Having lost her husband suddenly two years ago, Anna Hemingway is ready to make a fresh start for herself and her little girl Ellie by returning back to the village of Little Somerby, her childhood home. Being close to her family and her best friend, Charlotte, feels right, and managing the local tea shop will keep her busy and give her something to get her teeth into. But as she starts to settle into her new home and her new job, there will many unexpected changes around her, and as she begins to feel the flutters of attraction for the local sexy cider-maker, who knows what the future holds. But Matthew Carter is also carrying around grief and feelings from his past and has his interfering, teenage daughter to think of. Can they survive the local gossips, move on from their past heartache, and forge something new together?

THE SECOND CHANCE TEA SHOP by Fay Keenan is a delightfully entertaining romance that is perfect for an afternoon's reading. Little Somerby is a picturesque setting that I instantly fell in love with, and I became invested in Anna and Matthew as they tried to navigate emotions of grief, loss, hope, and attraction. The kids in this book shone bright from the beginning and made me laugh throughout. This book was just so easy to get into and read, and time flew by as I got lost in its pages - with cake, love, and laughter this is a book for all romance fans.

As delicious as a slice of cake and as refreshing as a pot of freshly brewed tea, The Second Chance Tea Shop is an enchanting, uplifting and enjoyable debut fans of Jenny Colgan, Trisha Ashley and Milly Johnson are going to devour!

After losing her beloved husband, Anna Hemingway had been desperate for a fresh start and a new beginning. With her three year old daughter Ellie in tow, Anna had decides to leave the past behind and make a new life for herself in the beautiful village of Little Somerby. Taking over the running of the village tea shop, Ellie and Anna slowly find themselves becoming part of the community and pretty soon, the happiness that had been missing from their lives for so long begins to slowly come within their reach. After the upheaval of the last couple of years, Anna just wants to lead a quiet life with her daughter without any hassle or problems, but little does she realise that things are about to get a whole lot more complicated in Little Somerby…

When Anna bumps into Matthew Carter, owner of the local cider farm, sparks quickly begin to fly. Romance is the last thing on Anna’s mind, but Matthew is tall, good-looking and a single father as well. As the seasons change, so do Anna’s feelings for Matthew, however, when darkness threatens to upset Anna’s idyllic new life, she realises that she must find inner strength to fight for the wonderful life which has come to mean so much to her.

Will Anna manage to keep hold of the happiness that she has come to cherish and treasure? Is there a future for her and Matthew? Or is their love simply not meant to be?

I enjoyed The Second Chance Tea Shop immensely. Warm-hearted, gripping and uplifting, The Second Chance Tea Shop is a wonderful story about taking chances, leaps of faith and finding the courage to put one’s heart on the line again that made me laugh, cry as well as shed a tear or tow. Fay Keenan has got an engaging and involving writing style that draws you in from the very beginning. She makes you fall in love with all of her characters and describes village life with such flair and detail that you almost feel as if you are living in Little Somerby with Anna, Ellie, Matthew and all the other very colourful inhabitants.

An assured debut by a very talented new writer, The Second Chance Tea Shop is a terrific read from a gifted new author: Fay Keenan!

Anna has not yet recovered from the loss of her husband, determined to make the first move, she move with her three-year-old daughter to a little town and work at a friend's Teahouse.

The change itself was not as she expected for several reasons, in addition to having to start this journey without the love of her life , upon arriving in the new house, she did not find the truck that is far behind schedule. To complete her day, the heater in the house does not work in the middle of winter and Christmas season, which forces her to call the coarse and dour dude who shows the house for her.

Matthew has always been a closed person and difficult to make friends, after a certain situation that has lived, everything get worse and he is only dedicated to work and his daughter Meredith. He never imagines that his whole life will change as he answers Anna's inconvenient phone call. I found it interesting how the writer compared him to Mr. Darcy, making me begin to understand certain of his attitudes.

