Reviewed: “Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop” by Rebecca Raisin

I was reading a non-fiction book about the Middle East and, fascinating though it was, it read like the news. And the news, as I’m sure you know, is always treading a thin, terrifying line between depressing and nightmarish. So the morning I woke up grouchy for other reasons and didn’t want to get out of bed to face the day, I reached for my Kindle Fire and decided to read the next ARC I had due to be published.

And so I found myself thoroughly addicted to Rosie and her ‘travelling tea shop.’

I laughed a lot, I teared up a bit, I smiled so much, I furrowed my brow… it was a fantastic book and succeeded fully in lifting my mood.

Rosie, you see, is a Michelin starred chef at a fancy London restaurant. Her husband, Callum, is not quite as successful a chef at a different restaurant. He is also a cheating bastard who leaves her, for the pretty young thing at his restaurant, on her birthday. Rosie had not known that Callum and Khloe were having an affair, though she was the only one. So, after Callum tells her she’s boring and predictable, she decides to be decidedly not that. With the help of alcohol, anyway, and she wakes up the owner of a pink van meant for a life on the road.

Taking this as a sign, Rosie throws herself into exploring the possibilities of ‘van life’ online and begins to realize she might just be brave enough to break away from the kitchens and take to the road. At least for a little while.

So she decides, with the encouragement of a kind man named Oliver on a Van Lifers forum, to create a travelling tea shop and follow festivals, fairs, and events around the United Kingdom.

This is where I got jealous of Rosie, seeing her take this bold step so far out of her comfort zone and seeing the friends she makes along the way. I also found myself happy for her, and that’s not so common in some books… actually being happy for a character.

Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop is as much a story of friendship as it is one of stepping outside your comfort zone. This is because, if you ask me, opening yourself up to be true friends with someone new can be incredibly daunting to people like Rosie, who is like me. There is romance in story, budding romance and some sexy moments, but romance doesn’t drive the story. Max becomes Rosie’s friend, the most adorable, sweet, and funny ways, before he becomes more to her. And I like that, because hopping from cheating Callum to marvelous Max would have taken something away from Rosie.

There are a few parts of the story that make it a bit predictable but that in no way means it isn’t a sweet, adorable, laugh out loud story that I absolutely needed in my life!

I received a copy of Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop through NetGalley and HQ Digital in exchange for an honest and original review. All thoughts are my own.