While everyone else is heading out into the world, Maisie is adamant she wants to spend her life in her Cornish hometown. Even her school crush, Colm, tells her he’s proud she’s sticking by her guns and doing what she wants. Then he disappears to Australia, which breaks her heart.

Ten years later, she is working in the family ironmongers in the village, happy in her sea view cottage and her dog, only for Colm to return.

The easy reading romance is let down jointly by the weak characters and the weak plot. Maisie is a people pleaser, saying yes to everything. True, it does bring her opportunities, but she lacks any personal boundaries when she ends up saying yes to helping out her ex-boyfriend. Her saying yes and offering to help lands her in deep water when things don’t initially work out, but luckily Colm is there to tell her what to do and say. Colm looks good in a wetsuit, but that’s about it. Goodness knows why neither of them didn’t keep in contact or at least google one another in the past ten years. I guess this is to keep Colm enigmatic, when he mostly came across as dull. Poor communication between Maisie and Colm was probably meant to add tension, but it just made me frustrated towards the final chapters.

As someone who has lived in Cornwall all my life, I understand this is a fantasy version of what outsiders believe Cornwall to be like. I will forgive the perceived idea that there are only quaint, cobbled fishing villages filled with authors, artists, celebrity chefs, and independent shops that don’t go out of business in twelve months and can sustain the under thirties enough to buy seaside cottages. But come on, grockles? That’s what the tourists are called in Devon! In Cornwall, they’re called emmets. You might as well have Maisie putting cream first on her scones.

This was a fun and upbeat read—a summery romance book to sink your eyes into and take to the beach with you. The main characters in this new story, Maisie and Colm, were fantastic, and their on-screen chemistry and shared past were great. I loved reading about Maisie's outlook on life and her dedication to the neighbourhood she obviously adored. Beautiful scenery, strong family bonds, a sense of belonging, friendships, a developing love story, and all the cute animals, especially Sprout and Thor!
Reading this book immediately transports you to Cornwall in all its splendour; you could easily be strolling through the town and down the beach seeing all the vendors who have gathered, indulging in the delectable fare, and shopping for handcrafted items made locally!
I would really suggest reading this book because it is very evocative.


5/5


#FromCornwellWithLove #Romance #bookreview

This was the story of Maisie, in the small Cornish village of Port Karadow. She loves the village so much that she wants to spend her life there, running the family ironmongers shop.

Everything is running smoothly until a blast from the past, Colm arrives and throws her life into turmoil.

This is a formulaic romance novel with very few surprises and is perfect for a summer beach read.

Of all the Cornwall books I have read I though this one was a little weak, and I found Maisie to be irritating. She is quite infantile in her approach to Colm and there was lots of mooning over his tanned skin etc, and she totally sabotages her own life through assumptions and gossip.

But overall an OK read and a fun way to pass the time.

Maisie has never wanted to move from her hometown of Port Karadow in Cornwall. It's always been enough for her, even if some people don't understand that. Although she's tried her hand it teaching, it ultimately wasn't for her and instead has taken over the family shop.

Back when she was a teenager, Maisie had a huge crush on Colm Caffrey but 10 years ago, he upped and left, moving to Australia. When he returns to Port Karadow, Maisie's feelings are stirred up again and the friendship they once has begins to blossom.

Maisie and Colm's relationship absolutely perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them both get to know each other again, figure out things from the past and what would happen in there here and now. There is so much chemistry between these two!

Although part of a series, this can be read as a stand-alone book. There are characters throughout from other books in the series but you never feel like they're out of place or that you should maybe know more about them at this point.

I read this while on holiday and it was the perfect escape while I was away.

Maisie has never strayed from her hometown of Port Karadow. While her sister lives a glamorous life in New York, and her best friend left for London, Maisie enjoyed Port Karadow's lovely community and working in her father's iron monger's.

When her secondary school crush Colm Caffrey returns home after ten years, Maisie's thoroughly enjoys reconnecting with him. But learning all about his life away from Port Karadow, is making her question if she did made the right choice in the past to stick close to home.

However, helping Charlie from the Cornish Cream Tea bus move the Summer Festival from Porthgolow to Port Karadow makes her realise how much she loves her community. Loves how everyone comes together to make this Summer Festival a success, even grumpy chef Marcus Belrose! If only she could be sure this is what Colm wants too...

