Member Reviews
I didn't finish this book as the New Age slant didn't sit well with me. That is just my own opinion though. If you're not bothered by that, then this was looking to be a good story.
Thank you to the publishers and New Galley for the advnace copy to review.
I’m a huge fan of British literature and this one did not disappoint. The Little Shop in Cornwall has characters that you love and want to shout at all at the same time. Strong women are found throughout this novel. If you are looking for a perfect book to read this summer, this is it.
While I thought this was a fun and well-written book, I don't agree with the New Age and Wiccan narrative of the book, hence my lower star review. I thought the book would have been perfectly delightful without these elements. Fun characters, delightful setting. I've never read anything else by Pollard, so I would be sure to see if she still deals in New Age in other books. But other than that, she is a great writer!
The story of Claudia and Jason.
They meet when Jason moves to Cornwall with his daughter Millie, and Millie takes a shine to Claudia's shop. I loved the shop, it reminds me of shops I used to go to as a teenager!
A case of opposites attract for Jason and Claudia.
A wonderful story set in Cornwall of course. Claudia and Jason move there for different reasons, but they help balance each other well. A good summer read. Highly recommend this book and author.
Such a wonderful feel factor story that instantly makes you want to go to Cornwall. A lovely story about 2 different people who relocate for very different reasons. It's not all sun, sea, sand and romance though.
This book just did not do it for me. I found the lead male to be not likable at all. The setting of the story was sweet, but the characters didn't work for me.
Little Shop in Cornwall was my first book by the prolific author Helen Pollard and I enjoyed the community she created.
Our main character Claudia is a likable person instantly. You quickly learn that she has left behind an uncaring husband and a flourishing career to start over in the charming seaside community of Cornwall. Here she has created a community of friends and started her own new age/holistic type store. Doing well and enjoying the stable and happy life she has created for herself, she is caught off guard when a new Witch store opens in town much to her dismay. Selling a lot of the same items but not with the same care and thought as she does, she starts to lose customers, and to make matters worse, gossip creates a feud between her and the new business. Vandalism, threats, etc turn her peaceful world upside down.
All while this is going on, Claudia meets and welcomes the new townspeople, Jason and his daughter Millie. We learn that they are also looking for a fresh start after the death of their wife/mother from cancer. Millie (a moody and troubled teenager) takes an instant like to Claudia and is drawn to her charming store. Jason shows instant disdain for her store and is obvious about his disapproval. Claudia and Jason butt heads throughout the novel and yet grow closer.
Complicated relationships, feuds, and genuine interactions between interesting characters made this a good read. I enjoyed the town and the townsfolk and would love to read more books set in the same seaside town. Jason was a bit frustrating but I'm glad he turned it around in the end. You could always see he had a good heart but he was a little too hot and cold for my taste.
I think you just know when you first start a book whether you are going to enjoy it or not. And that's what happened with me with this novel. As soon as I started reading the first page of the Prologue, I knew I was going to love it. I haven't read a novel by Helen Pollard in sooooo long so I couldn't wait to read this one. I absolutely adored her La Cour de Roses series which was set in France. So to be reading another novel by this author felt really great and I was excited to get stuck in!
This was such a refreshing read. It's about main character Claudia who has opened her own New Age shop in Cornwall after a tough divorce with her ex-husband. After wanting to get as far away as possible from her ex-husband, she decides that Cornwall is the perfect place to move to with its beautiful scenery and sea. Claudia works hard in her shop to learn about everything she sells. She offers meditation classes for free, does yoga everyday and is generally happy with the new life she has set up for herself.
That is until, Jason arrives on the scene with daughter Millie. Jason and Millie have been through some terrible heartache that made me well up with emotion on more than one occasion. Claudia can sense that they have broken souls and so tries to help them out, and in the process, she realises she has fallen in love with Jason. Jason is possibly the most different type of person from herself that she could find. He doesn't believe in what she practices and turns his nose up at half the stuff she does or says. However, the pair soon grow close because of their love of Millie and the beautiful setting of Cornwall brings them together.
