"A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow is an absolute delight. Cozier than a hand-knit gray cardigan and richer than Abuela's pastelito recipe, Namey takes you from Miami to Winchester, and leaves your heart belonging to both." -Rachael Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Five Feet Apart
Love & Gelato meets Don't Date Rosa Santos in this charming, heartfelt story following a Miami girl who unexpectedly finds love-and herself-in a small English town.
For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela's role as head baker at their panaderia, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything-including Lila herself-fell apart.
Worried about Lila's mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: Spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila...until she meets Orion Maxwell.
A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester's drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn't long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila's mind-one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.
Initial thoughts: When I was 18, I toyed with the idea of culinary school, then again after I earned my Bachelor's. For various reasons, I gave up those dreams. But I still enjoy losing myself in books which indulge my "what ifs?" A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow raised that with the cultural influences that shaped Lila's approach to food. While I love travel in books too, somehow that cross didn't quite work for me as much as I'd hoped it would. Orion didn't enamour me all that much, so I could've done without a third of the book.
