Cover Image: The Waffle House on the Pier

The Waffle House on the Pier

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Member Reviews

Can Sadie save the Waffle House? She's come home because her grandfather died and her grandmother is struggling but she's not a restauranteur. It's not an easy business, no matter how nice the town of Sea Salt Bay might be. AND, she's got a romantic dilemma. Should she have a second chance romance with Declan, who left her for another woman- who he's now left? OR, should she take a chance with Luke, who is a little older and somewhat mysterious. Her family (who should butt out of some things) doesn't like Luke but her friends do. You might be able to guess what's going to happen but enjoy this for the light read that it is. Sadie's a good character, Tennant has captured the beach town atmosphere, it touches on real and tough issues< and you'll have a fun time. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. If you've read Tennant, you know it's gonna be a good one but if you haven't, you'll be looking for her again.

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The Waffle House on the Pier by Tilly Tennant a tasty five-star read. This took a while to get into and wasn’t always a five-star read, but for the second half it was most certainly worth it, so I went for it overall. If like me you start this and struggle, do keep reading as it gets so good. This is filled with family dramas of the best kind, and confusion as we all have one that got away, I eventually married mine, but I do know that some were meant to get away, one of the question’s are was Sadie’s? This is light and sweet, but there are some more troubling subjects touched and they really are touching. Sea Salt Bay sounds delightful and a great place to while away a couple of hours, this will be the perfect summer read, especially if you aren’t able to get away, as you can spend some time in Sea Salt Bay and truly feel like you have felt the sea breeze on your face, and tasted the delicious Waffles from the Waffle House on the Bay.

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The Waffle House on the Pier has been in Sea Salt Bay for what feels like forever and for Sadie it is a place she has grown up in and when the threat of it closing and being sold sees Sadie make some rather immediate life changing decisions. 

Sadie feels that the Waffle House needs to be kept in the family and even though her grandfather has now sadly died, her grandmother can still help Sadie with keeping it going. The family have other ideas. But Sadie is determined. 

However, Sadie is perhaps hiding from the truth, the truth that maybe her grandmother April is no longer capable of running the Waffle House nor perhaps even help there. And what does Sadie know about running a business? It seems everything and everyone is against her. 

Being back in Sea Salt Bay means that Sadie is back with her friends Natalie and Georgia as well as in closer contact with her ex Declan. He has moved on, but has Sadie? When Luke bumps into her, perhaps she can finally see a different life in the town?

I was expecting one thing from this book, bringing a waffle house back from the brink, a common theme to be had amongst popular women's fiction: cafes, pubs, shops all would fit the bill. I did not get that, this book very much focuses on family and how it copes dealing with death and the worry of those left behind and their strange behaviour. The waffle house became secondary and whatever was related to that part of the plot was rushed and glossed over. 

Sadie's family were strong and dominant throughout, in fact I could see why Sadie always felt pushed around by them, but I could not connect to her as much as some of the other secondary characters.  We went from family gatherings and debates to arguments and back again. This left me feeling a bit disappointed by the book. 

It is a good book to while away a few hours, but lacked the fun and humour that I was expecting which might have made it stand out from some of the other books I have read so far this year.

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The Waffle House on the Pier by Tilly Tennant was a nice story. The characters were well defined, and the family business and family dynamics are realistic. I liked the description of the location and enjoyed the British phases. The story moved at a slow steady pace, but included some humor, action, drama and romance. There are a lot of internal thoughts in the story which could have been reduced somewhat. This is a story of making the right decisions as well as personal growth.

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This is the first book I have read by tilly, I was not disappointed. A fantastic story with likeable characters once I started reading I couldn't stop.
I will be reading more books by Tilly

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**** Provided by netgalley for review***
I’d never read any books by this author but I’ll be seeking out the rest! I loved that this book had a little more substance to the plot than I thought. Also, who doesn’t love a book centered around a waffle shop!? Sadie’s family has owned the waffle shop on the pier for years. She couldn’t wait to leave her small town and spread her wings. Her first love has never gone away and she is constantly reminded of him since they are in the same town again. However, a jealous girlfriend, a new guy in town and a shop to run keep Sadie plenty occupied. You won’t waste your time with this sweet read!

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A realky lovely summer read.
Were taken to the small village where everyone knows everyone's business so doing things different is t going to be easy in this seaside town.
Sadie is teacher ttajning and not doing it well, april runs the aafflw hkuse with her husband who dies. The family need to make a way of helping out April but everyone is busy and can't give up their life to help April. However, sadie hates her job and decides to quit and her family aren't too happy about that bug she goes to help her gammy run the waffle house on the pier. There are newcomes, a sexy man who almost.kills said in a freakish water accixent. Then we have a freakish water acvident and four residents are fighting for their Ives. April is fighting for her health because she has the early onset of dementia.. and nokne knows what to do with the wafflw house I wouldn't be safe in the wafflw house, all those delicoous waffles. Yummy.
It all comes together towards the end. Love it

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You can always rely on Tilly Tennant to deliver a lovely heartwarming feel good read and The Waffle House on the Pier is the perfect example.

