Christmas at the Comfort Food Café: A cosy romantic comedy to curl up with whatever the time of year (Book 2)

I was a little confused as a story began but it is English so maybe that's the problem. The characters are written as any normal families except for Becca who is more of a wild child. Her ups and downs and her trials through life are already in the 1st few chapters but sets the tone for the story. I like the way the author just lays it honestly out there. The reader gets to discover as Becca does what was really going on with her life and what drove her to where she was as an adult. This story has heart and depth And the author captured The feeling quite well. I recommend this book

Becca is a difficult person, character, to really understand or like, for that matter, at the beginning of Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe. The story itself sets her up that way, and her early actions will reinforce that puzzle of who is she really. In the end, Becca is simply her own unique person – like all of us. Nope, she’s far from perfect but so am I. She’s definitely moody, and often times mean. Yet, there underneath the surface stuff is a woman who has been hurt, not seen or valued for herself and who has learned her own defense movements to keep her own sanity intact. We all cope with life differently, this was Becca’s way.Much like the earlier book in this series, this story tells us of one woman’s journey to discover herself within the comfort of family, good people and an atmosphere of acceptance from those around her… something Becca is not used to. As she slowly comes back to life, opens up her heart about the terrible hurts she’s experienced that shaped her future we will see a slightly different Becca. Oh, she’s always going to be that unique personality but she’s more human, more easy to sit back with and simply relax. Her romance with Sam is a slow burn and it moves along at the right pace for them. Sam is exactly what Becca needs in her life, she might just have to be convinced of that small fact for a bit.I enjoyed Sam and Becca’s journey in Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe. I’ll tell you frankly that Becca will not be my favorite character from this story or this series… but I did grow to understand her and like her. And the ending she and Sam found was perfect for them and that’s really all that matters. While I wouldn’t call this a traditional Christmas story – it is one that will touch your emotions and give you a tear or a smile along the way. I enjoyed my time in their world and I believe you would as well.I own a Kindle copy of this story.

When the cover features a large whimsy picture of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top and birdhouses, why would you not read it?!  Let me preface this by saying that this is another one of my holiday reads for 2018, so you can probably expect that I loved it and it features some of the common elements of holiday writing that I look for during this season.  I bought the Kindle version of this book on October 26th, I started reading it on November 1st and finished it on November 6th. This book was so darn cute and fun to read!This story opens at Christmas in 1987 with two little girls fighting over toys.  The beginning continues with several other short stories about Christmases past for Becca Fletcher and her sister Laura.  The story skips ahead to “current day” and begins to tell the story of Becca, the family Grinch, and her Christmas. This season, she is on her way to spend time with her sister Laura and her family at the Comfort Food Cafe.  While she is expecting a huge Christmas ordeal with music and decorations all the time, until the big day, what she really finds is something even better and completely unpredicted.This story is heartwarming, sweet, entertaining, and the wit between Becca and other characters is too much fun to read!  It’s very refreshing to read a holiday story and not have the same stock characters and plot lines. Because Becca is such a Grinch about the entire Christmas season, it is exciting to watch her slowly change and accept the magic and merriment of the season.  This book is part of the Comfort Food Cafe series written by Debbie Johnson. There are four other books in this series, and one of those is a Christmas story. I think that I will definitely, without a doubt, try to find the others in this series and see what else magical happens at the Comfort Food Cafe!

Back to Bunbury and this time for Christmas.The cast of characters from Summer are all still here - fortunately the indomitable Edie hasn't popped her clogs as the seasons changed - but now we get to see them through the eyes of Laura's sister Becca. Although she is a firm Bah Humbug (and when she explains why to Edie I will admit to having a little tear in my eye) she has agreed to haul her self-employed personage down to Dorset for the season.Told with just as much character and joy as the first book in the series I thoroughly enjoyed getting lost with this motley assortment of people all crammed into a tiny village that is full of love. Although told from a first person perspective somehow the feelings of other characters still manages to shine through the page and this is no mean feat. Having recently a few books that have left me feeling slightly underwhelmed I am so grateful that I discovered this series. Maybe I should limit my "chic lit" readings to Northern writers from now on to prevent the disillusionment?The tale itself is nothing out of the ordinary, it is the characters that lift it and although you just "know" there has to be a happy ending because of the genre you are left crossing your fingers and hoping that it does all work out.I did only mark this a 4 star because as much as I enjoyed it, it was a little on the short side. However, I will settle for short over unnecessary padding and waffle as the tale itself is a perfect little slice of wish fulfillment Christmas reading.

