A sweet, gentle romantic comedy about family, mental health and books.

I was a bit thrown by Jaz temporarily being the ‘villain’ of the story - not a fan of making the only POC in books the odd one out, but otherwise a lovely read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

Good. Nice sort of sequel to the The Little Shop of Happy Ever After as it features a few of the characters introduced in that book. Can tell the author is a lover of books as it just shows through the story. Also like in true Jenny Colgan style it deals with heavier issues than the cover suggests such as mental health issues and self harm. I enjoyed the story even though the romance element felt a bit rushed at the end.

This is my second read by Jenny Colgan and sadly I didn’t completely enjoy it. I really liked the one side with the family in the big house, but the book van side? Not so much. The family were great and I really enjoyed seeing them all come together but the characters that came with the book van were not enjoyable at all - particularly Nina. I think this story would have been much better had it just been about Zoe being an au pair, and everything that went with that.

I absolutely love Jenny Colgan books and was delighted to get an early copy of her newest book The Bookshop on the Shore. As expected, I was not disappointed and simply could not put the book down once I started! Another triumph from Colgan and eagerly look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand by the time I had finished it I realised I had enjoyed it, however on the downside it took me two attempts to get into the book. Normally with a JC book it just flows, but for some reason I struggled to gel with the main character Zoe and her son Hari. This had a somewhat lacklustre feel to it, which is not at all how I normally feel about her books but there was something missing for me in this latest book. Zoe and Hari start afresh up in Scotland, and Zoe splits her time between running a mobile bookshop for Nina and looking after Ramsay Urquarts children. The story just seems to trundle along with no real eye catching characters which is again slightly unusual with this author. I persevered and by the end it was a reasonably enjoyable book but in truth nowhere near as good as her other books.

Im a huge fan of Jenny Colgan books and this has got to be one of her best books yet. From the minute you pick this up you cannot put it down. The character's are so lovable.

This is one of the best book i read in 2019 and more! It's a very well written book with a very unique storyline. If you are looking for a good chicklit book where the focus is not on romance, this book by Jenny Colgan is a very good choice! There is romance but very very very little one. This book is more about the life of Zoe going to live in a remote village in Scotland with her young son that is not speaking yet (but should be considering his age) and how she will cope as an au-pair in a very strange house with extremely strange and rude kids with a very distant and absent dad. This book is excellent and a page turner. I highly recommend it!!!!!! You will not get bored a single second.

I generally greatly enjoy Jenny's books, especially her ones that seen to involve books and bookshops in whatever way, so I was eager to read this over the summer, yet I struggled (hence this late feedback, but I don't like not leaving feedback as I'm always grateful to of had a chance to read a book!) - I'm the kind of reader who if at first I can't get on with a book I put it away and come back to it at a later time as I've gone to on to really enjoy books and this is what I did here - a few months later, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be.

When I open a book by Jenny, I expect to be transported away else for a couple of days and whilst I did love the Scottish setting as Colgan always sets a scene very well, I couldn't get on with the dialogue and the accents - it just became too much as the story went on and it stopped the words from flowing, which stopped the story then flowing for me..

The author touches on important issues in her books, but I felt perhaps this one had too many and that 'escape' I tend to find in her books felt lacking because of this.

Overall, it wasn't a bad book or story, the single parent story-line definitely felt relatable as I'm one myself, but the above points just didn't make it as high as standard and had me wanting to pick it up constantly.

I love Jenny Colgan’s books. They are always warm and cosy (like a big, warm blanket) which combats the cold weather we have had the last few days. This is no exception!

We are back up to Bonnie Scotland where Nina and Lennox are living the dream. They rare madly in love and Nina is having a baby!!! The only thing is - how will she manage to sell her books on her pride and joy the book bus?

Zoe is a single mum with a young son, Harri, who doesn’t speak. She is living in London in a crummy flat and her ex isn’t much help. When she receives notice of a rent increase she knows she can’t afford she appeals to her ex’s better nature and he enlists the help of his sister who suggests that Zoe go help Nina.

