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    Sweetshop of Dreams
    Sweetshop of Dreams
    Sweetshop of Dreams
    Audiobook12 hours

    Sweetshop of Dreams

    Written by Jenny Colgan

    Narrated by Beverley A. Crick

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Rosie Hopkins thinks leaving her busy London life, and her boyfriend Gerard, to sort out her elderly Aunt Lilian's sweetshop in a small country village is going to be dull. Boy, is she wrong.

    Rosie's life is . . . comfortable. And even though she might like to pursue a more rewarding career, and Gerard doesn't seem to have any plans to propose, Rosie's not complaining. Things could be worse. Right?

    Lilian Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton's sweetshop, through wartime and family feuds. When her great-niece Rosie arrives to help her with the shop, Lilian struggles with the idea that it might finally be time to settle up, and wrestles with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully colored sweets.

    But as Rosie gets Lilian back on her feet, breathes a new life into the candy shop, and gets to know the mysterious and solitary Stephen-whose family seems to own the entire town-she starts to think that settling for what's comfortable might not be so great after all.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateFeb 27, 2018
    ISBN9781541489813
    Sweetshop of Dreams
    Author

    Jenny Colgan

    Jenny Colgan is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous novels, including The Christmas Bookshop, The Bookshop on the Corner, Little Beach Street Bakery, and Christmas at the Cupcake Café. Jenny, her husband, and three children live in a genuine castle in Scotland.

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    Reviews for Sweetshop of Dreams

    4/5

    165 ratings19 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Charming, loved the history of all the sweets I remember from my childhood in England. I want to read more of these delightful stories.
    • 5/5
      Jenny Colgan, you did it again. This book was so unexpected, in the best possible way. Loved this so much. The characters are always so interesting and colorful. Please keep writing these stories, your voice is so unique.
    • 4/5
      Auxiliary Nurse Rosemary Hopkins is asked to give up her London apartment which she shares with her partner, Gerard, to care for her aging great-aunt, Lillian. Lillian Hopkins lives in a quaint little town called Lipton where everyone knows each other's business. At first Rosie was adamant about moving into a strange town to take care of an old lady with a bad hip and try to sell the Sweetshop that her great aunt --a family run old-fashioned Sweetshop that Lillian and her father owned in the Town of Lipton. Then Rosie began to meet Lillian's neighbours and little by little she fell in love with the town and it's locals with all their childhood secrets, scandals and family feuds. Soon Rosemary discovered that her London life wasn't all that glamorous; her partner Gerard a Mamma's boy, and there was more to life outside of London than she thought. In Lipton Rosie discovered the true lesson of love; she discovers the real reason her great- aunt never married and in the end finds true love herself and her life's true calling. The book gives you a glimpse into Lillian Hopkins's past when she was a girl in the 1940's, the love she found and lost; and her life as the daughter of the Town's sweetshop owner. The book is very well-written, descriptive, and each chapter begins with a recipe or rhetoric about classic sweets. I enjoyed the book but I have to admit that I enjoyed the author's previous book better, Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe. I found parts of the book a bit like Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe--a bit familiar and predictable, but over-all a nice story. I expected more recipes for confectionary sweets as the author included in her previous book; but instead there were only two to three recipes in this book; the other chapters began with rhetoric on conventional confections. The characters come to life and it is hard not to identify with them. I cannot wait to read Colgan's new book, Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe.
    • 3/5
      This could have been quite a charming story had it been well written. As it was it came across as something of a schoolgirl effort. (I've never really read chick-lit so I don't have much of a frame of reference.) The elements were there for a good book, though and it was certainly a pleasant enough way to pass the time.
    • 5/5
      Such a sweet story! I am going to listen to as many of Jenny Colgan's books as I can on SCRIBD!
    • 5/5
      This story is sweet to the very end. I was charmed in every chapter.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed this sweet story, though it was a little long. Makes you wish you had a bag of pick & mix beside you as you read!
    • 4/5
      When Rosie is tasked with helping her elderly aunt clean out and sell the family sweetshop, little does Rosie suspect the twists and turns her life will take. Village life turns out to be very different from London life! As Rosie gets to know the local people, she finds many surprises, and discovers a lot about herself besides. The plot of this novel occurs in two different time periods, moving seamlessly between past and present. Readers learn about Aunt Lilian's past life and its effects on current events and village life. Loose ends are thoughtfully tied up in the end, sometimes in unexpected ways!The novel contains some strong language, although it does not detract from the plot or the character development. I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
    • 5/5
      I love Jenny Colgan novels. I will read anything she writes. This book was a fun read about family, candy and learning about yourself. An absolute must read.
    • 5/5
      Cosy and witty, perfect reading for a lazy day off. Liked it.
    • 4/5
      Rosie has a rather stagnant life. She lives in London with her boyfriend of seven years, Gerard. She is an auxilary nurse with a few good friends. She is over thirty, bored yet rather complacent. She gets a phone call from her mother in Australia. Her Great Aunt Lillian, who lived in the small village of Lipton needs some help. She is in her 80s and her health is failing. She needs to sell her sweet shop and cottage and move into a care facility and Rosie is the closest relative, who is also single, who is available to help. Of course this storyline alone becomes rather humorous at times as well as thought provoking, but there is another story also being told. Lillian is remembering her life as a teenager and telling the story of the young man she falls in love with and the trials they had in this relationship, such as it was. Lillian is a wonderful character, she is not growing old gracefully, fighting tooth and nail to hold on to her independence; she's feisty, stubborn and sharp tongued. When she and Rosie first meet there is a certain amount of animosity, but that gradually disappears and they begin to care very much for one another.

