Another visit to Castle Street, Whitsborough Bay. I feel like I know it well.
Tara’s story this time and what a story!
Jessica Redland is a wonderful writer, story lines are strong and draw the reader in, Characters all engage the reader good or bad! 
Descriptions of locations are exceptional 
This was a heartwarming read overcoming diversity, but also extremely humorous, loved Hercules ! It looked at difficult subjects but it was sensitively written. I would recommend this book 
Thank you to Netgalley, Boldwood Books, and Jessica Redland for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

Tara runs the Chocolate Pot Cafe and is a main stay of the Castle Street community, although she is pleased to see people and her customers, she always holds something of herself back.

After being consistently hurt through her life, she has decided that being on her own is the best thing for her. She can protect her heart this way, which would be great if she didn’t feel so lonely. As Christmas approaches she finds herself getting friendly with Carly and letting some of her guards down.

Can Carly help Tara become more trusting.

A great feel good read.

I read this book immediately after ‘Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes’ as I enjoyed that one so much and this is set in the time period in which that book ends so when I finished that I was desperate to continue my time on Castle Street. Starry Skies over the Chocolate Pot Cafe did not disappoint and kept the lovely feeling within another book with a strong female main character overcoming adversity and running a successful business. Tara may run a wonderfully successful business and be the backbone of Castle Street, but she has never let anyone into her life after being so badly betrayed by those she loved years before. Over a decade ago, Tara left everything she knew and loved behind and escaped London, heading wherever fate would take her. Thankfully fate was on her side and she ended up in the delightful seaside town of Whitsborough Bay. Independent but lonely, Tara begins to let people into the life she has built for herself and endeavoured to keep completely private until now, and experiences the difference it can make when you let others see your true self. Tara’s backstory was sensitively written, and, despite some of it being rather shocking, and completely not what I was expecting to occur, lets us in to see why Tara has tried so hard over the last decade to keep others out. 
I really enjoyed this book, particularly the return of the perceived antagonist, Jed, previous owner of the cafe Tara now owns and successfully runs. Jed apparently added to Tara’s misery when she escaped to Whitsborough Bay, by conning and pressurising her to pay out an additional £20,000 on top of the agreed sale price, and to whom Tara has attached much of the hurt caused by her experiences 13 years previous. When Jed reappears, apparently to open a rival cafe across the road from The Chocolate Pot, all of Tara’s hurt turns to anger and becomes focussed on Jed. But, as in all good books of this genre, there has been misunderstandings and confusion, which creates a barrier between the two characters, in addition to the huge wall that Tara has built around herself having not let anyone in since the day she found out the truth about her old life and escaped London. 
As Tara tentatively makes changes to her life and begins to open up the things she has kept completely private all those years, she also realises that Jed may not fit the evil baddie persona she has created for him in her mind. 
I really enjoyed reading this new imagining of the Chocolate Pot Cafe book, it brightened up the days in between Christmas and New Year.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my copy of Starry Skies Over the Chocolate Pot Cafe by Jessica Redland in exchange for an honest review. It published September 8, 2020.
First off, I had to say, I LOVE THIS SERIES! I need to get copies of the first 5 books now. These are the perfect mix of English small-town coastline romance, and actually difficult subjects. Sometimes books like these can be cute and fluffy, but forgettable without much substance. These book aren't so. They deal with actually hard real-world situations that bring about pain and resolution. I am being generic to avoid spoilers. But if a book can melt my icy heart and tough exterior to have me choking up and wiping tears, it's doing an excellent job!
Another thing I loved about this book were the parallels to Pollyanna and the sweet references. It wasn't overdone, but rather helped to set the tone of the book, and so well done!
I highly recommend this book and series! As far as trigger warnings go, there are some: Some language, but not much. There is some grooming and deviant behavior, however not extremely detailed or embellished, rather added just to tell the story.
I think this book could appeal to older and younger adults alike!

omg jessica redland is just killing the novel game over here. y'all cannot touch her. she's the best and so fun and glorious and these books are precious and wonderful and amazing and read them right now!!!!

Starry Skies Over The Chocolate Pot Cafe by Jessica Redland was a fab feel good Christmassy book that I was able to escape into from the first few pages. I just love it when a book hooks me in and this was no exception, I could not put this book down.

