The Cornish Cream Tea Bus

Cornish Cream Tea, Book 1

By: Cressida McLaughlin

Narrated by: Laura Kirman

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

The charming novel from the author of The Canal Boat Cafe. Perfect for cake lovers and old-fashioned romantics!

On your marks, get set....

Baking fanatic Charlie Quilter, still nursing a broken heart, is surprised when her late uncle bequeaths his vintage 1950s Routemaster bus to her in his will. She adored driving around with him in it when she was a child and can’t contemplate selling it.

When Charlie loses her job, her friend Juliette has an exciting idea and suggests Charlie come to stay with her in the picturesque Cornish village of Porthgolow. Thrilled at the chance of a new start, Charlie packs her spatula, her pinny and her cute dog Marmite onto the bus, and they head off for a summer adventure....

©2019 Cressida McLaughlin (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Captivating." (Heat Magazine)

"A wonderful ray of reading sunshine." (Heidi Swain)

"Beautiful...heartwarming." (Zara Stoneley)

I love this book

this was just to find books some parts were predictable but otherwise I just love the story his detail into each of the characters. I also love the storyline which is kind of predictable but a good feel happy ending story. I really love learning the background having two characters because I was introduced to them through book number three. I plan on continuing this series with book number two so I can get the full story of all the characters. I'm going about this backwards but it's been fun.

An Angry Main Character

I liked the story ok. I did not like the main character being so angry and so quick to become angry. I just wanted the book to be over.

What a delightful read!

I loved this book so much. I live in Oklahoma, but left part of my heart in Cornwall after a visit in 2018. Since I can't just pop down there whenever for a holiday weekend, I visit as much as possible through books and other media. McLaughlin did such a fantastic job of transporting me back to Cornwall. The descriptions of the Cornish landscape and seascape were as delectable as the food created my the lovely Charlie, the story's heroine. I adore stories in small villages peopled with quirky, eccentric denizens. This novel has it in spades. I've already snapped up the rest of the books in this series. Thank you, Cressida McLaughlin.

Cornish Cream Tea Bus

Loved the story, characters and narrator. Now I want cream tea yummies and to visit

Good book but not a big fan of the narration.

The story is sweet and for anyone who likes authors like Jenny Colgan, but the way it was read made it sound like the book was written for a very young audience, which was disturbing and took away from the humorous parts. It was an okay book though.

Okay

This book is easy listening. I had very few fits of rage because of the writing or character development. At best, it’s a little vacation. At worst, I found the conflicts lacked real weight. The lead character is a bit of an overwrought conclusion jumper. If she’d been more measured and even keel she wouldn’t have any problems at all.

Also, the author can’t write romance. There was no real passion (which can be artfully done without graphic sex), just a whole lot of stops and starts and cheesy scenes. Champagne in the hot tub 🙄. An itemized list of reasons why I love you 🤮.

Like a Hallmark movie!

If a Hallmark love story is your cup of tea, you will love this book.

Ok but not much depth

As other reviewers have said, pleasant book... but it was too simple. Challenges solved, all happy but didn’t have the complexity or struggle to make the resolution satisfactory

Repetitive drama

Rarely do I not finish a book but in this case I just had to stop. There was entirely too little character building among the wonderful residents of this small Seaside community but the part I struggled with the most was the childish self-induced drama from Charlie with regard to Daniel. The dynamic got very old.The narration was very good. very pleasant voice and reading Style but I very much doubt I'll read another one of this author's books. Although this genre is a tough one to stand out in, it is possible to do given a creative and unpredictable story.