Nothing will stop her – not even the war! 1914. Working in a bustling café on London's Shaftesbury Avenue, Joyce Taylor dreams of opening her own restaurant. But when the man she loves enlists in the war, and a surprise request comes through from her dying grandmother, Joyce's life gets turned upside down.
Struggling to keep the café afloat with her new-found responsibilities, it's not long before Joyce starts to feel the pressure might be all too much. Luckily, her supportive friends Annie and Rose are on hand to help. Despite all the madness, can Joyce find a way to make her dreams come true? And will her love story have a happy ending? Annie, Rose and Joyce are three girls with very different dreams – but the same great friendship. From the author of the Foyles Bookshop series, Big Dreams for the West End Girls is a charming and uplifting WW1 saga, perfect for fans of Daisy Styles and Rosie Hendry. What readers are saying about Big Dreams for the West End Girls:
'Exceptional reading! You will need tissues' 5 stars
'Truly inspiring historical fiction. A lovely written piece of work! Readers will not be disappointed with this one! I loved every minute. My heart is with all of the characters' 5 stars
'A heartwarming, historical novel with strong characters and lots of plot turns and twists'
'I highly recommend this book for its fascinating historical details and strong main character'
'An excellent WWI-era historical fiction saga that I really, truly enjoyed' 5 stars
'One does not have to read the previous book to easily follow along and pick up the gem that is this novel' 5 stars
'Well Elaine you have done it again! The first book was brilliant and this has just got better. I still feel like I am one of the girls! I can't wait to read the next in the series' 5 stars
My Review:
This book is the second in a new series, the first being The West End Girls (2020). It was a heartwarming, historical novel with strong characters and lots of plot turns and twists.
I really did enjoy this book, I love the historical setting and all the little facts and details about the era that were added. The characters were strong. Joyce, the main character, was strong and hardworking. I liked her and was rooting for her during the entire book. She sure had a lot of surprises thrown her way and I liked the way she handled them. I also enjoyed her two friends, Rose and Annie, whose stories are part of the series. At first, I wasn’t very sure about Simon, Joyce’s love interest, but he did redeem himself later on in the story.
The book was a little bit hard to get into at first, there are a lot of characters and I was a bit confused as to who was who, and why they were part of the story. However, it all fell together about halfway through the book, and from then I was following the story was great.
I highly recommend this book for it’s fascinating historical details and strong main character.