How lovely it was to slip back into this wonderful series by Cressida McLaughlin and to visit Port Karadow and its wonderful community again. I loved the friendship between, Maisie, Meredith, Thea and Ollie and how supportive they were to one another. It is such a feel good summer read!

Although this book is part of the Cornish Cream Tea Bus-series, this can very well be read as a stand alone. I believe Cressida said this was going to be the last book in the series, but I would like to make a wish for a ninth book with Marcus Belrose!

Thank you NetGalley and the HarperCollins UK for my eARC in return for my honest review.

This is a definite 5 Star read for me! I loved it from the very first page.
Maisie Winters lives with her little dog sprout in her hometown of Port Karadow where she’s happy working running her dads Ironmongers. When Colm Caffrey her first crush from her school days returns from Australia after ten years her whole life is turned upside down.
Maisie takes on the organisation of a local summer festival and suddenly life is very busy and very complicated.
With faces from other books in the series it’s like welcoming home old friends.
I love her description of Port Karadow and feel like I know it well.
Can’t wait to see if there is going to be more.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this magical summer read.

From Cornwall With Love by @cressmclaughlin a NetGalley review. Maisie Winters has always known what she wants, despite her mums opinions. Maisie loves where she lives and from an early age knew she never wanted to leave the idyllic Cornish village she lives in. Another thing that never really change is the school crush she had Colm Caffrwy, who sadly left for Australia. However Colm returns and sparks fly! I absolutely loved this book, Cressida McLaughlin doesn’t disappoint yet again. This is an easy summer read perfect if you are looking for that holiday read! I loved that even though we are introduced to new characters, all those old lovable and familiar characters are still there, the Cornish community growing and it feels like you are reading about people you know, characters that have become friends. Yes it’s predictable but in this books case that’s not a bad thing and despite that you get lost between the pages. I loved Maisie’s character, at first she comes across as confident but her mothers jibes about what she believes Maisie should be doing, over the years have knocked Maisie’s confidence and she feels that she has something to prove to her mum. Yet Maisie is determined, focused, kind, loveable, passionate and so much stronger than she believes and as expected with this little Cornish community she has the best of friends, all of whom have her back. I am lucky enough to live in Cornwall and I truly can’t get enough of these books and can’t wait to see which new characters appear next and what the author has install for the other established characters. Even though this book is part of a series, like the rest it can be read as a stand alone book. As always I will be recommending this to friends and family. A great book to add to your summer TBR pile ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is my second book by Cressida and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love her characters and the descriptions of Port Karadow make you want to go on holiday. This is a lovely story about teenage love, the one that got away and about friendships and community spirit too, all packed into a gorgeous place to live, what’s not to like., I thoroughly recommend and Il definitely be reading more by Cressida after this. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC, all opinions are my own

I’ve never been to Cornwall but feel I have a good picture of an idyllic place and it’s people courtesy of the Port Karadow series by Cressida McLaughlin. This book was an excellent read and all the better for encountering previous places and characters together with the interesting plot.

It’s hard to believe that From Cornwall with Love is the eighth book in the Cornish Cream Tea series by Cressida McLaughlin. It’s a series that has gone from strength to strength and I always enjoy every minute of the time I spend lost in the world that Cressida has created be it in Porthgolow or Port Karadow. You really feel that you are transported away to the little Cornish coastal towns that have such special characters who all work together to create such a vibrant community with solid friendships where everyone is welcomed with open arms and any problems you have will be solved and along the way of course some romance might land smack bang in the middle of your life path. There is a different style of design for the book cover for this new story and I will admit it did take some time to grow on me as I had become very familiar with the old style of pictures used but now I really love it and think it provides a wonderful image of what many readers will believe the setting of Port Karadow to be like.

From Cornwall With Love can be read as a stand-alone book but really this series is so fabulous you should do yourself the favour and read them all from the very beginning. Characters from the previous books come into play but not in an overbearing way and you will be easily able to follow it all. In fact, it’s fun for new readers to work out who is with who and what some of their stories may have been. This time around Maisie Winters is the main protagonist. The book opens with a prologue set ten years previously from the present day. Her sister Heather is studying event management in London and her friend Gemma will be going away to Durham university once the summer ends but Maisie is happy to stay working at the family ironmongers. She has no intentions of leaving Port Karadow. She loves the beauty and peace of the Cornish coastline and she thoroughly enjoys the sense of closeness she experiences where everyone knows and helps each other.

