The Pub with No Food by Rachel Armstrong is an Australian rural romance. The book is a prequel to The Shadow Creek series and is set in Elizadale, North Queensland.
Grace White is a nurse at the Elizadale Medical Centre. She is planning to teach yoga classes at the community hall. Grace shares a townhouse with her close friends Jessica and Claire.
Grace grew up on a cattle property in White Peaks. Edward White, Grace’s father, is out to save their property and as he says “What good were daughters if not to create advantageous family ties”. He is planning Grace’s marriage to Matt, the son of a wealthy neighbouring family. An agreement has been made.
But, Grace wants to follow her own dreams.
Luke Smithfield is managing his family’s hotel, and his dream is to renew interest in the Smithfield Hotel by changing the traditional pub food to a more healthier and modern menu. Hopefully, the new menu will attract more patrons.
Luke and Grace have lived in Elizadale their whole lives. Luke is her best friend Jessica’s older brother. When Luke discusses the new menu with Grace, they both wonder how they have not really noticed each other before.
Can friendship turn into love? What will happen if Grace starts a relationship with Luke? Will they be safe from her abusive father?
Could Grace finally have the Christmas she dreams of with a family who loves and respect her?
This is Luke and Grace’s story.
Rachel’s style of writing makes this an enjoyable, easy-to-read story with lovely characters.
If you have read Home Among The Palm Trees and The Man From Shadow Creek you will recognise many characters in their earlier years.
The story is very relatable to – with parental expectations, dysfunctional family life, new love, hope and dreams, courage, and trust. It highlights the value of friendships and how a great community can come together to support others in times of need.
I would definitely stop for a meal in The Smithfield Hotel for a taste of their new menu! I loved the book.
A selection of our members are reading The Pub With No Food by Rachel Armstrong. You can read their reviews below, or add your own.
I love to read, any book on any topic. I now love ebooks as they are easier to store, I was running out of bookshelves! My other interests are family, gardening and our beautiful King Charles spaniel dog who is my reading companion.
Another great read from Rachel Armstrong, set in our very own country Queensland.
Grace is such a likeable character, and herchildhood friend has a brother, Luke, whom has never been more than her friends big brother.
Grace comes from a disfunctional family, with an abusive father, who is still of the belief that daughters obey and do as they are told, to the point of physical and mental abuse.
Luke and Grace see each other in a new light one evening, and it soon turns into a hot and steamy romance between them.
The big question is, will Graces awful father destroy her chance at true love and happiness, like he has done so many times before.?
This story is of long lasting childhhood friends, who stick together through thick and thin, finding true love and most of all acceptance and inner strength to move forward.
A wonderful love story, that is the right length, and is one of those you get caught up in from the first page, to the very last.
Each chapter has you wondering if it all will come crashing down around Grace and Luke, due to her abusive father, with his lies and deceipt.
It also tells the strength of community spirit, when in times of difficulty, they all pull together, to see another member of the community have their dreams come true.
I absolutely loved this book, just like all of Rachels ‘Shadow Creek’ series, and literally read it from cover to cover in one evening. Like all of them, this is a stand alone book, and I am excited to read the next in the series..
Thank you Rachel for a fabulous book, which I highly recommend, and to Beauty & Lace for the opportunity to read and review.
This was another good read from Rachel Armstrong. I’ve read the other Shadow Creek books and so it was nice to see mention of some of the characters that I’ve met before. There’s always some drama, but I love the small town community support that came out in this book – coming from a big city, it’s not like that here. My only disappointment was that I felt that the story ended very abruptly. Thank you Beauty and Lace for letting me review this book >:o)
Rachel Armstrong has turned up the heat in my this unstoppable read lol! Phew, Luke and Grace!
An absolute fantastic writer who definitely gets you close to the characters in this story.
Loved the community coming together and the happiness that outweighed the nasty nature of Graces father.
Just a beautiful story of connection, future happiness and determination!
Thankyou Rachel for your great talent and I have cooled down now by the way
Welcome back to Elizadale, this time with the story of Grace and Luke. The pub with no food is a prequel novella to Home Among The Palm Trees. Grace is wanting to open up a yoga studio, her dad has other plans for her. Luke is managing his family’s hotel and wants to make some menu changes.
Rachel did a fantastic job with this book, I have read her other shadow Creek novels and it was great to read about those characters prior to their “main stories”
Thank you for giving me a chance to read this book, The Pub with No Food by Rachel Armstrong. I had already read her other books so it was great to catch up with some of the characters from those books.
Grace and Luke are both hard working and likeable characters. Grace has a big problem with her father who is still living in the dark ages and thinks daughters should do what they’re told. It’s great Grace doesn’t bow down to him.
This was a great light read.
I love reading Rachel’s books.
This one didn’t disappoint and kept me focused on the two main characters being Grace and Luke. Rachel rights from the heart and you almost feel like you really know the characters through her thoughtful dialogue and discussions. Small town communities are also a focus and just love the story line. Drama, love, families and strength.
I look forward to reading more of Rachel’s stories.
If you’re up for a romantic warm fuzzy feeling then get yourself a copy of this book.
Grace has so many inner doubts, seeded from the family she grew up in and their lack of appreciation of her and who she is.
Luke has taken over the family bar and is making changes to bring it into the now. But it’s not the only changes he wants in his life.
Edward, Grace’s father, has plans for her that will pull the family cattle farm out of its slump and make good on a past of bad decisions. All he needs is Grace to do her bit.
A good read, with great characters and fits amazingly into the series of books, a recommended read for sure. Thanks Rachel Armstrong and Beauty and Lace for my latest adventure in Elizadale.
As always thankyou to Beauty and Lace for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. I see in a lot of other reviews a series of Shadow Creek novels are mentioned- if you haven’t read any before don’t let that deter you from picking up with book. It was beautifully written in a way that some characters are familiar but you don’t feel like your missing a puzzle piece if you haven’t read any in the series before.
It is written in such a way that you can feel the connection between the characters so I was rather disappointed when it ended.
A very nice light story yet not a lifeless read. I can see myself reading this one another few times atleast!
Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review The Pub With No Food by Rachel Armstrong. I had heard so many positive things about Rachel Armstrong and her novels so I was very excited to read the book and it did not disappoint.
Straight up as I started reading I fell in love with the main characters. The book was also set in a really nice place so it was really easy to get hooked once I began.
I don’t typically love the idea of romance novels but this was different to others. I felt like I was right there alongside the characters.
Even though The Pub With No Food is part of the Shadow Creek series (which I have not read), I felt like it was a fantastic standalone novel and I really didn’t feel like I had missed anything which is a testament to Rachel’s writing. I will now be finding Rachel’s other novels to read and look forward to other Shadow Creek novels.
This was a beautiful and lovely book to read and I highly recommend it to anyone.
Thank you again.
Thank you, Beauty & Lace, for allowing me to read & review ‘The Pub with no Food by Rachel Armstrong’.
Grace loves living in the small town of Elizadale, working as a nurse and wanting to set up her own yoga studio. The only problem is her interfering father, who is set to marry her off for his benefit. However, Grace has other plans and after meeting Luke, she finds the strength to stand up for what she truly wants in love and life.
I enjoyed this easy-to-read love story; the characters were relatable, dealing with life’s ups and downs whilst falling madly in love. Thank you, ‘Beauty & Lace Bookclub’, for the opportunity to read ‘The Pub with no Food by Rachel Armstrong’.