Zoe also manages to secure a job looking after three children - where she is tagged as ‘Nanny number 7’. Is all lost or will Zoe survive and make a life for her and Harri?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

After years of reading thrillers, I decided this year to broaden my horizon and this one of the books that has helped me do this

Zoe is a single mother, living in an apartment, where the landlord has just raised her rent. Her aunt suggests Zoe move to Scotland to help run the bookshop.

Zoe goes, but as things start happening in Scotland, she wonders if she has made the right decison

This book was so heartwarming and compared to thrillers that I read it was like a complete breath of fresh airs in relation to the book world.

I found I was able to escape into Zoe’s world in this book for a few hours.

A very enjoyable read

In The Bookshop on the Shore, Zoe has come to Scotland to help run a mobile bookshop while its owner has a baby, and look after three children who have been running wild since their mother disappeared. Unlike some of her earlier stories the emphasis here is on the lives of the children; romance definitely takes a back seat. Shackleton, Mary and Patrick live in The Beeches with their reclusive father, and mystery surrounds the whereabouts of their mother. These children are not coping well and six other nannies have already given up on them. Zoe has problems of her own, her four-year-old son, Hari, does not speak, but she tries to bring order and understanding into their troubled lives. With nowhere else to go, she has to make a success of her new life. I loved the Scottish setting and the emphasis on the powerful effect reading can have. The children are the stars, and the bond that develops between Hari and Patrick will make you laugh and cry in equal measure. This book features some characters from The Little Shop of Happy Ever After but you don’t need to have read it first. It is many years since I last read a book by Jenny Colgan but I won’t leave it so long next time.

This is absolutely definitely a super sweet read. I really enjoyed the narrative, with the author jumping in every now and again, and the setting was perfect. I live in the south of Scotland and it made me want to jump in the car and go visit the Highlands! Zoe was a fantastic main character, I loved her relationship with Hari and the children from The Hoose, the mystery was also a clever part of the story. The travelling bookshop was a really fun idea, and I may have to keep an eye out for Nina's story sometime too. Really enjoyed this light contemporary.

It is always a delight to be able to read a new Jenny Colgan book and this was no exception.

I absolutely loved every single aspect of this book, from its around Loch Ness location, to The Beeches, the return of the bookshop van and some pretty memorable characters.

It was definitely the children that were the stars of this book, from Zoe's child Hari, who is an elective mute aged 4, to the three children who she goes on to be an au pair for, Patrick, Mary and Shackleton.

The other three kids are in dire need of some love and affection, and have named Zoe Nanny Seven, as they have managed to scare off the previous ones. Hints of Nanny McPhee and Mary Poppins are present... but without the magic, but in terms of the miracles Zoe seems to pull off without completely overstepping the mark.

Zoe is also assisting Nina in the book van, and is struggling as she doesn't have Nina's instant knack for knowing what book someone is talking about, but she comes up with a different approach to keep the money flowing in!

Written with Jenny Colgan's trademark easy to read style, characters and descriptions that get under your skin, and throughout an obvious love of books shining through, this is another winner from one of my all time favourite authors.

Thank you to Sphere and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I am a massive Jenny Colgan fan so I was really excited to read her latest novel. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as it didn't have the flow that grasps me as a reader. It felt like too many problems were put into one book (self harm, drugs, family breakdown, speech language and communication difficulties) which just felt surreal. I was left feeling very underwhelmed by the book and a bit confused as it didn't match the standard I normally associate with Jenny Colgan books.

Typical Jenny Colgan novel, lots of fun and romance. Zoe is a single mum in London with a four year old son who doesn't talk, about to be made homeless when she is offered a temporary job up in Scotland near Loch Ness. What she finds there is more than a surprise and a challenge but she is one determined lady, will she stay or go back to London?