Maisie is passionate about the place she grew up in and I loved how she always stood firm and held her ground despite the endless and in my view unnecessary pressure her mother Annie heaps upon her. Annie more often than not came across as being very heartless. She has many friends in the village, one of them being Colm who always gave her good advice and supported her telling her there is a lot of strength in knowing what you want in life. It’s clear from the outset that Maisie has feelings for Colm and that she would love for their friendship to develop into something more so when he abruptly leaves for a new life in Australia and never tells her she is completely and utterly devastated. Her world has shattered and her intense crush has gone from her life.

Fast forward to the present day and Maisie is still working at the ironmongers but now having taken on more of a managerial role as her Dad has taken somewhat of a backseat. She had dabbled in teaching for some time (thanks to Annie believing that this would be the ideal career for her) but she knew that long term it wasn’t what she wanted and she left. She has been through numerous disastrous relationships and although she dreams about the kind of love that exists in novels Maisie is happy enough with her new house and her loyal dog Sprout by her side not to mention the many friends she has. One of those former flames that she would much rather forget but can’t really due to the fact that he still resides in the village is Jeremy, a teacher whom she worked with. I detested Jeremy, he seemed to have such a bee in his bonnet since Maisie had realised she was better off with him. I loathed the way he talked to her yet when he wanted help with his fish and chips quiz he turned to her and further on when she wanted the favour returned to be honest he was just downright mean. It took a lot of strength and courage for Maisie to stand up to him but that’s what I love about her she knows what she wants to do in life and she never lets external pressures get to her no matter how much she is tested, poked and prodded.

Maisie just wants to make a difference in Port Karadow and she can’t imagine loving anywhere else as much as she does the village. She is the epitome of kindness, helpfulness and giving and I just loved her. It was like her character just called out to me and I was nodding along with everything she said and did. I couldn’t fathom at all why her mother wasn’t supporting her in what she wanted to do with her life. Who says you need to leave where you were born and go out into the world and do something major with your life. If you are happy in heart and mind and you are doing what you believe is best for you than why should you listen to what others believe? Fair enough if Maisie was wild and doing outrageous, dangerous and potentially life ruining things but she wasn’t at all. Then you’d say something that she needed to sit up and pay attention to what her mother was saying but she wasn’t at all. She was just being her true self and I adored her for this. Her Cornish lifestyle was fulfilling enough for her and Annie really should have let sleeping dogs lie instead of constantly goading Maisie and offering needless advice. To be honest I would have told her where to go. I really don’t know where Maisie got her patience from with regards to this.

The crush that had laid dormant for a decade comes rushing to the surface when Maisie discovers that Colm has returned to Port Karadow and it looks like he won’t be returning to Australia in a hurry. On the one hand you get excited for Maisie thinking ooh could things turn into something more like she had always wished for? Then on the other I was thinking don’t welcome him back with open arms after all he hurt you so badly when he left unannounced and maybe he is not the one for you that perhaps she should set her sights somewhere else? There is a simmering tension between the pair that is there from the first time they see each other again with a deep sense of a lot left unsaid. Maisie needs answers as to why Colm left without warning but Colm too is hiding something and he is reluctant to say why he came back from what one would think is an idyllic Australian lifestyle.

Colm comes across as being lovely and wanting to reconnect with Maisie and the people of the village. He throws himself into the calendar project as organised by Ollie (god I just love her enthusiasm and the fact she is always on the go doing things) and photographed by Maisie. I loved how this allowed for the reappearance of old familiar faces and Charlie and Daniel, well the developments in their relationship brought a smile to my face. Colm is open in some ways yet guarded in others and as Masie and himself grow closer and she opens up about the past and how she felt about everything there are lingering doubts for her that Colm will be stable material and not do a flit again. She needs to have the belief that she deserves to have something positive and special in her life. She has always known her own mind and you just hope that Colm can come to the same stance in his own head and heart. Will Maisie and Colm find what has been missing in their lives and let’s be honest do what this reader wanted to happen right from the very first page? Well you’ll have to read this delightful story to discover the answers.

