The Bluebell Bunting Society

Connie had no real desire to return home to Hazelhurst, but when her grandmother died, she didn’t have a choice. Almost before she knows it, Connie has taken on her gran’s role as the caretaker at the village hall. It’s certainly not the job she thought she’d enjoy, but Connie finds herself falling in love with Bluebell Hall and the community members there. When she gets wind that the Hall may be closed and turned over to money-grubbing property developers, she refuses to let that happen. But how can she stop them? A little fabric, a lot of ingenuity and one crazy idea may just save the day. A lovely, kind and gentle read

Lovely book to read. feel good read. nice characters you can relate to and a lovely plot

If you love bunting then you are definitely in the right place. If on the other hand like me and you really can't work out what all the fuss about lots of triangles strung together is, then not to worry, as in amongst all of the bunting, there is a charming story, that I really enjoyed reading.

The whole purpose of the newly created Bluebell Bunting Society is to help to try and save Bluebell Hall from closure, and they have only been given 30 days to get the hall's visitor numbers up. Personally I would have possibly preferred the original idea for the sewing club, as it would have been a lot funnier, reading about a knicker sewing group!

Connie has inherited the caretaker role of the hall from her grandmother and has been at it for four years. She still isn't sure whether this is really what she wants to do with her life, nor does she have any other ideas, but Bluebell Hall is in her blood and she is determined to do a good job.

What I enjoy in books like this, including this one is the small village feel, and Hazelhurst definitely that had. I'm not exactly sure where Hazelhurst is, but its a charming village and I really enjoyed meeting the various people, including the ones most instrumental in helping Connie try to save the hall.

I love small town communities and also reading about crafting, so this has a lovely cozy feel to the whole book. It felt rather calm reading it, and really enjoyed the story. I could really picture the bunting, and I loved the Bluebells and the Scouts when they meet, and all the activities that Connie ran with the Bluebells (Hazelhurst answers to brownies).

Thanks to a mix of old and new friends, the campaigns and promotions that are thought up to save the hall are incredibly creative, and one in particular really caught my imagination.

Thank you to Canelo and Netgalley for this copy of the book which I have reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

I really enjoyed this book. This was my first Poppy Dolan book and I was drawn to this one by the beautiful bright cover. The story was just as fabulous, one I could not put down.

I loved the characters and how friendly everyone in the village was and how they all looked out for each other and got behind Connie on her mission to keep the hall open.

A fun, enjoyable and exciting read.

5☆ ++  Review

The Blue bell Bunting Society is a story about determination, courage, making new friends, New Beginnings and a whole lot of Community spirit.

I absolutely loved this charming gem of a book. It made me laugh out loud, feel warm inside and I really wanted to join the Bluebells Group. (As fellow Brownie & Girl Guide this was right up my street)

Connie's Gran was the previous caretaker to the Bluebell Hall.
When she passed away she left the running of the hall to Connie.
The hall was left as a charity donation to the local Hazelhurst village.
The hall would be kept open providing the hall is being used by half the village population.

This was all well and good but with the uprising of new houses Connie is finding this more and more difficult to pull in the numbers.

The hall is in a bad way and some of the regular groups regretfully had to abandon using the hall for health and safety reasons. With no money Connie is struggling.

However one Funday Sunday afternoon is about to change Connies life forever.
In walks Flip new to the village and an exciting Zest for life.
She falls in love with the Bluebell hall charm and wants to help Connie.

Connie soon learns that Alex the new Scout leader is working for the charity that supports the hall and wants to shut Bluebell Hall down.
 However Connie and her friends are not willing to hand it over without a fight.

What is Alex's agenda and is he really the bad guy in this?

Then so begins the exciting and challenging task of getting people into the hall to make the members numbers up. In order to save the hall.

The group decide to start a Bluebell Bunting group where they all make bunting triangles to piece together to help spread the word and engage the community.

Flip worked in PR and she is fabulous at coming up with new ways to get them noticed. Such as using media attention.

The Bluebells play a huge part in the story and it's so lovely to see them getting involved with things such as Maypole dancing.

Polly is a young teen who her Dad brings to the Bunting club as a way of bonding with her since her mother passed away.
 She takes a liking to Connie, and the group help this shy and grieving young girl grow in confidence so much so she decides to run a Art Therapy group which proves to be very popular.

The fun ideas to raise numbers are not without some fairly major hiccups, some crazy dance routines, a lot of tea and cake  and great friendships.

Connie is stronger than she realises. She's not without her own personal issues. Her Mum has suffered depression and anxiety for a long time and the passing of her Gran has only triggered her anxiety more.

Connie is coming up 30 and her life is the Bluebell Hall and Hazelhurst Village. So when things don't quiet go to plan she has to 're evaluate her life choices.

This is such a fabulous story of hope and determination I wanted to climb right into the story and get sewing. I was rooting for Connie and her friends to save the hall.

All of the characters in the story were well developed and each one added a unique quality to the story making it believable. I loved all the characters even Alex, towards the end, who which I really didn't want to like.

My only slight personal opinion was the ending for me was not what I expected.... but it's not always the happy endings that make the book it's the story behind the ending.

I can honestly say I don't think this is the end of Hazelhurst village. Well at least I hope it's not. There is some fabulous characters and some new budding romances.
I didn't want it to end! I only hope Poppy decides to write more!

Such a sweet and inspiring book. The brightness of the cover pervaded throughout. I loved every page and was sorry to see it end!