The Cornish Cream Tea Bus by Cressida McLaughlin

Baking fanatic, Charlie Quilter, inherits a vintage bus in her late uncle’s will and is keen to give it a new lease of life. Charlie thinks it will be the perfect mobile café for afternoon tea, so she heads to the picturesque Cornish village of Porthgolow, hoping for a new start. However, Daniel Harper, the owner of the posh spa up on the hill isn’t very pleased that her bus is parked outside his lovely hotel. Has Charlie’s Cornish dream developed a soggy bottom? Or can she convince Daniel that her bus could take them somewhere wonderful?


I am a complete sucker for a book set in a bakery or café and I know I hear you all whispering not another one but I adore the comforting storylines with the little buzz of excitement they bring as we watch these determined women begin to build their businesses whilst tempting us with their mouth-watering treats. The Cornish Cream Tea Bus has all of that and more with the unique twist of setting up on an old route-master, how could I resist, the temptation was just too much.


Meet Charlie our leading lady who is ambitious, hardworking and selfless always thinking of how she can help others. As Charlie gets to work on creating her vision of running her own cream tea business onboard her treasured route-master that she has inherited she sees a chance to help the community around her at the same time but this was not going to be plain sailing. Charlie is a determined and honest woman and with every knock she takes from those around her she gets straight back up and comes back fighting strong.


The friendships and relationships between all of the characters were all a joy to read and all felt genuine. I had my reservations about the love interests Oliver and Daniel, the author cleverly pulls us in believing at different points that they could be the one before throwing in situations that then made me wary, so I was never quite sure what way the romance would go which only kept me all the more intrigued!


The temptation was too much for me when it came to the mouth-watering cakes that were continually teased with, I can’t tell you what I would have done to be able to jump on board and gorge on warm homemade scones!


I find Cressida’s writing style manages to sweep me away providing me with pure escapism and creates such an exciting and buzzing atmosphere to her storylines. This is definitely my favourite of her novels and I do hope we see these characters pop up again in future novels.

Paperback                Kindle