Meet Me at the Cupcake Café – Jenny Colgan

★★★★ ½

I have a head for business and a body for sin. Unfortunately, the sin appears to be gluttony.

Issy Randall is a baker at heart – nothing gives her more joy than baking the perfect cupcake, delicately frosting a cake or making cinnamon roll so good that you can’t think of anything else.

Her grandpa ran several successful bakeries and taught her everything she knows.

Baking is…Life. So when you describe what you’re making, you must describe life. Do you see? It’s not just recipes

But Issy – ever the practical girl – went for a corporate career. Baking was only ever a hobby.

But then the worst thing happened at work – she was made redundant.

Aka – her job was dissolved and her boyfriend (at the time) delivered the news.

Now with no job, no boyfriend and no future career plans, Issy has to take a good, long look at what she wants to do for the rest of her life.

Life was always easier, reflected Issy, when you were carrying a large Tupperware full of cakes. Everyone was happy to see you then.

And so she opens the Cupcake Cafe.

Multiply all ingredients by four to get too many cupcakes.

Ahhh, Jenny Colgan – you knocked this one out of the park.

This was just the right level of sweetness and adventure.

I adored Issy. She could be a little dense when it comes to love but her heart was in the right place.

The way she interacted with her grandpa just melted my heart every time – and his excitement over her cafe was so contagious!

The way she looked at baking made the book so much fun – I love it when the characters seem genuinely excited about a passion.

I was so invested in the cafe – I loved watching it develop and grow. I don’t think I’ve ever been so invested in a cupcakery.

Also, did I mention there’s recipes in the book? There’s quite a few recipes – some scaled up for a bakery’s needs and others designed to make with a friend.

Muffins are just an American way of saying, ‘I eat cake for breakfast.’

Interested in this one from John McGranaghan? Buy it here:  Amazon