This book follows Sadie and her life in Sea Salt Bay. Following the death of her grandfather, Sadie realises her current job isn’t for her. She quits and returns home to help her grandmother run the waffle house although she knows nothing about running a business so it seems nothing will be plain sailing. Add in a family who all have their own opinions, an ex-boyfriend and a potential new love interest plus plenty of drama along the way and you’re in for a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

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The Waffle House on the Pier is a cute family business story with a dash of romance.

Nothing seems to be going Sadie's way: she dumped the perfect boyfriend, she left her hometown Sea Salt Bay for the big city but she is struggling as a teacher, then she goes back to Sea Salt Bay after her grandfather passed away and wants to take over the family business (the waffle house) but she is facing a major obstacle. Now her ex boyfriend is with Melissa and they seem like a very happy couple. Will Sadie ever accomplish anything in personal and professional her life?

This is a cute family business story with a dash of romance in a lovely and quaint coastal town setting. I quickly grew fond of all the characters and was rooting for Sadie. This book reminds us how we are all allowed to make mistakes when starting our lives as young adults. Experience is gained through tests and trials. The goal is to learn from one's experience. Pick up this book to find out if Sadie learned from her past mistakes and can finally see what is right in front of her.

I highly recommend it as a fun summer read.

Thank you Net Galley and Bookouture for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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A charming love story and family drama from across the pond. As a bit of an anglophile it is a delight to read typical Brit phrasing. Lots of personal growth and angst.

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A simply beautiful and moving read.

This book had so much heart, I genuinely didn’t want it to end, I want to see what happens next, I felt a connection to each character and a longing to visit Sea Salt Bay.

Sadie was an amazing character who had so much going on that there won’t be many people who read this who can’t identify with her on some level. Right till the very end I wasn’t sure which was she was going to go, Dec or Luke. I kept waiting for the plot twist, but it never came but equally it wasn’t missed. The book was real and raw and just reading about Sadie and her family, their loss, their heartache, their struggle to move forward was enough. Add in to that Sadies own personal struggles on what to do with her life and her whole purpose in life along with a lost love and a new love, well I simply couldn’t stop turning the page.

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I’ve seen and heard lots of positive commentary on Tilly Tennant’s books and after reading the blurb for this, decided now was the time to check her out for myself.

“The best waffles on the South Coast.”

Sadly The Waffle House on the Pier didn’t quite hit the heights I was hoping for. Publisher’s keep throwing the rom-com word around and whilst humour is personal and I generally have no problem whatsoever with books of this genre, when a story lacks the giggles and focusses on family dramatics with the romance almost secondary, in my world, that's not a rom-com.

“Your family are coming back over. All of them, en masse like a huge army.”

That said, Tennant has a nice writing style, she certainly knows how to write an appealing hero and I did like Sadie, I just wish more page time had been given to her plight at the waffle house and in developing her relationship with Luke over her battles with her family, particularly her overbearing older brother. Perhaps it’s a case of this not quite being the right Tilly Tennant book for me but I’ll be checking others recommended to me to see if that’s the case.

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The Waffle House on the Pier tells the story of Sadie, a young woman who is uncertain about her chosen career.

When her grandfather died, and her family decided to close the waffle house he used to run together with her grandmother, Sadie stepped in and offered her help.

She was not expecting things to be easy, but the challenges thrown her way were way more complicated than she could have anticipated.

To make matters worse, she was having a hard time forgiving herself for having broken up with Declan all those years ago when she left for university.

She could still feel their intense connection, but Declan was about to move in with his beautiful girlfriend, Melissa.

And then there was Luke, a new resident of Sea Salt Bay, a lovely guy that could be just what Sadie needed if only she could let the past go.

The Waffle House on The Pier is a story about dealing with family issues, standing your ground under pressure, and facing the consequences of your decisions.

The beginning dragged a little, but it picked up the pace after a few chapters.

Sadie's relationship with her grandmother was adorable, and both Declan and Luke were very decent men and definitively marriage material.

I loved the coastal setting and the sense of family and community.

An enjoyable summer read!

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*This review will be posted on https://lureviewsbooks.com on 06/26/2020 as part of the book's blog tour*

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More 2.5, but still no half star ratings on Goodreads.

