We are back in Whitsborough Bay for Christmas at the Chocolate Pot Cafe, Jessica Redlands' Christmas romance.
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?
You get to see Tara Porter's character development in this lovely Christmas read as she evolves from the closed off, cynical person at the beginning to someone who can contemplate trusting people again. In the process, you get to understand what has brought her to the lonely state she is in at the beginning. Her story is certainly not one you can guess at and you only find it out slowly as she begins to confide in her friend, Carly.
Jessica Redland can always tell a good story and she weaves together a whole array of characters- any one of whom could be her next subject for another Whitsborough Bay story. There is humour and warmth despite the wall which Tara has built around her true feelings and despite the loss and deceit she has endured. You can really visualise her lovely hygge flat- her own safe space and where her delightful giant pet rabbit lives. Tara is a brave and capable central character who has all your sympathy. Romance fizzes along under the surface as she comes to terms with what is important in her present.
In short: A festive read to savour.
About the Author
Jessica had never considered writing as a career until a
former manager kept telling her that her business reports read more like
stories and she should write a book. She loved writing but had no plot ideas.
Then something happened to her that prompted the premise for her debut novel,
Searching for Steven. She put fingers to keyboard and soon realised she had a
trilogy and a novella.
She lives on the stunning North Yorkshire Coast — the
inspiration for the settings in her books — with her husband, daughter, cat,
Sprocker Spaniel, and an ever-growing collection of collectible teddy bears.
Although if the dog has her way, the collection will be reduced to a pile of
stuffing and chewed limbs!
Her passion for North Yorkshire is shared by fellow-writer
and great friend, Sharon Booth and, together, they are the Yorkshire Rose
Writers.
Jessica tries to balance her time — often unsuccessfully —
between being an HR tutor, trying to re-learn how to play the piano, studying
towards a Masters in Creative Writing, and writing itself. Who needs sleep?
Catch up with the rest of the tour!
Thanks so much for the lovely review, Marianne. Much appreciated x
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