Scan barcode
A review by lucyrider
Starry Skies Over The Chocolate Pot Café by Jessica Redland
4.0
Starry Skies Over The Chocolate Pot Cafe - Jessica Redland
I'm a bit behind on my reviews at the moment and have a total of 6 that I need to catch up with, as well as doing all the reading stuff as well! This was another audible book and I've really enjoyed a lot of the Whitsborough Bay series from Redland and this was narrated by Emma Swan who has grown on me (I initially had preferred Redland's work narrated by Lucy Brownhill, but this book was well read and Swan had to master a wide range of accents and voices.)
Synopsis from Goodreads
A few minutes of courage might change your life…
Emotionally, Tara Porter finds the festive period a challenge. Christmas Day is a reminder of the family she lost, and New Year’s Eve holds bitter memories of the biggest mistake of her life: marrying Garth Tewkesbury. Shunning invitations to celebrate, she seeks refuge in her flat with only her giant house bunny, Hercules, for company.
Professionally, though, it’s the best time of year. Tara’s thriving café, The Chocolate Pot, is always packed. With the café hosting a wedding and engagement party, it’s shaping up to be the café’s best Christmas ever.
When former nemesis, Jed Ferguson, threatens the future of The Chocolate Pot, Tara prepares for a fight. The café is everything to her and she’s not going to let anyone or anything jeopardise that.
Tara badly misjudged ex-husband Garth and, since then, has refused to let anyone in. After all, if you don’t let them in, they can’t hurt you. But has she misjudged Jed too? Is it possible that he’s not the arrogant, deceitful man from whom she bought the café 14 years earlier? Can she find the courage to find out for sure?
I generally liked this book, I was captivated and wanted to keep reading, but... and I won't give any huge spoilers away here, I wasn't sure that Tara needed quite the strenght and depth of backstory that she was given in this book. It could potentially trigger some readers if they have been exposed to a similar scenario. I think there would have been many other plausible reasons for the character to have moved to Whitsborough Bay to start a new like and potentially other reasons less jarring as to why she opted to not let people get close.
I enjoyed the setting of The Chocolate Pot Cafe and would love to live in Tara's flat that sounded wonderful with the Hygge theme running through it and a giant bunny rabbit. I liked most of the characters, although the "baddies" where entirely awful and perhaps could have shown a human side or not necessarily have needed to be as "bad" as they were.
Four stars for me and I think it wouldn't have been hard to elevate to five, I think I just found the back plot a bit too harsh.
I'm a bit behind on my reviews at the moment and have a total of 6 that I need to catch up with, as well as doing all the reading stuff as well! This was another audible book and I've really enjoyed a lot of the Whitsborough Bay series from Redland and this was narrated by Emma Swan who has grown on me (I initially had preferred Redland's work narrated by Lucy Brownhill, but this book was well read and Swan had to master a wide range of accents and voices.)
Synopsis from Goodreads
A few minutes of courage might change your life…
Emotionally, Tara Porter finds the festive period a challenge. Christmas Day is a reminder of the family she lost, and New Year’s Eve holds bitter memories of the biggest mistake of her life: marrying Garth Tewkesbury. Shunning invitations to celebrate, she seeks refuge in her flat with only her giant house bunny, Hercules, for company.
Professionally, though, it’s the best time of year. Tara’s thriving café, The Chocolate Pot, is always packed. With the café hosting a wedding and engagement party, it’s shaping up to be the café’s best Christmas ever.
When former nemesis, Jed Ferguson, threatens the future of The Chocolate Pot, Tara prepares for a fight. The café is everything to her and she’s not going to let anyone or anything jeopardise that.
Tara badly misjudged ex-husband Garth and, since then, has refused to let anyone in. After all, if you don’t let them in, they can’t hurt you. But has she misjudged Jed too? Is it possible that he’s not the arrogant, deceitful man from whom she bought the café 14 years earlier? Can she find the courage to find out for sure?
I generally liked this book, I was captivated and wanted to keep reading, but... and I won't give any huge spoilers away here, I wasn't sure that Tara needed quite the strenght and depth of backstory that she was given in this book. It could potentially trigger some readers if they have been exposed to a similar scenario. I think there would have been many other plausible reasons for the character to have moved to Whitsborough Bay to start a new like and potentially other reasons less jarring as to why she opted to not let people get close.
I enjoyed the setting of The Chocolate Pot Cafe and would love to live in Tara's flat that sounded wonderful with the Hygge theme running through it and a giant bunny rabbit. I liked most of the characters, although the "baddies" where entirely awful and perhaps could have shown a human side or not necessarily have needed to be as "bad" as they were.
Four stars for me and I think it wouldn't have been hard to elevate to five, I think I just found the back plot a bit too harsh.