Cover Image: The Cornish Cream Tea Bus: Part One – Don’t Go Baking My Heart

The Cornish Cream Tea Bus: Part One – Don’t Go Baking My Heart

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Member Reviews

A great start to a series and leaves you wanting to know what’s next. Can’t wait for the next installment now!

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Thanks Netgalley, Publisher and the author. I absolutely loved this book and cannot wait for the next 3 books in the series. This is a real feel good read

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I love the idea of an old Routemaster used for taking afternoon tea, I've often been tempted to book on one of the tours in London. I enjoyed this starter novella and I'm looking forward to seeing if Abby's plans to help reinvigorate the village of Porthgolow bear fruit and if she manages to make a go of her new fledgling business. Likeable characters and a few laughs along the way make this a cosy, fun read.

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"Don't Go Baking My Heart" is a brilliant title, I love it, although I couldn't spot its interrelatedness to the story - apologies if I missed something. It is also the first of a new 4 - part series and even though I usually don't read books in series but I rather wait for them to be published as a gorgeous paperback, it's from Cressida McLaughlin, and so I though, this time I can't wait. I have to read it. So there.
The story follows a simple and already known formula but it works, guys, it works brilliantly! Charlie, our main character, is simply great, so determined and funny, and the author couldn't take a better character to play a reading role in this book. After her beloved uncle's death, Charlie has been left his vintage bus. To keep his memory alive, she decides to turn Gertie into a bus cafe, and I loved the final result. Soon Charlie takes her new bus on a test run, to see how things work, and after a very minor disaster Charlie finds herself taking a sabbatical (or rather, being forced to take sabbatical), travelling with Gertie to her best friend Juliette in Porthgolow and causing problems there.

I think I can predict the direction the story is going to turn, and there is romance in the air as well, but it absolutely doesn't bother me. It was a feel - good, humorous novella, a great introduction to the series and I will be for sure reading the next instalments. And I know I don't gush over covers enough lately, but this one so deserves a standing ovation - it's simply beautiful and so eye - catching, it's a shame that it's an ebook cover.

The pace of the story was great, things were moving really quickly and there was not a single moment flat. The setting was gorgeous, and I love the sound of Porthgolow, with its streets and suspicious residents. Cressida's descriptions are so, so vivid, she brings the colours, places and characters so easily to life. Can't wait for the next part!

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As soon as I started reading this, I loved it and felt like Charlie was my best friend and now I'm jealous and I'm now wanting a dog like Marmite! I also wish I had a bus and a baking skill to go together.

Now, onto my main review. So, I got to read this book via net galley three weeks in advance! When I started reading this, my first thought was I wished I had a double decker bus as I would have some great business ideas for it. Anyway, lets return back to Charlie who is grieiving for her uncle, trying to do the bus up and work too many shifts at her local cafe. Charlie then realsies she can combine all three things. Turn her uncles bus (which he used to do tour guides on) into a cafe on the bus and could even drive customers around whilst having afternoon teas! (sounds like my idea of heaven). After a few mishaps at home, Charlie finally gets persaded by Juliette to go stay with her for a few weeks in lovely Cornwall.

But, whats life without a little bit of drama. When Charlie arrives in Porthglow she is not welcomed with open arms. espically by Daniel who just happenes to be the owner of the luxury hotel where Charlie has parked up Gertie whilst she staying in the village. As soon as they met, they're sure they can be the better one at getting tourists and Daniel is sure people want healthy and luxury food whereas Charlie says stodgy home comfort is the best. (Which one do you agree with btw, I'm with Charlie on this one!) I'm sure later down the line, there will be a romance brewing up between Charlie and Daniel. Who else agrees? And I hope both of the businesses are a success.

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There's something captivating about Cressida McLaughlin's books - the warm yet fallible characters, the glorious settings and the delicious descriptive passages pure escapism. This first instalment of The Cornish Cream Tea Bus is no exception. From protagonist Charlie's first food fair through to her decision to make a real go of her new venture in Cornwall, this is a charming story... and I must admit to being attracted to spa owner Daniel (and loving Charlie's pup Marmite!) Can't wait to see what happens next!

