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Love, Lies & Sticky Toffee Pudding: Happiness begins when you stop chasing Mr Perfect and start choosing yourself
Successful lawyer, Charlotte Bloom, has been dumped for the 100th time. She invites her ex-boyfriend on an all-expenses-paid holiday to Barbados, to help her understand why. She knows they’re perfect together, and is certain of a Caribbean rekindling.
Former ‘Business-Woman-Of-The-Year’, Sarah-Jane Richardson, moved her family to Cornwall in search of a better life. Struggling to fit into the eclectic community, she turns to sticky toffee pudding for help. With her husband still working in London, their new life is not quite what they’d imagined.
Afraid of rejection after a family tragedy, Jasmine Rafferty is a serial mistress and commitment-phobe, and determined to stay that way. She definitely isn’t one of those stereotypical mistresses who leaves an earring in the car, in the hope the wife will find it. Or so she thinks.
The three friends have their lives all planned, but life eats plans for pudding, as they are about to find out ...
When these three friends’ perfectly planned lives collide with reality, they’ll discover that happiness doesn’t always come in the package you expect. Sometimes, life’s sweetest moments come when you stop chasing Mr Perfect and start choosing yourself.
“A story of three women and their (often unwise) choices. Caribbean beaches, school gates drama, tragedy, joy, and lots of sticky toffee pudding. Heartwarming and enchanting.” EMILY BARR
Former ‘Business-Woman-Of-The-Year’, Sarah-Jane Richardson, moved her family to Cornwall in search of a better life. Struggling to fit into the eclectic community, she turns to sticky toffee pudding for help. With her husband still working in London, their new life is not quite what they’d imagined.
Afraid of rejection after a family tragedy, Jasmine Rafferty is a serial mistress and commitment-phobe, and determined to stay that way. She definitely isn’t one of those stereotypical mistresses who leaves an earring in the car, in the hope the wife will find it. Or so she thinks.
The three friends have their lives all planned, but life eats plans for pudding, as they are about to find out ...
When these three friends’ perfectly planned lives collide with reality, they’ll discover that happiness doesn’t always come in the package you expect. Sometimes, life’s sweetest moments come when you stop chasing Mr Perfect and start choosing yourself.
“A story of three women and their (often unwise) choices. Caribbean beaches, school gates drama, tragedy, joy, and lots of sticky toffee pudding. Heartwarming and enchanting.” EMILY BARR
444 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 5, 2025
9 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 14, 2025
Love, Lies & Sticky Toffee Pudding by Karin Walker published August 5th with Poolbeg Press and is described as 'a delicious debut about friendship, midlife messiness, and second chances'.
Karin Walker is normally found behind the scenes on the sets of some of Britain's best-loved productions as a child actor chaperone. Having a long-held ambition to write Karin has now fulfilled her dream with the release of this charming novel that explores the importance of self-worth and female friendship.
Charlotte, Sarah-Jane and Jasmine are, in theory, very successful women but, underneath the polish and veneer, all three are in crisis. Charlotte is a notable lawyer with a reputation for being sharp and incisive but in her love-life, things could not be more different. Charlotte has had multiple relationships but all end with her being dumped. Now after the 100th failed attempt at finding love, Charlotte is frustrated. Aware that she has some control issues she makes a radical decision. She invites her most recent ex on an all-expenses paid trip to Barbados in the hope of reigniting his passion for her, while also discovering why this keeps happening to her.
Sarah-Jane recently uprooted, with her young family, from London to Cornwall and is finding that life there is not as she had hoped. Her husband works in the city during the week, leaving her alone with her boys, one who is acting up on a daily basis, adding to her stresses. Sarah-Jane has always been a go-getter, one who strives for success and succeeds. Now completely out of her comfort zone and feeling a failure on a daily basis, she discovers her passion for baking, which leads her down the most unexpected path.
Jasmine is a troubled soul. From a young age she has carried a great weight on her shoulders, in the form of a tragic incident that has permeated her whole life. She has struggled in forming fully-formed adult relationships and has shrugged off commitment at every turn. Love them and leave them is her motto. With no strings attached she is a free woman. But, when on her own, Jasmine cannot hide from her thoughts no matter how hard she tries to push them away. When circumstances change for Jasmine she has to rethink her life plans, forcing her to face some home truths.
These three friends have all reached a midlife turning point where choices have to made. In this tale of self-discovery they each learn about their own self-worth and how easy it is to lose oneself in the push-and-pull of life. Dramatic change require dramatic decisions and Charlotte, Sarah-Jane and Jasmine know, that in order to thrive and be the best version of themselves, they need to make these changes now.
Love, Lies & Sticky Toffee Pudding is a novel about forgiving oneself and new beginnings, featuring three complicated protagonists who have lost their sparkle. Charlotte, Sarah-Jane and Jasmine are all in a transition phase in their lives. Their obstacle-laden path to self-love is portrayed with warmth and humour, with a wonderful array of characters accompanying them on their journey. A very endearing debut!
Karin Walker is normally found behind the scenes on the sets of some of Britain's best-loved productions as a child actor chaperone. Having a long-held ambition to write Karin has now fulfilled her dream with the release of this charming novel that explores the importance of self-worth and female friendship.
Charlotte, Sarah-Jane and Jasmine are, in theory, very successful women but, underneath the polish and veneer, all three are in crisis. Charlotte is a notable lawyer with a reputation for being sharp and incisive but in her love-life, things could not be more different. Charlotte has had multiple relationships but all end with her being dumped. Now after the 100th failed attempt at finding love, Charlotte is frustrated. Aware that she has some control issues she makes a radical decision. She invites her most recent ex on an all-expenses paid trip to Barbados in the hope of reigniting his passion for her, while also discovering why this keeps happening to her.
Sarah-Jane recently uprooted, with her young family, from London to Cornwall and is finding that life there is not as she had hoped. Her husband works in the city during the week, leaving her alone with her boys, one who is acting up on a daily basis, adding to her stresses. Sarah-Jane has always been a go-getter, one who strives for success and succeeds. Now completely out of her comfort zone and feeling a failure on a daily basis, she discovers her passion for baking, which leads her down the most unexpected path.
Jasmine is a troubled soul. From a young age she has carried a great weight on her shoulders, in the form of a tragic incident that has permeated her whole life. She has struggled in forming fully-formed adult relationships and has shrugged off commitment at every turn. Love them and leave them is her motto. With no strings attached she is a free woman. But, when on her own, Jasmine cannot hide from her thoughts no matter how hard she tries to push them away. When circumstances change for Jasmine she has to rethink her life plans, forcing her to face some home truths.
These three friends have all reached a midlife turning point where choices have to made. In this tale of self-discovery they each learn about their own self-worth and how easy it is to lose oneself in the push-and-pull of life. Dramatic change require dramatic decisions and Charlotte, Sarah-Jane and Jasmine know, that in order to thrive and be the best version of themselves, they need to make these changes now.
Love, Lies & Sticky Toffee Pudding is a novel about forgiving oneself and new beginnings, featuring three complicated protagonists who have lost their sparkle. Charlotte, Sarah-Jane and Jasmine are all in a transition phase in their lives. Their obstacle-laden path to self-love is portrayed with warmth and humour, with a wonderful array of characters accompanying them on their journey. A very endearing debut!
September 4, 2025
I’ve been waiting for this book to come out since reading Love, Lobster and the art of moonlight kissing and it didn’t disappoint. I devoured it in a few days and couldn’t put it down. You really feel invested in the characters and what happens next!
August 6, 2025
I enjoyed this nice easy read,I will definitely be picking up more from this author.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews