The Cosy Tea Shop in the Castle by Caroline Roberts

The Cosy Tea Shop in the Castle by Caroline Roberts

Published: 25th February 2016

Publisher: Harper Impulse

Pages:  257

Available in paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Blurb

When Ellie Hall lands her dream job running the little teashop in the beautiful but crumbling Claverham Castle, it’s the perfect escape from her humdrum job in the city. Life is definitely on the rise as Ellie replaces spreadsheets for scones, and continues her Nanna’s brilliant baking legacy.
When Lord Henry, the stick-in-the-mud owner, threatens to burst her baking bubble with his old-fashioned ways, Ellie wonders if she might have bitten off more than she can chew. But cupcake by cupcake she wins the locals over, including teashop stalwart, Doris, and Ellie’s show-stopping bakes look set to go down in castle history!
Now all that’s missing in Ellie’s life is a slice of romance – can Joe, the brooding estate manager, be the one to put the cherry on the top of Ellie’s dream?

Review

After reading Caroline’s first novel The Torn Up Marriage last year I was very excited to read her new book The Cosy Teashop in the Castle. While her first book took me on an emotional rollercoaster I could tell just from the very pretty cover that this was going to be a more light-hearted and “cosy” read.

Ellie Hall is desperate for a change, in the last eighteen months she’s lost her beloved Nana and broken off her engagement to her fiancé. So when she spots the advert for someone to run the teashop at Claverham Castle in Northumberland she just has to go for despite having virtually no catering experience. Armed with her determination to succeed and her nana’s “Choffee” cake Ellie heads off for the interview. After landing her dream job Ellie soon realises that getting the job was the easy part and making the Teashop a success will be the hard bit.

I love all the characters in this book and Ellie makes a great main character. She’s determined to do her very best to succeed, she’s someone you can instantly warm to as she seems to be able to put people at ease and get them to open up…such as hunky Joe whose closed heart she manages to finally open. The other characters Deana, Lord Henry, Doris and Nicola and of course the lovely double act of Derek and Malcolm all added to life at the castle.

This is a lovely story to get lost in one cosy afternoon and the only downside I found was the ending. I was a little gutted the author finished the book the way she did as I would happily have read more from Ellie and Joe and how things worked out. This isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the ending, I did I just wasn’t ready to let these characters go!

One of the things I loved most about this book was all the baking talk. I love all things cake so was extremely happy to find a recipe for a certain “Choffee” cake at the end of the book, definitely one I’ll be making soon as every time it was mentioned in the story I wanted some.

I’d like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for this copy to review and would like to rate The Cosy Teashop in the Castle by Caroline Roberts 4 out of 5.

Release Day Round-Up #20

So here we are the last week of February and finally some sunshine here in Yorkshire! Fingers crossed it lasts. So here are my top three for this week and surprisingly they are all authors whose previous books I also loved.

Kitty's Countryside Dream by Christie Barlow

Published: 25th February 2016

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 309

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

New home. New life. New beginning. Love affairs can blossom in the most unlikely places . . .
When Kitty inherits Bluebell Lodge from her grandmother, a farm in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside, it’s time for fresh air and a fresh start. Up to her elbows in chickens and ponies, Kitty soon realises there’s an awful lot to learn about farming. Still, at least the locals seem friendly, not least her handsome neighbour Tom…

But just as Kitty is beginning to find her feet, and the possibility of love, the discovery of a long-hidden diary, by a mysterious character called Violet changes everything. Who is Violet and what is her message for Kitty? As Kitty fills in the lost pieces of her family jigsaw and discovers some shocking revelations, will her countryside dream and blossoming relationship fall to pieces? When it comes to life in the country, nothing is ever quite as it seems …

Just like Christie's previous novels I loved this book. Its got more of a deeper plot than her other books with the mystery surrounding Kitty's grandma and who exactly Violet was. It still had Christie's wonderful comical moments and close-knit friendships which made it a really enjoyable book. Check out my review here.

The Silk Merchant's Daughter by Dinah Jeffries

Published: 25th February 2016

Publisher: Penguin UK

Pages: 400

Available in Hardback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

1952, French Indochina. Since her mother's death, eighteen-year-old half-French, half-Vietnamese Nicole has been living in the shadow of her beautiful older sister, Sylvie. When Sylvie is handed control of the family silk business, Nicole is given an abandoned silk shop in the Vietnamese quarter of Hanoi. But the area is teeming with militant rebels who want to end French rule, by any means possible. For the first time, Nicole is awakened to the corruption of colonial rule - and her own family's involvement shocks her to the core...

Tran, a notorious Vietnamese insurgent, seems to offer the perfect escape from her troubles, while Mark, a charming American trader, is the man she's always dreamed of. But who can she trust in this world where no one is what they seem?

The Silk Merchant's Daughter is a captivating tale of dark secrets, sisterly rivalry and love against the odds, enchantingly set in colonial era Vietnam.