      Lipton is full of delightful characters as well as several good looking men from the jovial Moray to flirtatious Jake and the stubborn, handsome Stephen. Rosie's journey throughout the book is funny and insightful. Rosie barges into the lives of the villagers and encourages them to question their decisions and situations. From children, to parents, to her Aunt Lillian she touches everyone's life she meets. She also examines her own life and decisions to make the changes that will push her to try love again. Rosie made me want to head to Lipton just to meet her. She has an ability to laugh at herself and analyze her situations to a point that I want to get her opinions over a cup of cocoa and some chocolate. There are some great lessons in this novel. Lillian teaches Rosie, and us, to grab life and stop letting it pass us by while she herself gradually learns that we all need a little help sometimes.

      I listened to the audio book and really enjoyed the narration. It made the characters come alive for me. It was relatively long, but it certainly kept my interest throughout. I recommend this story to anyone at a crossroads in their life, those who enjoy chick-lit and those who love sweets.
    • 4/5
      Rosie has settled for a mediocre life, all the while telling herself it's what she really wants. But when she is asked to go care for an ailing aunt and settles into life in a country town, she begins to discover who she really is and what she really likes. Her boyfriend is such a loser - I couldn't believe that Rosie couldn't see that. Their eventual breakup only confirms what a jerk he is. I liked the messy but ultimately satisfying romance that develops for Rosie.
    • 4/5
      This was such an enjoyable quick read! I didn't believe I actually love this novel, but I did and I am glad, because - every once in a while - I need a light read to unwind from all the doom and gloom of my regular reading choices. To find a book that is cheerful and quirky, but not silly or centered around a sloppy romance, is a real discovery.

      The blurb of the edition I bought mentions the word indulgence and it pretty much summarizes the essence of Jenny Colgan's novel. Throughout the book, we find the personal notes of Lillian, the fascinating, formidable elderly owner of the sweetshop, and they are a true delight. Chocolate, caramel, strawberry, licorice, mint, blackcurrant, nothing's missing. It is Lillian that Rosie, a young auxiliary nurse, comes to help and it is Lillian's personal story, set during the Second World War, that gives this special touch to the novel.

