Tea For Two at the Little Cornish Kitchen – Jane Linfoot

This book is the second in the Little Cornish Kitchen series, but it holds its own as a standalone read. Saying that, once you have finished reading this new book, if you haven’t read the first instalment, then you will most certainly want to do so. The cover of this book declares it ’A pure delight’. Indeed I can think of nothing more delightful than whiling away my winter evenings ‘holidaying’ vicariously in Cornwall, through this book. The cover did, rather sensibly in my opinion, dodge the eternal bullet debate over how one should serve ones scones – the Devon (cream then jam) way or the Cornish (jam, then cream) way, by opting not to grace the cover with any kind of sconnage at all! Myself, I have always considered the Cornish method to be infinitely more practical!

One cannot help but sympathise for Cressida, an internet baking sensation who has had a bit of a baking disaster on national TV. Things seemed to have blown completely out of proportion, necessitating Cressida to combine a bit of house/pet sitting, with hiding out as anonymously as possible in Cornwall. One thing is of no doubt – Cressida’s public seem to have forgotten about the concept of ’being kind’ – an issue which sadly too often comes to the forefront in real modern day life, with cyber bullies feeling that they can say whatever they like, if it is said online.

The book was packed full of comedic moments, with some verging on cringeworthy – an example being when Cressida bumps into Ross, her first love from a decade ago. Another example is mistaking Cressida’s cake sales for tinder dates. It was all enough to virtually make Cressida devoid of all normal sensibilities, whilst giving the reader a right old belly-chuckle. Amusement 101! Poor Cress – Ross did adopt his best ‘hoity-toity’, ’holier than thou’ attitude, which did nothing but simultaneously fuel both my enjoyment and Cress’s embarrassment, as well as providing some kind of satisfaction for Ross! Further comedy was provided by the paw load – with the way that Diesel and Cress reacted so differently every time they bumped into Ross! On a more serious note, Ross and Cress still clearly have unfinished business of the rawest kind between them, even after ten years – but I won’t going into the detail; I’ll let you discover it for yourself and make your own conclusions.

The Community Retirement Home sounded absolutely amazing; If this kind of place doesn’t exist in real life, then it undoubtedly should? Who, in reality wouldn’t want to end their days there, compared to the usual kind of facility. It was really touching when Cress went to the home to decorate cakes – how a simple fairy cake can evoke such a variety of memories from a relatively small group of people, with each associating their favourite colour of icing with a particular memory. In fact the author was very clever with her writing in my opinion, in her portrayal of the emotional side of cooking and baking, in a way that felt fresh and unique.

Ross was in fact a likeable character, despite what Cress might say; indeed I was pretty certain that her outward dislike of him was a surefire indication of how much she actually liked him still, but because of their past, she didn’t dare admit to herself, or anyone else, just how much he actually did mean to her. I saw it as a defence mechanism on Cress’s part – act as though she doesn’t like Ross and she’s not going to get hurt by him again. For his part, Ross seems completely oblivious that he may have ever caused any kind of discomfort or upset.

This book runs a lot deeper than I initially realised, when Cress touches on her relationships with her family members; I was sad that she felt inadequate, in comparison to her siblings. It did however explain some of her life decisions. Indeed, as Cress and Ross started to reveal their vulnerable sides to each other their relationship seemed to improve.

Individually, Cress and Ross were both such wonderful, commanding characters, but together they would be amazing. Both seemed to have worked towards banishing their demons both past and present, although at times it seemed that they didn’t even realise this themselves. I found myself fervently wishing that they could become an item once more at best – although I would settle for them just being friends at this stage.

In order to find out what happens for yourself, please purchase this great book for yourself and read on: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tea-Little-Cornish-Kitchen-Book-ebook/dp/B09MH5L4SP/

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