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3.5
A Brewed Awakening: A hilarious, clean, enemies-to-lovers rom-com
ByPublisher Description
A small-town tea shop owner with a sweet tooth and a devil-may-care Englishman with more savory tastes join forces to cater a British-themed wedding. Sparks fly in this sweet enemies-to-lovers, opposites-attract rom-com perfect for fans of Emma St. Clair and Sarah Adams.
As a child, Daphne Austen fell in love with her grandmother's stories of England, perhaps to the point of romanticizing them a little too much. Now, as an adult, she inherited Tea Thyme, the only English tearoom within a hundred miles of her Blue Ridge Mountain town. But keeping her tea and pastry shop afloat proves to be a continual struggle. Since losing her mother and then grandmother, Daphne's clung to the need for routine, predictability, and beautiful order--and her tearoom shines as the epitome of her Anglophile and obsessive tendencies. But her perfect world spirals into madness when an Englishman moves in next door and shatters all her Darcy daydreams with his loud music, questionable manners, and highly American interests. With an off-the-charts swoon factor, he even tempts to shatter her heart.
Finnley Dashwood left England to start over somewhere his ex-wife's parents couldn't track him down and force their parenting techniques on him. It was as if they wanted to make up for their daughter's neglect by suffocating him with control and unwanted affection. The unassuming town of Wisteria, North Carolina, provides the perfect place to start over and even remake himself as the dashing, English restaurant owner of his earlier days, instead of the somewhat-cynical recluse he'd truly become. With a shop ready for his use, an apartment for him and his daughter, and an acquaintance who owns the revered Wisteria Manor (now event planning center), Finn has everything he wants for a new beginning--except . . . maybe an understanding of the small-town Appalachian culture and the uptight, perfectionistic tea princess next door.
At first, Finn finds the whimsical and notoriously optimistic shop owner humorous and somewhat annoying, but as she begins to invest in the life of his daughter and he observes her authentic love for the people of the town, Finn's heart opens to the terrifying possibility of a second chance at love. As they are forced to work together on a local-celebrity wedding, their differences clash, sizzle, and finally begin to simmer into a unique, complementary blend of sweet and savory. But just as hope blooms into possibility, a massive storm crashes into the little town, upturning all their plans and putting not only their budding romance but the resilience of the tight-knit community to the test.
As a child, Daphne Austen fell in love with her grandmother's stories of England, perhaps to the point of romanticizing them a little too much. Now, as an adult, she inherited Tea Thyme, the only English tearoom within a hundred miles of her Blue Ridge Mountain town. But keeping her tea and pastry shop afloat proves to be a continual struggle. Since losing her mother and then grandmother, Daphne's clung to the need for routine, predictability, and beautiful order--and her tearoom shines as the epitome of her Anglophile and obsessive tendencies. But her perfect world spirals into madness when an Englishman moves in next door and shatters all her Darcy daydreams with his loud music, questionable manners, and highly American interests. With an off-the-charts swoon factor, he even tempts to shatter her heart.
Finnley Dashwood left England to start over somewhere his ex-wife's parents couldn't track him down and force their parenting techniques on him. It was as if they wanted to make up for their daughter's neglect by suffocating him with control and unwanted affection. The unassuming town of Wisteria, North Carolina, provides the perfect place to start over and even remake himself as the dashing, English restaurant owner of his earlier days, instead of the somewhat-cynical recluse he'd truly become. With a shop ready for his use, an apartment for him and his daughter, and an acquaintance who owns the revered Wisteria Manor (now event planning center), Finn has everything he wants for a new beginning--except . . . maybe an understanding of the small-town Appalachian culture and the uptight, perfectionistic tea princess next door.
At first, Finn finds the whimsical and notoriously optimistic shop owner humorous and somewhat annoying, but as she begins to invest in the life of his daughter and he observes her authentic love for the people of the town, Finn's heart opens to the terrifying possibility of a second chance at love. As they are forced to work together on a local-celebrity wedding, their differences clash, sizzle, and finally begin to simmer into a unique, complementary blend of sweet and savory. But just as hope blooms into possibility, a massive storm crashes into the little town, upturning all their plans and putting not only their budding romance but the resilience of the tight-knit community to the test.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesA Brewed Awakening: A hilarious, clean, enemies-to-lovers rom-com Reviews
3.5
“All you need to know - I loved this book.