Taras lifestory isn't what you expect in a chick-lit. But, on the other hand, this isn't a conventional chick-lit either. I even could have done without the love story that appears in the second half of the story. Tara, her past, present and future would have been enough for me, because she has so much to tell, and nothing is run-of-the-mill. And not to forget Hercules, her house bunny. Since we also have bunnies ourselves as pets I especially liked him.

Towards the end of the book it got very corny, a bit too much for my liking. Everything and everyone was so perfect and thoughful and understanding and loving. But all in all it's another nice story from Whitsborough Bay.

As soon as I'd had said a goodbye to Carly, Liam and all of the other wonderful characters throughout Christmas At Carly's Cupcakes, I returned immediately, now with our leading lady, Tara. Tara is the owner of the Chocolate Pot Cafe, a place in which everyone feels loved and glowing. 

Despite how much Tara's life seems to be thriving from the outside, the inside is a much different story, filled with loneliness and a giant house bunny called Hercules for company. Tara has never let anyone dig deeper than the surface when it comes to her story and with the loneliness weighing her down, she decides that it's now the time to release the burden of her secrets from her shoulders and let her friends in to her life, completely. 

I really loved this book - Tara's story had so much depth to it and was heart-breaking to say the least. Her past still hung heavily over her head and on her shoulders, never allowing her to see what the future could hold. She is a very loveable character that I wanted to hug oh so tightly and tell her that everything was going to be okay. The community really tugged at my heart strings, as Tara slowly revealed her story and them immediately finding ways to show her that that part of her life, doesn't need to define her. 

I enjoyed getting a glimpse in to what life had in store for Carly and Liam, since I last read about them and it was so lovely to be back in such a heart-warming, cosy place, filled with festivities and brownies and hot chocolate, with just a dash of romance for my favourite leading lady of this year.

The perfect festive romance to read for the christmas time. It was heartwarming and lighthearted and I just cannot leave this book behind.

Thank you, NetGalley for this read. It is a delicious read that just makes your heart happy. Highly recommend!

Only a few days ago did i visit castle street and i am already back and let me tell you, for my favourite visit yet. This time we meet Tara who is the owner of The Chocolate Pot, a thriving cafe that leaves everyone who visit with something to talk about. Tara was always destined to run somewhere like this and you can feel the love pouring from the pages.

As much as she puts herself into the place, she is lonely. No one really ever gets to know her past the surface, and something has to change. Her loneliness is weighing her down and when an old face moves onto he street, Tara realises its about time that she shared the burden with her friends.

I simply loved this book, it felt like it had such depth. Tara had such depth, she had a past but also a future. She is so likeable and The Chocolate Pot is somewhere i certainly want to visit, i cant stop thinking about brownies. The community once more is strong and vibrant and its nice to have the nods to those we have already met. Set around the start of the festive season, we see the cafe in all its festive glory but we also see Tara handling her festive blues and it hurt my heart. 

I really rooted for her, for her to find the value of the friendships she had already built, it was simply lovely and packed with emotion to read. My favourite visit to Castle street so far.

What a lovely book. Tara is the owner of the Chocolate pot caffe. Her mum and dad died when she was very young. She had a few foster families. The last family she lived with treated her very well, her foster parents treated her like their own daughter. They also had a daughter called Leanne,who was jealous of Tara ( Tara didn't know then).Leanne manipulated Tara into marrying Garth, who was older and led a double life.when Tara found out, she divorced him and left to start a new life on her own. She found a coffee shop, bought it from Jed ( who emigrated to Australia) and made success of it.
Overall it is a lovely book and a good read.

Such a lovely, uplifting story, this was just the perfect read to cosy up with, highly recommended. I enjoyed reading this one very much.

Wonderful heartwarming story. Good strong characters and a nice storyline. Lovely easy reading, great for getting into the Christmas spirit.

This was a great book with a very cute story line all set at the Chocolate Pot Cafe.  Loved this one!

I have read quite a few of the author's previous works and enjoyed the first batch and was not enamoured by the last few. This instalment brought back the 'feels' from that initial introduction to the series.
The main protagonist has been in the background of the series from the very beginning and finally gets her chance at a happy ending.
I read it tucked into a quilt because of a sudden drop in temperature, and that was probably the best way to relish this book.
Tara has always been standoffish and has but one friend with whom she has maintained a semblance of a personal relationship. Now that that friend has had her happily ever after too, Tara has the time to introspect. She sees her life with fresh eyes and realizes that she has let fear dictate her life. She sets about changing her life, and some steps are more drastic than others. The narrative spans a whole year to better contrast the start from the finish. I was sniffling through most of the moving parts.
The ending was also new; it left issues unaddressed but not in a way that would bother the more finicky of readers (meaning me)
I would definitely pick up another book by the author because of the simple but evocative writing. 

