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A review by editbarb
The Cosy Teashop in the Castle by Caroline Roberts
2.0
I enjoy chick lit. I like stories of women making or remaking their lives, figuring out who they are and what they want to do, and--inevitably--finding love along the way.
This book had potential. Ellie is in her mid-20s, works at a call center for an insurance company, recently separated from her fiance, and lives at home. She loves to bake, is good at it, and has a recipe book from her beloved grandmother. When she sees an advertisement to take over the tea shop at a nearby castle, she goes for it. Naturally, because this is chick lit and despite her complete lack of any experience in food service other than occasionally helping out at a friend's shop, she gets the job.
A lot of the first part of the book involves Ellie trying to figure out how exactly she's supposed to run the shop. I should've stopped then, when I got annoyed with her for not realizing the basic steps she could take. (I mean, I've never worked in food service, either, but came up with steps to take before Ellie had to have them spelled for her.) But I liked seeing her get her life and job together at the castle.
Unfortunately, Roberts decided to focus on Ellie's romance with Joe essentially to the exclusion of everything else in this book. I was enjoying that the tea shop wasn't immediately successful (though Ellie did a bit too well initially--but it's fluff, so whatever) and was looking forward to Ellie learning how to manage staff. But Ellie and Joe got together and nothing else was followed up on. Roberts moved on to a lot of telling about what was going on with the shop and any non-Ellie or -Joe characters (and by "a lot," I mean "not a lot at all, but occasional comments"). It was beyond frustrating, particularly when Ellie mentions numerous times being concerned about what she'll do once the castle's season ends.
Pro tip: Don't start multiple chapters with a sentence that's essentially, "Everything was perfect and Ellie had never been so happy." Particularly when you don't actually introduce any obstacles between those chapters.
The writing itself was also weak, to the point that I was surprised that this author has written numerous other books. In some ways it felt like a writing exercise by a teenager (did I need to see the phrase "trouser snake" in this book? I did not) that received some editing, but ultimately was given up on by an editor.
If Roberts had kept the focus of the book on Ellie and her development and growth, it would've been an enjoyable read. Instead, it felt like someone who wanted a real plot but then wanted to give up on it and just write about clothing and sex and wish fulfillment.
This book had potential. Ellie is in her mid-20s, works at a call center for an insurance company, recently separated from her fiance, and lives at home. She loves to bake, is good at it, and has a recipe book from her beloved grandmother. When she sees an advertisement to take over the tea shop at a nearby castle, she goes for it. Naturally, because this is chick lit and despite her complete lack of any experience in food service other than occasionally helping out at a friend's shop, she gets the job.
A lot of the first part of the book involves Ellie trying to figure out how exactly she's supposed to run the shop. I should've stopped then, when I got annoyed with her for not realizing the basic steps she could take. (I mean, I've never worked in food service, either, but came up with steps to take before Ellie had to have them spelled for her.) But I liked seeing her get her life and job together at the castle.
Unfortunately, Roberts decided to focus on Ellie's romance with Joe essentially to the exclusion of everything else in this book. I was enjoying that the tea shop wasn't immediately successful (though Ellie did a bit too well initially--but it's fluff, so whatever) and was looking forward to Ellie learning how to manage staff. But Ellie and Joe got together and nothing else was followed up on. Roberts moved on to a lot of telling about what was going on with the shop and any non-Ellie or -Joe characters (and by "a lot," I mean "not a lot at all, but occasional comments"). It was beyond frustrating, particularly when Ellie mentions numerous times being concerned about what she'll do once the castle's season ends.
Pro tip: Don't start multiple chapters with a sentence that's essentially, "Everything was perfect and Ellie had never been so happy." Particularly when you don't actually introduce any obstacles between those chapters.
The writing itself was also weak, to the point that I was surprised that this author has written numerous other books. In some ways it felt like a writing exercise by a teenager (did I need to see the phrase "trouser snake" in this book? I did not) that received some editing, but ultimately was given up on by an editor.
If Roberts had kept the focus of the book on Ellie and her development and growth, it would've been an enjoyable read. Instead, it felt like someone who wanted a real plot but then wanted to give up on it and just write about clothing and sex and wish fulfillment.