This was a fabulous novel that I loved reading. I loved reading about the drama with Hester's Cauldron and felt sorry for Claudia with what she was going through. There was a bit of mystery there with Alice too and I wondered more than once whether that would amount to anything. It was a great read and I loved every page. Thank you to the publisher for a chance to read an advance copy of this novel via Netgalley, which I have reviewed honestly.
I love books that are set in Cornwall, it is a beautiful place, my aunt used to live there so we been a lot . This book is set in Cornwall it sounds so cool you will want to go .I like the bright and cheerful illustrations on the cover that seem to drew me into pick the book do you find that I do
I liked the character of Millie, she was lovely, and it was nice to see how she was dealing with her grief.
I did not like her Dad Jason very much, I think that he blew hot and cold to quickly, and too often, although it was obvious that he and Claudia would fall in love.It was admirable how Claudia handmade a new life for herself, and she did deserve a happy ending.
This is fun and lighthearted book i will say I was pull into the story till I was about half way but the i did enjoy it a ok read
Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read
A lovely read set in beautiful Cornwall. The setting was so well described I felt that I was actually there, and I loved Claudia and her quirky New Age Shop. The relationship with Jason, Claudia and Millie was well played out, I smiled at times at Jason’s despair that his teenage daughter loved Claudia’s shop when he disapproved of it so much. The New Age aspects were fascinating. An enjoyable story that was a little different from the usual romance.
This was a nice, cozy book set in Cornwall. Jason and his daughter have recently lost their wife/mother, and move to Cornwall where they meet Claudia, the owner of a new age store. Despite Jason's skepticism about the shop, daughter Millie loves it and quickly bonds with Claudia. Jason reluctantly at first, follows suit. The book is predictable, but it's cute and enjoyable.
I recommend the book to anyone who wants a quick and cozy read!
Thank you Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I have read, reviewed and loved several of Helen's books to date. I read the synopsis for 'The Little Shop In Cornwall' and I just knew that I had to read it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Little Shop In Cornwall' but more about that in a bit.
I absolutely loved the character of Claudia and I took to her from the start. By the time I got to the end of the first quarter of the book, I felt as though Claudia had fast become my friend and I felt all protective of her. At the start of the story, Claudia is married to a man, who to be frank does not deserve her. I was silently cheering her on when she left him and went to create a new life for herself. I could see the attraction of getting away from it all and moving to Cornwall to run the kind of business that Claudia runs. Claudia is the sort of young lass that you could easily sit down and talk to over a cup of coffee. Claudia is fun, kind, compassionate, sensitive, strong, confident and occasionally she can be very stubborn.
Once again, it didn't take me long at all to get into this story. In fact by the time I got to the end of the first few pages, I knew that I would be unable to put his book down. My Kindle wasn't exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I couldn't bear to miss a single second of the story. I enjoyed everything about this book from the characters to the storylines to the location of the majority of the story. I think because I felt that Claudia was a friend, I felt compelled (I mean that in the nicest possible way) to keep reading to see how her story panned out, to see whether or not she go the happy ever after ending that she so deserved and to see whether or not I would want to jump inside the pages of the book to sort out whoever upset her. I know, I know this is a work of fiction but I find that if I enjoy a story to the extent I loved 'The Little Shop In Cornwall' then I tend to 'live' the story as if it were real.
'The Little Shop In Cornwall' is a delightful read, which I found kept my interest throughout the story. Helen Pollard has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. In fact reading one of Helen's books feels more like a chat between friends rather than an actual book. Helen grabs your attention from the start and she draws you into the story from early on. She made the characters seem to realistic that it was almost as if they had leapt off the page and they were just as real as you and I. I felt as though I was part of the story and that's thanks to Helen's very vivid and realistic storytelling.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Little Shop In Cornwall' and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I will most definitely be reading more of Helen's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.