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience (and up to a point the weather)

I have an on the fence review about this book...

On the whole, a gorgeous tale of finding yourself and letting the past go. But I can't get over a small section at the beginning of the book. I won't go into it as it will spoil a large part of the plot. But, I just.. I don't understand it. I get having a backstory trauma was critical to this book, but I just felt that in a tale of Christmas and family, that this was a little grim and sadisitic - plus there were 0 trigger warnings for this and a totally out of the blue story line that you would not expect from this book.

Like I said though, this is a review of two halves.  Ignoring my utter dislike of the main characters back story, this is a lovely tale of finding love, reconnecting with family, sacrifices, selflessness and friendship at Christmas...

A great book - just skip a few chapters near the beginning...

I have been enjoying my visits to Whitsborough Bay and this story has me spending the holidays with wonderful characters getting to know more about their shops and relationships. This was a festive story that will get readers in the mood for the holidays. If you have read other books in this series, you will meet up with some familiar characters. Tara is happy with her shop and her many projects that she has going, but is she really happy or is it all a mask. When someone from her past purchases the building across the street from The Chocolate Pot Cafe, she is thrown for a loop. Why has he come back? Will he try and put her out of business? All kinds of memories come flooding back and her emotions are in a turmoil.

I loved Tara and felt so bad for her. She has made her life over and is quite comfortable, even though she keeps others at a distance. When everything comes to a head, she realizes that she has to stop running and hiding. She can count on her friends, as they have come to count on her. I love the many characters in Whitsborough Bay, those I know from other books and the ones I met in this one. It is such a wonderful community where friends help one another and can count on each other. The stories are always well developed and pull me right in. The characters are ones that I would want for friends and I absolutely love the setting. Another winner from Jessica Redland and I am looking forward to my next visit

The story continues with Tara, owner of The Chocolate Pot café, who has a terribly sad back story and as a consequence is very wary of letting people get close or know more about her than is necessary. There’s much more to Tara than meets the eye but she keeps her past — the deception, heartbreak and loss — firmly to herself. Not that she minds helping other people with their problems, her kindness is evident.

Tara’s life has been the café and her giant house bunny, Hercules. She and Carly have become quite close lately and Tara finds herself opening up and talking more to Carly about her life before she came to Whitsborough Bay, and as more is revealed we get a sense of the real Tara and understand why she lives as she does.

'As the years passed and my life changed beyond all recognition, I still tried to be Pollyanna every day. I tried so hard to keep my promise to Dad. I believed that ‘the black cloak’ would lift from Mum like it had done on The Best Day Ever. I believed that I’d leave foster care one day and be reunited with Mum again. And I believed that all my foster families genuinely cared about me and had my best interests at heart, especially my foster sister Leanne. But it turns out that not all people are good, they don’t tell the truth, and they don’t care who they hurt or how they do it.'

There’s no doubt that Tara’s past has scarred her and impacted on her life, but with a little help and a sympathetic listener she tentatively begins to hope she can turn her life around. She just has to work up the courage to engage with people and realise not everyone will deceive or let her down.

I love the image of Castle Street, the setting is wonderful — that and the characterisations make this a perfectly delightful story. Tara is a great example of someone who is basically strong enough to have made the life she has but overlaid with fear of being hurt. Her character develops steadily throughout as she builds relationships and connects with two people from her past.

There’s humour to offset the darker elements, plus friendship, community and family in both books. Very enjoyable.

Tara is the owner of the Chocolate Pot cafe in Castle Street and although the cafe is a warm and welcoming place Tara is dreading the Christmas season as she is always miserable at this time of year due to horrible events in her past.   Christmas means just herself and Hercules her giant house rabbit as if you don't let people in they can't hurt you as she has learnt the hard way...... but can the lovely people of Castle Street break down the barriers and what about Jed the previous owner of the cafe is he out to ruin her?

A lovely story that draws you in from the first pages so that you really care about Tara and go through all sorts of emotions reading her story, definitely a Christmas book worth reading.