Lovely series set in Porthmellow with a group of interlinking characters, focusing on one or two stories each time. Really enjoyed them all.

Really loved this book. I'm sure its based on Porthleven where my step daughter lives. I kept imagining myself there. Beautiful story.

Lovely read that fills your heart with warmth and makes you feel like you know the people in the town. Easy to read but keeps you guessing. Highly recommended

Solid romance but the amount of characters and subplots made it a chore to finish it (I started it months ago).

Thank you Netgalley for my copy of A Perfect Cornish Summer by Phillipa Ashley. 

What a perfect read to reminisce about the gorgeous summer months. This is a feel good read with themes of friendship, community togetherness and romance. We meet Sam who is the main organiser of the Porthmellow Annual food festival. A role she is greatly passionate about . Sam is left high and dry when her headline celebrity chef decides to pull out at the the very last moment. Eventually a replacement is found but it's not all plain sailing. Chef Gabe used to date Sam however the break up was very acrimonious indeed. Can Sam and Gave overcome their history to get this event to be the best it's ever been? This relationship broke Sam's heart as the fall out spread to her family as well. I loved reading about Sam and I was eager to find out if the food festival would be a success. The location of Porthmellow is utterly idyllic, you can just imagine seeing the beautiful blue sea as a gorgeous backdrop. Thoroughly enjoyable read.

Absolutely wonderful!  If the Christmas book is nearly as good it will get the full 5!

**OMG!  I cannot believe that these reviews haven't been done!  I am so sorry they are so late!!!**

Unfortunately though my review copy was late arriving so I'm still reading the book. I dont want to give anything away except that I'm really enjoying it... hopefully I'll finish it today, but you know... life!

So I wanted to entice you to ordering the novel and at least post something so read on for the synopsis.... 😊 "The first in a gorgeous new series from the author of Summer at the Cornish Cafe.
Summer is on the horizon, and the people of Porthmellow are eagerly awaiting the annual food festival. At least, most of them are…
For Sam Lovell, organising the summer festival in her hometown is one of the highlights of her year. It’s not always smooth sailing, but she loves to see Porthmellow’s harbour packed with happy visitors, and being on the committee has provided a much-needed distraction from the drama in her family life (and the distinct lack of it in her love life).
When their star guest pulls out with only a few weeks to go, everyone’s delighted when a London chef who grew up locally steps in at the last minute. But Gabe Matthias is the last person Sam was expecting to see, and his return to Porthmellow will change her quiet coastal life for ever

I really enjoyed my first visit to Porthmellow, and already wondering if it is, in mid August too soon to read the Christmas book to return there!

I loved both Chloe and Sam's stories in this, both with complicated pasts there were enjoyable to discover. 

Between them they head the committee for the Porthmellow Food festival and to say this 10th annual festival is not only the biggest but the one with the most potential problems would be an understatement. 

I loved getting to know the committee and all the main residents in this Cornish town. I loved the various quirks and seeing just how Sam was going to cope with things. 

Especially the reappearance of her ex boyfriend, which she split up with years ago, after he reported her brother to the police, - well its very hard to come back from that. 

But despite that I fell for Gabe, he clearly knows his right from wrong, and is an extremely talented chef too. 

There are a large number of pies in this book, as well as plenty of other food, to make you hungry as you read. 

I found it took some time for me to get into the stride of this book, but I think that is because every time I think of this author, one particular set of characters comes back to me from a previous series, and then I have to remember that I'm reading something fresh. 

A really enjoyable book and I am very much looking forward to the next one in the series. 

Thank you to Avon on Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I'm a sucker for books based in the UK, and this was no exception.  There was so much charm with the different characters, the Portsmouth summer festival as a backdrop to all of the storylines and interactions between the characters. I felt like I was a fly on the wall in every scene, observing each conversation in person, and I could visualize every scene so clearly. A great book to read.

This book had a lovely start, and I found that I could easily immerse myself in the story. I almost felt at home in the village community thanks to the vivid storytelling, and I like how the characters all knew each other. This made a change to some of the other women's fiction I have read recently as the protagonist wasn't new to the village which is a trope we see a lot. Instead, Sam already knew these people, and this was her home. Which gave more space for us to understand the side characters properly. This book told the story of a community, of family, friends and love and it was full of twists and turns that caught me off-guard.

Phillipa Ashley is a new author for me cherish.
Brilliant read enjoyed the plot , village community coming together to help each other.
Couldn’t put it down .it was a perfect summer read .
Definitely recommend this book.

