REVIEW: The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane by Sheila Roberts

In The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane (Life in Icicle Falls #5) by Sheila Roberts, Cecily Sterling has been badly burned twice by men who she thought were The One. Playing it more cautious now, she is hesitant to give romance a try with resident bad boy Todd Black who owns The Man Cave tavern in town. Making matters more complicated is Luke Goodman, a local widower she works with at her family’s business who has also made his interest known. Just as Cecily decides to begin dating, her younger sister Bailey’s catering career hits the skids so she moves back to Icicle Falls to regroup.

‘Great. Here she’d been mentally drooling over Todd, and now Luke was sending shivers up her arm. These two men were going to drive her insane.’

Bailey eventually follows her instincts and is poised to begin a new business venture, opening a tearoom with none other than Todd Black, who Cecily is quietly dating. Jealousy flares between the sisters when it becomes clear that they each have an attraction to Todd. And he himself can’t seem to make heads or tails of the situation. Cecily is torn between the guy who makes her hormones sizzle, and protecting her friendship with Bailey. Both sisters have to figure out if their family is strong enough to withstand the competition or if it will rip them apart.

“You’re a bad sister for falling in love? You are falling in love, aren’t you?” he asked softly and put a finger under her chin, lifting her face so she could look at him. She nodded. There was no sense denying it. He could see it in her eyes.

The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane is another charming novel in the popular Life in Icicle Falls series by Sheila Roberts. We find out what happens when sisters Cecily and Bailey are caught in a love triangle of epic proportions, making decisions that could affect their friendship forever.

“You need to work it out,” her mother said firmly. “Don’t let your love life ruin your family life. Men will come and go, but sisters are forever.”

If you are new to this series, no worries. You can read this as a standalone and still easily figure out what is going on. I thought the premise behind Cecily and Bailey’s story was an interesting, albeit complicated, idea. Two sisters attracted to the same bad boy is tough enough, let alone if that guy is also drawn to both of them, too. Then add to the mix a good looking, solid & dependable man with designs on one of the sisters, and you have a recipe for disaster. I’ll admit there were moments when I wanted to yell at Bailey for butting in, or at Cecily to just make up her mind and choose already, but obviously they had very difficult decisions to mull over.

Without giving away the ending, I will say I thought it was quite something that Todd and Luke were ultimately the ones who led the way to a final resolution as the sisters couldn’t seem to work it out on their own. My only gripe is that I felt like we got a good glimpse into Todd’s motives and his reasoning for his choices, but I didn’t feel like we got to hear a lot of Luke’s POV. But where he was such a stand-up guy, I think his decisions were probably just a bit more clear cut than Todd’s. I did love that true feeling of small town life that Ms. Roberts always gives us in Icicle Falls, with all the good and the bad aspects of it included. And thankfully after reading about all of the amazing food Bailey was creating, we get some scrumptious recipes included at the end of the book. White Chocolate and Lavender Scones? Yes, please!

If you like your romances with a sexy build up but a pretty clean finale, check out The Tea Shop on Lavender Lane. These characters are sure to bring out some strong emotions as you follow them on their journey to a HEA.

Book Info:

Publication: June 24th 2014 by Harlequin MIRA | (Life in Icicle Falls #5)

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)?