The Cherry Tree Cafe by Heidi Swain

*Potential spoilers ahead*

I listened to the audiobook of this story read by Karen Cass. I loved her voice, she has such a good range of voices that really captured the different characters for me.

From the cover:

Lizzie Dixon's life feels as though it's fallen apart. Instead of the marriage proposal she was hoping for from her boyfriend, she is unceremoniously dumped, and her job is about to go the same way. So there's only one option: to go back home to the village she grew up in and to try to start again.

Her best friend, Jemma, is delighted Lizzie has come back home, as she has just bought a little cafe, and Lizzie's sewing skills are just what she needs to help get it ready for the grand opening.

With a new venture and a new home, things are looking much brighter for Lizzie. But can she get over her broken heart, and will an old flame reignite a love from long ago?

So I didn’t really like Lizzie at first. She got together with her boyfriend Giles whilst he was about to marry another woman, and then is surprised when he dumps her to go back to the woman he was supposed to marry. At times she contemplated getting back together with him and I just felt like I wanted to give her a good shake to snap her out of these thoughts! As the story goes on she does seem to realise she’s been a bit to an idiot and moves on 👏

I really did enjoy this book as an audiobook, although a tad predictable in places it was a nice easy listen and perfect to get lost in during my daily chores.

Recommend ✅

4/5 ⭐️

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I didn't rate any contemporary book for 5 stars in a while, and the truth is that it never was my favourite genre. But sometimes I get in the mood for some funny and romantic.
I like small-town tropes with some cafféé settings, so I thought I’d give this book a chance.
The book is about Lizzie who was breaking up with her boyfriend and goes back to her hometown, where her best girlfriend is just planning to open a cafe. The story is not a big throw, it is rather the small-town life that was able to give the book an atmosphere. Although it wasn't so atmospheric. I didn’t feel anything unique about this book, especially in terms of story. But I couldn’t say it was bad either. It was cute, I won't reread it.
I can adore a book because of its worldbuilding, but the contemporaries are set in our world, so the characters are very important. Well, I didn’t hate our characters, which is already a positive thing, but it’s also true that I wasn’t even a fan of them. I hate it when the main driving force behind a book is that someone is either lying or not telling the truth. If they would open their mouth, the story would nothing, so I don't see any sense for the book.
Recently, my top rated chick lit / romantic / new adult books only got 4.5 stars, so 4 stars is a pretty high rating from me. I liked the book, it was cute, but there were a couple of annoying elements I couldn’t go through without a word, plus neither the story nor the characters were outstanding.

Hungarian version:
Már egy éve szerintem nem adtam 5 csillagot romantikus könyvre, de azért mindig nehezen jött össze ennél a műfajnál. Nem a kedvencem, de azért néha kedvet kapok a műfajra.
Nagyon szeretem a kisvárosi, kávézós romantikusokat, így gondoltam esélyt adok ennek a könyvnek is.
A könyv Lizzie-ről szól, akit dob a barátja, és kénytelen hazamenni szülővárosába, ahol a legjobb barátnője éppen egy kávézót tervez megnyitni. Az alaptörténet nem egy nagy dobás, inkább a kisvárosi élet az, ami hangulatot tudott adni a könyvnek. Bár ez a hangulat engem nem tudott 100% megvenni. Nem éreztem a könyvben semmi egyedit, különösen történet szempontjából. De azt sem mondhatnám, hogy rossz volt. Cuki volt, nem egy újraolvasós könyv.
Romantikusoknál nem nagyon tudhat a világ megvenni magának, mint a fantasyknál, ezért nagyon fontosak a szereplők. Hát a szereplőinktől nem mentem neki a falnak, ami máris pozitív, de az is igaz, hogy nem is rajongtam értük. Utálom, ha a könyv fő mozgatóeleme az, hogy valaki vagy hazudik, vagy nem mondja el, amit gondol. Vagyis simán utálom, ha ez történik. Falra tudnék tőle mászni, és nem tudom rendes történetnek felfogni, mert csak ki kéne nyitni a szájukat.
Mostanában a legjobban értékelt chick lit/romantikus/new adult könyvem is csak 4.5 csillagot ért el, ezért a 4 csillag elég magas értékelés tőlem. Tetszett a könyv, aranyos volt, de volt pár idegesítő elem, amin nem tudtam elmenni szó nélkül, ezenkívül sem a történet, sem a szereplők nem voltak kiemelkedőek.

