A Gift from the Comfort Food Café (The Comfort Food Café, Book 5)

Debbie Johnson

Oct 2018 · The Comfort Food Café Book 5 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

Cosy up at the Comfort Food Cafe for a romance that isn’t just for Christmas...‘You’ll devour this book in one go’ Woman’s Weekly‘As cosy as a buttered crumpet’ Sunday Times bestseller Milly Johnson

*Don’t miss out on the new Comfort Food Cafe novel and return to Budbury for a Christmas to remember*

Christmas has never been Katie Seddon’s favourite time of year. Whilst everyone else shares memories of families coming together and festive number ones, the soundtrack to Katie’s childhood wasn’t quite so merry.

But since she moved to the village of Budbury on the gorgeous Dorset coast, Katie and her baby son have found a new family. A family who have been brought together by life’s unexpected roads and the healing magic of a slice of cake and a cupful of kindess at the Comfort Food Café.

This year, Katie’s new friends are determined to give her a Christmas to remember, and with a gorgeous newcomer in town, Katie’s Christmas wish for a happy home for her son might just come true.

Ratings and reviews

Delicious holiday romance set in the glorious village of Budbury. Katie Seddon is a single mother of a three year old boy called Saul. She moved away from her parents in Bristol to get away from their constant fighting only to find herself copying their behaviour with Saul's father so she moved to Budbury where she has kept herself aloof from the rest of the villagers. But as Christmas approaches she decides that maybe it's time to let other people in to her life, to let them help her with Saul, to join in with the activities at the Comfort Food Cafe, maybe even to let Auburn's brother Van get close. But as tensions rise can Katie overcome her instinct to run? Lovely, just lovely addition to the Comfort Food Cafe series - great if you have read the others but I think it can easily be read alone. If you like cake and eccentric characters and romance you'll love this. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

4.5 Stars Ah, good old Budbury, a place that belongs in a different age. An age where life is slower and everyone has their place in the world, knows what that is and sticks to it. This is a good, old-fashioned romance set in the modern era in a town that is, to the say the least, magical. The themes of the book don't stand up to tight scrutiny but for sheer enjoyability this one rates very highly. Katie we have met before, she is a peripheral character mentioned in a couple of the earlier Budbury books but now we get the chance to find out much more about her and her little boy. Like many of the influx of newcomers poor Katie has had a rough time of it, this time it is not at the hands of a man but rather the effects her parents all out fighting had on her. She more than shies from confrontation she runs a million miles from it and any other social situation. Will Budbury coax her out of her self-imposed exile? Will Auburn and Willow's brother Van manage to break through that hard defensive wall? You know you shouldn't really care and deep inside you know exactly how it will end but still you find yourself compelled to read on. I'm not quite sure just how Debbie Johnson manages it but her characters are lively and honest, even the bad bits about their personalities are laid bare but you find yourself falling in love with them. She writes with warmth, charm and wit and this sucks you in to the story despite all your better judgement and leaves you with a wistful smile on your face and the fervent wish that you could find your own Budbury. The whole Comfort Food Cafe series exist in a place untouched by real life and yet an integral part of it but they work through the power of the people that live there. This was a joyous festive read. To be fair Christmas is a peripheral adjunct to the main story but there is enough there to make this a nigh on perfect seasonal read. If you want some escapism with a happy ending that doesn't leave you fearing you will get Type 2 Diabetes then this one fits the bill nicely.

With a nice hot bubble bath this is the perfect book loved every page. Fab book to read

About the author

Debbie Johnson is a best-selling author who lives and works in Liverpool, where she divides her time between writing, caring for a small tribe of children and animals, and not doing the housework.
She worked as a journalist for many years, until she decided it would be more fun to make up her own stories than to tell other people’s. After trying her hand at pretty much every genre of writing other than Westerns and spy dramas, she has settled on women’s fiction that seems to make people laugh and make people cry, often at the same time.
Her books include The Birthday That Changed Everything, Pippa’s Cornish Dream, and Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe, all published by HarperCollins. She also ghost-wrote model and presenter Abbey Clancy’s debut novel, Remember My Name.
Follow her on twitter @debbiemjohnson, or at www.facebook.com/debbiejohnsonauthor – but be warned, she mainly talks about dogs.