Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Impulse for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.
It was an amusing story with some sad parts but I'm not sure if my kindle was damp with tears or the drooling over the cakes.
A well written lovely winters read

Hmm I did like the first book in this series better than the second book (more on that in another review). Roberts decides to tell her story through two characters POVs (Ellie and Joe). Ellie is a 20 something working a job she doesn't love. Still at home with her parents and wishing to make her dream of opening a bakery a reality, Ellie interviews for a job at a castle running a tea shop. Though she has no real world experience besides baking for family and friends, Ellie thinks she can make the tea shop a success. When she gets the job she finds herself pulled more to the general manager of the castle, Joe.

I did like the central plot. Young woman decides to move away from home (just an hour) in order to follow her dream of owning her own bakery. Ellie loves to bake and has her grandmother's old recipe book in hand. When she moves into the castle though you see that she has not thought everything through. It would have been great if Roberts had included more missteps by Ellie such as ordering too much or not enough for visitors. Learning how to make other recipes. Dealing with difficult customers, something. Instead we have Ellie having some minor difficulties with one of the older waitresses and having to go and ask Joe for help and almost crying because he was harsh with her for not knowing how to run a bakery. Did I mention that Ellie lied during her interview? Yeah. I would have been harsh too.

Joe's story was much more interesting. I don't want to spoil for potential readers though. I found him less interesting as the story went on since Roberts just focuses on how sexy Joe is finding Ellie and when the sex scenes start that is just the rest of the book really until the end.

The writing was okay. I think it just got way too repetitive for me towards the end. We know that Ellie is worried about making the tea shop a success, we get that she's worried about what to order and bake. I just really wanted something more. We know she had a broken engagement, but it's given no real depth in the book. I wish we had gotten a prologue or something with the ex fiancee or something. He was just some faceless character.

The flow was wonky between segues of Ellie and Joe's POV.

The setting of the castle should have been played up more than it was I think. I love the idea of a castle with a tea shop attached to it. We also know that Lord Henry (the owner) is dealing with the costs to keep up the place and I loved the reality of owning something like that and the taxes and other things you need to worry about.

The ending was okay but felt flat. Things felt very rushed to me and I wish we had more time with the main character with them interacting and talking more. Seriously, towards the end there was just a lot of boom chick a wow wow. I love that in a romance, but I didn't see a connection between Ellie and Joe. This book made me long for the Escape to New Zealand series (the first few books). That's the way to give you some red hot romance with plot/tension mixed in. ( )

As soon as I realised this was set in Northumberland I couldn't wait to read it and quickly bumped it up to the top of my reading pile. It is absolutely jam-packed with Northern-isms from our unrivalled hospitality to the famous cup of tea before bed (us Northerners don't pay any attention to caffeine). Cosy is the right word for this book, it is so warm and lovely, wrapping the reader in a huge hug that they never want to be released from.

Ellie is a great character, taking a risk and following her dream with the help of Nanna Beryl's old Be-Ro recipe book - I think every house had one in the 70's, and we've still got ours. I could almost smell the scones cooking and I drooled over the wonderful sounding choffee cake, emitting a squeal of delight when I spotted the recipe in the back of the book.

Not content with just drooling over the cakes, we have hunky Joe to keep our pulses racing. He's dark and moody at first but you just know he's got a heart of gold underneath those pecs of steel. As their courtship began, I crossed my fingers and hoped that Ellie could scale his battlements and become Queen of his castle.

Lots of laughs and lots of fun, The Cosy Teashop in the Castle is guaranteed to put a smile on your face and melt even the coldest heart. The famous Northern hospitality is described so perfectly and warmly; it is pure escapism into the wilds of Northumberland and I can't think of a better place to escape to.

I received this e-book from the publisher, Harper Impulse, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

My review is now on my blog too: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2016/09/12/my-kyrosmagica-review-of-the-cosy-t...
The Cosy Teashop in The Castle is the perfect read to take away with you for a relaxing break. A light-hearted story set in Northumberland about a young women's dream to run her own tea shop. Being a big fan of cakes, baking, tearooms, and castles, this really appealed to me. By the way there is the added bonus of a lovely cake recipe at the back of the book : Ellie's grandmother - Choffee cake. Sounds delicious! There is also a very satisfactory dollop of romance that never goes amiss on a summer read! The only aspect of the novel that surprised me was just how steamy the romance sections were. Boy were they hot, just about as sweltering as the Portugal sun. So do bear that in mind! Obviously all that floury cake baking, combined with the chemistry between Ellie and the manager of the tearoom, Joe, really enabled the spark to light Ellie's broken-hearted fuse. Phew....Yes, Ellie hasn't had the best of times as far as men are concerned, making her a bit cautious, and Joe has his reasons to be a bit distant too. But the fuse well and truly does get lit, believe me!

My recommendation - Read and find out more! ( )

Lettura leggera, nel complesso poteva essere peggio, anche ci sono alcune parti del tutto inutili ( )