I work with the publisher frequently (not on this book), but this in no way alters my review and I remain impartial.

Her passport and piles of travel documents and the packet from the Catholic Missionary Fellowship of South Florida covered her desk. And another small snapshot of Abuela I took last year, her slight frame topped with a jaunty crop of graying black hair, smiling over her simple breakfast of café con leche and pan tostado.Cate had mentioned all are booked, but right now the paneled hallway is only occupied by rows of brass sconces. Between sips of strong black tea, Cate has spent the last five minutes trying to sell me on Winchester like some real estate agent.

Laura Taylor Namey is the New York Times bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club pick A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, The Library of Lost Things, and When We Were Them.This book feels like a hug, like a cup of a favorite cup of tea, like something full of sugar, but not too much sugar. I can’t talk about the motorbike wind and green and stone I baked into crusty bread and into the baker. She is a proud Cuban-American and can be found hunting for vintage treasures and wishing she was in London or Paris. I did find that through the middle it dragged a bit, but overall, this book was just steeped in passion and hit a lot of levels and did it all so well! From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself.

Her worried family decides that she needs a change of scenery and ships her off to stay with extended family in England. Not even Señora Cabral, who still hobbles into my family’s bakery every Monday and was tan vieja before my parents were even born, is this old.I expected something good, but it felt really lackluster and it may have been because of my expectations. But oh, the way that the passion that Lila has for craft bleeds into everything she does and everything that this story is about. This book has it all: the recipe for new, lasting, happy friendships, a dash of romance, and some gentle (albeit hard) lessons about honoring yourself and letting go. I'm a voracious reader from North Carolina currently traveling the United States with my husband and reviewing books as the mood strikes.