Dinah Jeffries The Tea Planter's Wife was one of my favourite books of last year so I was really looking forward to her next book. In The Silk Merchant's Daughter we meet Nicole a young eighteen year old who is half French and half Vietnamese and is struggling to find where she belongs in the world. I really enjoyed reading about Nicole as she is pulled first one way then another by the various sides in her life, but can she really trust Tran who is offering her a way out of the family where she's never felt she belonged or Mark the my of her dreams who she longs to be with. Check out my full review on the blog tomorrow. 

The Cosy Teashop In The Castle by Caroline Roberts

Published: 25th February 2016

Publisher: Harper Impulse

Pages: 400

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

When Ellie Hall lands her dream job running the little teashop in the beautiful but crumbling Claverham Castle, it’s the perfect escape from her humdrum job in the city. Life is definitely on the rise as Ellie replaces spreadsheets for scones, and continues her Nanna’s brilliant baking legacy.

When Lord Henry, the stick-in-the-mud owner, threatens to burst her baking bubble with his old-fashioned ways, Ellie wonders if she might have bitten off more than she can chew. But cupcake by cupcake she wins the locals over, including teashop stalwart, Doris, and Ellie’s show stopping bakes look set to go down in castle history!

Now all that’s missing in Ellie’s life is a slice of romance – can Joe, the brooding estate manager, be the one to put the cherry on the top of Ellie’s dream?

I've only just started reading this but already I'm hooked. Ellie's determined to make the teashop work and I'm right behind her and rooting for her to succeed as she's such a lovely bubbly character. I love how this is much more light-hearted than Caroline's previous novel The Torn Up Marriage which for me was a real emotional rollercoaster. I can't wait for more time to continue on with Ellie's story. Look out for my review coming soon.

So that's my top three for this week but I'd also like to mention One Summer Night by Emily Bold which is a very emotional read and perfect for fans of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. Checkout me review here. If your after something else then check out my releases page above to find other books published today.

Book Review - The Torn Up Marriage by Caroline Roberts

 

The Torn Up Marriage by Caroline Roberts

Published: 5th March 2015

Publisher: Harper Impulse

Pages: 299

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

 

Blurb

Why do we hurt the ones we love, and can there ever be a way back?
“The Torn Up Marriage” is about betrayal, complacency, love and loss, and that key instinct to protect your family. But what happens when you tear that family apart? Kate and Michael are about to find out as they cope with the crushing fallout of his affair, whilst trying to protect their two young children. This powerful and poignant novel captures the explosiveness of everyday life and what it is to be human; to make mistakes.
Set in the historic town of Alnwick, Northumberland, with its stunning backdrop of castles, moorland hills and coastline, this relationship story of love and family takes you in a rollercoaster ride of emotions along with Kate and Michael.
Michael’s mother’s battle with breast cancer shatters them all, yet shows them how precious life, love and family is. Can they find a way back and fight for their battered yet enduring love?
So, what would you do if it happened to you? Could you betray? Could you forgive?

Review
The Torn Up Marriage is the tale of a marriage break up following an affair and how the two sides deal with the fallout from the betrayal. It details all the stages you would expect to go through after a break up including telling the parents, friends, getting back out in the world socially and the eventually meeting of the new partner.

The book starts with Kate making dinner and everything seeming normal but as the paragraphs unfolded you could actually feel her tension as she waits to confront her husband Michael about having an affair. I was totally gripped by this first chapter, it is exactly how I would imagine that scene playing out in real life and the build-up of tension as Kate wonders exactly how to start that awful conversation is just brilliant, I could actually feel my heart racing and was wondering what exactly Michael would do.

As Michael admits that yes he is having an affair and eventually packs his bags to move in with his mistress, you can feel Kate’s world crumble around her as her marriage is ripped apart. The story goes on to detail how both Kate and Michael deal with the break-up. Kate with her anger, loss and humiliation and the difficulty of trying to keep an everyday normal routine going for her two young girls when all she wants to do is drown her sorrows in a glass of wine. Michael with his guilt of ripping his family apart, watching the confusion in his daughter’s eyes’ as they think daddy’s left because he doesn’t love them anymore.

This is a book which deals with everyday emotions when life gets hard, it doesn’t sugar coat them either, some of these scenes are ugly, especially watching Kate turn to the alcohol more and more. They way this book was written sometimes had my stomach in knots with a feeling that something really bad would happen.

The thing I liked most about this book was the way the children were written about. Charlotte and Emily were such lovely innocent little girls that ended being so confused about what was going on and it wrenched at my heart to see them sad. This was very realistic to me and I’m glad it wasn’t glossed over.

The Torn Up Marriage is a book which had me emotionally involved right from the start and I really felt I was right there experiencing all the emotions myself. If you want a book that will really make you question what you would do in a similar situation this is it. Would you stay or go? Would you ever forgive? Would you be tempted in the first place?

I thought this book was brilliantly written and the emotions were spot on, cannot wait to read more from this author.  I would give this book 5/5, simply for the pure emotion it conveys.

Thank you to Harper Impulse for sending me an arc copy to read.