The Teashop on the Corner

Product Information

Some characters from the Yorkshire Pudding Club turn up again in Summer Fling. A character from White Wedding turns up again in Winter Flame …and you just might get a wee bit more out of the story if you read Birds and the Bees before It’s Raining Men. Will has worked hard to build his business to the level where he and his wife can afford a life of luxury only to loose it all after a bad investment. Leni has just opened her teashop in a development of new shops, she has created her shop with great care and it encompasses everything that she loves most in life; cake, books and meeting people. The story revolves around the teashop and it's customers; a bunch of people who would be unlikely to meet if it were not for this little oasis of calm that begins to be very important to them all. 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. I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday is a standalone, though it is set in the same area as It’s Raining Men and The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew

Sunshine over Wildflower Cottage is a standalone book – but someone from Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Café pops up and you may spot a mention of a couple from Here Come The Girls. What I also liked about the book that there are lots of literary references (especially to Jane Austen), which I totally enjoyed. And the teashop is the teashop of my dreams. A teashop where there are some fantastic desserts and you can buy stationery (bags, bookmarks, notebooks etc.) related to classics. (If I won the lottery, I'd totally open a teashop like this.)The Queen of Wishful Thinking features one of the cleaners from Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Café. Also the antiques shop in it is situated next door to The Teashop on the Corner so there is a couple of mentions of it. Though it is very much a standalone book. Every time Milly Johnson releases a new book, I'm like a small child at Christmas - I can't contain myself or think of anything else until I've opened it up and devoured it. It's getting quite difficult now to say anything new about her books - I reviewed It's Raining Men on my blog last year, and several others on Goodreads before that, and never make any secret of the fact that I'm an unashamed fan and that, for me, she can do no wrong. I fell in love with every character and I was captivated by their stories of love, loss and second chances. I just wanted to give Molly a big hug.

I have read many good books this year but this one is one of my private gems so far. It has it all: love, friendship, drama, romance, characters larger than life, sparkling humour and very realistic plot. This book left a big impact on me, left me actually speechless for a very long time. If you are a fan of Milly Johnson - I don't have to recommend this book to you because I'm sure you have read it and loved it as much as I did. If not - please go and buy a copy for you, this will be the best spent money ever.The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew is a standalone book but it does give a sneaky mention to a certain village called Ren Dullem as featured in It’s Raining Men. Milly Johnson writes with warmth and with humour, she creates characters that the reader really really wants to be friends with, she has created a teashop that every book lover would dream of visiting. She understands people and how they operate, and her characters are charming and oh so realistic.

Each character not only has a believable story to tell but they each managed to exude warmth, compassion and strength for themselves and for each other. There were some wonderful laugh out loud moments interspersed with the heartbreak which brought about a real balance within the book and prevented the heavier aspects of the story from becoming to maudlin! The short snappy chapters allowed the story to flow without it feeling rushed which I also liked. 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. There are a number of characters and the story is told from several alternating viewpoints, but I never seemed to get confused by the changes in perspective. I really enjoyed every separate strand to the story and would be hard pushed to claim any favourite, although if I had to, I would say that Molly’s story did really capture my heart a little. El café de los corazones solitarios" es una novela coral, en mi oponión hay dos historias principales y dos (o tres, según se mire) historias secundarias y el hilo que las une con elegancia es el café del título, que casi tiene vida propia. Al principio me costó un poco entrar en la historia pues los capítulos son muy cortos y la autora los utuliza para ir cambiando el punto de vista de narrador, que siempre es en tercera persona. Pero cuando entré en la dinámica me resultó fascinante y debo confesar que admiro a la autora por ser capaz de llevar tantas historias al mismo tiempo. The way in which the author describes the little shop, as well as the quirky gifts inside, makes you really feel as though you are sitting there with the characters, if only I could get my hands on some of her gifts. The storyline is about heartbreak, loss and peoples second chances but yet it is still a storyline full of love and hope so I found it quite an uplifting read.

Table of Contents

This was such a charming little book. I'd never read anything by and never heard of Milly Johnson before, so I didn't know what to expect. I assumed it would be a light and fluffy romance. It was much more than that: yes it is a romance, but it also has some dramatic elements to it. Even though there are some happy endings, they're not cheesy at all; they're quite realistic. And not everyone is fortunate to get a 'happily ever after' ending. The book totally reminds me of the movie Love Actually. Several characters are introduced at the beginning, and the chapters alternate between the different plots. But then, some way or another all the characters find their ways to the Teashop on the Corner, so their stories intertwine. New friendships and love relationships develop. And at this point, the book started to make me think about what I call the Facebook phenomenon. I have always thought that Facebook is actually a "Fakebook", meaning that everyone on it pretends to have a perfect life, even though everybody has lots of skeletons in their closets. But online you can pretend not to have any. By contrast, in real life you can only hide your skeletons temporarily. But real friendship/love is about loving each other with/despite our skeletons. All the characters have their skeletons, and of course they try to hide them, but life forces them to reveal their secrets. But thankfully they have people around them who don't mind their skeletons at all. And those are the moments when highly sensitive people (like me) start crying, and then cry and cry... (And then the book becomes a favourite...) The gorgeous Tea Shop on the Corner in Spring Hill Square has recently been opened by the lovely Leni Merryman, her dream of owning her own tea shop that also specialises in rare quirky literary gifts and stationary has finally come true but she could never have imagined that her little shop would bring a friendly safe haven for a group of people who are all at a challenging and emotional time in their lives. The Teashop on the Corner has a perfect mix of tea, cake, books and friendship. Johnson’s descriptions of Leni’s literary wares makes me want to jump straight online to find some of these gems for myself. It fills me with a need to read the classics mentioned throughout the novel.

They began to come three days later. The first postcard had a picture of Leeds Town Hall on the front. Dear Ms Merryman. I read your story on the internet and I felt compelled to write to you.Milly Johnson fans will be delighted by The Teashop on the Corner, and new readers of this author will wonder why they've not read her books before now. Spring Hill Square is a pretty sanctuary away from the bustle of every day life. And at its centre is Leni Merryman’s Teashop on the Corner, a place where three people will find a friend to lean on: The Mother of All Christmases is a standalone BUT it is also a part sequel to A Winter Flame as it features the further adventures of Jacques and Eve. The Barn on Half Moon Hill story happens within this book so you will definitely benefit from buying that (it’s 99p and all the money goes to charity – see above). The Mother of All Christmases also features characters and mentions from the following books: Here Come the Girls, A Summer Fling, Sunshine Over Wildflower Cottage, White Wedding, The Teashop on the Corner, Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Café, The Queen of Wishful Thinking and The Yorkshire Pudding Club. Since I have read "Here Come the Girls" I fell in love with Milly's writing and although this book still stays on the pole position in my favourites, "The Teashop on the Corner" is very, very high in my rating, just behind. Probably I should create a new rating scale because I would give this book many, many more as only 5 stars.