Many of you know that life has been a bit of a challenge of late and as a result I’ve been avoiding blog tours. However, as a passionate cat lover I simply couldn’t resist participating in the tour for New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe by Julie Haworth and would like to extend my huge thanks to the inimitable SJ of Simon and Schuster’s Books and the City for inviting me to take part. I’m delighted to share my review today.

Published by Simon and Schuster on 18th July 2024 New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe is available for purchase through the links here.

New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe

New Beginnings at The Cosy Cat Café tells the story of Tori who, after being dumped and left stranded by her long-term boyfriend Ryan on a trip of a lifetime to Asia, returns home to the sleepy Sussex village of Blossom Heath with her tail between her legs and her dreams shattered. Donning her frilly apron to help her Mum, Joyce, behind the counter at The Cosy Cup Café, Tori starts to believe – with the help of a hunky fireman and a clowder of rescue cats – that perhaps the secret to her future happiness might lie closer to home than she ever thought possible.

If you love your romance with a side order of cake, cats and cosy community dynamics, this is the purrfect uplifting, feel-good read from the winner of the RNA Katie Fforde Debut Novel of the Year 2023.

My Review of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe

Tori has broken up with Ryan.

My goodness I needed this book. Is New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe most challenging book I’ve ever read? No. Is it the most literary book I’ve ever read? Also no. Is it utterly charming, being filled with romance and community with a wonderful story that allows the reader time away from the stress of real life? Absolutely. I so enjoyed escaping between its pages. 

The plot is relatively gentle, and although it has moments of drama and tension, what I enjoyed most was the way the story is entirely believable. What happens in Blossom Heath feels relatable, authentic and engaging. The petty rivalries between some of the villagers, the sense of community and place are pitch perfect, making the reader feel as if they live there too.

The characters are warm, vivid and relatable. New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe may have Tori as the focus, but I loved meeting all the villagers. They have their strengths, weaknesses and foibles, and there is a moment with Violet that I felt showed incredible humanity but you’ll need to read the book to discover that for yourself. As a result of reading this book I rather fell in love with Leo and thought the fact that his name is linked to large cats was inspired! The cats themselves are quite wonderful. As a cat lover, I felt New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe depicted them to purrfection! 

So many interesting themes are woven in to the story, as well as the romance one might expect. I really enjoyed the reality presented of creating a business plan, charity work, fund raising, the place of social media in our lives and so on. The concept of community and belonging is strong, but I think I enjoyed the idea of self knowledge the most. Several characters from Tori to Violet, Cora to Claire, and Leo to Ryan all discover something about themselves at so that there’s a real sense of growth as well as entertainment in the story.

New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe is a gentle, authentic, heart-warming story and one I very much enjoyed because it allowed me to escape the cares of the world and be entertained by an author who really seems to care about people and who writes with humanity. 

About Julie Haworth

With a degree in English and American Literature, Julie Haworth worked as an English teacher for a number of years, specialising in working with learners with literacy difficulties, before launching her own freelance copywriting business. She is  a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and her debut novel, Always By Your Side, which she wrote whilst recovering from Covid in 2020, won the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award in 2023.

For further information, follow Julie on Twitter/X @jhaworthauthor, or find her on Instagram.

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