The Cornish Cream Tea Wedding

The Cornish Cream Tea, Book 4

By: Cressida McLaughlin

Narrated by: Bea Holland

Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

Love is in the Cornish summer air....

Wedding Planner Ellie Moon is dreaming up the most beautiful bespoke wedding for Charlie and Daniel, owners of Cornwall’s favourite cream tea bus. Even though her own life has been turned upside down and she’s had to rent out her charming Cornish cottage with its climbing roses and lavender beds, Ellie is determined to give them a day to remember.

Her new tenant, handsome Mechanic Jago, keeps popping up around the picture-postcard seaside village of Porthgolow. When they’re thrown together in the effort to help his elderly father get a spring back in his step, she discovers that he is full of surprises. Can romance bloom and give Ellie the fresh start she’s been wishing for?

©2021 Cressida McLaughlin (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic Reviews

"A fun, summery read - a little slice of a Cornish cream tea but without the calories!" (Bella Osborne) 

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

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

An embellished bedtime story or holiday story

I generally listen to audio books in the evening before going to bed, as a way of winding down. The story doesn't really go anywhere, so it doesn't matter if you fall off to sleep and miss parts. It's just like EastEnders, Coronation Street or any soap in that you can go away from it, come back to it after a long time, and still pick up without a problem; it doesn't matter that you've missed a whole chunk of "storyline". I recommend putting a sleep timer on your audio app, so that it automatically switches off after reading for a period of time.

The reader (or "performer is now the grand title people use") does a good job. The voice isn't irritating at all, quite pleasant in fact. This skill is not to be underestimated. The number of audio books I've given up on due to irritating accents, badly read books, wildly fluctuating dynamic etc ... I've lost count. However, as I say, this is not one such book and for that, I am grateful.

There are a number of characters, many of them are quite young, and the book focusses on the interaction between them, and any romance that blossoms etc. The characters are not flat, neither are they fully 3 dimensional, but are certainly memorable for the most part. There are a few really strange things about the storyline, however. The first is the preponderance of meat-based foods mentioned. For a story with so many younger characters, there is very little mention of vegetarianism or veganism, and this is very unrealistic. There are some parts of the book where long lists of food are listed, and not a mention of any vegetarian options. It just doesn't hold true given so many younger people have given up meat, and the number is growing. This links in with another element of unrealism in the book, in which some characters are unrealistically polite and considerate one minute, and then using the "f" word the next minute. It feels like this book might have been written by someone from an over-privileged background, with a limited exposure to real life people.

Has this review been over-critical? Well, maybe. But it's how I feel. But I will end on a high. I got to the end of the book, which, as I've said before, is not something that happens with every audio book I start. And, again to reiterate, I did feel that this was a good evening listen (and indeed, would be a bit of a light, fluffy listen on any holiday). So, if your criteria for listening are the same as mine, then I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

this series need to be put to film!!🤩

the whole series would be great turned into films, we need some new great British comedy and with the cornish scenery it would be awesome!!

Superb!!!!!!!

I had read all the books by Cressida about the Cornish Cream Tea Bus, & couldn’t wait for this one - a fantastic story line running through them all - & beautifully read & ‘acted out’ by Bea Holland. I highly recommend these books as ‘light & joyous reading’ - which would brighten anyone’s day!! Thank you Cressida xxx

Lovely story

Great follow on to the Cornish Cream Tea Bus and Summer books. Would live there to be more Porthgolow books.

A perfect holiday escape book.

Not a mention of pandemic or lockdown in sight. Just good old fashioned romance with Happy endings.
Loved it.

Happiness in a book

A joyous finish to this lovely collection of tales set in a lovely part of our country.