A Brewed Awakening

Author: Pepper Basham Title: A Brewed Awakening Publisher: Thomas Nelson Date Published: 05/05/2026

Read Dates: 03/31/2026- 04/02/2026
Rating: ⭐⭐💫

 📖 I received a gifted e-book ARC. The following is my honest review✍🏻

A Brewed Awakening is a dual POV small-town, rivals-to-lovers romance. Daphne inherited her British grandmother’s tea shop in North Carolina, as well as her love of all things English. So she should be overjoyed when Finn, a single father from England, moves in next door to open a British pub. The two get off on the wrong foot, though, and Daphne is determined not to be charmed by Finn’s flirting. The two find themselves in competition to become caterers for a high-profile local wedding, and begin to see that maybe their differences in style and taste might actually be the perfect pairing.

Aside from the religious themes (which were extremely heavy), I thought some things worked and others didn’t. There were some fun banter moments, and while it was low spice (kissing only) the author did create some romantic tension. I enjoyed the over-invested small town and Finn’s relationship with his daughter. I felt like some storylines got introduced and then just petered out (what happened with Finn’s old business partner or Daphne’s former best friend?) and I found a comment from Daphne’s employee early on flippant and insensitive (mocking her for being like “those obsessive people”).

I requested this with high hopes, but I was not the target audience. I feel like the publisher should have included the “Christian” tag when categorizing it on NetGalley in order to attract the right readers and give a heads up to those like myself who would have otherwise passed.

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.