      Lillian is a fascinating lady, full of strength, and determination. Rosie is also a wonderful heroine. She is optimistic, friendly, with some insecurities, just like every human being. That is why I couldn't believe how she could have fallen in love with Gerard, who is basically a couch potato, with the personality of a doormat, and the dictionary definition of the term ''momma's boy''. In Greece, we have a word for people like him but best not translate it here...It took eight years and a devastatingly aloof and brooding young man named Stephen, for Rosie to see that Gerard is not one to spend your precious time with.

      There are two very interesting male characters. Moray, the young doctor of the small town, and Stephen, a young man with a strange wound and an even stranger personality. Moray is kind, polite, a true gentleman, whereas Stephen is like a wounded animal trapped in a cage, too afraid to break the bars and walk out. He has a whole lot of darkness to fight against. It was really interesting to come across such a troubled character in a chic-lit novel, although I cannot say I am an expert of the genre.

      The interactions between the characters are realistic, funny (where needed) and believable, the romance of the story is well-grounded, neither naive, nor too dramatic, and the descriptions of the English countryside of Derbyshire are vivid, beautiful, full of the quirkiness that is the main characteristic of all small towns, regardless the country. The end is satisfying, well-rounded and, somehow, bittersweet, but full of hope and new beginnings.

      This isn't a beach read like many critics have mentioned. It is a book for summer, for autumn, for spring and winter. It will warm your heart and make you consider the moment when we need a new start.
    • 5/5
      My go to author for a feel-good, heartwarming read is Jenny Colgan.Sweetshop of Dreams is the first book featuring Rosie Hopkins. (Note that this was released in the UK as Welcome To Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop Of Dreams.)"Rosie Hopkins thinks leaving her busy London life, and her boyfriend Gerard, to sort out her elderly Aunt Lilian's sweetshop in a small country village is going to be dull. Boy, is she wrong."Rosie arrives in Lipton and makes her presence immediately known, through a series of mishaps. And we begin to meet the residents of the village of Lipton - in all their quirky glory.The descriptions of the village, homes and shops made me want to move to Lipton.Rosie is a wonderful lead character - warm, kind, funny and more - just the kind of person you'd love to have in your circle of friends. The supporting cast is just as well drawn and the listener can't help but be drawn to them. (Most of them - the dentist opposed to the sweetshop is especially unpleasant.)Colgan's books have love at the heart of them. Love lost, love found, love for friends, family and partners. The yes, no, maybe so of the Rosie's search for happiness will have you wishing and hoping for a fairy tale outcome. I found Lillian's memories of the past (1940's) to be especially poignant, well written and yes, heartbreaking.Each chapter opens with an excerpt from Lillian's book on candy. Various types are lauded and dissected in detail with a droll, dry wit. Recipes for some confections are included.Beverley A. Crick was the narrator. I really enjoyed her interpretation. Her voice for Rosie captured the mental image I had in my head. She provided easily identifiable voices for the other characters. Lillian's had just the right quaver, young Edison the right innocence and male voices that felt right as well. She has an expressive voice and it reflected the emotion, humour, sadness etc. in Colgan's tale. Her voice is clear, easy to understand and pleasant to listen to.Sweetshop of Dreams has everything you want in a great listen - love, loss, drama, humour and yes - a just right ending.
    • 4/5
      Read this on the back of loving the Cupcake cafe book by the same author. This was more of the same and definitely a lovely story. The sweet shop references were a little difficult for me to appreciate fully having not grown up in the UK but I loved the feeling of the characters and the storys that mixed through the book. I admit I skimmed over some of the descriptions of sweets but I don't have a sweet tooth so that might explain that.