Narrated in the third person, with a light and delightful writing, I immersed myself in this plot full of family crises, crises of conscience, cute children, smart dogs and dedicated friends, and see in a surprising way the reason for the title Second chances, since the writer presents several situations where second chances were needed throughout the book for suddenly from the middle to the end to show who really needed a great second chance.
And it was the resolution of this point that made me not favor the book, the writer had everything to turn it into the high point of the plot, but preferred to use simplistic and fast dialogues, not hitting all the edges. I believe that because it was a strong situation that I never expected to happen, I needed something more elaborate with a lot of conversation between those involved and that certain character would open heart more to lead everything to a Happy End in the beautiful way it happened.
3,5/5 stars

I have not read a book by Fay Keenan before I was very impressed. Perfect read to chill to. I love food related books and this was perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley which I am! If this was her first book then very impressed and looking forward to further books, hopefully more which involve these characters and can intertwine them in there. Read this extremely quick
A+++++++++ from me!

I felt that the book was a little slow getting started - it did take me quite a while to really get hooked which is a shame but I got there in the end! I liked the characters and it was easy to imagine visiting the teashop and drinking the cider (maybe I should have had some whilst I was reading!). Little Ellie was adorable and I loved how close she and Meredith became - I enjoyed how close their family unit was getting until Matthew cheated which I really wasn't expecting and I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about it either, but I was happier with the ending. Overall it was a sweet story to read and I would certainly read something by Fay again! Thank you for the chance to read and review this book - blog post up soon!

The second chance tea shop was a great read. This story focuses on Anna who has recently lost her husband due to a car accident and Matthew the owner of the local cider farm whose wife had an affair with his brother. Can they both overcome their pasts and make a life together, it starts off with a feeling that you just know they'll get together but it's so cleverly written by Fay that I didn't expect the few surprises along the way. I just had to keep reading to find out what would happen next.
This was my first book by Fay but it certainly won't be my last.

Absolutely delightful. Sweet, unhurried, full of emotion, and with an "ahhh" at the end, I enjoyed this book from the first page to the last. 
If you expect lots of action and tension you'll be disappointed - it's a slow burner; some may say too slow in the first half, but I didn't mind the author taking her time to get to the point. The tension does ratchet up towards the end (though if I were the MC I'm not sure if I could be as forgiving).
Merry was a sweetheart, and by far the best character for me - I wish all teenage girls were as lovely!!

When two people have a history of hut and lies things tend to get complicated. After many yrs of not trusting in others and then trying to find love there are going to bulbs along the way, it will all depend if your willing to sell your own fault and go after what you want is the question on finding that love you can't live without.

As Anna Hemmingway drives back into the little town of Somerby, the town she grew up in, she is looking for a new start with her young daughter. Having recently lost her husband in a tragic car accident she has hopes of quite work in the local tea shop and support from her parents and best friend. Instead, a chance at healing and a second chance at love occurs between her and someone from a sweet memory in her past. Someone who also had their heart broken by love in the past.

Can they each find love again? What does learning to love look like for two single parents? What about for two people a little afraid to love again and be hurt?

This was a sweet book about learning to heal and allowing others in. There were a few scenes that were a little "steamy"-er than I would normally read but overall the book was great!

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

A real feel good read. We sympathize with Anna as she and her 3 year old daughter, Ellie, pick up the pieces after the death of her husband. Although some time has passed, starting over is scary and you tend to question every decision you make. Is it too soon to fall in love again?

Matthew Carter is running his family's cider business. His brother is MIA and his ex has left for America. Leaving him to manage their little girl, who is now a lovely teenager. He is one of the walking wounded as well, having been cheated on and left, and he has poured everything into work.

Coming back to Little Somerby, where she grew up, Anna is all set to manage the local coffee and pastry shop, The Little Orchard Tea Shop. Getting to know Matthew and learning to trust in love again will take a lot of courage.
But will this new love work? When tragedy strikes, will they come out of it stronger or will it tear them apart?

I really enjoyed all of the characters and the story line of this book. The only thing that kept nagging at me was The Little Orchard Tea Shop, where was the tea? I would have liked to have seen more of the tea and sweets in the story.

All in all it was a charming story.

This is a nice read, that allows time to let its characters and relationships develop. I enjoyed reading it, and really liked the heroine, Anna, and what we saw of her as she deals with the loss of her husband and the opportunity for new love. This is in fact a book about second chances, not just for Anna, but also one about forgiving broken relationships, and giving them a second chance.
There is nothing ground breaking here. But sometimes that is exactly what you want, and that is the case, this book would be a great place to turn. This is the first book of several that the author plans to set in the same town, and I'm pretty sure I shall read the next books when she writes them.

