Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim (audiobook)

genre: magical realism romance

Vanessa has a gift. Just from looking at the dregs of your teacup she can tell you something that will happen to you in the future. Of course, what she sees might not always be good and that's why Vanessa does not see this ability as a gift, for her it is definitely a curse. When her lack of control with this gift creates more chaos than she can handle, she knows she needs help. Her eclectic aunt is willing to try and help, but she is going to be spending the foreseeable future in Paris. So to Paris Vanessa must go.

Yes, this is a squeaky clean romance novel. Magical realism shines throughout as psychic gifts and abilities are accepted as common place and the natural world responds to how people feel. Vanessa's large and loving family plays a huge role and the Paris backdrop is lovely and full of food and the quiet sort of love drama that we expect. Honestly, though, this one was not for me. It is hard for me to imagine grown women giggling so often. Very detailed descriptions of clothing and food sometimes just felt like filler and even the romantic thread itself never made me anxious to find out what was going to happen.

Part of it might also be that the reader's voice just did not do it for me this time. This is not all the authors fault, but sometimes it was hard for my brain to take Vanessa seriously when her words and her voice sounded so childish. I am going to round up my 2.5 stars to three because I did end up wanting to finish it, but I’m not sure I will try anything else by this author.