Summer at the Art Cafe – Sue McDonagh

From watercolours and cupcakes to leather jackets and freedom … 
If you won a gorgeous purple motorbike, and your domineering husband said you were too fat for leathers and should sell it, would you do as you were told – or learn to ride it in secret?

Artist and café owner Lucy Daumier intends to do just that – but learning to ride is far from easy, especially under the critical eye of prickly motorcycle instructor, Ash Connor.

But gradually Lucy gets the hang of it, and in the process re-discovers the girl she used to be. So starts an exciting summer of new friendships and fun – as well as a realisation that there is more to Ash than meets the eye when she is introduced to his seven-year-old daughter, Daisy.

But can Lucy’s new-found happiness last when a spiteful family member wants to see her fail?

 

My review

Motorbikes and cakes, two things I like very much as well. So when they were combined in a story, it had to be a good one.
I loved the way Lucy, bit by bit, changed her life and put herself first for a change. She showed, that if you are determined enough, you can reach your goal.
Love seems to be in the picture again as well, but the road is bumpy and it looks like it is taking a wrong turn. Can everything be turned around or …?
A lovely summerread with ups and downs, funny bits and sad ones, love and bitchyness. These are all ingredients that will keep to glued to your seat.

Thank you, Sue McDonagh and Choc Lit.

 

About the author

Sue McDonagh’s career as a policewoman for Essex Police was cut short when she was diagnosed at the age of twenty-four with ovarian cancer. After a successful recovery and a stint working as a Press Officer she moved to Wales.

In Wales her love of art evolved into a full-time occupation and she made a living teaching and sketching portraits at shows. In 2014 she was a regional finalist for the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year. She now works exclusively to commissions from her art gallery.

In 2009 she learned to ride a motorbike, and now helps run Curvy Riders, a national, women only, motorbike club. Her joy of motorbikes and her love of writing inspired her to write the Art Café series. Sue, granny of two little girls and proud mum of two stepsons, lives a mile from the sea in Wales. She can often be found with her border terrier, Scribbles, at her art gallery. Scribble thinks the customers only come in to see him. Sometimes, Sue thinks that too.

When she’s not painting, she’s writing or on her motorbike. She belongs to a local writing group and the Romantic Novelist’s Association. Summer at the Art Café is Sue’s debut novel and the first in her Art Café series.