Reviewed by Emma Crowley
It’s going to be an unforgettable Cornish summer…
Thea Rushwood was looking forward to exploring the beautiful Cornish tourist spot of Port Karadow, but when her friend drops out at the last minute, she is forced to go solo. Arriving at her cosy holiday cottage to discover a building site next door, Thea and the annoyingly attractive, but grumpy builder, Ben, don’t get off to the best start.
Thea starts to wonder if her perfect escape wasn’t meant to be. That’s before she realizes there is more to Ben – and to the community – than she first thought. As a magical Cornish summer stretches out in front of her, Thea discovers this is one holiday that she never wants to end…
Many thanks to Harper Collins UK via NetGalley for my copy of The Cornish Cream Tea Holiday to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
I hold my hands up and confess that I still haven’t gotten around to reading the last book in Cressida McLaughlin’s, Cornish Cream Tea series, Christmas Carols and a Cornish Cream Tea which was published last year but I will definitely rectify that once Christmas reading season comes around again. But not having read the previous book did not in any way detract from the huge amount of enjoyment I got from reading this new book, The Cornish Cream Tea Holiday. This was a brilliant read from start to finish and it’s been rare this year that I have given a book five stars but this story deserves it and so much more. Once I started it, I couldn’t leave it out of my hands and in fact I read it one sitting which these days is unusual for me but it just goes to show how good it was. This is the perfect summer read that delivers on all fronts - the perfect location, characters you root for, an interesting plot and a great pace that keeps you rapidly turning the pages and of course all the mentions of books and bookshops. I mean you can’t fail to love Thea and her passion for books. She is a character that will speak to so many people and you root for her every step of the way on her journey.
It really makes no difference at all to your reading experience if you have not read any of the previous books as all can be read as standalone stories and in particular I feel this one even more so than some of the others. Cressida whisks us away once again to Cornwall and the seaside town of Port Kadow. Wow, is all I can say. The descriptions of the town and the surrounding coast and countryside were just fantastic. I have no hope of going anywhere on holiday this year but reading this book I felt I was transported to the hot days of summer near the beach and I was with Thea on her holiday which turned into much more of a life journey than she had anticipated.
Thea arrives from Bristol to spend a few weeks in Cornwall. She works in a library (my dream job if I wasn’t teaching) and has been looking forward to some time away for ages. Everything had been so carefully planned with her work colleague and best friend Esme and numerous things were going to be ticked off their summer bucket lists as well as lots of reading. But work commitments mean Esme has had to pull out. Of course, Thea is angry and upset and you can tell she is not looking forward to spending so much time on her own but still she will make the best of the situation. As soon as she pulls up at Sunfish Cottage with its uninterrupted panoramic sea views Thea feels herself start to unwind but that’s not to say her time away will be all smooth sailing.
The glorious coastal descriptions had me from page one and didn’t relinquish their grip until the final page. The use of the landscape and the coast throughout the story was just fantastic and so vital to the overall plot. I could easily visualise Thea sitting outside the cottage reading a book and enjoying the sunshine but next door at Oyster Cottage noise abounds as its been renovated by Ben. Thea and Ben don’t get off to the best of starts and although he is very handsome he is quite closed off and wasn’t perhaps as welcoming as he should have been. He can be gruff and cantankerous but the more we get to know him and he slowly reveals himself the more I thought oh please let good things happen for both himself and Thea in both their personal and professional lives.
The reader can instantly tell that Ben has secrets and a backstory and you know over time that Thea will try and delve that little bit deeper and get to the heart of the man that is Ben. But the journey to do so was just so amazing and incredible that I didn’t want to rush through any of it. Unfortunately, I did because I was just so gripped by everything. It was like Cressida wove a spell over me and I just became so deeply invested in the story. I don’t know what makes some books just OK reads and then others you are just so totally taken in by but I was just wrapped up and enveloped by Thea and her story and all the elements came together to make for the most perfect book that I have read in the contemporary women’s fiction genre in a very long time.
I could identify with Thea so much. I mean who doesn’t love a girl who says books are an essential part of her life. She was just such a real and down to earth character. Yes she has her flaws but she knows she does and is trying to repair them. The scenes where she was determined to tick something off the bucket list despite dreading it so much, well that would be me all over. I felt every bit of her pain as she traversed the cliff edge on a scorching day and the blisters just intensified. She was stubborn and wasn’t going to admit to Esme that she would rather curl up with a book for the day. What really makes Thea stand out is her hidden lifelong dream. Yes she has come to Cornwall for a holiday but she has other motives too. For as long as she can remember she has wanted to open and run a bookshop. Thanks to a friend Alex, she has gotten support and has a business plan together. She hopes to explore the streets of Port Kadow and find a suitable location for her shop. She has kept this all secret from Esme despite them having such a close bond which goes back to troubles during Thea’s time at school. This aspect was handled so well and allowed the reader to truly understand what was motivating Thea. Her time at school had given Thea a mistrust of people that she couldn’t banish but books and her job give her a confidence that was otherwise absent in other areas of her life. I hoped this confidence would shine through and allow her to fulfil her dreams.
There was so much that occurred in this book but at no point did things feel overwhelming or just added to the storyline for the sake of it. The adventures Ben and Thea took were wonderful and of course food and cream teas have to be mentioned and again this fitted in perfectly with everything. The further I got into the story the more I was enjoying it and I didn’t want it to end. I could have kept reading about Thea and Ben for many hours. Thea starts to grow and change and is enhanced by her new experiences and the friends she makes. Whilst out walking she stumbles across The Old Port House which overlooks Port Kadow and was once the post office. Sylvia lives there alone and it is in desperate need of repair and is being handed back to the council. I could picture so clearly the old house and what it could be in the future. Will Thea see the same? Has she the resources to make her wishes come true?
No doubt about it, this book was a fabulous read that I urge you to place at the very top of your summer reading this year. It will provide you with the perfect slice of escapism that so many people are desperately craving right now. The only thing I will say is that I understand that this book is book six in the series and using Cornish Cream Tea has worked well for the books all along but I feel we are moving away from the cream tea aspect. I understand wanting to keep the same words in the titles as readers have become familiar with the series and the setting etc but the characters that established this series have been dealt with. Yes, they do make a brief appearance in this book and it’s fun to be able to say oh yes I recall so and so from this book and you remember what happened. But I think the series has become so well established and we have even moved away from the original setting, although not too far, that perhaps the title is slightly misleading at this stage. But that’s just my opinion and really in the major scheme of things it’s very minor.
The Cornish Cream Tea Holiday is certainly one for the keeper shelf and has reminded me why I love Cressida’s writing so much. November can’t come quick enough, as that’s when the next book will be published, because I felt we were left on a slight cliff-hanger at the end and it just gave me a sense that there is a lot more to come from Thea and I desperately want to see her ambitions and life dream come full circle. Of course with some new characters thrown in too. The Cornish Cream Tea Bookshop is firmly on my wish list and I feel it’s going to be just as good if not better, which will be hard really, than this wonderful book which was so captivating, uplifting and simply an utter joy to read.
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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