This was my first book by this author, and I can positively say that I really enjoyed reading this one. Its captivating. For sure I will be checking other books written by this author.

Such a good read, I was so engrossed from start finish, thank you for the brilliant writing, just the sort of book you don’t want to put down.

Former florist Rosie Barnes moved to Norfolk after a particularly bad break up, landing a job at the Windmill cafe and going back to one of her first loves, baking.

She convinced the owner to throw a summer garden party and manages to get up and coming pop star Suki Richards and her friends to attend but disaster strikes when she is taken ill and her future hangs in the balance.

With the help of her new friends, especially the handsome Matt she must get to the bottom of the mystery and save her job and the Windmill cafe!

So from the absolutely gorgeous cover I was expecting some sort of sweet rom-com but actually it was more a romance mixed with a bit of cosy mystery, which as a big mystery lover I adored! It is a little heavier on the romance aspect but after so many gruesome crime books I’ve been reading of late, it made a nice change.

I felt very sorry for Rosie, she obviously has very low self-esteem and suffers from a compulsion to clean especially when she feels things around her are getting out of control. It’s nice to see through the book how she grows and becomes more confident.

Matt is also a sweet character, practical, unwavering in his support of Rosie but he hides a bit of heartbreak in his past himself.

I would have liked to dig a little deeper into Matt’s story and some of her other friend’s like Mia but I know there are two other books so I hope to get to know the characters better. Also I wasn’t a fan of the Poriot like gathering of the suspects together before an arrest is made but that’s just me being a bit fussy.

Overall The Windmill Café is a sweet, light-hearted novella with a subtle nod to classic crime fiction and good dollop of romance, perfect for a bit of escapism. A great start to the series!

I loved this book and have read all the sequels too. I enjoyed the setting, the characters and the mystery element regarding the poisoning. It was a fun and enjoyable read. I particularly liked the author's style of writing.

A pleasant read but it did get a little confusing at the beginning when so many new characters were being introduced together. A nice summer read.

As I began reading The Windmill Cafe, I thought it was going to be one of those 'can't put it down' books. Sadly however, there is little in the way of suspense or the twists and turns that keep you hanging on in a mystery, so the plot feels rather flat.

The characters' personalities are rather shallow and need further development, while some of the plot is terribly far fetched, particularly the Poirot style ending where the Police allow Matt to reveal 'whodunit' while they politely wait in a corner. Had this been set in the 1930's, that may have been more plausible.

Overall a pleasant, easy going read, but not a riveting mystery.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I was looking forward to reading this book as the description promised the kind of light-hearted escapism that I usually really enjoy, but was I unfortunately left a little disappointed. i felt completely lost at the beginning of the book and found it difficult to keep up with all the characters being introduced in quick succession. There were moments of the writing that I enjoyed and if the story had perhaps been more streamlined it would have been more to my taste. Thanks to NetGalley for ARC.

I raced through this book. This title had a mystery aspect which I really enjoyed and kept me guessing. I loved the setting, which was perfect to escape to on a chilly, bleak day and the way the characters were written had me rooting for them, especially the main character Rosie who had had lots to overcome. I will definitely be looking out for the other titles in this series.

Review: A delightful read.

I loved the idea of a cafe set in a windmill. Now, I was expecting it to be a full on chic lit read but I was wrong in a good way. It is a chi lit, mystery combo. It really keeps you guessing. 

I am looking forward to the next part in this story as this is only the first part of the book.

By the look of the cover and the title ‘The windmill cafe’ I didn’t really pay much attention to the blurb about the book. I expected the book to be a romantic easy going read with the main character trying to escape from her past. This was true but I was surprised that it also had a mystery to be solved which kept me interested till the end. All the characters had a motive and it wasn’t as predictable as you would expect. I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next book in this series.

I appear to be in the minority with my opinion of this book but... God, it was bad.
Not terrible, but bad.
It had potential but it didn't live up to it.
The writing was stilted and awkward.
The dialogue unrealistic.
The characters two-dimensional.
The romance was essentially non-existant and the mystery plot a big pile of who gives a crap.
Most definitely not for me.
Such a shame... I really did love the cover.