A  lovely feel good summer read. Perfect for whisking you away on a wet, rainy day to Cornwall and a chance to dream of the summer to come. A perfect summer holiday read or a pre holiday escape to cheer you up on a wt, rainy weekend.

Thank you the net Galley and the publishers for the chance to read an ARC and have an early escape to summer

First time I have read a Phillipa Ashley book but it won't be the last. Porthmellow sounds like an idyllic Cornish village. The story is mainly based around Sam and her family but there are also other locals who are not all they seem. Really enjoyed being transported to Cornwall and will miss the characters now I have finished the book. A lovely light hearted story.

This was just what I needed. A real feel good summer read. I'm trying to read more of this genre as I find myself always reading 'heavier' tops and some that can be quite dark. So this was a breathe of fresh air, loved it and will read more from this author.

Lovely feel good summer read. What’s not to love sun sea and sadly ur reading about it instead of living it. Easy to read and flowed well. Perfect summer book

This is like Bridget Jones meets the Great British Baking Show. 

The primary story revolves around the reunion of Samphire "Sam" and her first love Gabe when he comes back into town as the featured chef in the local summer food festival.  He left town ten years ago under a cloud of controversy breaking Sam's heart but now is returning as a local hero and celebrity. Sam isn't sure if she wants to see him ever again but as chairperson of the food festival she can't hardly avoid him. Sam and Gabe are also surrounded by a cast of lovable town characters who have fun stories of their own. However, the real star of the book is the fictional Cornish coastal town of Porthmellow. It made me want to travel to the dramatic coasts and the charming villages of Cornwall.

My only criticism of the book is that it drags a bit in the middle with lots of characters and their inner drama taking up long segments where not much is actually happening. Once the food festival kicks off then the action begins in earnest and there's some exciting drama where secrets are finally revealed. Overall, it's a pleasant sweet story that's perfect for reading on the beach or while sitting in a hammock in the shade.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reading copy so that I could provide an honest review.

I really loved this book- I could really picture Porthmellow and the food festival that they are all planning. After having recently seen Fishermens Friend at the cinema which has a great sense of the Cornish community and reading Phillipa's book where you can imagine yourself living there and being roped in to delivering leaflets or phoning suppliers from the planning master list I am more than ready for my summer holiday!
I saw Phillipa Ashley recently at an author event where she was talking about her research for this book and her love of Cornwall shone through.
A book set in Cornwall is sure to be a winner for me- I would love to live there one day. The description of the food festival has me looking out for something local to visit.
This would be the perfect book to pack in your suitcase.

I'm wondering if the title of this is meant to be sarcastic, I could only read the prologue and first chapter, it's definitely not 'The Perfect Cornish Summer'. I was looking for a fun summer read and thought that this would be a great book. But I couldn't get into it, it didn't deliver what I thought it was offering and I decided not to continue. 

I liked the setting and I was starting to get into it, but there was so much going on in the Prologue and Chapter One. So many people were introduced that I didn't really feel I could get to know the main character or apprecicate the setting. There wasn't really any action or atmosphere to draw me in. The Prologue was a conversation between the locals about how to improve the tourism in their village, which ended with them deciding at the end of the Prologue to start doing a summer festival. 

Chapter One jumps ahead to when they are organising the festival. Again there's just too many characters introduced and it's  just dull. It's meant to be a summer read but it's gloomy. There was a repeat of some back story about the main character's brother which was mentioned in the Prologue. I think that was what made me decide to stop reading. It was just repitition from the previous chapter being ellaborated on, Just an info dump really, not a slow progression of the story with drama unfolding. So I didn't feel like I'd got to know the main characters and wasn't giving a chance to enjoy the story. Too much exposition and back story and possible foreshadowing about the brother.

I feel like the story about how they decide to set up the festival could've been a novel on it's own. The first two chapters have way too much information and characters and I didn't really have any reason to read on. They are just setting up a festival and it's so miserable. I couldn't really get interested in this and the mention of her brother was just too obvious that he was going to appear later. After reading gorgeous books by Jenny Colgan where you feel like you're there and you love the characters straight away, this was disapointing.

A lovely, easy reading book perfect for a good summer chill out read. A slightly predictable storyline but with great, believable characters and a lovely setting.

I'd never read a Phillippa Ashley before, but I will certainly be reading more! The beautiful setting and the colourful array of characters makes for a rich, warm story of love and community that I just couldn't put down and the descriptions of the food were just delicious! Definitely worth a read.