Book Review: The Little Teashop of Broken Hearts by Jennifer Joyce

The Little Teashop of Broken Hearts by Jennifer Joyce
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher:  HQ Digital

Summary:   From fairy cakes to first dates!
Maddie Lamington’s dreams are crumbling around her. If she doesn’t come up with a plan to save her little teashop on Sweet Street soon, it might be too late…
So when she sees how the perfect apple crumble brings together her lonely father and faithful customer Birdie, inspiration strikes: she’ll set up a dating night involving all her sweetest bakes.
Luckily, seriously gorgeous Caleb is on hand to help sprinkle a little magic – and a lot of sugar! Could one night of scrumptious first dates fix Maddie’s heartbreak and save her beloved teashop, too?


Maddie's a first class baker but lacks in business skills. Her teashop is full of sweet treats, on a lovely lane and is in danger of being shut if she can't come up with a way to turn a profit. In addition to her work woes, she's also still bruised from a very bad engagement break up, a year and a half ago. It was a little slow getting off the ground but it picked up around chapter 10/11.

If there was one thing that drove me insane, it was that Maddie was literally giving her profits away by comping treats to, everyone and their dog. It never seemed to dawn on her or Mags (the one who does the books & bakes) that that was a drain on the already strained finances. They both needed to be told that until flour, sugar, leavening and eggs are free, products made from them have a cost. I kept waiting for Maddie to be chosen to be on a show with a whip-your-business-into-shape guru to give her shop a tough love shake up to success. Luckily newpaper reporter Neal, hips her to rectifying her non-existant social media game. But mostly it's all okay because Maddie comes up with a brilliant idea to bring in business and prevails in the end but what is most fun is watching her ups and downs and rooting for her. Along the way she even finds romance with the grandson of a patron, Caleb. Maddlie's not the only one who finds love here (Nicky/Neal, Mags/Owen & Clive/Jane) and those were sweet to watch develop over the course of the book.

I wanted just about every baked good mentioned in this book but more than all, I'm inclined to find some apple crumble before too long. Also an honorable mention goes to the cover. I'm a sucker for these drawings & have to pick them up to read. So cute! Recommended if you're in the mood for a sweet read that checks all the chick lit feels boxes.


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