I'll be honest, I was so excited to read this book after reading Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe that I had built up my expectations and was let down.I think what I didn't like the most was that it was about Becca and not about Laura again. I found Becca to be cynical and quite annoying and found it wasn't the heartwarming Christmas tale that I really envisioned. I know the story had to be different from the last book but I think it could have been more about Christmas. All I read was a story was a girl who actually hated Christmas. Which if I knew that that was what it was about, I probably wouldn't have read it.I do love Debbie Johnson's books, but was left quite disappointed unfortunately. I felt like this book was literally a repeat of the first book but with different characters. Even some of the lines in the book were the same..Overall, I would recommend it if you're into reading a similar story twice (I know most chick lits are similar but this is OTT), but some parts had me smiling and other parts had me cringing so quite disappointed overall.

This is the second book in the comfort food cafe series and I was a little sceptical going into it, I loved the first book so much that I was worried the rest of the series wouldn’t live up to it but boy was I wrong.Although the story continues to focus around the customers at the comfort food cafe and we get to check back in with Laura since we saw her in the first book, this story follows Becca, Laura’s sister.Although a self confessed bah humbug, she finds herself in a position where she has agreed to spend the festive season with Christmas loving Laura and her family along with the rest of the residents of Budbury, where the comfort food cafe is located.Throughout the book you get to see things from Beccas point of view as she is confronted with the overwhelming Christmas spirit in Budbury while she deals with some demons from her past.You get to see more of her past life, in particular during a scene with Edie that I won’t lie, had me shedding some tears! After that you have a deeper understanding of why she is the certain way she is today. Although this book touches on some deep and heart breaking issues, it’s been written in such a way that keeps it light hearted and a fun read.I loved this book and am growing even fonder of the residents of Budbury the more I read from this series.

Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe sort of follows on from the first book in the Comfort Food Cafe series, Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe. Don’t worry though as it really does read as a stand alone, though probably will have you racing back to read book one. Where as we get to meet Laura in book one, we now get to know her sister Becca better.I loved Becca. She reminded me of myself when I was younger. Probably not a good thing when you read the book and see what she was like growing up but I remember the childish strops and the door slamming as well as the many drunken nights in my teens. Oh, okay so there may have been a few since then also lol. Whilst she was a bit of a handful she is still a decent person who more than anything is trying to find herself. The trip to the small Dorset village is just what she needs, whether she knows it or not.Seeing the village in the full swing of Christmas was great. My head was full of wonderful visions of the cafe, the area and he homely house that Laura and her family live in. I so wanted to be part of it all.Whilst this may have a wonderful romance story that has you full on routing for Becca, it is essentially Becca learning some home truths about herself and leaving the past behind and getting on with the future.A fabulous read that I raced through as couldn’t put it down.

This is the second book set at the comfort food cafe in Dorset and is a great follow up to Summer at The Comfort Food Cafe although can still be read as a standalone. This book focuses on Becca Fletcher who is the original party girl who does not want to be tied down by or rely upon a man. Something that happened to her as a teenager has led her to hate Christmas and anything relating to it so she is not looking forward to spending her Christmas with her sister, Laura, and her two children in Dorset. Whilst there she meets the original characters from the first book including the charming Irish surfer Sam who likes to appreciate women. There are immediate sparks between the two but will Becca allow it to go further than a little fling? Will Christmas grow on her or even the warmth of the Comfort Food Cafe and the people who eat and drink there.The book flashes back to what happened to Becca when she was younger and what has led her to hate Christmas and not want a relationship with others. It also demonstrates how she is caring and puts her sister and her family first by the catalyst for her change in attitude towards alcohol, cigarettes and one night stands. I found myself worried that she may fall off the wagon and wanted her to open up to her sister and tell her all about her past and then to be wrapped in great big hug of what is the comfort food cafe and its customersThe story of some of the characters continues from the first book including the continued new relationship for Laura which led to the family staying in Dorset after only going there for the summer to try to build some confidence after the death of her childhood sweetheart and husband. The story shows how the children have changed and how the cafe got hold of them all. Of course you also have the wedding of the cafe owner, Cherie, and one of her long term customers and farmer Frank which of course may not go as planned!The characters as always in Debbie’s books are colourful and fantastically described so that you feel that they are your friends. Also in the case of this book the food sounded amazing and I like the fact that some recipes are included at the back of the book. The book will have you laughing out loud with the characters and at the same time feeling for the characters and the situations that they find themselves in. IF this is the first book you read of Debbie’s it won’t be the last.