This book wasn’t for me. I was surprised at this as I am a huge fan of the author
The storyline was dull and boring. The characters were difficult to like.
I felt that the book was twice as long as it needed to be
A major disappointment

The Book Shop on the Shore was yet another great book by Jenny Colgan. I could not put this book down and had to read it in one sitting.
I have yet to read a book by Jenny that I have not enjoyed and this book did not disappoint.

Hard not to fall in love with Scotland when it’s described in such a markedly different way to London.
This story focuses on Zoe and her young son, Hari. Fed up with the lack of support from her ex, Zoe is desperate for anything to move her life forward. So when she’s offered the chance for work as a nanny in a remote Scottish home, and helping with a mobile book store, she takes the chance.
Naturally, there’s a brief feeling of uncertainty as everything is so different. The three children are unfriendly on a level you wouldn’t expect, and nothing is quite what she expected.
Slowly (perhaps more than necessary) Zoe starts to initiate changes.
It was quite obvious where this might go - eventually - and there seemed to be a lot of extra details added into the story that didn’t really do much. The developing relationship between Zoe and her three charges was the most interesting part of the story, but it always felt as if we were dropping in on something that was only giving a taste of what was on offer.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
A very good read and one I can highly recommend to others.
I could not put this down.
Thoroughly enjoyable with an amazing cast of characters that you cannot help but engage with.

Jenny Colgan's new book The Bookshop on the Shore once again takes us back to the stunning setting of the Scottish Highlands which featured in The Little Shop of Happy Ever After. This new story is not a sequel but it does feature some characters we have met before but to a lesser extent so it is easily read as a standalone. It was great to see how Nina whom we have previously met is getting on as she faces a new phase in her life as she awaits the birth of her baby. Zoe is the new character we meet as she goes from living a downtrodden life in London where every day is a slog and a struggle to a very different and unexpected life as the au pair for a family who themselves are experiencing so many difficulties.

The Bookshop on the Shore was brilliant from start to end. Once I sat down to read it I barely looked up until I had reached the last page and it was definitely the ideal way to spend a summer's afternoon engrossed in a story that gives you an awful lot more than you bargained far if one was to judge the cover Jenny Colgan has written a terrific story which although there are lovely, light and humorous moments which I have come to expect from her these are carefully balanced with the exploration of more serious and delicate issues which are all too prevalent in the world today.

Zoe O'Connell is anxious and overwhelmed, her life is one of hardship with no support from anybody. She is single-handedly raising her son Hari who now aged four should really be able to speak but instead he is silent and there is no reason given for the cause of this bar the experts saying it could be a developmental disorder. Zoe works to try and get some money to barely keep their heads above water but really herself and Hari are just eking out an existence in London. They are not really living and Hari's father Jax breezes in and out of their lives when he remembers they exist. He is more interested in a party lifestyle with his aspirations to become a DJ. He has promised Zoe the world but never keeps his end of the bargain.

Zoe was a woman drowning in worry and anxiety and all she really wanted to do was create the best life possible for her son but she knew with the conditions she existed in in London and the negative energy all around them that something needed to be done. But what? The straw that breaks the camels back is when her landlord ups the rent on an apartment that is already more or less uninhabitable. Jax once again provides no support or answers and to be honest to me he was just a playboy who couldn't care less about the welfare of his son. It was like he was still a child himself needing direction.

I wondered how would the author get Zoe from London to Scotland and I loved how Surinder, Jax's sister, was that connection. I thought it fitted in well with the story and that was how Nina owner of the travelling book shop van came to be in the story again. Zoe grabs the opportunity presented to her with open arms and she deserved nothing but admiration for doing so. She knew deep down change needed to happen or god knows what would happen to herself and Hari but moving away like that was a huge risk. Agreeing to cover Nina's maternity leave in the book shop is just the thing Zoe would love to do as she has such a deep love for books and reading.