I have only just starting listening/reading Heidi Swain books, and this was a delight. I loved the story of Lizzy and her battles to get her life back on track after a failed romance. A strong and loveable character, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an ok book - it was an easy read and I liked the narrator.

The story didn’t really grip me, and I didn’t feel anything towards the characters, so I doubt that I will go on to read any of the other books in the series.

This book is about a woman called Lizzie Dixon who gets dumped by her posh boyfriend Giles and then goes on to make a new, happier life back in Wynbridge. Her friends Jemma and Tom from Wynbridge have set up The Cherry Tree Cafe and they ask Lizzie to help them with it, giving her a place to stay above the cafe. Lizzie enjoys helping them, as well as doing crafting classes in the cafe and getting to know a man called Ben who she knows from her younger days.

I enjoyed this audiobook and I liked the narrator's voice, which was very pleasant. The Netgalley app was easy to use as well.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick and cheesy listen which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The narrator for this audiobook was perfect and kept me smiling throughout.
It wasn’t perfect and I wanted to shake both Ben and Lizzie more than once but I really enjoyed the storyline and the crafting aspects were great.

I really liked this book, I read it whilst working and it provided me with some lovely well needed respite. Despite getting angry with a few of the characters at times and how many secrets they kept from each other I loved that friendship truly held out throughout the book.

I think my favourite relationship was actually between Her and her parents because it was very realistic and shows that family love just goes so deep and really knows no bounds

☆☆☆☆☆
I really enjoyed this story especially as it included two of my favourite things... cake and crafting. I listened to this book on audio and I found it very enjoyable, the story kept my attention and it had characters that you cant help rooting for. A great chick lit book which I will be recommending.

I downloaded and started to listen to this without realising I had already read the book, so I was really interested to compare my experience of reader to that of listener.
The story is wonderfully enjoyable, filled with the bond of close friendship and starting life again after heartbreak.
The narrator hits the spot perfectly, I was initially concerned that it wouldn’t match up to my internal monologue while reading it myself, but she is a great choice of narrator - the pace of her reading and inflection in her voice draws the listener into the story and holds interest throughout.
A perfect audiobook.

A lovely and highly enjoyable story that made me smile and root for the characters.
Ms Swain never fails to deliver great stories and the narrator added more pleasure to this story.
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Sometimes it's good to have a change of genre, and as a crafter who has taken classes at a local cafe I was looking forward to listening to this. The Cherry Tree Cafe is my kind of place, and if it were real and close to where I live then I'd be a regular customer. The book is a delight and my knitting needles were clicking away as listened Lizzie infuriated me at times, but she is a lovely character. In fact all the characters are well written and realistic. The plotline is interesting with a few twists along the way, and a satisfying ending.

Karen Cass was the perfect narrator for this book and brought the characters to life.

To be honest I found the story quite dull. The story came across as quite immature with Lizzy sounding as though she was in school rather than someone in her 20s. The narrator was OK but nothing really pulled me in. I did persevere to the end though hoping something would pick up but it became quite predictable as to what would happen.

This was the first of heidi’s novels I had read so when I saw it came on here in audio format I had to request and I’m glad I did. Heidi’s writing is so beautiful and to hear it out loud makes it so much nicer. Recommend to everyone!

The audio version of an excellent book I read some time ago and was delighted to be able to listen to it this time. An excellent story, well read and edited. Heidi Swain books are always page turners and in this case excellent to be able to continuing whilst gardening, dog walking and driving. I would recommend this tale to anyone, in whatever media you choose to be entertained by it.

