The Little Teashop of Lost and Found by Trisha Ashley

The Little Teashop of Lost and Found by Trisha Ashley

Published: 9th March 2017

Publisher: Bantam Press

Pages: 432

Available in Hardcover and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 5/5

Blurb

Alice Rose is a foundling, discovered on the Yorkshire moors above Haworth as a baby. Adopted but then later rejected again by a horrid step-mother, Alice struggles to find a place where she belongs. Only baking – the scent of cinnamon and citrus and the feel of butter and flour between her fingers – brings a comforting sense of home.

So it seems natural that when she finally decides to return to Haworth, Alice turns to baking again, taking over a run-down little teashop and working to set up an afternoon tea emporium.

Luckily she soon makes friends, including a Grecian god-like neighbour, who help her both set up home and try to solve the mystery of who she is. There are one or two last twists in the dark fairytale of Alice’s life to come . . . but can she find her happily ever after?

Review

I’ve been a huge Trisha Ashley fan for many years and have read most of her previous books with my favourites being her Christmas novels which just fill me with festive joy. The Little Teashop of Lost and Found is her newest release and is probably my favourite of her non-Christmas releases.

Alice Ross was a foundling discovered on the harsh Yorkshire Moors only hours old. After being adopted by her loving father and his wife Alice finds a happy home while she grows up. Sadly when she is still a teenager her father dies and her adopted mother rejects her so Alice is left alone in the world. Moving from place to place Alice tries to find somewhere to call home and someone to give her heart to. After suffering many setbacks and heartbreaks Alice finally decides to head back to Yorkshire and try and find her birth mother. Alice buys a teashop unseen on the internet and heads to the town of Haworth to set up her new business and hopefully her forever home.

Alice was one of those characters who I instantly loved, she so optimistic about life and always tries to see the best in people despite suffering so many setbacks and so much heartbreak. I really admired her courage to pick herself up and start again and I was longing for her to find somewhere to really call home.

I also really enjoyed the fact that as a second job Alice is a writer of grown up fairy tales with a twist of horror in them and throughout the book we get little snippets of what she was writing. These sounded really good and I’d love for Trisha Ashley to publish the full story.

I loved reading how the Teashop was brought back to life by Alice and her new found friend Niall and his lovely caring family the Giddings’. All the scrummy delights mentioned in the book make me long to visit this delightful little teashop.  The chemistry between Alice and Niall was wonderful to read about, they teased and bickered with each other but it was obvious these two really liked each other.

As with all Trisha Ashley novels this books full of warm-hearted characters, beautifully settings, delicious cakes and that special touch of magic which makes it stand out as a Trisha Ashley novel. What made this one extra special for me was the touch of mystery surrounding Alice’s birth mother and also the twist at the end which was much unexpected and totally threw me.

Thank you Trisha Ashley for another wonderful novel, eagerly awaiting the next one now. Thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy to review.

Top Ten Tuesday - Books I'd Recommend to People Who Haven't Read Chick Lit

This week at The Broke and the Bookish the Top Ten was books you would recommend to someone who had never read....so I chose Chick Lit , here is my list, in no particular order:

 

 

1. Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes

I love this book, it was one of the first adult books which I bought and I have re-read it many times. It tells the story of Lisa who moves over to Dublin from London to be the editor of the newly launching Colleen magazine, Ashling who applies to be assistant editor and her best friend Clodagh who is seems to have the domestic dream of house, husband and child. Its just a brilliant read about being female and dealing with life.

 

 

2. Bookends by Jane Green

Bookends tells the story of four university friends Cat, Lucy, Josh and Si and what happens when Portia comes back into their lives. Bookends is the name of the café which Cat and Lucy start together, this is my idea of a dream place a bookshop with a café. A brilliant story of what can happen when you start to assume things about people.

 

 

3. Twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

Perfect Christmas read. Holly Brown doesn't like Christmas, she agrees to house sit a remote manor in the moors of Lancashire, perfect as she just wants to be alone. When she arrives she finds she is not alone and the family have all arrived expecting a full on family Christmas. Even though the ending to this book is very predictable it is the perfect Christmas book for me as I love all the descriptions of the meals and the decorating which happens, best read by a lovely log fire with hot chocolate.

 

 
 

4. Simply Divine by Wendy Holden

 Socialite Champagne D'Vyne wants to write a magazine column so drags in journalist Jane to write it for her. Jane is also trying to help best friend Tally save a crumbling family home. This is a quick easy read which will make you laugh, although Champagne is probably one of the most annoying characters ever written.

 
 


5. Amanda's Wedding by Jenny Colgan
Fran and Mel have been invited to Amanda's wedding to Laird Fraser. They feel sorry for him marrying social-climbing Amanda who is only interested in his title. So the pair enlist Fraser's brother Angus to help sabotage the wedding. This is hilariously funny and I just love the schemes that the girls come up with to stop the wedding. 
 


6. The Undomesticated Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
Samantha Sweeting is a hotshot lawyer, until she makes a huge mistake. She packs her bags and heads out into the countryside where she is mistaken for a interviewee for a house-keeping job. She accepts the job but is completely clueless about anything found in a kitchen. As she finds her way round the kitchen she also finds love. But will her old life catch up with her? Another light-hearted funny read.
 

 
7. In Her Shoes by Adele Parks
Eliza and Martha are sisters. Each sister envy's the other Martha has the family and house and wants her freedom and Eliza longs for Martha's stability.
 


8. White Wedding by Milly Johnson
Bel, Max and Violet are all  planning their weddings and they each meet in the White Wedding shop. AS the story unfold each of their planned wedding goes slightly wrong. This is Milly Johnson at her best with a story of friendship, betrayal and a little romance.
 


9. Heiresses by Lulu Taylor
Three sisters Jemima, Tara and Poppy inherit their fathers failing perfume business, instead of selling it off they decide to try and make a go of it themselves. This is a story about wealth, lust and families and is gripping from the first page.
 

 
10. Daddy's Girls by Tasmina Perry
Four sisters Serena, Cate, Venetia and Camilla, one of them may have killed her father Sir Oswald Balcon. This is a dip into the lives of the rich and famous with an element of who done it mystery. It's perfect for pure escapism. 
 
So that's my list of beginner chick lit, what is on your list this week? Check out everyone else's list here.