I loved how books featured in the story almost like different characters themselves. Zoe used them as an escape but she was also ingenious in how she kept the shop going with her creative ideas but also when it came to dealing with a more delicate situation she used the power of books to bring someone out of their shell. Zoe was at her wits end when leaving London but to me the minute she stepped foot in Scotland she was like a changed person. It was like a weight had lifted from her shoulders and she was more capable of facing and dealing with the challenges this new phase in her life would present to her. The most notable of these would be agreeing to becoming the seventh live-in nanny/au pair for a family racked by pain and suffering.

Ramsay is the father of three children, Shackleton, Mary and Patrick. The children go through nannies like no one's business thanks to their less than savoury behaviour. With no mother on the scene, and rumours abounding in the village as to what exactly happened to her, the children seem to have free run of the house and grounds and are more or less left to fend for themselves. The housekeeper Mrs. MacGlone prefers to stick to her cleaning duties. Beech House is old fashioned with an air of neglect but also one of mystery and sadness. Ramsay seems locked away in his own little world where he would prefer to spend time indulging in his passion for books as an antiquarian bookseller rather than engage with his children. It is almost like he has forgotten they exist and that the major troubles brewing in the house and the reputation they have earned for themselves mean nothing to him at all.

Zoe should have turned tail and ran even the children gave scant regard to her and thought she would be gone before she barely unpacked. But she could see this family was crying out for help but didn't know how to come out and say it. That the façade of appalling behaviour and hurtful comments was just that a façade, they needed structure and guidance. Besides she has nowhere else to go and she can't leave Nina in the lurch as the books shop needs to be kept running. I loved how Zoe just got down to the nitty gritty and wasn't going to be put off by anything. She was clever, creative and the more she got to know the family the more she realised that there was so much going on beneath the surface the extent of which only became known to the reader the further we delved into the story.

I thought it was excellent that Jenny Colgan chose to include such a sensitive and raw topic within this story and especially to relate it to the younger generation. It was expertly written with such tact and it did become emotional and perhaps a little difficult to read at times. That’s because your heart breaks at such despair, anger and pain that is there but until now no one has wanted to admit its existence let alone even confront it. But will Zoe be the person to do this as she seems to get such a spurt under her and she sets about implementing some very much needed changes? Will the children rebel or will they embrace the good intentions set out by Zoe? Will Zoe herself find what has eluded her for so long or will there be a few more twists in the tale before any sort of resolution, understanding and acceptance can be reached?

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style throughout this marvellous read. It's almost as if Jenny Colgan is chatting away to you as she writes and I love how informal it all feels but at the same time when a serious point needs to be made it is done so with just the right selection of words and all traces of humour can vanish only then to reappear a page or two later. Patrick the youngest child is a prime example of this. He was just brilliant. I loved his mannerisms and way of speaking and how he took Hari under his wing and almost became a voice for him. Patrick provided innumerable laugh out loud moments and I adored how in one way he was an innocent but in others he had been allowed to grow too fast with little or no control or guidance for him. His bond with Hari was a joy to see, it allowed Zoe to breathe a sigh of relief that perhaps she had made the correct decision in moving away from London despite the many obstacles and oppositions that stood in her way most notably the family and keeping the book shop going but she has spirit, grit and determination. She knows the children need love, care and attention and she hopes she can break through the armour and defence systems they have put in place.

The only predictability I found in this story was the romance element and I thought this was fairly obvious from the moment Zoe stepped foot in Scotland but to be honest that didn't really bother me because this story gave me so much more. Exploring the dynamics of family. How the make up of families are all different but each has so much to offer.Zoe for me went from someone who was weak and suffering to a person who was confident, capable and indomitable. The move was the making of her and I hoped the further I read that she could channel all this energy, enthusiasm and assurance into transforming even further her own life and that of the lives of those resident at Beech House.

Jenny Colgan has written another stunner of a book and one which I would highly recommend. It's honest and at times intense but also packed full of humour, warmth and human understanding. Now if Jenny could write another book in this series or the Mure series I would be one very happy reader indeed.