The Little Board Game Café by Jennifer Page.

 

The Little Board Game Cafe by Jennifer Page.

Published 13th April 2023 by Aria.

From the cover of the book:

An irresistible story of love, friendship and the power of Games Night, perfect for fans of Holly Martin and Christie Barlow.

When Emily loses her job, house and boyfriend all within a matter of days, she's determined to turn a negative into a positive and follow her dream of running a small cafe in the gorgeous Yorkshire village of Essendale.

But she quickly finds she's bitten off more than she can chew when the 'popular' cafe she takes over turns out to secretly be a failing business. Emily desperately needs a way to turn things around, and help comes from the unlikeliest of places when she meets local board game-obsessed GP Ludek. But when a major chain coffee shop opens on the high street, Emily is forced to question if she'll ever be able to compete.

Has she risked everything on something destined to fail? Or can a playful twist, a homely welcome, and a sprinkle of love make Emily's cafe the destination she's always dreamed of?

***********

Emily has always dreamed of having her own little café one day, but childhood tragedy has shaped her into someone who is afraid to take a risk. Her life has not taken the turns she thought it would, but she loves living in the picturesque Yorkshire village of Essendale, and she is happy enough working in a boring office job for her very conventional fiancé Peter... isn't she?

When Peter unexpectedly makes her redundant, Emily is forced to take stock. She begins to realise that she might not be as happy with her life as she thought. Encouraged by her best friend Kate, Emily makes a decision that sets in motion a series of events that find her newly single and homeless, but also about to take on the biggest project of her life - running her own little café off the beaten track in beautiful Essendale.

Emily is totally unprepared for the challenge, and quickly realises that not all is rosy with the business she has taken on, despite putting her all into offering delicious cakes for her tiny group of regulars. She needs to think fast about how she can turn things around, especially given the competition from not just the well-established rival café Sweet Delights, but also the brand new Costa about to open in the high street...

Serendipity offers a helping hand when Emily quite literally falls at the feet of Essendale's very attractive GP Ludek, who happens to be a board game fanatic. She transforms her failing cafe into an entertainment venue, where her customers can enjoy a game with their refreshments, and with a little help from her friends The Little Board Game Café is born. Will the idea bring Emily happiness, or will her hopes and dreams come crashing down?

The Little Board Game Café is a glorious tale of love, friendship, having the courage to follow your dreams... and board games! It follows the story of Emily, as she leaps off the safe path to pursue her childhood ambition to run a welcoming café, but it is also the tale of a young woman learning how to allow herself to be vulnerable in other areas of her life too - especially when it comes to affairs of the heart. 

The road to success is a winding one for Emily, and she has to learn to navigate many twists and turns on the professional and personal fronts before she can reach her happy ending. Page weaves a delightful little community around her as she goes on her journey, building on the core of Emily's self-help-book-loving bestie Kate and her grief stricken father, to create a burgeoning Little Board Game Café family full of lovely characters who work their way into your heart. At the same time, Page touches beautifully on issues of loneliness, connection, and second chances that hit all the emotional sweet spots - and of course, there is a delightful 'will-they-won't-they' romance between Emily and Ludek too.

If you are a board game fan, then you will discover a veritable smorgasbord of entertaining delights to tickle your competitive fancy, both old and new, and these pages are filled with mentions of delicious edible fancies to tempt your taste-buds too. Page does not shy away from laying out how trying it is to run a small business, particularly when the threat of corporate giants loom large, but the overwhelming themes are of heart, humour, healing, boundless warmth, and coming together. There are so many funny touches with spot-on comic timing as well - look out for the titles of the books that make their way onto Emily's bedside reading pile for a few giggles!

I did not want this story to end. It is perfect curl up on the sofa, escapist loveliness, that fills your heart with joy. 

The Little Board Game Cafe is available to but now in paperback and ebook formats.

Thank you to Aria for sending me a paperback copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Jennifer Page wrote her first novel - a book about ponies - when she was eight. These days she prefers to write romance. When she isn't writing, Jennifer can usually be found playing board games which are the inspiration for her first novel. She has worked as a television producer, a music teacher and has even run a children's opera company. She now lives near Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire with her husband and his large collection of games.