Welcome to The Comfort Food Café!
It’s been a tough year for Maxine Connolly – so tough she's almost given up on finding her happy ending. But then she discovers The Comfort Food Café, shining like the star on top of the Christmas tree and welcoming her in to its cozy, cake-filled embrace for hot chocolates dripping with whipped cream, melty grilled cheese toasties and the funniest bunch of regulars she soon calls friends.
Then there’s gorgeous local Gabriel Moran, who looks at Max like she’s a present he can’t wait to unwrap – and she can’t help but think that, maybe, he’s just what she wants for Christmas too…
Review: This is the seventh book in the Comfort Food Cafe series from the lovely Debbie Johnson. I was very excited to hear that this book was in the offing as I have read all of the books in this series so far and looked forward to reuniting with the characters who have been introduced as the series has progressed. Each story can be read as a standalone, but how lovely it has been to read them from the start and build up a picture of the cafe and the people in the fictional village of Budbury where the series is set. For those new to the series, the Comfort Food Cafe is a magical establishment set on the top of a hill where a person can find just what they need to set things right in their world, be it a special dish or just the company of people good at listening. As a devotee of Debbie Johnson’s writing might expect, there is a fair amount of humour in this and previous stories in the series.
This story centres on Maxine (Max) Connolly, whose life has become very difficult for her due to a whole series of bad things that have happened one after the other. When her daughter, Sophie, sees an advert for help wanted at the Comfort Food Cafe, on impulse she applies on her mum’s behalf, outlining how low her mother has become due to her bad fortune. Although surprised by this, Max takes the job when it is offered along with accommodation, and both she and Sophie set off for Dorset. As others before have discovered, the inhabitants of the village and incredibly welcoming and make the pair feel at home. Among the sometimes zany group of regulars who frequent the cafe, Max meets the more sober Gabriel Moran who lives alone in a house he inherited from his great uncle. Their initial meeting was not too friendly, but they soon strike up a friendship which has the promise of so much more.
It was a treat to return to Budbury and the famous Comfort Food Cafe and meet up with familiar faces once again. I know I am not alone in wishing that the cafe was real. Max and Sophie were lovely additions to the group of people who arrived in the village and never left. Life had certainly thrown a heap of rubbish in Max’s direction and she was an amazing person to keep up an outward cheery persona despite it all. It was truly heartwarming to witness the gradual change brought about in her by the village and its inhabitants. She and the handsome Gabriel were made for each other and I was willing them on to get over their differences and strike up a romance. I can recommend this book and the rest of the series; I can guarantee you’ll finish the story with a smile on your face but wanting more.
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