I got the sense in the final few chapters and through reading the authors note at the end from Cressida that this may be the last in the series. I hope I am completely wrong about this and way off track because I would love it to continue for another few books at least. But if this is to be the last we read of this wonderful setting and fantastic characters then From Cornwall With Love has been a fitting ending and Maisie has been my favourite character of all with Ollie coming a close second. This is a book to make you happy as Maisie is such an inspirational character and her determination to stick to her guns throughout is admirable and has you rooting for her all the more. It has such a lovely, relaxed feeling about it all and you really get the sense that Cressida loves writing this series just as much as her loyal readers love each new instalment. Maisie’s story was the perfect summer read and I hope it finds its way to lots of readers.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

So lovely to be back in Port Karadow again and catch up with some well loved characters. Perfect holiday reading.

This is the first book I've read in the Cornish Cream Tea series, but now I need to read them all.

A charming sense of community in Port Karadow infuses this book with warmth and good vibes. It's delightfully romantic and the perfect summer read.

A perfect summer holiday read. Beautiful Cornwall, great characters and a wonderful feel good factor. Recommended wholeheartedly.

A gorgeous read. Maisie is Cornish through and through. She doesn't want to move on- and is happy running her parents business. Her mum wants her to aim higher. When her childhood crush moves back home, a romance is looking likely. Colm has some past issues and Maisie isn't sure he's back for good. But the attraction is there.
Maisie helps organise a quiz and then the summer fayre/festival when the weather forecasts suggest there could be problems. She is a born organiser.
The charity calendar is an amusing side story and Maisie is also organising that.
We remeet characters from previous books- but this could be read as a stand alone. But then you would be missing out on an amazing series.

Maisie loves Cornwall and never wants to leave, but when the boy she loved in school returns, what if he does not want to stay? Perfect holiday reading.

I've missed the last few Cornish Cream Tea books and hadn't realised that this was part of the series. However it can just as easily be a standalone book.

A great story of people finding who they are, or who they have always been, and rekindling old love. A great summer read

James' rating: 5 out of 5 tranquil and rainy stars! ✨

This was my first book from this author and I absolutely loved the heck out of it. There was a certain magic about From Cornwall With Love and it's characters, it just drew me in. This was one of those book that you just want to savor! 🤍

I LOVED Maisie. She was so very lovely and she had a very sweet personality which was also passionate. Colm had an amazing, helpful and magnetic personality! I could relate with him and totally loved him! 🔥🩵

I loved the writing style which just made surf smoothly for the ride and I also loved character and relationship development between both our main characters! We had some very amazing and deep friendships that I enjoyed.

A book that shouldn't be missed! 😉🩷

Thank you so much Harper Collins UK, Cressida McLaughlin and Netgalley for an amazing ARC!

As a born and bred Cornish girl now living in the North West it is a joy to return to Cornwall via McLaughlins stories. Although the settings are fictional, the wonderful descriptions are Kernow through and through.

This eighth instalment follows Port Karadow local, Maisie Winters who loves everything about the idyllic coastal town where she has grown up. Although for some it seems a small life, Maisie knows the things she does are appreciated by the community and are for the greater good of her home. I found Maisie to be a really likeable protagonist and her unwavering loyalty was highly admirable. Personally, I don’t think I ever realised how much I loved my surroundings and the way of life that Cornwall offers until I left at the age of 32. Now 2 years later, I miss and yearn for it every day.

Picking up this book was like catching up with old friends, as we see all the characters from previous instalments return this time. Some who even have exciting news that may promise future works.

If you’re after a feel good book with plenty of heart then this is the one for you…but do yourself a favour and start from book one!!

Loved it! The perfect summer read full of beautiful settings and romance. I could not put it down! The main characters were likeable and I really enjoyed the animals as part of the story.

A really enjoyable escapism story from Cressida McLaughlin set in the idyllic seaside towns of Port Karadow and Porthgolow. The tale follows Maisie and her adventures in the area with friends and family, jumping back in time to the past when Colm unexpectedly leaves for a life on the other side of the world leaving Maisie devastated. 17 years later she’s still thinking about him when he turns up in her Ironmongers shop. It’s a feel good story with some small town bumps along the way, full of just the right touch of romance, a really easy to read story,