I mean it was written by Pepper Basham, need I say more? The answer is no, no I don't.
Here's what I loved:
- The banter. Pepper writes the best banter ever, and Daphne and Finnley not only made me swoon, giggle and smile, they made me full on belly laugh. From the music, to the tea, the treats, everything. It was so well done. I could find myself having a tea party at Daphne's, and then having fish and chips listening to AC/DC at Finnley's. I mean, talk about opposites, but in the very best way possible.
Then we have the town. I LOVED all the tweets from the townspeople - especially when they talk about making shirts and such. So funny. If for nothing else, read it for the tweets guys.
As much as people might think this is a "fluffy" read, it has so much more than that. To see Daphne's journey of making Tea Thyme her own, something you could see she struggled with, was so beautifully written. There is life lessons here we can all benefit and learn from.
All in all - this is a must read for 2026. I've already shared it with people who ended up loving it - so I bet you will love it too!
I received a complimentary copy of this book and was not required to write a favorable review.”
“AHHHH!!
Pepper Basham is my go to for clean fun sweet kick your feet kinda romance!
this book is
- Closed door
- no bad words
- Adorable!
AHHHH it's soo good!
a must read”
“2.5⭐ A Brewed Awakening had a lot of promise but fell flat. While this book was not for me I know there are lots of readers out there who would love it. If you are already a fan of the author, love Hallmark movies, or like a clean rom-com with some faith elements to it, then give it a try.
Daphne is an anglophile who owns a tea shop she inherited from her late grandmother. Finn, a British single dad, is looking for a fresh start by opening a pub next door.
For fans of
❤️Grumpy x Sunshine
❤️Rivals to Lovers
❤️Hallmark Movies
❤️All Things British
❤️Single Dads
❤️Clean Romance
❤️Disability Rep
Unfortunately, I should have DNF'd this. The more I read, the more issues I had and by the end I was forcing myself through it just to get it done, which is not how I like my reading to go.
I really enjoyed the beginning, it was fun, a little silly, lots of small town vibes. Our female protagonist Daphne was a little extra but still very likeable and quite relateable.
Personally, I never liked our male protagonist Finn. He was less grumpy and more rude and condescending. And because I didn't like him I was never invested in the romance. I also really didn't like that his daughter felt more like a narrative prop to make him more likeable, rather than a fully fleshed out character in her own right.
This book was entirely too long for the amount of actual plot and the pacing was a mess. A large chunk is just their back and forth, which could have been fun and less tedious if their "banter" didn't feel so juvenile. There was also a lot of telling us how attracted they were to each other, but never really showing it or making us feel it. This is also kind of faith heavy (maybe not heavy but prominent), but there is literally no mention of it until around halfway through so that felt kind of weird that it was only in the second half of the book.”
“2.5⭐ A Brewed Awakening had a lot of promise but fell flat. While this book was not for me I know there are lots of readers out there who would love it. If you are already a fan of the author, love Hallmark movies, or like a clean rom-com with some faith elements to it, then give it a try.
Daphne is an anglophile who owns a tea shop she inherited from her late grandmother. Finn, a British single dad, is looking for a fresh start by opening a pub next door.
For fans of
❤️Grumpy x Sunshine
❤️Rivals to Lovers
❤️Hallmark Movies
❤️All Things British
❤️Single Dads
❤️Clean Romance
❤️Disability Rep
Unfortunately, I should have DNF'd this. The more I read, the more issues I had and by the end I was forcing myself through it just to get it done, which is not how I like my reading to go.
I really enjoyed the beginning, it was fun, a little silly, lots of small town vibes. Our female protagonist Daphne was a little extra but still very likeable and quite relateable.
Personally, I never liked our male protagonist Finn. He was less grumpy and more rude and condescending. And because I didn't like him I was never invested in the romance. I also really didn't like that his daughter felt more like a narrative prop to make him more likeable, rather than a fully fleshed out character in her own right.
This book was entirely too long for the amount of actual plot and the pacing was a mess. A large chunk is just their back and forth, which could have been fun and less tedious if their "banter" didn't feel so juvenile. There was also a lot of telling us how attracted they were to each other, but never really showing it or making us feel it. This is also kind of faith heavy (maybe not heavy but prominent), but there is literally no mention of it until around halfway through so that felt kind of weird that it was only in the second half of the book.”
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