      Would totally recommend as a nostalgic look at a life most of us will never have and some very well crafted characters again.
    • 4/5
      Quite literally a sweet story of a woman who is broken out of her life-rut by her great-aunt.After her mother left her for greener pastures in Australia, Rosie has slipped into a life that has no sparkle. She has settled for a life that looked good when it started but it's starting to drain her. Working as an agency nurse when her mother asks her to go to her elderly spinster great-aunt and see what needs to be done with the shop she's run for years, her house, and herself. While there she finds that life in a small country town isn't always as bad as it sounds and that maybe, just maybe she needs to re-think her life.It's a light read, fairly fluffy, but I liked it, I liked the characters and could imagine how Rosie ended up how she was. I could also see how Lilian ended up in her own situation.
    • 4/5
      Rosie Hopkins leaves her life in London and her live in boyfriend to take care of her aunt in a small village where the aunt owns a run down sweet shop. Rosie has never been outside the city and makes all sorts of big city mistakes in the small town but at the same time, she makes some very good friends. She cleans up and re-opens the sweet shop while taking care of her aunt. Rosie is a little old for me to call this a 'coming of age' story but it is a book about growing up -- something that you can do at any age! I thought that it was a fun book to read plus its filled with interesting recipes and facts about candy which is an extra plus!
    • 4/5
      From Jenny Colgan comes another delicious tale of family, love and romance in her newest release, Sweetshop of Dreams.If pressed, Rosie Hopkins will admit that she is in a bit of a rut, her career has stalled, and so it seems, has her relationship of seven years, but she can’t imagine how spending six weeks in rural Derbyshire will help matters any. However her elderly Great Aunt Lilian needs help and Rosie, an auxiliary nurse, is best placed to do so. Reluctantly Rosie travels to the small village of Lipton, determined to sort out her aunts affairs and return to London, and Gerard, as quickly as possible, but as she experiences the charms of country life, changeable weather and grumpy dentists notwithstanding, Rosie slowly discovers just how sweet life could be.On her first day in Lipton, Rosie gets lost in the country side during a rainstorm, on her second she discovers her aunts sweetshop, which needs to be sold as a going concern to fund Lilian’s move into a nursing home, has been abandoned, and on her third she careens out of control on Lilian’s old bicycle, destroying a farmer’s vegetable patch and humiliating herself in front of a hunky farmhand and the handsome local doctor. Country life, Rosie is convinced, is not for her but as she begins to restore the sweetshop to its former glory and make friends with the locals, she begins to consider the choices she has made and reevaluate what would make her happy.Entwined with Rosie’s adventures in Lipton are glimpses into Lillian’s past as a young woman and the regrets, disappointments and tragedies that shaped her life. This goes a long way to explaining Lilian’s sharp tongue, and gives the story a little more depth, emphasising the novel’s major theme of regret over the risks not taken.Most readers of a certain age will fondly remember the sweets of their youth, my preference was for cobbers (caramel squares covered in milk chocolate) and lurid pink musk sticks, so Rosie’s refurbishment of Lilian’s sweetshop holds a great deal of nostalgic appeal. Colgan’s recipe additions for treats such as Coconut Ice, Peanut Brittle and Tablet (aka Scottish Fudge- which Jenny Colgan kindly shared with Book’d Out readers) are a welcome inclusion, and perfect to enjoy along with the book.An engaging and charming story with few sour notes, Sweetshop of Dreams is an enjoyable novel and a sweet treat to savour.
    • 4/5
      I love how Jenny Colgan is now writing about cakes and sweets and chocolate. Very in at the moment and right up my street. This book is about Rosie, who has to go and look after her great aunt Lilian and get her old sweetshop ready for sale. Lilian is getting on and really needs to go into a home. Inevitably, Rosie finds herself growing fond of Lilian and revitalising the shop, which became too much for Lilian to manage some years earlier, although nobody realised.This book taps into everybody's childhood memories of sweetshops, although I don't think there was nearly enough about sweets and the shop in it. It's a lovely read, a bit cliched and I did know what was going to happen, but it's light, frothy, fun and a very pleasant way to spend my time.