Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson; One More Chapter

Page Count (e-book) – 209

The Blurb:

Becca Fletcher has always hated Christmas but she has her reasons for being Little Miss Grinch. Now, though, she can’t avoid her version of ho-ho-hell – because she’s travelling to the Comfort Food Cafe to spend the festive season with her sister Laura and her family. She’s expecting mulled wine, 24-hour Christmas movie marathons and all kinds of very merry torture.

Little does Becca know that the Comfort Food Cafe is like no other place on earth. Perched on a snow-covered hill, it’s a place full of friendship where broken hearts can heal, new love can blossom and where Becca’s Christmas miracle really could happen – if only she can let it…

My Review:

It has to be said that doing this advent of book reviews has forced me to round up all the Christmas story strays which have been download over the years but, with so many to read and usually not enough time to do so (because reading a pure Christmas book in March doesn’t always work) this particular book slipped further and further towards the back of the Kindle pile as new books were loaded up. It loitered on the corners, scuffing its toes and whistling nonchalantly, while it waited patiently to be noticed.

Upon finally opening it up, the first thing I read was the author’s introduction, advising the reader that this book was part of a series and the main protagonist, Becca Fletcher, had briefly appeared in a previous book but this was her story. The author also said that “Becca’s not always as easy to love as Laura…” (Laura being the sister from the previous book) but I think she did Becca a disservice because I LOVED her! I ‘GOT’ her! She’s sassy, witty, caring and a complete social misfit! She’s a woman who will be happily chatting in a crowd one minute, and sneaking away home to quiet solitude the next because, without warning, it all becomes too much. I have done EXACTLY that in the past so I get this!

Becca has lived a wild life but is now at a crossroads in her life. She doesn’t know how she wants to move forward or how to go about it. Spending the month of December in Dorset with her beloved sister, Laura, is the nearest thing to hell on this earth she can think of because she loathes Christmas. Laura, however, believes she may have an ace up her sleeve in the shape of Surfer Sam who, as the name would suggest, is blond, blue-eyed, buffed and gorgeous. Ms Johnson’s description of Sexy Sam practically had me drooling. Although, to give a balanced review, just about everything in this book had me drooling – from the descriptions of the cafe on the cliff-top overlooking the sea to the massive mugs of hot chocolate, it is a delight.

The beginning was fabulous, the middle was wonderful and the ending more than satisfying. If you’ve ever felt like the anxiety-ridden, social misfit who spends more time on the edge of the crowd looking in or the wallflower around the room looking on, then you will love this book because the descriptions of how that feels are so accurate but are portrayed in a manner that is funny and witty. If I’ve made this book sound too heavy for Christmas, I can assure you it absolutely is not. It’s well-paced, light, full of chuckles but manages to avoid the saccharine sweetness that some Christmas-themed books excel in.

When I embarked on this little advent journey, I had no intention of selecting a book of the season or anything like that but, after reading this one, I’m afraid I had to… And this was it. ‘Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe’ is officially, my book of the season and is fully deserving of it’s place as the book behind the big, double-doors on the advent calendar. Or, as Cherie who owns the Comfort Food Cafe might be more inclined to say, this one is the biggest piece of chocolate in the box!

And there you have it folks! Twenty-four, delicious, Christmas book bites. I hope you’ve enjoyed them and I hope you’ve found some new authors and books to add to your list for next year. Thank you for reading and may you all have a wonderful festive season. From myself and all at Moggy Towers, we wish you…

xx

Available in e-book and paperback on Amazon