For Willow, the ramshackle café overlooking the beach, together with its warm-hearted community, offers friendship as a daily special and always has a hearty welcome on the menu. But when a handsome stranger blows in on a warm spring breeze, Willow soon realises that her quiet country life will be changed forever.
Review: How wonderful to be back at the Comfort Food Cafe, that magical spot in the Dorset village of Budbury. This is the fourth book in the series about the cafe, the people who run it, the rest of the villagers, and those who visit it and fall under its spell. I have loved each and every story, and was excited to read this latest addition. As usual, there is a mix of laugh-out-loud humour (apologies to those who were sitting nearby when I was reading) and real life experiences, some of them so heart-rending as to bring tears to my eyes.
This book focuses mainly on Willow Longville, who has been one of my favourite characters all through the series. To those who are not familiar with the Comfort Food Cafe stories, she is a 26-year-old easily identified by her bright pink hair who lives in a cottage with her mother, Lynnie. Sadly, Lynnie is suffering from Alzheimer's, but Willow is doing a marvellous job of making sure that her life is as full as possible. Willow has siblings, but they are all off doing their own things, most completely unaware of the situation at home. Willow has her routine all in place, working at the cafe and running her cleaning business alongside caring for her mother. However, the arrival of a stranger, Tom, in the village is about to bring about big changes in her life that she never dreamt possible.
It was lovely to return to the Comfort Food Cafe, with its glorious location on the cliffs overlooking the sea. Marvellous also to be reacquainted with the villagers of Budbury and, of course, with all the delicious food that is served up at the cafe. I'm sure I am not the only reader who wishes that it was all real. It would be packed to the seams if it was. As is usually the case with Debbie Johnson's books, there was loads of humour in this story, but also the heartache of someone dealing with a very cruel disease in a loved one. Anyone who has been in that situation will identify with Willow and salute her for her dedication.
I would recommend this book as an excellent read for all ages. If you haven't read the others in the series, this could easily be read as a standalone story, but it's well worth catching up with its predecessors as well.
This is out on March 8th UK and August 7th US
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