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This was a good part 1. Few ups and downs to pull on the heartstrings and make you gasp.
However, light easy read with a good plot set out for the next parts.

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The Cornish cream tea bus part 1 an absolutely fantastic read, set in glorious Cornwall, Charlie inherits a bus from her uncle Hal,despite breaking up with her partner, her uncle dying and losing her job, Charlie renovates her bus and opens it up as a cafe on the beach, can’t wait to read the next part as romance is starting to appear, and village dynamics will play a big role too.
Thank you so much bet galley and harper Collins for this early read, so looking forward to part 2

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Cressida McLaughlin's books are always a great read. I knew I was in for a treat with the first instalment of The Cornish Cream Tea Bus. Cakes, beaches, and romance are my perfect story.
Charlie is a Baker for her local cafe. When her beloved Uncle dies, she inherits his vintage bus. She knows that she wants to keep it on the road, and comes up with the idea of turning it into a mobile tearoom.
After a few problems, she finds herself on a visit to her friends in Cornwall, and decides to give the tearoom a trial on the local beach. There is opposition from some of the residents, especially the local hotel owner.
This was well written and very enjoyable. The perfect holiday read.
I am looking forward to reading the next installments of this series I hope that there is not too long until the next part.

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What a great read. A vintage bus serving cream teas in an idyllic seaside village.

The main character, Charlie, is left the vintage bus by her Uncle Hal. Charlie and her dad get to work to see if the bus is still fit to run but what to do with it? After a disastrous day when Charlie tries out the bus as a place to sell her baking at a local Fayre, she decides to go and visit her best friend Juliet who lives in a small village called Portgallow. Charlie, together with Marmite, her dog, drives the bus called Gertie to Portgallow where the idea of a cafe in the bus looks like becoming a reality.

The locals have a mixed reaction to the bus including Daniel who owns the big hotel called Crystal Waters. Charlie is determined to make her new business a success but it looks like she may have some opposition.

This was the first books about Charlie and her bus and it left me eager to read the next book in the series. Hope it's not too long before we get the opportunity

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After losing her uncle Hal, he leaves Charlie his beloved bus, Gertie.



After breaking up with her boyfriend Stuart and her beloved uncle, her best friend Juliette comes back from Cornwall where she lives and alongside Charlie's dad and boss try to get her to take a break and have a holiday as she throws herself instantly into making Gertie a success and have her uncle Hal be proud of her for keeping the bus going now he's gone.



After a first disaster, she and her dog Marmite end up in Portgollow where Juliette lives. The area is a bit ran down and in need of revival, however there's the matter of Crystal Waters, a high end spa ran by Daniel.



Not everyone is welcoming to Charlie, Marmite and Gertie but can they change their minds?



I love the idea of keeping and using a vintage bus as a cafe it's absolute genius and I wish it existed. Even early on the chemistry is building between her and Daniel and the Cornish village life looks set to get vibrant, I am hooked and primed for the next instalment!



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

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Thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
Having read most of cressida's books I just knew this was going to be a fabulous read.
What a mixture a Double decker bus cream teas and Cornwall what more could you want in a book Dont go baking my heart is the first book in the Cornish cream tea bus series I can't wait for the next book to come out this really was a
SCRUMDIDLYUMTIOUS read and can highly recommend.

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Part 1 of a new 4-part series from Cressida McLaughlin and she's onto another winner!

This set the scene for what is to come and I hope the laughs and determined attitude from main character Charlie continue.

Charlie is bequeathed a vintage bus following the death of her uncle and partly to keep his memory alive and partly out of sheer determination she decides to turn it into a bus cafe, this initially has calamitous results that had me genuinely chuckling but I don't want to spoil it any further than that!

I can predict how the story goes and I'm definitely sensing romance in the air but that will not be putting me off reading the remaining 3 parts as it was still a fabulous read and I honestly can't wait for the next instalment!

