Julie Caplin this time takes us half a world away to Japan, Tokyo in her wonderful series of Romantic Escapes. If you cannot go holiday, then let the holiday come to you.
Fiona is a travel blogger and is always found with her camera, she almosts hides behind that lens and her blog but given the opportunity to go to Tokyo and the prospect of an exhibition at work, means that Fiona needs to get out and find whos he really is. Going to Tokyo to be mentored by a famous photographer is an ideal opportunity.
Except that the famous photographer is not able to help and sends Gabe instead.
Fiona knows Gabe from an rather embarrassing episode ten years ago and he broke her heart. But does Gabe recognise Fiona?
Fiona stays with three generations of one family above a tea shop and she is immediately immersed in Japanese life. But Gabe seems very reluctant to mentor her and thinks he can simply dump her at various tourist spots and scuttle off and hide.
Fiona steps out from behind the lens and challenges Gabe in more than one way and as the sparks fly, memories are reignisted and both Gabe and Fiona find that photography is not the only thing they may have in common.
Can Fiona risk having her heart broken a second time?
Can Gabe remember why he enjoys photography?
This is a wonderful sweet romance with a few ups and downs as you would expect in such a book. However the setting and clearly the research that has gone into the setting – Tokyo – is apparent to see. I was transported to Mount Fuji, to the cherry blossoms that I could almost smell them. The tea ceremony and the meaning behind the old traditional Japan and the bright vibrant modern version that is emerging is covered so well in this book. As with all previous books, food makes a welcome appearance and you can visualise the plate as Fiona is introduced to whole a new food culture.
This is a book to transport you away to somewhere else, to somewhere you may never get to visit and you can do it all for the cost of a book. What better form of escapism.
Where next for Julie Caplin to explore? Can I put in a request and perhaps go to Canada?
Thank you to the publishers via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.
The Little Teashop in Tokyo is published on 11th June.
Have a world tour so far with Julie Caplin – all links to my reviews.
The Book Jotter 