Such a fun read! Loved this one!

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

When I first picked this book up I was like “oh no please don’t let me read a Christmas book in February” but I was so wrong. This book has it all and the heartbreaking grief and sadness throughout the book was written beautifully. Pickles the dog was the right medicine to cheer this book up and the love, friendship and growth just really captivated me. Such a great read couldn’t put it down.

"Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café" by Jessica Redland is a heartwarming and enchanting story that unfolds against the backdrop of The Starfish Café, a place where stunning views, delicious food, and lifelong friendships come together to create a magical atmosphere.

At the center of the narrative are Hollie and Jake, two individuals nursing broken hearts and carrying the weight of past tragedies. Hollie, determined to preserve her mother's legacy through The Starfish Café, finds herself grappling with the grief of losing her family—the very heart of the café. On the other hand, Jake, a man with a guarded heart and a reluctance to delve into the past, crosses paths with Hollie in an unexpected encounter at the café.

Jessica Redland skillfully weaves a tale of healing and love, using the café as a comforting and nurturing space for the characters. The author's portrayal of The Starfish Café is vivid, creating an inviting atmosphere that serves as the perfect backdrop for the characters' journeys. The theme of preserving traditions and finding solace in unexpected connections adds depth to the story.

The characters of Hollie and Jake are well-developed and relatable, each carrying their own emotional baggage. As the narrative unfolds, readers witness the gradual breaking down of the barriers that have kept both characters from finding love and happiness. The inclusion of a fluffy lost dog adds a touch of charm to the plot and becomes a catalyst for change in their lives.

The pacing of the story is well-balanced, allowing the relationships to evolve naturally and the characters to undergo meaningful growth. Redland's writing style is engaging, with a mix of emotional depth and heartwarming moments that resonate with readers. The Christmas backdrop enhances the festive spirit, making it a perfect read for the holiday season.

The novel explores themes of grief, resilience, and the transformative power of love. As Hollie and Jake navigate their personal struggles, the narrative unfolds with a sense of hope and courage. The resolution is satisfying, offering a heartwarming conclusion that leaves the reader with a sense of fulfillment.

"Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café" is a delightful and uplifting read that captures the magic of love and healing in unexpected places. Jessica Redland's storytelling talent shines through, making this novel a perfect choice for those seeking a heartwarming tale with a touch of holiday charm. With its well-crafted narrative and endearing characters, this book earns a solid four-star rating.

Thank you to Netgalley, publisher and the author for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review #snowflakesoverthestarfishcafe

Hollie's family own the Starfish Cafe where traditions, family and customer experience is everything. Until her fiance pressures her to sell and is then caught cheating. Jake on the other hand is a nurse and photographist who just wants his own company whilst still living with his nan who desperately wants him to live life. Will they be able to live life to the full? Will their hearts or head win?

The cozy cover and title drew me to this book. Although I love Jessica's books so anything by her epuld have attracted me.

This book does exactly what it says on the tin gives you a feel good Christmas read to cuddle up with in front of the fire dreaming of all of the beautiful descriptions.

However I do find books which skip around both characters and time frames in each chapter can get a bit confusing whilst needing to concentrate so limits the places I can read.

great read and it was all that for me. Loved it all and I can't wait for the next story in this series. they had great banter as a couple. must read.

I did so many posts about this book as part of the Boldwood readalong before it came out, and then I forgot to leave a "proper" review. It's been too long now for me to write much, but I remember I loved it!

I'm much better at sharing reviews these days!

I totally loved this! It is well written and I enjoyed this page turning book. i will definitely recommend it!

Cover: whimsical and pretty cute.

I wanted to like Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café, even more so after learning that Redland is one of the bestselling authors of Boldwood Books, but—hm. No. There are too many things that don’t convince me.

For starters, it’s way too long. A good developmental editor would have gone to town with it, dropping the first chapters and the unnecessary flashbacks. Nothing happens until chapter six, and by that point, interest is already long gone. I kept going just because I don’t like to DNF.