This story is the perfect light hearted romance designed for a sunny day on a lounger with a cool rink or curled up in front of the fire with a hot chocolate. The prose flows beautifully and the portrait of the village of Little Somerby, its characters and the celebration of blessing the apple trees is brilliantly authentic.

An easy to read story which started with a warm feel good atmosphere, where the main character, Anna, is getting over a sad loss but appears to have got her life sorted out and on a new path – she has even met a handsome new man who. I thought I knew where the story was going, however as it progressed there was a great deal more to the storyline which made it unputdownable.

I could not believe this was a debut novel, which tells me there will be more to look forward to from ms Keenan - a definite keeper.

This book was ok if not predicatable, the characters were likable but i think the story could have been centred in the teashop

Well this is a story that started off reasonably well, not spectacularly but was enjoyable enough, and then as it progressed and especially for the second half, it became more and more enthralling and I found myself thoroughly enjoying what was happening.

As much though as I liked Anna and Matthew and was willing them together, to me the stars of the book were Ellie and Merry. Ellie is Anna's 3 year old daughter, and she comes out with some absolute classic lines. I love the innoncece of young children, and Ellie was just entertaining on all levels.

Merry is Matthews teenage daughter, and she takes an instant liking to Anna, and is determined to matchmake the adults. She is wonderful with Ellie and has her own challenges to face later in the book.

Despite them both having children, they are both single parents. Anna was widowed two years ago, and Matthew is divorced with his ex living in America. Anna has moved to Little Somerby where she grew up, to try to move on with her life, and has taken over the tea shop in town.

Despite the tea shop being a hub of the community, I disappointingly didn't really feel that enamoured with what was being sold. Having read many books set in tea shops in the past few months, the one thing the usually all have is the ability to make me drool for some sort of food, but it didn't really happen in this book, which I found a bit surprising.

However I did love the locals that came into the shop, and Anna slowly builds a great support network, and falls into a good routine of life, and getting to know her regulars.

Although I found this book quite easy to read, I couldn't help but feel at times especially at the beginning that it felt a bit on the long side. It may just be that I hadn't really got into the swing of the book, but I felt the percentage meter just wasn't going up as fast as I was expecting, for how much I had read. As the book progressed it bothered me less and less, but to me it seems like the biggest indicator that for me the book was a slow starter.

Despite my niggles, I did really enjoy The Second Chance Tea Shop, and I think this author has a lot of promise. I am definitely interested to see if there will be another book set in Little Somerby and to return to this village and some of the characters.

Thank you to Aria and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

For a debut novel, I have to say this book is very well written. The author shows a lot of promise and certainly adds a sweet and heartwarming read to the book community. I am excited to see where she goes from here. With that, this is a beautiful story about second chances. It portrays a vivid setting (one I can just imagine myself being in due to the authors wonderful descriptions), has relatable and endearing characters, and brings meaning to the term friendship and love. The underlying issues within the story are quite sad of course, but character growth and overcoming the death of the heroines husband is uplifting. This is a gem of a book and one I could certainly recommend to fellow readers.

I enjoyed this book but I found it difficult to relate to some of the characters until quite far into the story. I can't put my finger on what I wasn't keen on but something just didn't click with me.

Lovely feel good read. with lovely characters and a great storyline

I loved this book from the 1st page. It was a lovely, easy to read story. I was heart warming with a few twists and turns. I will miss Anna and would love to know what happened to her and Matthew in the future. The story made me smile and I just wanted to know how it was going to turn out so couldn't stop reading it. Look forward to the next book.

This book....threw me in a loop. Here I was thinking, they're taking it nice and slow (too slow sometimes) and kept waiting for the other shoe to drop (because really, you need some conflict before the ever after) and the shoe dropped and I wasn't expecting that at all!! Whoa! I actually hurt and was tempted to peek at the end. But I soldiered on. Sigh. Some women are just plain bad altogether, you know? And they make strong men weak in a bad way. I liked this book for that unexpected instance. And I love the setting of a small English (?) town.