Such a lovely easy summer read about a small Cornwall village and it’s inhabitants- it reminded me of the Comfort Food Cafe series in a way. I loved the idea of Healing Waves and would love to have a nosy round Claudia’s shop, however the Hester’s Cauldron storyline felt a bit forced at times.
Heartwarming and funny, with a little bit of sadness thrown in for good measure.
Great book, and I am sure it's been left open for a 2nd book! Which of course I will be looking out for.
There were so many little stories within one story here. Claudia’s journey from heartbreak to where she is right now. Jason and Millie’s attempts to settle into a new place and try to move on from loss and hurt. So many themes were covered too – grief and loss, healing and learning to trust again, parenting, community life, the joys and the difficulties of running a small business, New Age spirituality, old fashioned witchcraft (!) …but they all fitted in so well into this lovely story. The overriding story is of course one of learning to love and trust again and I enjoyed how that flowed so naturally.
I loved Claudia’s character – loving, forgiving, ready to make a difference in the community – she’s a strong woman who came back from heartache and reinvented herself. It’s no wonder that Millie and then more reluctantly, Jason are drawn to her.
The descriptions of the south coast of Cornwall are enchanting. I must confess that I was enthralled by shop next to Claudia’s Healing Waves, The Porthsteren Page Turner, since I’ve always dreamed of owning a bookshop and cafe!
As I said at the start of this post, if it was possible to fall in love with a place just by reading about it, then I want to be transported to Porthsteren!
Enjoyed this read and will be looking for more books from Helen Pollard!
Claudia has moved to Cornwall after a disastrous marriage. She opened a shop called Healing Waves selling home made items. Jason and his daughter Millie move there after a traumatic time. Jason doesn't believe in Claudia's beliefs but Millie befriends her
A well-drawn, picturesque setting is always something I enthuse about, and Helen Pollard does it in style with the coastal Cornish village of Porthsteren, which is wonderfully given life. I’d love to take a stroll along the beach, gaze at the sparkling sea, browse the books in The Porthsteren Page Turner, or relax on the sunny terrace with a cappuccino and a large slab of carrot cake.
This is a touching and compelling tale and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough while reading it. In The Little Shop in Cornwall both of the main characters, Claudia and Jason, were lovely people. Their endeavours made me smile and sigh and they kept me entertained throughout. A romantic story about falling in love, great friendship, letting go of the past, coping with trauma, taking chances and moving on that had me enchanted.
The Little Shop in Cornwall is uplifting, witty, and moving and I highly recommend it.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Bookouture via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.
A heartwarming & funny rom-com that also deals with people overcoming grief and learning to trust.
This was my first Helen Pollard book and won't be the last!
Many thanks to netgalley and the publishers for this lovely read
The seaside, crystals, and sand. This was a captivating beach read with some depth. Claudia has just escaped her bad marriage and move to this small lovely village in Cornwall. Jason is mourning the loss of his wife when he and his teenage daughter Millie head to the same small village. Claudia is in the process of opening a beach front new age store. Jason does not believe in all this New Age stuff, but his daughter Millie is intrigued. What follows is a sometimes frustrating tale of push and pull. Will they? Won’t they?
I would not necessarily classify this as enemies to lovers, but maybe annoyerss (not sure this is a word?) to lovers? I certainly was annoyed by Jason, I understood he was going through some things but wow he definitely had an angry side. I liked Claudia, but I didn’t always find her relatable. Millie was hands-down my favorite character, I thought she just was the ray of light in the story. As much as I didn’t necessarily care for Jason and Claudia as characters I thought they worked well as a couple and I was rooting for them the entire book. I really love the setting of this sweet seaside village. I also loved the little bit of witchiness in the story. All in all an entertaining story that swept me away to the beach.
This book in emojis 🏖 🐱 ✨ ☀️ 💎
*** Big thank you to Bookouture for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***