The Little Village Bakery: A feel good romantic comedy with plenty of cake (Honeybourne Book 1)

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘We’ve baked a whole load of stuff today; help yourselves to as much as you can eat!’ Millie shouted, standing aside to let people through. Dylan grabbed her in a passionate embrace and kissed her, Ruth watching them, goggle-eyed and weak-kneed.

  Jasmine leaned into Rich as she watched her children race off towards the promised cake. ‘You know,’ she said with a contented sigh, ‘I really don’t think there’s a happier place to live on Earth than here.’

  Letter from Tilly

  I’d like to come and hug you all personally for picking up The Little Village Bakery, but right now I’m sitting in my pyjamas, my hair needs a brush and I desperately need some blusher, so I think it might scare you to death. Instead, I’ll send my thanks via this letter – it’s safer for all of us.

  I hope you’ve enjoyed reading The Little Village Bakery as much as I enjoyed writing it. And I hope that you’ve managed to fall a little bit in love with the characters, because I’m head over heels with them all, and I’m worried it might be a bit weird. If you liked The Little Village Bakery, the best and most amazing thing you can do to show your appreciation is to tell your friends. Or tell the world with a few words on a social media site, or a review on Amazon. That would make me smile for at least a week. In fact, hearing that someone loved my story is the main reason I write at all. And if you wanted to, I do have other books that you could check out, along with plans to revisit Millie, Dylan, Jasmine and Rich, and all the other residents of Honeybourne just in time for Christmas. I hope you’ll come along, because you are most definitely invited.

  If you ever want to catch up with me on social media, you can find me on Twitter @TillyTenWriter or Facebook, but if you don’t fancy that, you can sign up to my mailing list and will get all the latest news that way. I promise never to hassle you about anything but my books. The link is below:

  Tilly Tennant email sign-up

  So, thank you for reading my little book, and I hope to see you for the next instalment!

  Love Tilly x

  @TillyTenWriter

  TillyTennant

  Also by Tilly Tennant

  Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn

  The Man Who Can’t Be Moved

  Mishaps and Mistletoe

  Mishaps in Millrise series:

  Little Acts of Love

  Just Like Rebecca

  The Parent Trap

  And Baby Makes Four

  Once Upon a Winter series:

  The Accidental Guest

  I’m Not in Love

  Ways to Say Goodbye

  One Starry Night

  Acknowledgments

  The list of people who have offered help and encouragement on my writing journey so far must be truly endless, and it would take a novel in itself to mention them all. However, my thanks goes out to each and every one of you, whose involvement, whether small or large, has been invaluable and appreciated more than I can say.

  There are a few people that I absolutely must mention. Obviously, my family, who bear the brunt of every plot-fail tantrum and yet still allow me to live with them. The staff at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, who have let me lead a double life for far longer than is acceptable. The lecturers at Staffordshire University English and Creative Writing Department, who saw a talent worth nurturing in me and continue to support me still, long after they finished getting paid for it. They are not only tutors but friends as well.

  I have to thank the team at Bookouture for taking a chance on me, particularly Kim Nash and Lydia Vassar-Smith. Their belief and encouragement means the world to me.

  My friend Louise Coquio merits a special mention, never too busy to read a first draft no matter how awful it is, always ready with an endless supply of tea and sympathy. Also Kath Hickton, who’s just always there and has been for over thirty years. I have to thank Mel Sherratt and Holly Martin, fellow writers and amazing friends who have both been incredibly supportive over the years and have been my shoulders to cry on in the darker moments. Victoria Stone, my litmus test and my cheerleader, who will cheerfully tell me exactly what she thinks! Thanks to Jack Croxall, Dan Thompson and Jaimie Admans: brilliant authors who have shared the journey with me right from the start and are so supportive.

  I have to thank all the bloggers, readers and anyone else who has championed my work, reviewed it, shared it, or simply told me that they liked it. Every one of those actions is priceless and you are all very special people.

  Last but never, ever least, is my agent, Peta Nightingale. Where do I begin? She is more than an agent, she is a friend, and she has never lost faith in me, even when I lost faith myself. She is incredibly hard-working, endlessly patient, warm and fuzzy, and great fun to share a glass of prosecco with! I wouldn’t be writing this now if it wasn’t for her and the team at LAW literary agency, and The Little Village Bakery would very probably be nothing more than a dusty manuscript lying on a shelf.

  Published by Bookouture

  An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.

  23 Sussex Road, Ickenham, UB10 8PN

  United Kingdom

  www.bookouture.com

  Copyright © Tilly Tennant, 2016

  Tilly Tennant has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN: 978-1-78681-015-1