Laurie loves a challenge. Especially if it involves tea-time and travel. So when British baking treasure Pamela Lambert-Leigh needs a guide on a research trip for her new cookbook, she jumps at the chance.
The brief:
Laurie and Pamela - along with Pamela's sassy mother and stroppy daughter - will board a vintage London bus for a deliciously unusual tour of the USA's East Coast, cruising from New York to Vermont.
Their mission:
To trade recipes for home-grown classics like Victoria Sponge and Battenburg for American favourites like Red Velvet Cake and Whoopie Pie.
All the women have their secrets and heartaches to heal. As well cupcakes galore, there's also the chance for romance...
But will making Whoopie lead to love?
Every year I look forward to a new book from Belinda Jones as I know she's likely to be whisking me away to places that I am unlikely to visit and that's certainly true in The Travelling Tea Shop as she takes readers on a journey along the east coast of America with Laurie, who we briefly met in Belinda's previous book Winter Wonderland, as she lands herself a job working for renowned baker Pamela Lambert-Leigh.
Her brief is to make all the arrangements for Pamela's research trip to seek out tantalising US delights for a new cook book and they're certainly going to be doing it in style travelling in a converted red London bus. But if dealing with temperamental Pamela is not enough she soon discovers that Pamela's feisty mother Gracie and her sulky teenage daughter Ravenna will be joining them too which certainly leads to plenty of tension and drama...
Along the way secrets will be divulged, romances new and old will blossom and of course plenty of cake will be sampled.
When I first heard about the concept of this story, I knew it was going to be bad for my diet and it certainly was as I dare anyone to read this book without having a craving for something sweet. I loved the idea of exchanging the receipes of well-known British desserts with those of a speciality desserts from the states that they visit along the way and it was clear that Belinda had done her research about the history behind the cakes featured.
Although I have to confess that I didn't love The Travelling Tea Shop as much as some of her previous books, it was still a fab read. If you fancy a virtual road trip with mouthwatering treats then this is the perfect Summer read for you.
I'd like to thank Ellie at Hodder & Stoughton for sending me a proof copy of this book to review.
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