Friday, 28 September 2018

The Little Christmas Teashop of Second Chances by Donna Ashcroft


The Little Christmas Teashop of Second Chances
Donna Ashcroft
Rating: 4 stars

Snow is beginning to fall around the cosy Castle Teashop, with its toasty log fire, scrumptious mince pies and delicious hot chocolates. Romance is in the air and Lily King is hoping some winter magic will help to make her dreams come true...

Twenty-five-year-old Lily King is wondering when her life is going to start. She adores working at the much-loved Castle Teashop, surrounded by familiar faces and delicious cakes. But she's stuck in a rut. She's just been dumped by her boyfriend and her dream job seems to be slipping through her fingers.

When her best friend Emily Campbell needs urgent help to organise her enchanting Christmas wedding, Lily realises it's finally her moment to shine and reach for the opportunities she's been wishing for. Can she pull off the biggest celebration Castle Cove has ever seen or will something - or someone - make things more complicated than she imagined?

Rebellious and handsome photographer Josh Havellin-Scott has always felt like an outsider, especially next to his perfect older brother, who is about to get married. At the last minute, Josh finds himself roped into plans for the Big Day, the very last thing he wants to do, until he meets creative and quirky Lily King...

When Lily and Josh are thrown together, it's clear they couldn't be more different. But they begin to realise that opposites attract - and sometimes when you're not looking for love, it comes and finds you when you least expect it. With some festive magic, will they manage to work together and save the day?

And could they discover a winter romance of their very own along the way?

An utterly scrumptious festive romance about the importance of being true to yourself, following your dreams and opening your heart to second chances. Perfect for fans of Carole Matthews, Milly Johnson and Debbie Macomber.

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Another day, another Christmas review! I feel like these are all I'm going to post at the moment but I'm absolutely loving all these festive reads! This one I was particularly excited to read, just look at that cover! The mince pies, the Christmas cakes, the snow falling outside the window and all the holly just looks so beautiful and Christmassy! I absolutely love it, and if you weren't feeling festive after reading the blurb, then you definitely would after seeing this cover!

The story itself is just as festive as well. I found myself really relating to Lily's character. It's clear that Lily has big dreams but is - quite frankly - too scared to do anything about them! It wasn't until Simon spoke to restaurant owner Luc about Lily getting a job there as a chef that anything was done about it. Lily came across as quite timid to me at the beginning, and I instantly warmed to her character.

The Castle itself sounds glorious, this novel is set in such a beautiful sounding place that you'd soon be feeling Christmassy after you read this. The overall story kept up a good pace and was entertaining. At no points was I wishing the plot would hurry up a little and I felt all warm and fuzzy at some parts. So it was a great read all together. Lily goes through a lot in this novel, what with her job, her mother (who walked out on her when she was just 18 months old) contacting her out of the blue and her 'relationship' with Josh, she feels completely overwhelmed.

Some characters I didn't really warm to or necessarily like but it was so lovely to read about Lily and Josh's growing and changing relationship though. I really enjoyed reading about them. Thank you to the publisher for a chance to read this novel, which I have reviewed honestly.

1 comment:

  1. Oh I need this in my life, it sounds wonderfully festive!
    Excellent review.
    Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk

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