Welcome to my stop on the blog tour celebrating the release of Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim! Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the invitation!
Check out my review of Roselle Lim’s book from last summer.
About the Book:
Become enamored with the splendor of Paris in this heartwarming and delightful story about writing one’s own destiny and finding love along the way.
Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people’s fortunes—or misfortunes—in tealeaves.
Ever since she can remember, Vanessa has been able to see people’s fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai.
After her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa sees death for the first time. She decides that she can’t truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric Aunt Evelyn shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to California and bonjour to Paris. There, Vanessa learns more about herself and the root of her gifts and realizes one thing to be true: knowing one’s destiny isn’t a curse, but being unable to change it is.
My Thoughts:
Roselle Lim writes the most charming stories with touches of magic.
Vanessa Yu can read fortunes in tea leaves. She doesn’t want this gift, though, and it makes her life more difficult.
On top of that, her singleness has her parents up in arms and hiring a matchmaking expert from Shanghai.
Vanessa sees a fate in her tea leaves that scares her. From this point, she decides she has to get rid of this ability so she can live her life. Her aunt Evelyn whisks her away to Paris where she works in her aunt’s tea stall, and eventually she works as a matchmaker for her beloved aunt.
This is a such a warm story with so much heart. I just loved Vanessa and her aunt Evelyn. Talk about fun characters! I loved the small touch of magic and whimsy. The message is such a good one, too. Roselle Lim, I hope you have many more stories to tell us. Incorporating food (this is Lim’s thing- YUM), tea, and heartwarming storytelling, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop is a gem of a story.
I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
About the Author:
Roselle Lim was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada as a child. She lived in north Scarborough in a diverse, Asian neighbourhood.
She found her love of writing by listening to her lola (paternal grandmother’s) stories about Filipino folktales. Growing up in a household where Chinese superstition mingled with Filipino Catholicism, she devoured books about mythology, which shaped the fantasies in her novels.
An artist by nature, she considers writing as “painting with words.”
Her stories are so charming! I loved the blue butterflies magic appearing everywhere a certain couple went.
Lovely review, Jennifer!
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Thank you, Toni! I loved them too! How beautiful was that! 🦋
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Unusual storyline…
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It was such a good, heartwarming story!
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Always room for these!
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Magical review and blog tour, Jennifer! I added this contemporary fiction to my TBR. Happy Thursday! ❤️📚🦋
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Thank you so much, Virginia! I hope you get a chance to read this one! ❤️
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I really enjoyed her last book, and the Paris angle in this one has me really interested!
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I hope you get a chance to read this one, too, Angela! I just love her books!
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Lovely review Jen!💜
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Thanks so much, Sus! ❤️
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I do love stories that incorporate food, and this one sounds charming😁
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It’s so charming, Tammy! I loved every bit!
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Lovely review Jennifer I love the sound of this one! 😀
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Thank you, Nicki! It’s so charming!
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I truly believe it would be a curse to be able to read your own and other people’s destiny. Good thing, I don’t believe in destiny. And I only drink coffee! 😁 Sounds like a sweet story!
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It’s such a good story, Stargazer, and so unique with the food! And I loved the characters. You are so right- I’d rather not know.
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It sounds like a great story with personal growth. Fantastic review!
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Thank you so much, Anne! It really is such a good, well-done story!
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Lovely, lovely review, Jennifer💜 I’m dying to get to this one.
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Thank you, Jonetta! I hope you love it too and can’t wait for your review! ♥️
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The cover is awesome. I love it!
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I love it too! Love the colors and the whole design! Last year’s book had a great cover too!
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First, I love the cover. Second, I think I could really use a dose of magic and whimsy right now. Going on the list! 💗
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I love hearing that, LP! I definitely think this one would give you some warm fuzzies! Another one I read recently that is also good at that is How the Penguins Saved Veronica! Both sweet stories with tons of fun too.
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Sounds like a great take me away book, Jennifer.
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Thank you so much, Marialyce! I enjoyed it!
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Ok I’ve been seeing this book around and have fallen in love with the cover, but not so sure or not if I’d wanna read it. After reading your review, I’M CONVINCED! I love anything magical! Brilliant review, Jennifer!
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Thank you, Jee! I think it’ll be a fun departure from your more serious reads. It’s a warmhearted read with lots of fun, too. ♥️
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I haven’t read this author’s work, but you’ve enticed me 🙂
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Her books are so unique, Jacquie, with the food elements, a touch of whimsy, and steeped in culture. I just love them! ❤️
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I love the sound of this one and it has such a cute cover!
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It’s such a good story, Jules! I hope you get a chance to check it out!
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This has got to be one of my favorite covers of the year! Can’t wait to read it 🙂
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Hi Gemma! I think it’s so gorgeous too! Her last cover was equally stunning!
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