limerick. SEMI-SWEET is her sixth book. (2009)


My Review

I actually just noticed this book in Costco (Canada)  for under ten dollars which is a great deal for a book just issued a few weeks ago.  It had been previously released in the UK and now is being offered in Canada and the United States.  As a devotee of all things sweet I must say that the cover grabbed my attention right away! 

I am reviewing the Net Galley ebook version provided to me by Grand Central Publishing's Five Spot division.  What a delightful novel.  Warning...I dreamed about cupcakes all night last night and woke up with the desire to find the perfect strawberry cup cake recipe online...I think I did, I'll have to try it out this week.   I enjoyed the different people populating this novel and the felt their emotions as they moved through the events of their lives.  I felt it was a very relevant modern chick lit novel.  It is probably the first novel that I've read that was set in Ireland in some time.  I was cheering for Hannah the whole way through the novel.  And for her best friend Adam as they both were searching for love and happiness.  I felt Alice's pain and wished that Leah could have seen into the future when she began the deceit that ended up spinning Hannah's world in a different direction.  And of course Leah ended up doing a Hannah a huge favour....intrigued...you need to read this novel about the trials, tribulations and loves of the people of Clongarvin.

There is a reading group guide provided at the end of the novel.

Highly recommend this delightful novel which is the first of Roisin Meaney's to be released in North America.