Captivating from the beginning to the end.

Such a sweet book with lovable characters.

It's been a while since I picked up a book by this author but now I know what is as missing. Such a well written story. Can't wait to get my hands on the next one now.

Loved the narrator that made listening to this book very enjoyable.

Brilliant.
A huge fan of the author and this takes me right back. Its a lovely story with great characters. I enjoyed the narration, maybe male and female would be a different take on it.

I would recommend.

Having recently read Heidi Swain's latest book A Seaside Escape I really wanted to go back to her first book and one I had not read yet.
The Cherry Tree Cafe became available on NetGalley as an audio book and it come at the perfect time as I was in need of something to listen to while working out in the garden.
Karen Cass's voice went brilliantly with the tone of the writing and the setting. An easy voice to listen to and I found myself completely caught up in the drama as it unfolded. Heidi's first story is just as good as her latest and I can most defiantly see why she become published.
Lizzie's story was relatable, heart warming and funny. I completely understood her feelings about wanting to go back instead of starting something new which can be scary especially dealing with the past. The settings, the pub and cafe I could picture easily as my locals, even without the bonus of living in the east of England.
The Cherry Tree Cafe was a dream to read and I cannot praise Heidi enough. She is most defiantly one of my top favourite authors.

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was quite an enjoyable book, the storyline was pleasant, the characters were sort of cute but I feel like I heard this story many times before. It was just the usual; girl gets dumped by asshole she was desperate to get married to, while having a best friend who is lucky in love, usually married to childhood sweetheart. Moves back home to a small, sleepy little village to work in a small cafe. Girl then gets involved with another man. I have to say I did like the characters, though Lizzie was a hopeless romantic, she was a little frustrating at times, since she was more worried about getting married and not having to work at all. But as she got stuck into her sewing business, you could see her self confidence starting to grow but it was ruined for me when she got herself between two more men. If you like romance, I think you would like this one.

Lizzie Dixon's life is falling apart she thought she was going to get proposed to by the gorgeous Giles but no he dumps her because he wants to get back with his ex the one he dumped for Lizzie. Lizzie decides to go home back to Wynbridge . She tells her best friend she is coming home Jemma tells her she can stay at her house but when she gets there they all ready have a houseguest Ben a friend of Toms, Jemma's husband and somebody Lizzie had a crush on when she was younger. Jemma and Tom have recently bought the Cherry Tree Cafe so they ask Lizzie to help out and she can stay in the flat above it .The cafe gets transformed and they open on time .The cafe is booming . Lizzie opens craft classes in the back of the cafe and they thrive.Ben has a secret which he has asked Jemma and Tom not to let Lizzie know. But when Lizzie fire out she got roots it back to London. Will she stay in London or will she go back to Wynbridge.
I wasn't sure whether I would like to listen to an audio book after a disastrous one a few years ago but I thought to give it another go and I loved it . The narrator drew you in.
Thanks NetGalley

This is Heidi's first book, but not the first of hers I've read. I really enjoyed it, but I do feel like she's found her feet with her later novels. While I did enjoy this book, I didn't find it one of her best.

I didn't much like a lot of the characters in this, especially Lizzie's mother. She was particularly overbearing and incessant, and MANY of her actions wouldn't fly with me. She reminded me quite a lot of Hyacinth Bucket, but with not as much loveability factor.

Lizzie's "friend" Jemma was also not a favourite character of mine, and I soured to her as the book went on. While she did start out as a wonderful friend to Lizzie, I didn't find favour with her actions later in the book.

In fact, my favourite character in this was Ella, the little toddler. Never let it be said children don't add to a story's excitement.

I love reading stories set in cafés or restaurants, because I'm a big foodie and those are my comfort places. Though, I always love when books of that type include recipes and these were lacking in this book (that may, perhaps, be because this is an audiobook.)