Rosie has organised a summer garden party at the Windmill Café. A famous singer is staying in the nearby holiday lets and there are fears that she has food poisoning from the party Rosie is keen to find the culprit to clear her café.
It's a cosy mystery with the added romantic interest angle. The idea of a café in a windmill sounds wonderful and as this is part of a series I look forward to spending more time there to hear much more about it. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and am really keen to hear more about them all.

I really enjoyed this book,loved the storyline I did guess what was going to happen but didn't know why it happened and I was surprised. Can't wait to read book two.

Rosie is running the cafe while her boss is away. She has moved there after her old life fell apart.
After a suspected poisoning at the cafe, Rosie and her new found friends try to find out who did it. Along the way, Rosie starts to wonder if she will find happiness with Matt, but he has his own secrets.

I really loved this book! Excellent story with brilliant main characters. I would recommend this book.

Really enjoyed this book. Was a lovely short read and great characters. Cannot wait for the next one

The Windmill Cafe is a 3.5 stars for me.
The windmill Cafe is a book I had high hopes for and although I did enjoy it there were a few niggled along the way. The story is based around Rosie who has escaped some personal problems to come and work at the windmill cafe. Somehow a celebrity singer has been poisoned after attending a party at the cafe and this could sink Rosies dream of big things for the cafe. This turns into a whodunnit with the help of Rosies friends and the delightful Matt!!
The storyline was good but apart from knowing what colour sails the windmill cafe had and that the rooms were circular there was no other reference to it and I wanted to know more so I could love it more. The character descriptions were lacking and the plot could have had some more pace and intrigue with a few twists along the way. At times I felt like I was reading a pre teen novel. I did however enjoy the story and hope the next can fix some of my niggles.
I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

A lovely light hearted story of the adventures at the windmill cafe. Full of funny, heart warmimg moments. A nice light read

Had I classed Poppy Blake's The Windmill Café: Summer Breeze as just another 'café' book and not even tried to read it then I would have missed out on a seriously good story. There sees to be an abundance of books this year with cafés as their main focus and I'm growing slightly weary of this but here Poppy Blake has brought something totally new and fresh to the genre and I loved this read from start to finish. I am a sucker for a lovely bright, colourful cover and admittedly this is what first drew me to the book. It's a gorgeous cover that draws you in and makes you want to discover the characters and story that awaits inside. I thought this would be a short novella as I knew it wasn't a full length book but I was pleasantly surprised at the length of it and the fact that the story had real depth and substance to it.

The writing is brilliant throughout so much so I had to stop every so often and reread a paragraph or two and absorb what was being said so deep and clever was its meaning. Such a wide range of vocabulary, sentiments and statements were used to convey a characters actions or thought process' and it just felt the author had taken such care and time over how she wanted the plot and all the little details to come across. It was evident how much Poppy enjoyed writing this story and that she loved the characters and all their traits and quirks and I soon came to feel the same. I found myself nodding along in agreement at the way certain viewpoints were expressed and also the apt choice of words so carefully were they chosen and placed in each sentence. Simply I loved this book from start to finish.


Rosie is manager of The Windmill Café and presiding over the summer garden party that all the residents of Willerby in Norfolk are invited to. She loves her job as it has afforded her the chance to break free from the shackles of the past and embrace a new step towards a better future for her. Owner Graham is away on holiday so Rosie in sole charge of both the café and the adjoining holiday site. It's a big responsibility but one she feels more than up to the challenge of. Ably helped by Mia all the preparations are complete with plenty of tempting, delicious treats available for everyone to enjoy. The descriptions of all the baked treats and goodies were mouthwatering throughout the book but they weren't the sole focus as more pressing matters over shadowed the success of the party at the end of the day.

Rosie feels maybe her luck is changing at last and is holding the party as a way of saying thank you to the villagers and to her friends Mia, Matt and Freddie for embracing her and welcoming her into the fold. It hasn't been that long since Rosie left London harbouring feelings of sadness, resentment and doom. At times now the affects of events in the big city still linger as 'She often felt like she was one of those characters from a comic book who walked around with a rain cloud dangling over her head whilst everyone else basked in glorious sunshine'. I felt awful that Rosie has these feelings but hoped her new found friends and the enjoyment she would continue to get from the café would have these emotions dispersing as quickly as possible.

