The Teashop on the Corner by
Milly Johnson
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 2.5 days
Publisher - Simon & Schuster
Pages - 492
Blurb from Goodreads
At her beloved husband's funeral, Carla Pride discovers that Martin never divorced his first wife and has been living a double life with her. And his other wife, Julie Pride, is determined to take everything from Carla - her home, her money, and her memories.
When Will Linton's business goes bust he at least thinks that with the support of his trophy wife Nicole he will rise to the top again. But Nicole isn't going to stick around with 'a loser' and Will finds himself at rock bottom.
Molly Jones is being bullied into going into a retirement home by her 'concerned' daughter-in-law Sherry and son Gram. Then the love of Molly's life walks in through her door - a man who broke Molly's heart into little pieces many years ago. But he says he is dying and wants to spend the time he has left with her.
All people in need of a little love and compassion which they find by chance in the stationery and teashop on the corner run by the ever-cheerful Leni, a woman that site developer Shaun McCarthy finds annoying beyond annoying for her ability to remain unrealistically upbeat about everything.
But is the world of Leni Merryman as full of rainbows and sparkles as everyone thinks? Or is her smile papering over many cracks in her heart that will soon be shattered unwittingly by her new friends?
My Review
Aw I loved this wee book, I wanted to go visit the teashop on the corner and browse all the awesome things for sale. However enough about that, the story centers around three main characters well theres quite a few but these are the three highlighted at the beginning. Carla Pride is in a state of grief and shock, at her husbands funeral and things are about to get worse, much worse. Everything she thought she knew about her husband is about to be shattered and her home life turned upside down.
Will Linton is having a pretty bad time too, his business is fin-e-to, his wife is walking out on him and he is having a person issue that will affect his ability to earn and his professional life.
Molly Jones is in her late sixities, heartbroken from decades before and humiliated her past is about to catch up with her. Her daughter in law is a horrible nightmare, pretending to have Molly's interests at heart but really has her own agenda.
All of these people have nothing that would bring them into each others paths, until a new shop opens, the Teashop on the Corner with the beautiful Leni. Kind hearted, always smiling, fabulous baker and always willing to listen and be there for her customers. Something draws them all in and one by one they find a friendship and trust that all of them have been without, as well as a few book related gifts.
Milly Johnson is always good to read when you want a wee lift or smile, there is always a bit of scandal, a nasty character or wee bit of skulduggery to keep you hooked, on one level or another. I was drawn immediately from the scene with Carla and the funeral, I had to know how it played out. Then reading into the other characters I found myself unwilling to put the book down as I couldn't wait to see what was coming next. Had life not got in the way I could easily have devoured this in one sitting. Johnson's style is like settling down to your favorite soap programme, you don't have to think too hard as your drawn in and absorbed into the story immediately, well I was.
The Teashop on the Corner will have you laughing, tearing up (or outright crying), cheering the characters on and hunting down the Internet for one of those fabulous book bags! I have read this author before and I will absolutely read her again, 5/5 for me this time.
View all my reviews
You can read my review for this fabulous wee read here - http://www.alwaysreading.net/2014/08/review-teashop-on-corner-by-milly.html
The book is practically perfect in condition and as it was when I bought it, no creases to the spine and the tiniest turn up on the corner cover from being in my bag.