Then, it’s telegraphed.

Jake’s introduction reveals the romance component right away, even more so since it’s a double POV written in first person—a change of pov would have solved a lot of issues, I think. The RNLI and friendship conflicts are paper thin, too. Although the end of a romance book is written in stone—the couple falls in love and lives happily ever after—I still want something extra in the middle, you know?

Side characters, well. They’re either portrayed as cartoon villains (Larissa, whose subplot doesn’t really get solved) or heroes (Hollie’s Mum, Nanna). To add insult to injury, bad luck plagues the two protagonists, since every member of their respective families dies in a horrific way; I get the shock element and grief as theme, sure. Striking a balance between suspension of disbelief and implausibility, however, is crucial.

Grammatically, Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café is sound.

I’m chalking this down as a misstep and I will check something else from Redland.

2 stars on GR.

This was an ok read for me but there was way too much time spent on descriptions of none important details. There was some additional editing required for sure.
Also what is with all the people that either main character didn’t see for years and they show back up all in the same period of time. Even Hollie’s best friend Kate was left out of much of the book after being a big part of it at the beginning.
I have read many books written by UK authors and never had any issues with understanding what was going on but this one is very full of language that is not common unless you’re from the UK. I gave up trying to figure out what each phrase or meant. I likely won’t read anything else by this author because of that and a dislike of the writing style.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this one.

I had many problems with the book, some were related to my preferences as a reader, and others were due to editing and writing style. Let's get into it:
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1) Firstly, the book was in a dire need of developmental editing, especially the first half. The years rundown was completely redundant, we literally learn what happened with Hollie through her reminiscing in the present, the author could just slip it into dialogue that Hollie had a great, loving family, no time traveling needed.
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2) This is a me thing, I guess, but the writing style wasn't my favorite, it was extremely descriptive to the point that I disconnected from what's actually happening in the scene because I was sucked into endless description of the sea, wood or seals. If it wasn't for some expanded paragraphs about the sightings, the book would've been significantly shorter.
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3) Might as well rip the band-aid off and say it, Hollie and Jack have no chemistry. Apart from both of them having tragic pasts, there really wasn't anything else indicating they're good for each other. Both were idolized and glorified the whole book, their love story felt didactic, so I really wasn't a fan.
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These were my top 3 reasons why I didn't like the book, it obviously didn't completely suck for me, I finished it! However, it wasn't my favorite.
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*I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

A decent read. . The storyline was complicated and interwoven, but so very interesting. You definitely had to read the headers of each chapter as the timeline kept changing, but that made it interesting.

Book wasn't meant for her. Hopefully someone will enjoy it more. I will look into renting it soon from the library soon

Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café - Jessica Redland

What a beautiful book, it was emotional, sad, happy, festive, and heart warming all in one. I thoroughly enjoyed the two main characters Jake and Hollie. Jake had a lovely relationship with his nanna and also Mr Pickles (the Shih Tzu). There was plenty of back story to get your teeth stuck into and reading the acknowledgements I was really pleased to see that there is going to be a sequel. I recently read Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop also by Jessica Redland and also rated that a 5 star read, Jessica Redland is quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors! Thank you so much NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the e-arc in return for my honest opinion

This was such a cute and fluffy Christmas read with a great setting and can you can complete or relate to, a perfect festive read!

Snowflakes Over the Starfish Cafe, by Jessica Redland is the first book in this series. Hollie is the owner of The Starfish Cafe and it is her life. Her parents and her brother have all passed away and the restaurant is her home. It has been six years since her mom has died and things are getting easier but she is still closed off to most of the world. She hasn’t dated in years and the holidays are coming and she doesn’t know how she will get through it. Then we meet Jake. His life seems as tragic as Hollie’s and he isn’t looking forward to the holidays as well. Jake’s parents and his Nana have passed away & he has no other family.. except for an estranged sister. Their lives are so similar and yet they have never met. For a small town you would think they would have met but they hadn’t. Until a dog comes into Jake’s life a a series of events makes it possible for them to meet. Will they be able to find friendship or love? Will they be able to tell their secrets and have someone understand? Can they move forward with life? This story was so sweet. I really enjoyed the writing and the characters.. it was an easy read and I am glad I got to read it. This was a 4 star read for me. I want to thank Netgalley & the author my copy. It was an absolute pleasure to read and review this book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did..

Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café

by Jessica Redland

In the first part of Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café, the reader really gets to know the characters in this book and the story behind each one of them. Hollie and Jake are the main characters; both of them have pasts immersed in tragedies. Those two tell the story in their points of view. The timeframe bounces around between the present and various times in their pasts slowly revealing the details of the personal disasters that they don’t seem to be able to overcome. The changes in timeframes and narrators are clearly delineated and never confusing. There are a lot of supportive friends and a few you would like to kick to the curb. “Mr. Pickles” is a tiny homeless shih tzu who plays a huge role in this romance, but will he be big enough to bring Hollie and Jake together and help overcome their issues?

All of the action occurs in or near Whitsborough Bay on the North Yorkshire coast. The book is filled with Britishisms that I enjoyed immensely such as references to wearing their “waterproofs” or shops displaying bags of “candyfloss.” I also learned a lot about the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) with its amazing volunteers.

As frequently occurs in romance novels, Jake and Hollie inch towards resolution and a happily ever after. Then suddenly there is a twist that neither Jake, Hollie, nor the reader could have predicted. It seems they may be forced to retreat into isolation abandoning what they had together.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 5/5

Category: General Fiction, Romance

Publication: August 31, 2021—Boldwood Books

Memorable Lines:

Angry waves snatched at the deserted beach, spitting spray over the railings, while ominous grey clouds threatened rain.

“People can still be in love but not like each other very much and sometimes they can like each other but not be in love.”

“Then he’s not right for you, but one day you’ll meet someone who is. Someone who makes you laugh every day, hugs you simply because it’s Tuesday, holds you when you cry, and dances in the rain with you.”

Lovely feel good book to read. It was a joy to read. Lovely characters. Great plot. The book was charming. Very well written. I’d definitely recommend this book. Idyllic location that set the tone of the book to perfection. Perfect seasonal book to get you in the mood for the festive season.

This was such a great Christmas romance! I love reading Christmas books all year long and it was just what I needed for Christmas in July! Highly recommend!

Snowflakes Over the Starfish Cafe is told in two different pov's. First, we have Hollie who is running her family's cafe and is feeling quite lonely and just not very happy with life at the moment. Then we have Jake who has closed himself off from the world mostly and likes to keep his private life and work life where he is a nurse separate.
The two end up meeting by chance and thanks to the help of a furry friend and strike up a friendship. Hollie and Jake are good for each other. They both have suffered lots of tragedies and in some ways, they bond over that. They also both have hobbies that fit well with one another and seem to really get one another.

Overall I adored this story. I wasn't too sure about the romance at first due to all the trauma both characters seemed to have. At times it seemed like they expected the other person to fix them, and that's not really the best thing usually. However, this ends up being okay because they don't fix each other per say but they do support each other and are able to talk openly about what happened to each of them and be there without it being overwhelming. They both still have a lot to work on, but having that support in each other was nice and showed that even as friends they could be good for one another because they got the other one out of their shell a little bit. I also loved the side character friendships in this book and how key they were at times to what was happening in both Hollie and Jake's lives and reassuring them about certain things and showing them that while it will be work it will be worth it in the long run and that you can't run from everything forever.
The little cafe of Hollie's sounded beautiful as well as the funny and serious parts of her regulars telling stories. Jake and his life while we saw less of it was still fascinating and getting to see him really become passionate about something was nice as well.
I know this series continues on and I'm guessing it's a companion novel so I am interested to see if these two will pop up in it as side characters.
I'm very interested in reading more by this author in the future.

Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café is a beautiful read which will touch the readers heart. A very lovely book which will have you wanting to read more in the series.