I was really excited about going into this. This was another one of those request all the things on Netgalley and Bookouture because I am stuck at home books. The cover is gorgeous and I thought the premise sounded light and fun. The bits of action that are included are great and most of the family dynamics are relatable (except their doubt and insistence that she would fail), especially Gammy deterioration after the death of her husband. The love triangle was rough, but I think that all worked out well in the end. However, these portions were just a tiny bit of the book. My main complaint is the internal back and forth was very repetitive and made up a large portion of the reading. It felt a bit like beating a dead horse. Although I see the importance of these thoughts being presented if they had been a bit less and with more development of other aspects of the story I would have enjoyed this a lot more.

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Sadie doesn’t know where her heart lies both romantically and professionally. When her grandfather suddenly dies her family know her grandmother cannot carry on running the Waffle House that has been a fixture of Sea Salt Bay pier for as long as people can remember. Sadie can see how painful it will be for her grandmother to give up her beloved Waffle House and wants so badly to support her keep it running.

This was really easy to read with some well defined characters and I liked the way it played out, not everything does work out how you want in life and I think parts of this reflected that yet it still manages to be positive and heartwarming. I would love to find out how Sadie progresses from this, hopefully there might be another Sea Salt Bay book to come

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I loved it - is that enough of a review. It's certainly a good read for the summer. Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside. But then, if you read it during the depths of winter it would conjure up lovely sunny images, so it's a good read whatever the time of year. I really liked Sadie, the main character. I felt her family were unfair to her at times. I loved her mission to help her grandmother and save the waffle house. I would have liked a bit more regarding the waffle house, but I feel there may be a sequel. The ending was satisfying, but I did get a sense of there could be more. I also liked the message that it's never too late to start again, that you can change your mind. If I have one small critique it's this. I was torn between Sadie's two potential suitors, and I think a bit too much emphasis was placed on one, because he was the one I was rooting for. And I'll end it there because I don;t want to spoil the plot for anyone. With thank to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I want to thank NetGalley, Bookoutre and Tilly Tennant for the ARC of the book The Waffle House on the Pier. In exchange I am giving my honest personal opinion.
Sadie is a teacher in training. She tries her to enjoy the job, but she soon discovers it is not what she wants to do with her life.
Her Grandparents have owned The Waffle House on the Pier for years. After the loss of her Grandfather Sadie decides she wants to help her Grandma April run the restaurant.
After working with her Grandma for awhile she soon discovers her failing health. This leaves the fate of the Waffle House in Sadie’s hands.
To put more pressure on Sadie she has two men interested in her--- one her old boyfriend and the other a new guy in town.
With the input of her family some good some not so good things get remarkably interesting.
This is the first book by Tilly Tennant I have read, and I look forward to reading more.

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The Waffle House on the Pier was a light and cute read, full of sea-spray and sandy beaches.
Sadie is a twenty-something soon-to-be-teacher who can’t seem to settle into a relationship or quite settle into her future career. When something terrible happens, Sadie is determined to help in running a family business, the Waffle House.
I thought this lighthearted book would dwell a bit more on the delicious food, as these types of cozy books tend to do, but there were very few descriptions, which was a bit disappointing, as I do enjoy having my mouth water while reading.
Overall, this was a very cute, quick read with some nice elements of romance and family drama rolled up together.

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I always enjoy Tilly Tennant's books but for some reason, this one didn't quite hit the mark for me.

Sadie is a girl who is doing teacher training but not enjoying it as much as she had hoped. She sees her grandmother struggling after her grandfather died, with keeping up her work at the waffle house and decides to help out. Of course, there is always a bit of a romantic angle happening here and Sadie has to choose between Declan, whom she has known forever, and Luke, who is a newcomer to the Bay.

In my opinion, the balance wasn't quite right in this book. I was looking for a light escape to Sea Salt Bay but there were lots of angsty situations which made me sad and frustrated, and not too many of the fun and lighthearted romantic ones. The romance in this book was good, but overshadowed by the issues that Sadie and her family were having.

4 stars from me, because it was still a well written book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

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Firstly thank you to Bookouture & Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this advance publication copy of The Waffle House on the Pier.

I loved this story of the little seaside town and the waffle house that was at the heart of this story. Tilly Tennant has brought the reader a wonderful tale full of lovable characters that you can warm to and identify with and believable situations, it is always great when the story is believable. I felt empathy for Sadie, pulled in so many directions over themes of family, love, soul searching, heartbreak along with living in small town where everyone knows everyone's business.

I was however desperate for deeper twists and turns and I felt like there was most definitely an opening for it to be taken further. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to other readers; it was an enjoyable read that transported me to the seaside so well that I could picture myself in the moment with the characters.

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