Book info

• Title Rosie's Travelling Tea Shop
• Author Rebecca Raisin
• Year 2019
• Genres Romance, Travel

Rosie Lewis has her life together. A swanky job as a Michelin-Starred Sous Chef, a loving husband and future children scheduled for an exact date. That’s until she comes home one day to find her husband’s pre-packed bag and a confession that he's had an affair. Heartbroken and devastated, Rosie drowns her sorrows in a glass (or three) of wine, only to discover the following morning that she has spontaneously invested in a bright pink campervan to facilitate her grand plans to travel the country. Now, Rosie is about to embark on the trip of a lifetime, and the chance to change her life! With Poppy, her new-found travelling tea shop in tow, nothing could go wrong, could it...?

Thoughts

With the world imploding, I’m occasionally in the mood for a soft and squishy rom-com style book, and this seemed to fit the bill. Rosie’s husband leaves her with some pretty dire warnings about how her orderliness will keep her single and unhappy for the significant future. So she upends her entire life, buys a van, leaves London and hits the road, dispensing tea and cakes at various festivals. Along the way she finds friends and love, and a little bit of happiness.

So it sounds good, but I thought it all a bit too convenient. She found her friend and travelling partner at the first place she went to visit. They manage to get spots at some of the biggest festivals around the country despite very little planning or evidence of the admin involved (there’s just one brief mention of it at the start). And whilst the idea of this nomadic lifestyle sounds appealing, actually the way it’s described didn’t really do it for me. And the love story was inevitable from the start. Not exactly what I was hoping for but a serviceable romance with plenty of soul-searching along the way.

Rating: 3 / 5