Nothing is as it seems in calm, quaint Legley Bay. Famous novelist, Constance Mansfield lived a seemingly straightforward—if private—and somewhat predictable life. Friends, beloved daughter Sutton, a beautiful home, and all the success an author could wish for. A perfect life…but was it? When a hit and run accident suddenly takes her mother’s life, Sutton finds hidden secrets with her heartbreak. Emotional walls she assumed Constance had built to protect her privacy may have been to protect something—or someone—else entirely. Family and friends return home for support, including her own lost-love, Declan. He’s the first thing she craves to help her cope with her loss and the questions she’s left with, but he’s also the last person she wants to see. Will he be able to put down roots at last? Can the loss of true love be the making of a life or is it destined to be the undoing of everything? When money, power and love combine across time, anything is possible. You read Tea and Primroses to have your heart sigh a bit at how life throws people curves, and how we can build ourselves back up when we're knocked down, especially when we have people in our lives who love us.That's its strength. long and shortreviews Tess's writing always has a way of making you think out of the box. And that in addition is how she portrays her characters as well. I give a hat's off and salute to Tess for another wonderful novel. I can't wait to read more of The Legley Bay Collection. Cruising Susan book reviews This story had so much emotion packed within the pages, I felt like they were people I knew and felt so much for them it brought me to tears. Tears. I am not a crier. This alone shows how well Ms. Thompson can spin a tale. Redheads Review It Better Tess Thompson is a bestselling novelist of romantic suspense. She's also a Zumba dancing queen, though the wearing of the crown is reserved for invitation-only appearances. Recently she's participated in obstacle course races, the hardest of which was the Spartan Beast in Sun Peaks, British Columbia. It was an awful experience that will soon be included in a novel. There was running. And climbing a mountain. And obstacles, like walls and crawling under barbed wire. She is  not the running or obstacle queen. ​ Like her characters in the  River Valley Collection , Tess hails from a small town in southern Oregon, and will always feel like a small town girl, despite the fact she's lived in Seattle for over twenty-five years. She loves music and dancing, books and bubble baths, cooking and wine, movies and snuggling. She cries at sappy commercials and thinks kissing in the rain should be done whenever possible. Although she tries to act like a lady, there may or may not have been a few times in the last several years when she's gotten slightly carried away watching the Seattle Seahawks play, but that could also just be a nasty rumor. She currently lives in a suburb of Seattle, Washington with her brand new husband, the hero of her own love story, and their Brady Bunch clan of two sons, two daughters and five cats, all of whom keep her too busy, often confused, but always amazed. Yes, that's four kids, three of whom are teenagers, and five cats. Pray for her.