The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane by Sheila Roberts

About the Book

★★★★★
Goodreads | Amazon

When it comes to men, sisters don't share! 

After a fake food poisoning incident in L.A., Bailey Sterling's dreams of becoming a caterer to the stars collapse faster than a soufflé. Now Bailey's face is in all the gossip rags and her business is in ruins. But the Sterling women close ranks and bring her back to Icicle Falls, where she'll stay with her sister Cecily.

All goes well between the sisters until Bailey comes up with a new business idea — a tea shop on a charming street called Lavender Lane. She's going into partnership with Todd Black, who — it turns out — is the man Cecily's started dating. It looks to Cecily as if there's more than tea brewing in that cute little shop. And she's not pleased.

Wait! Isn't Cecily seeing Luke Goodman? He's a widower with an adorable little girl, and yes, Cecily does care about him. But Todd's the one who sends her zing-o-meter off the charts. So now what? Should you have to choose between your sister and the man you love (or think you love)?

Oh, sisters… They always find a way to create so much drama – which Sheila Roberts captures in her novel, The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane. Icicle Falls’ Sterling sisters are as close-knit as sisters come – but throw in a couple men and the claws come out. As their story progresses, Roberts certainly explores the roller-coaster highs and lows experienced in family relationships. At times, I smiled and laughed. At others, I groaned and cringed. And sometimes I just wanted to shake some common sense back into these characters (– but that would too easy, and where’s the fun in that?). As a whole, The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane is a lovely story about love and family – and navigating the challenges of both.

I should note that most of the plot points mentioned in the back-of-the-book blurb do not happen until halfway into the storyline. In the first half, Roberts focuses on developing Cecily’s relationships with her men, Todd and Luke, and Bailey’s attempts to get back on her feet. Admittedly, I spent much of my reading time wondering, “Where is the tea shop and the man-stealing? When does that start?” But this in no way diminished my enjoyment of The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane. Instead, the wondering just kept me on my toes, my anticipation high for the upcoming character interactions and squabbles.

All in all, Sheila Roberts’ The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane is a delightfully fun, heartwarming read – one I would recommend to any lover of romance novels. Lovers of Roberts’ Life in Icicle Falls series will relish the return trip to Icicle Falls, seeing many familiar and beloved faces. However, it is not necessary to have read any or all of the previous novels to understand and love The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane. This novel was the first I have read by Sheila Roberts – and I’m sure glad I picked it up.

Thanks to Sheila Roberts and Pump Up Your Book, I received a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

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About the Author

Sheila Roberts lives in the Pacific Northwest. She’s happily married and has three children.

Writing since 1989, Sheila’s books have been printed in several different languages and have been chosen for book clubs such as Doubleday as well as for Readers Digest Condensed books. Her best-selling novel On Strike for Christmas was made into a movie and appeared on the Lifetime Movie Network, and her novel The Nine Lives of Christmas has just been optioned for film and is slated to be a Hallmark movie later this year. Her novel Angel Lane was named one of Amazon’s Top Ten Romances for 2009.

When she’s not making public appearances or playing with her friends, she can be found writing about those things near and dear to women’s hearts: family, friends, and chocolate.

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