My many thanks to Harper Collins UK (HarperFiction) for providing me with this advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I was eagerly awaiting a new novel or series by Cressida McLaughlin, her novels are brilliant and I can never put them down! So when I saw the cover of this on Amazon I couldn't wait to read it. I absolutely adore the colours used - such bright pastel colours used on the bus, the bright yellow sand, sunshiny blue sky and the cute bunting along the top makes such a lovely cover and makes me want to visit wherever that cover was based on! I also love that at the start of each chapter there is a cute little teacup!

The story starts off quite sadly, with Charlie and her dad working on the old bus and feeling quite emotional as they've just lost a loved one. However, you can feel how close they were to Hal and how close they are as father and daughter and it was quite a nice opening. The story gets moving quite quickly, so soon we're enjoying Charlie taking Gertie out for a test run at a fair, to see how people react. Most of Hal's old friends aren't too impressed, and after a minor disaster strikes, Charlie is left feeling quite deflated. Her boss orders her to take some time off, and so Charlie decides to go down to Porthgolow to visit best friend Juliette and to get a break away from everything else.

Porthgolow sounded so idyllic and not for the first time throughout Cressida's novels I'm wishing that I could live or visit some place just like that! The story absolutely flew by, and once Charlie moved to Porthgolow I really started loving it and didn't want it to end! I loved the new characters, the new location, and everything that was changing with Gertie was just so exciting! I simply cannot wait to see what happens next in this series. It's absolutely fabulous and I urge you to give it a read.

Thank you to the publisher for a chance to read this novel via Netgalley, which I have reviewed honestly.

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Part one of this book, and I can't wait to read the rest and find out what happens!
Charlie is in Cornwall with her vintage routemaster bus, and she wants to use it to help turn around the fortunes of the town, but what about Daniel the local business owner who doesn't seem to care much for the town?

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I'm a big fan of Cressida McLaughlin. I loved The Canal Boat Cafe series so I was excited to see another series from her. This book is fantastic! I loved the quaintness of the bus and the setting of Cornwall. If you loved 'Rosie's Travelling Tea Shop' by Rebecca Raisin or the Cornwall series by Phillipa Ashley, you will love this!

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I absolutely adore books that involve teashops and baking especially when they are set in quaint little villages and seaside towns and it was this kind of novel I was looking to read when I cam across Don’t Go Baking My Heart which is Part 1 of The Cornish Cream Tea Bus, the latest release by Cressida McLaughlin. Although not a fan of books that are released as parts, once I had read the synopsis I knew there was no way I was going to be able to wait for the full book when I just wanted to dive straight into this storyline.
Charlie has recently split from her partner and after the death of her beloved Uncle he left her his route master bus. Wanting to utilise her baking skills Charlie begins to hatch a plan to try and make use of the bus and combine her skills so whilst staying with her friend Juliette she is determined to get her plan rolling.
I don’t want to say too much more about the storyline for fear of giving the whole thing away as is often the way in part release reviews but what I will say is that this was a perfect introduction to our lead character Charlie who is a determined and thoughtful woman who thinks of other peoples needs as well as her own.
I read this book through the night and the delicious treats that are baked during this novel had my mouth watering and me craving a cream and jam scone at 2am not something I can say has happened to me before! I love the idea of the tea bus and the author has clearly undertaken some insightful research as to the problems that need to be addressed when undertaking this kind of mobile business.
I was so entertained by this storyline and enjoyed watching Charlie’s ideas come to life, I wasn’t ready to leave the storyline behind and I can not wait for the full book so I will definitely be pre-ordering part 2 now and I will abandon whatever book I am reading when this pings down onto my kindle!

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A perfect book to sit in the sunshine and dream. Charlie recently split from her boyfriend and inherited a old double decker bus off her uncle. Not sure what to do next, she takes up her friend’s offer to go and stop with her in Cornwall. Charlie is a great baker and loves working on the local cafe. Could the old bus be turned into a traveling cafe? Set against the lovely backdrop of Cornwall what could go wrong?
Thanks to Cressida McLaughlin and Netgalley for the early e book copy.

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It's the second book I read by this author and I can say I really enjoyed it.
Everything was good: the characters, the setting and the plot.
I look forward to reading the next installment.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

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