#bookreview – Wartime Brides and Wedding Cakes by Amy Miller @AmyBratley1 @ bookouture #BlogTour

Posted on 12th March 2018 By Nicola

I’m thrilled today to be sharing my review of the wonderful Wartime Brides and Wedding Cakes by Amy Miller. I love this series so much and hope book three will be on the way very soon. My thanks to Kim Nash from Bookouture for the place on the tour and the review copy via Netgalley.

January, 1941: As Charlie Barton tiptoes silently out of the house one cold winter morning to go off and fight for his country, his wife Audrey is left to run the family bakery on her own.

Times are tougher than ever, but at the Barton Bakery in Bournemouth, Audrey is determined as always to serve the town with love, loaves and cakes, even as the town is reeling from the struggles of the Blitz.

Audrey’s brother William has returned from battle with serious wounds. His fiancé Elsie is waiting for wedding bells, but William is a changed man, and will her hopes be in vain?

Bakery helper Maggie has her heart set on dashing officer George. But will George still want to marry her when he discovers the truth about her family?

And Lily, Audrey’s stepsister, is struggling to raise her illegitimate baby and facing judgement from many in the town. The man who broke her heart returns with an offer, and Lily faces a hard decision about where her future lies.

When disaster strikes the bakery, Audrey fears that everything she has worked for may be ruined. With her shop threatened and her family in turmoil, can she fight to save everything she holds dear?

Wartime Brides and Wedding Cakes is a romantic and heart-warming tale of cakes and confetti, perfect for fans of Sheila Newberry, Nadine Dorries and Ellie Dean.

Like the sound of it? Then you can get yourself a copy here.

Oh, this was a wonderful return to Bournemouth and Barton’s Bakery for me. Having loved the first in this series, Heartaches and Christmas Cakes, I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next to these wonderful characters. I would recommend you read the books in order so you can follow their journey, but if not then it works well as a standalone as important facts from the first book are handily recapped.

The hub of the action is the bakery, run by Charlie and Audrey Barton. But despite baking being a reserved profession, Charlie feels he must do his bit for the war and so Audrey must cope alone. She’s a wonderful person, absolutely central to everything and so strong, warm-hearted and kind. Mary, her little evacuee, is still with her, along with her brother, William, and stepsister, Lily. Where they all sleep is a mystery but I couldn’t help but imagine how warm and cosy it must be above the bakery with this family who stick together no matter what.

As with any saga, there are many ups and downs before we reach a happy conclusion. As you will gather from the title, there are weddings to enjoy in this instalment and it was so interesting to read about how rations affected cake baking. In fact, there is quite a focus on the foods that were available and it’s fascinating to read about the way people coped with so little. Blitz spirit and all that.

I whizzed through this book in two days. I was utterly engrossed in all that was happening, not just the events but the emotions. I can’t wait for the next instalment now. I could read about Barton’s Bakery and the characters in this series until the cows come home. This is heart-warming saga at its best.