Cover reveal for Cake Off at the Cat Café! 🧁🐱
Best read with tea and cake
Happy new year! I hope you all had a relaxing and restful December if you were able to do so. I did a lot of non-work reading and napping over the Christmas period, and it was so needed. And I was tagged in so many lovely reviews and posts about Snowed In at the Cat Café over on Instagram, which made my Christmas even more special. Thank you so much!
If you have Kindle Unlimited, Snowed In at the Cat Café is currently enrolled there, so you can read it for free if you have a subscription. In translation news, it’s also available in the Slovenian language now, with Ucila.
Anyway, I’m kicking off January with something exciting for you – the cover reveal for the second cat café romance, Cake Off at the Cat Café, releasing with Hodder & Stoughton on March 27. Without further ado…
Whisks at the ready! This summer, two local cafes will go head-to-head in a baking competition where more is at stake than just the trophy... Will true love be the icing on the cake?
Clem is the baker in charge of creating delicious cat-themed treats for the loyal customers of the Catpurrcino cat café. From iced kitten doughnuts to macarons with ears and whiskers, Clem's creations always bring a smile to the face of anyone lucky enough to taste them.
But outside of the café’s kitchen, Clem struggles with feelings of anxiety and where she fits in. Until Sylvie, the owner of the café, decides to push her out of her comfort zone. The Whisked Away baking competition is a chance for Clem to shine and find her inner confidence.
Also competing this year is Lucas, the owner of Muddy Paws café, accompanied by his faithful Golden Retriever Reina.
The stage is set for an epic cake-off between cats and dogs. But as Clem stumbles in the first challenge, Lucas always seems to be there with an encouraging word and a smile. The chemistry between them is soon undeniable.
Is this just the heat in the kitchen? Or something real? And can their feelings survive a showdown in the final round...
Isn’t the cover just beautiful?! The illustration was done by the same illustrator who did Snowed In at the Cat Café, Kelley McMorris. And I think it’s perfect. Just look at that cherry tree! Cherry blossoms are my favourite flower (I even have a tattoo of one), so I love it. But the cakes look pretty delicious too…
Let me know what you think and what your favourite part of the cover is!
I’m so excited for you all to get to know Lucas and Clem. You can read this book as a standalone, even if you don’t get around to reading Snowed In at the Cat Café by the time it releases.
Books I’ve been enjoying lately…
I actually read a lot of non-fiction books over the holidays – but one novel stood out that I wanted to share with you!
📚 The Winter Garden by Alexandra Bell
I’d been saving this book all year to read at Christmas time, and I’m so glad I did. This novel is just completely captivating. The writing is absolutely stunning, and the story is full of magic and whimsy. It reminds me of The Secret Garden and The Chronicles of Narnia, with a dash of the Bronte sisters.
We follow two protagonists: Beatrice, who receives an invitation to the magical wish-granting Winter Garden following her mother’s death when she’s a child. Eighteen years later, after refusing to succumb to society’s expectations and calling off her engagement, she sets out to find the mysterious garden again, and to set the past right. Her best friend Rosa is a maker of clockwork creatures who has always had ambitions of marrying into high society. Now a duchess and with children of her own – and deeply unhappy in her chosen marriage – Rosa also becomes entangled in the world of the garden and its mysterious Spider Queen.
A beautiful book all around. I was so completely swept up in this gorgeous story taking place in Victorian England (a setting I've always had a soft spot for). I absolutely recommend it, if you’re in the mood for something wintry with a touch of fantasy.
That’s all from me for now! Have you read anything good over the holidays?