The Wedding Cake Tree Paperback – August 19, 2015

This was an okay book. It felt more like a travelogue to all these locations than a romance. There is a lot of detail about every stop. What every hill, tree, cottage/hotel, and sky looks like. It's weird, but even though they go to all these places to learn about the dead mother's life, I don't feel like anything really happened. I never felt connected to the characters and didn't feel their connection to each other so the romance felt forced.Maybe it was just my mood the week I read it? It was well written, maybe more women's fiction than I expected? Anyway, I find that a month after reading the only thing I remember about the story is that the sky looked different in every place they went to and their reason for splitting up made me mad.I'll still give it 3 - 3.5 stars. And sorry to my followers that need the heat rating, but I honestly don't remember if there was language or scenes. See, forgettable.1-5 scale and what it means:1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love4: Solid mind candy / worth reading4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasureMovie Ratings in relation to my review:Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no intimacy on or off "screen"PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, intimacy is all closed doorPG-13--some language (swear words not related to intimacy), more talk about intimacy, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but intimacy is closed door.PG-14—somewhere between PG-13 and R. Not erotica, but at least a paragraph of on-screen intimacyR--swearing (F-bomb, on “screen” intimacy, sometimes feels like the whole story is about the intimacy and not the relationship or some other plot, but not always

This book, isn’t a typical romance. This is a book about uncovering secrets from Grace’s past, actually her mom’s past. Grace’s mom hid how hopelessly sick she was from her daughter. Now she has a 10 day journey of discovery for her daughter. Grace’s mom arranges this journey to be with Alisdair, a battle weary enigma. This is ultimately a mom’s final gift to her beloved daughter.This story takes you on a journey to different parts of England and even Europe. You won’t want the book to end!

I loved this book & didn’t want it to end. I almost read it straight through as I didn’t want to put it down. I enjoyed the story as it was so different from anything I had ever read. I recently lost my mom so it was special in that way also.

What an adventure in life and death. If you don't read another book this summer, read this one. Enough said.

Thoroughly enjoyed The Wedding Cake Tree. It takes the reader on a thoughtful journey and reinforces the idea of leaving no words unsaid.

I rarely, if ever, write reviews, but this book I could not put down. I hated for it to end. Where's book 2? I felt the heartache, I felt the confusion and every motion of our heroine. And at last a story where someone uses common sense and forgives! Thank you Melanie. This was a delightful slice of life away from life!

I enjoyed this book, just not as much as The Last Letter from Juliet. This was a bit far fetched and I didn't think the "romance" scenes in detail were necessary. But I will look for more from this author.

What a fun read. Adventure ,funny , trips thru Scotland's countryside . Got me thinking of grabbing my hiking boots Shepherd crook and wander up and down the Heather looking for a handsome man. I didn't want the book to end. I recommend this book . It leaves you with a feel good mood. I'm looking forward to discovering more of Melanie Hudson's books.

This book was bizarre and the behaviour in it not to be recommended. Two complete strangers going off together on some weird trip organised by her dead mother? I thought it was going to be a murder story at least. I've given it 3 stars because there were some nice bits about the places visited, but the plot line? So she really misses the mum she never bothered to visit, but complies with the strange journey in order to get her hands on her inheritance? And what mother would send her daughter off in the company of a stranger suffering from PTSD? Unless she was getting her own back on her for not visiting.

Grace was brought up with just her mother whom she adored. They lived an unconventional life in a cottage in Cornwall that Grace always believed she would inherit one day. After leaving home and moving to London and starting her career as a successful photographer, Grace hears that her mother is terminally ill.At the reading of her mother’s Will, Grace is given a letter, written by her mother, asking her to undertake a journey before her inheritance is divulged. Grace is annoyed as the letter advises her that she will need to set off the next day and that a suitcase packed full of “suitable” clothes is ready for her to take with her.....and her mother has chosen her travelling companion. Rosamund instructs her daughter to go with good grace. After rescheduling her appointments with another photographer, Grace sets off on her journey and discovers a side to her mother that she never knew existed....and, what’s more, learns all about the wedding cake tree and to bite the bullet and enjoy life in a way that has been totally alien to her thus far.

Thank you to Choc Lit for providing me with a copy of The Wedding Cake Tree for review purposes.The Wedding Cake Tree was a bit of a surprise for me. From the title, I expected the book to be a fairly light hearted piece, yet it proved to be a poignant and heartfelt story. It is the tale of Grace and her adventures as she follows her deceased mother, Rosamund’s, footsteps on a journey to learn the truths that her mother had not had time to impart to Grace whilst still alive. The journey allows her to get to know and understand her mother, whilst also learning about her extended family.Grace’s journey is guided by a bundle of letters, written by Rosamund just prior to her death, leaving Grace to each new place and explaining the significance of that place through Rosamund’s eyes. The letters are very honest and, to some degree, painful for Grace, yet they allow Grace to really hear her mother’s story and, along with the accompanying adventures, help Grace to grow into the person her mother knew she could be.Having recently experienced a death in my family, I found this story to be very touching. We take it for granted that we know our parents and grandparents, yet in reality, a lot of us have only a snapshot of their life before us.The Wedding Cake Tree evoked feelings of joy and sadness in me in equal measures. I thought that it was lovely that Grace has this journey to go on, following in her mother’s footsteps, in a way which brings her mother more to life for Grace. However, I also felt sadness at the realisation of how little we sometimes know about those we truly love.The locations that Grace visits are well thought out and tie in perfectly with the development of the story. The author pays particular attention to the locations and paints colourful and vivid descriptions for the reader. This enabled me to join Grace and Alisdair on their journey, picturing in my mind’s eye the places that they were visiting.There are a few twists throughout the story (something every good book should have!) which keeps the reader on their toes and stopped the tale from becoming too predictable.The book is not only a mother/daughter tale of discovery, but also a charming romance cunningly instigated by the cunning Rosamund. The love interest, Alisdair, is a wonderful addition to the story, handsome, confident and supportive, making sure that Grace is able to fulfil her mother’s last wish. I spent the second half of the book hoping that theirs would be a happy ending.There is quite a few mentions of the RAF in the book and I am assuming this is because the author is ex-military herself. This element was not overdone and tied in nicely with the overall story.I found The Wedding Cake Tree to be a touching, charming and uplifting story, reminding us to enjoy life and to make sure that we don’t take our loved ones for granted. It has spurred me on to ask more questions of my parents, as even the smallest bit of information helps me to know them just that little bit better. It is beautifully written and a joy to read.

A sleepless night led me to this wonderful book, so at approx 2am one morning I started to read...and read...and read...and read !!!! I just could not under any circumstances put it down. The plot, the characters the locations drew me in like a warm duvet on a cold winters night. I laughed, and shed a tear or two along the journey this book took me on. In some parts I could see my own life, hear my own mothers words of wisdom, feel the PTSD my own Soldier sons have suffered from, and felt the anguish of not being able to help them hoping at times beyond hope that time and love will heal the scars of Battle Arenas. This author has a true insight into what it is like to be part of the Armed forces as well as how it feels as a civilian trying to understand them. Yorkshire is my birth county and I could feel and smell the Dales even after all the years I have been absent from them. The Cairngorms and surrounding areas I know well and once again I was transported back to my time there. her descriptions of the places in the story are truly amazing and accurate. As for Grace and Alasdair how could you not fall in love with them, both emotionally scarred but dealing with it in individual ways, one hiding behind a camera the other throwing himself lock stock and barrel into his career in an attempt to right what he sees as a costly mistake. Thrown together on a journey of many secrets it was never going to be a boring ride. For me probably one the best books I have read in years. Looking forward to reading more from this talented author.

This book was recommended to me by my mum who had likened it to P.S. I Love You. The story of Grace who 6 months after her mothers death is told that in order to inherit her childhood home she must travel on a mysterious 10 day journey reading letters from her mother in important locations in order to learn more about her mother's life.Grace's companion on the journey is a Royal Marine Alisdair who is there to guide her to each location and assist her throughout. He is strong, capable and an all round good man but due to his postings with the marines he has his own troubles.This book was a great read. The suspense of not knowing where the journey would take Grace was lovely and some of the locations and things she got to do made for brilliant reading. It was emotional and the relationship between Grace & her 'soldier boy' was built beautifully and with wonderful craft.The building of the story was good although I must confess that the whole episode of her mother's in Croatia was where it began to slip a little for me. It became a little bit too off the wall and that lost a little of the emotion for me at that point.The end of the book also seemed to take a little bit of a detour and took a bit longer than I'd have liked to come to a conclusion. In truth the first 75% of the book was brilliant the last 25% lost it's momentum a little.I saw this book was free on Amazon yesterday and to be honest that serves it a discredit as it is way way better than that tag credits it with being. It was an excellent read and a great story and if you did pick it up for free as you might you would be getting an immensely good book so don't let this put you off.It's a tale of mother's and daughter's at heart and the legacy we leave behind us and I would very highly recommend this book to anyone.