Reviewed by Emma Crowley
There’s no place like home. There’s no place like Cornwall…
Maisie Winters has everything she could ever want. She lives in the idyllic Cornish town of Port Karadow, has a jammy job in her dad's shop, adores her rescue mutt, and has time to take the landscape photos she loves.
While her best friend and sister left the town to chase big dreams in London and New York, Maisie stayed – she wouldn't leave her favourite place for anything … or anyone.
When her long-time crush, Colm Caffrey, returns from a decade abroad, old feelings start to resurface. Maisie begins to ask herself if there might be one big thing missing after all?
It’s hard to believe that From Cornwall with Love is the eighth book in the Cornish Cream Tea series by Cressida McLaughlin. It’s a series that has gone from strength to strength and I always enjoy every minute of the time I spend lost in the world that Cressida has created be it in Porthgolow or Port Karadow. You really feel that you are transported away to the little Cornish coastal towns that have such special characters who all work together to create such a vibrant community with solid friendships where everyone is welcomed with open arms and any problems you have will be solved and along the way of course some romance might land smack bang in the middle of your life path. There is a different style of design for the book cover for this new story and I will admit it did take some time to grow on me as I had become very familiar with the old style of pictures used but now I really love it and think it provides a wonderful image of what many readers will believe the setting of Port Karadow to be like.
From Cornwall With Love can be read as a stand-alone book but really this series is so fabulous you should do yourself the favour and read them all from the very beginning. Characters from the previous books come into play but not in an overbearing way and you will be easily able to follow it all. In fact, it’s fun for new readers to work out who is with who and what some of their stories may have been. This time around Maisie Winters is the main protagonist. The book opens with a prologue set ten years previously from the present day. Her sister Heather is studying event management in London and her friend Gemma will be going away to Durham university once the summer ends but Maisie is happy to stay working at the family ironmongers. She has no intentions of leaving Port Karadow. She loves the beauty and peace of the Cornish coastline and she thoroughly enjoys the sense of closeness she experiences where everyone knows and helps each other.
Maisie is passionate about the place she grew up in and I loved how she always stood firm and held her ground despite the endless and in my view unnecessary pressure her mother Annie heaps upon her. Annie more often than not came across as being very heartless. She has many friends in the village, one of them being Colm who always gave her good advice and supported her telling her there is a lot of strength in knowing what you want in life. It’s clear from the outset that Maisie has feelings for Colm and that she would love for their friendship to develop into something more so when he abruptly leaves for a new life in Australia and never tells her she is completely and utterly devastated. Her world has shattered and her intense crush has gone from her life.
Fast forward to the present day and Maisie is still working at the ironmongers but now having taken on more of a managerial role as her Dad has taken somewhat of a backseat. She had dabbled in teaching for some time (thanks to Annie believing that this would be the ideal career for her) but she knew that long term it wasn’t what she wanted and she left. She has been through numerous disastrous relationships and although she dreams about the kind of love that exists in novels Maisie is happy enough with her new house and her loyal dog Sprout by her side not to mention the many friends she has. One of those former flames that she would much rather forget but can’t really due to the fact that he still resides in the village is Jeremy, a teacher whom she worked with. I detested Jeremy, he seemed to have such a bee in his bonnet since Maisie had realised she was better off with him. I loathed the way he talked to her yet when he wanted help with his fish and chips quiz he turned to her and further on when she wanted the favour returned to be honest he was just downright mean. It took a lot of strength and courage for Maisie to stand up to him but that’s what I love about her she knows what she wants to do in life and she never lets external pressures get to her no matter how much she is tested, poked and prodded.
Maisie just wants to make a difference in Port Karadow and she can’t imagine loving anywhere else as much as she does the village. She is the epitome of kindness, helpfulness and giving and I just loved her. It was like her character just called out to me and I was nodding along with everything she said and did. I couldn’t fathom at all why her mother wasn’t supporting her in what she wanted to do with her life. Who says you need to leave where you were born and go out into the world and do something major with your life. If you are happy in heart and mind and you are doing what you believe is best for you than why should you listen to what others believe? Fair enough if Maisie was wild and doing outrageous, dangerous and potentially life ruining things but she wasn’t at all. Then you’d say something that she needed to sit up and pay attention to what her mother was saying but she wasn’t at all. She was just being her true self and I adored her for this. Her Cornish lifestyle was fulfilling enough for her and Annie really should have let sleeping dogs lie instead of constantly goading Maisie and offering needless advice. To be honest I would have told her where to go. I really don’t know where Maisie got her patience from with regards to this.
The crush that had laid dormant for a decade comes rushing to the surface when Maisie discovers that Colm has returned to Port Karadow and it looks like he won’t be returning to Australia in a hurry. On the one hand you get excited for Maisie thinking ooh could things turn into something more like she had always wished for? Then on the other I was thinking don’t welcome him back with open arms after all he hurt you so badly when he left unannounced and maybe he is not the one for you that perhaps she should set her sights somewhere else? There is a simmering tension between the pair that is there from the first time they see each other again with a deep sense of a lot left unsaid. Maisie needs answers as to why Colm left without warning but Colm too is hiding something and he is reluctant to say why he came back from what one would think is an idyllic Australian lifestyle.
Colm comes across as being lovely and wanting to reconnect with Maisie and the people of the village. He throws himself into the calendar project as organised by Ollie (god I just love her enthusiasm and the fact she is always on the go doing things) and photographed by Maisie. I loved how this allowed for the reappearance of old familiar faces and Charlie and Daniel, well the developments in their relationship brought a smile to my face. Colm is open in some ways yet guarded in others and as Masie and himself grow closer and she opens up about the past and how she felt about everything there are lingering doubts for her that Colm will be stable material and not do a flit again. She needs to have the belief that she deserves to have something positive and special in her life. She has always known her own mind and you just hope that Colm can come to the same stance in his own head and heart. Will Maisie and Colm find what has been missing in their lives and let’s be honest do what this reader wanted to happen right from the very first page? Well you’ll have to read this delightful story to discover the answers.
I got the sense in the final few chapters and through reading the authors note at the end from Cressida that this may be the last in the series. I hope I am completely wrong about this and way off track because I would love it to continue for another few books at least. But if this is to be the last we read of this wonderful setting and fantastic characters then From Cornwall With Love has been a fitting ending and Maisie has been my favourite character of all with Ollie coming a close second. This is a book to make you happy as Maisie is such an inspirational character and her determination to stick to her guns throughout is admirable and has you rooting for her all the more. It has such a lovely, relaxed feeling about it all and you really get the sense that Cressida loves writing this series just as much as her loyal readers love each new instalment. Maisie’s story was the perfect summer read and I hope it finds its way to lots of readers.
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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