It's not immediately clear why Rosie left London but as she says' She'd had it with love' that obviously her heart got broken, battered and bruised and when the reason for her departure becomes evident I could understand why she fled to find a new sanctuary. Settling into The Windmill Café was giving Rosie that new lease of life and a chance to indulge her passion of baking. Yes she still has her bad days and internal wobbles but ' The Little Windmill Café had gently unwrapped the mantle of misery from her shoulders, and the warmth of friends she'd made here had helped plaster over the cracks in her heart so that now she greeted everyday with a smile on her face'. One thing the café hasn't cured is Rosie's obsession with cleanliness and the routines she has developed around this.

If she sees anything out of place or dirt, dust or grime dare to make an appearance then it drives her crazy and completely off track until she can sort it. The word OCD sprung to mind and clearly Rosie had used this as a coping mechanism in the past. Where there is chaos she needs order and cleaning and structure helps her to achieve this piece of mind. So what happens when Suki and her gang of friends arrive for the party and to stay on for the week in the holiday cottages. Suki is a singer on the cusp of stardom but when she falls seriously ill and the blame falls in Rosie's corner just how will Rosie cope? Will the café be shut-down? Will the past rear its ugly head undoing all the good work Rosie has done? Will she be run out of town for causing a celebrity to fall ill?

Rosie had put such trojan work into building up her self esteem given it had been so cruelly bashed that I thought this upset would really throw her back big time. When Suki and all her friends were first introduced I wondered why there was so much attention on her. William, Felix, Lucas, Jess and Nadia all were rapidly mentioned and started to feature and I had to remember how they were all connected. But it soon became apparent this little gang were not going to have the most relaxing of breaks as something devastating happens to Suki and for Rosie and the café to be exonerated a lot of questions needed to be asked. Rosie , Freddie, Matt and Mia began an investigation of their own. Sleuthing became the word of choice and it was this element of the story that set this story apart from similar books in the genre. This had me hooked.

Never before did a book like this take on this angle before and it was just such a joy to have something different from the norm. The boy meets girl and struggles ensue was firmly pushed to the background and the book didn't suffer in the slightest for this. Yes there was some romance and I think it will continue in the next two books that tare planned but instead here I wanted to know what had exactly happened to Suki and why? So did everyone else and Matt and co didn't want to see Rosie's life destroyed through the actions of another. I loved how the mystery element really took over and that determination radiated from Rosie, Matt and Mia. They weren't going to stop until they reached the core of the problem and the reasons behind it. The fact that I was kept guessing as to the actual result was an added bonus as normally I can surmise pretty early on just what has occurred. Cracking the case becomes their goal and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey with the characters as they did so.


The Windmill Café part one was an excellent read that certainly gave me a lot more than I had first bargained for. This is an impressive début from Poppy Blake that makes her an author to watch in the future. If part one was this good I can only imagine what we have to come in Autumn Leaves and Christmas Trees later on in the year. The author has a real gift at storytelling and a love of writing that came across on every page. I relished every moment of this story and came to admire Rosie as a person. I'm interested to see how she will grow even further as a character in the future stories to come. One thing for sure I would have been gutted if I had let this book slip me by given how much I enjoyed reading it. Definitely one not to be missed.

A windmill cafe is a delightfully quirky idea. Although the windmill doesn't take centre stage in this story, the plot is also quirky, a cosy mystery mixed in with a romantic comedy.

This story lacks imagery. I want to know about the windmill and the glorious Norfolk countryside and coast but the details are sketchy, and so for me, the setting doesn't have the impact it should.

I like cosy mysteries, lots of characters, a beautiful setting, an enigmatic detective or two and foul play. This story has all the necessary ingredients for a fun read, but they need more mixing and cooking to achieve their full potential.

The story's protagonists are immature and naive; they remind me of the children's characters,'The Famous Five'. They need to develop as the story does and unfortunately, they don't, remaining two dimensional rather than complex and three dimensional.

An okay read but needs to be faster paced, with more suspense, plot twists and character development.

I received a copy of this book from Harper Impulse via NetGalley in return for an honest review.