The Pretty Delicious Cafe by Danielle Hawkins

I am a big fan of Kiwi author Danielle Hawkins and I was hanging out for this third helping from her which I picked up from the lovely ladies at Paper Plus in Te Awamutu before Christmas.  They even found me one of the last remaining copies signed by Danielle on the night of the book launch and kindly pointed out her dedication to them too.  They did offer to sign the book as well... but didn't follow through.


The Pretty Delicious Cafe is a well anticipated follow up to Dinner at Rose's and Chocolate Cake for Breakfast (aka: my happy place), by the author/mum/wife/vet/farmer from Otorohanga.  This is a piece about A Day in the Life of Danielle Hawkins by her publisher, Harper-Collins.  Here is the cover, blurb, a brief (signed!) author bio and the dedication to the ladies at Paper Plus and Danielle's "mint" husband:

Again, this book is set in a small rural town, this time on the Northland east coast, with a collection of interesting locals to add colour to the story.  The central character is Lia, who owns a cafe with her best friend Anna, who is also engaged to Lia's twin brother Rob.  Lia and Rob's mum Margaret also lives in town and they have a much older half-brother, Mike, who visits when he can get away their father's farm down past Taumarunui. 


Other supporting characters include Hugh, who has a crush on Margaret, and Monty, the local mechanic who would rather go fishing than fix cars.  Lia also has an ex-boyfriend, Issac, who just doesn't get the message she is no longer interested.


Then one dark night after Lia has been reading a scary book lent to her by Hugh, a stranger knocks on her door asking for help.  Lia is petrified by this and this reveals a link between Lia and Rob that is a reocurring theme throughout the book and a source of tension between Lia and Anna.


Of course, this is a romance, and my first cat I will let out of the bag is that the stranger, Jed, becomes the love interest for Lia.  However, Issac can not let go and continues to beg Lia to get back together.  The second cat I am letting out of the bag is that there is partner violence - and I am only saying this as I know it can be a trigger for some people.


I really enjoyed reading this and I have lent it to a couple of cousins (one of which who has already read the previous two books) who also enjoyed it.  I have enjoyed it so much I have read it at least six times since before Christmas!  So of course, I do recommend this book.






An aside:
If you have read Chocolate Cake for Breakfast, you will be well aware of the 'date' Helen and Mark have with the dead calf in the cow.  I had a cow go down with calving paralysis, and as I watched the vet insert her arm into the cow to check her out, I asked if she had read Chocolate Cake for Breakfast.  My vet had - and Danielle works for the same vet company my family uses!!  Lovely!!

Chocolate Cake for Breakfast by Danielle Hawkins

Don't you just love reading books about places and people that are similar to you, that give you the fantasy that you are similar to the person in the book and that scenario just might happen for you?

Well that is what Chocolate Cake for Breakfast by Danielle Hawkins did for me. 

Danielle Hawkins is from Otorohanga in the Waikato/King Country.  Yep!!  Another Kiwi author based in rural Waikato!!  Who would've thought that country life could be so inspiring to a writer?  This is the second book Hawkins has published, and to give you a clue, I enjoyed it so much I went out and purchased her first novel Dinner at Rose's which I will also review soon.  This NZ Herald article from May 2012 gives you an insight into Danielle Hawkins.

So here is the cover of the book and the blurb on the back... I hope I'm not the only one who was intrigued by the cover of the book:

The lead character, Helen McNeil, is a small town rural vet in the Waikato, recently returned from her OE and not long out of a long lasting relationship that had fizzled.  After many years away due to university and travel, she is adjusting back into the community where she grew up and has relatives seeping out of every nook and cranny - some of whom are rather painful.

Her cousin makes her attend a party on a night that she is the on call vet.  And as the back of the book describes, in her attempt to avoid the dullest girl in town, Helen literally trips over an All Black.  She doesn't even recognise Mark Tipene's name when they strike up a conversation in the dark shadows.  Mark is impressed by this lack of recognition, and soon begins his pursuit of Helen.

The fact that Helen is always on call (so it seems), that it is calving season, and that she seems inept at talking to the male of the species combined with Mark's eagerness leads them on some interesting first dates.  It will also give the reader some appreciation of some of the more gory parts of being a vet than the average cat or dog owner wouldn't ordinarily think of.

Of course it is not all smooth sailing for Helen and Mark.  There is a major problem that soon tests their relationship, and lack of communication and assumptions compound it.  But these issues do not stop the very interesting support characters from introducing some hilarious scenarios into the book and that is probably what makes this book so funny and readable (apart from the romance of course).

I loved this book so much I read it twice in three weeks (I've never done that before) and it promoted the fantasy that so many girls in New Zealand have.... an All Black falling in love with them.... even in the back blocks of no where!!

Dinner at Rose's by Danielle Hawkins

Dinner at Rose's was the debut novel by Otorohanga based Kiwi author Danielle Hawkins in 2012.  I previously reviewed Chocolate Cake for Breakfast, the first book by Hawkins I read, but this book I bought because I loved Chocolate Cake for Breakfast and I wanted more of Hawkins down to earth Kiwi chick lit.

 

This is the bio for Danielle Hawkins inside Dinner at Rose's:

 

Danielle Hawkins grew up on a sheep and beef farm near Otorohanga in New Zealand, and later studied veterinary science.  After graduating as a vet she met a very nice dairy farmer who became her husband.  Danielle spends two days a wee working as a large animal vet and the other five as housekeeper, cook and general dogsbody.  She has two small children - and when she is very lucky they nap simultaneously and she can write.

 

It is rather an amusing bio and explains how when she wrote Chocolate Cake for Breakfast she was able to describe the vet practices and calving process so well - so well, one wonders if some, if not all, of those vet experiences were ones Hawkins herself has experienced as a vet/farmer.  It also goes a long way to explain the empathy her books have with the rural lifestyle and work life, as the characters in Dinner at Rose's are again based in a rural town and on farms and lifestyle blocks.

 

So here are the cover and blurb bits for you to admire:

 

We are introduced to our heroine Jo Donnelly as she arrives at her Aunty Rose's house, fresh from her traumatic break with her long time doctor love in Melbourne.  Rose is not really her aunt, but Jo grew up down the road from Rose.... and we all know those close bonds that families who are not related to each other that can form relationships that are like family.

Rose has a nephew called Matt, Jo's best friend from childhood.  Something though has happened in their past to give their childhood friendship a twist.  Aunty Rose and Matt's younger sister Kim are bent on getting Jo and Matt together, despite Matt's mother Hazel trying to set him up for marriage with Cilla (aka Farmer Barbie).

Rose comes down with a life threatening illness and Jo, Matt and Kim band together to care for her, despite Hazel's unhelpfulness towards her own sister. 

Family secrets are revealed, as are past crushes and loves, new love is found and friendships strengthened as this book progresses.

I loved Chocolate Cake for Breakfast so much I re-read it again within three weeks of the first read... and I don't think it will be long before I will be re-reading Dinner at Rose's again too.

(I just finished reading it again.... even though it was only four weeks ago that I read it.... I feel the urge to read it again!!  28 January)