READ on Sea has thrown open its doors in Leigh’s Broadway and the 'bookshop with a twist' is already proving a hit while serving wine and coffee. Managing editor of Essex Life magazine, Katy Pearson, paid the new business a visit.

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” So wrote Jane Austen (in Pride and Prejudice for those wondering) and it’s a sentiment I fully concur with.

Which is why I am so delighted by the opening of new Leigh bookshop, Read on Sea.

Combining wine (and coffee) with books, it’s the much-needed missing piece of the Leigh Broadway puzzle.

For all its independent shops and cafes and restaurants, there hasn’t been a bookshop on the Broadway since the closure of family-run the Book Inn a few years back.

But Read on Sea is more than just a bookshop.

Ladden down with bags of Christmas shopping I practically staggered through the door the day after it opened. I think the floor-to-ceiling duck egg blue bookshelves acted as some kind of homing beacon to my frazzled Friday afternoon self. With half a dozen tables welcomingly scattered across the centre of the store and a kids’ section at the back – complete with the most gorgeous rug and squishy soft seats – it was something of an oasis from the hustle and bustle outside.

Owner Manuel Scettri opened a bottle of prosecco and poured me a glass while I wandered from section to section. Before long I had amassed quite a pile of titles (my favourite find was How Does Santa Get Down the Chimney by Mac Barnett – it’s definitely going into my son’s Christmas stocking) and then, purchases complete, I sank down into a seat, fizz in hand, to enjoy a cheeky read of Jodi Picoult’s recent book, Mad Honey. Shoppers wandered around me while dusk fell outside and the windows slowly misted over.

My visit may only have latest 30 minutes. But it was a most perfect peaceful interlude for this bookworm.

I fear I may make a habit of this.