Bea's Book Wagon by Julie Haworth

 

Bea's Book Wagon by Julie Haworth.

Published 9th October 2025 by Simon and Schuster.

From the cover of the book:

Set in the fictional Sussex village of Blossom Heath, and featuring characters you will know and love from Julie Haworth’s RNA Katie Fforde Debut of the Year Always By Your Side and follow up New Beginnings at The Cosy Cat Café, Bea’s Book Wagon is a cosy, uplifting and comforting romance that tells the story of two love-interest heroes vying for Bea’s heart – her artisan-cheesemaking childhood sweetheart and a knock-you-off-your-feet property developer.

After impulsively jacking in her dead-end temp job and investing her life savings in a ramshackle old horsebox, Bea sets about turning her dream of running a bookshop into a reality, and opens Bea’s Book Wagon. But it’s not all smooth sailing, and as Bea struggles with the challenges of running her own small business, she can only hope that her love of literature and the power of reading can help transform the lives of her friends, her community and herself in the process.

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Fed up with a dead-end temp job for a boss who has strained her every last nerve, Bea quits in a sudden fit of rebellion. Unsure what to do next, or how she will break this to her parents, Bea starts to ponder whether it might be time to turn her dream of running a book shop into a reality.

Fuelled by alcohol, Bea sinks her life savings into buying a tatty old horsebox, which she plans to turn into Bea's Book Wagon. The enormity of what she has taken on hits her as soon as she sobers up, but with a little help from her friends (including her childhood sweetheart, Nathan), she is soon up and running - and bursting with ideas to bring the Blosson Heath community together too.

Bea's business is a roaring success, but not without a number of challenges. She also finds herself with some decisions to make about her heart, when long-held feelings for Nathan begin to clash with those she is developing for newly arrived, flashy property developer Lochlan..

It was such a joy to return to Blossom Heath for the third time, with a brand new Julie Haworth romance that is packed with delicious bookish content. At the centre of the story, Bea throws caution to the wind to follow her dream of owning a book-shop, but she has many trials and tribulations to overcome on the way - of the personal and professional kinds.

Lots of familiar faces from the Blossom Heath community put in a appearance to help Bea in her endeavours, and take part in the many bookish activities she sparks into life, making the most of Haworth's familiar themes of family, friendship, and pulling together in adversity, which I loved. 

There is plenty of lovely romantic suspense too, as Bea has to choose where her happiness lies. Does she belong with big-hearted Nathan, who knows her well, or the excitement of life in the fast-lane with Lochlan? There is an obvious correct answer in this book... I was team Nathan all the way, as a firm friends-to-lovers fan, and had more than a few tears to shed when the gorgeous happy ending rolled around.

The perfect cosy romance to warm your heart on an autumnal day, packed with content that will delight any book lover, and my favourite Blossom Heath book so far!

Bea's Book Wagon is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to join this Books and the City blog tour.

About the author:

Julie Haworth writes uplifting stories about friendship and community, bursting with romance and charm, from her home in the bustling city of Chelmsford, Essex. Her debut novel, Always By Your Side, won the RNA's Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel award in 2023 and her second novel, New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Café, was shortlisted for the RNA’s Popular Romantic Novel award in 2025. Julie is still pinching herself that she’s realised her lifelong dream of becoming a published author!

When she’s not busy writing or running her copywriting business, Julie can mainly be found shopping, drinking ridiculous amounts of coffee and hanging out with her two rescue cats. Julie is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors.