The Plumberry School of Comfort Food by Cathy Bramley - 5* Review!

Buy HERE from Amazon.co.uk

Buy HERE from Amazon.com

Verity Bloom hasn't been interested in cooking anything more complicated than the perfect fish finger sandwich, ever since she lost her best friend and baking companion two years ago.

But an opportunity to help a friend lands her right back in the heart of the kitchen. The Plumberry School of Comfort Food is due to open in a few weeks' time and needs the kind of great ideas that only Verity could cook up. And with new friendships bubbling and a sprinkling of romance in the mix, Verity finally begins to feel like she's home.

But when tragedy strikes at the very heart of the cookery school, can Verity find the magic ingredient for Plumberry while still writing her own recipe for happiness?

We're first introduced to Verity Bloom at quite a low point in her life. Double crossed, cheated on, rejected and a chance of something good in her life snuffed out before it began. A poignant walk with her deceased best friend's family made her assess her life and realise she needed to focus, but she had no idea what to focus on, until a chance phone call took her to the Yorkshire village of Plumberry and her best friend Mimi's mother's new cooking school. Verity wasn't sure about the whole cooking thing, as her love of creating food died with Mimi, but she knew she could handle the marketing - as long as she didn't have to step in to the kitchen.

I loved to watch Verity begin to come 'back to life' and loved to see the newly opened Plumberry School of Comfort Food begin to come in to full swing as the classes get underway. Head Chef, Tom, has to try and check his teaching methods as it's more Gordon Ramsey than Cook With Mother, not quite the ethos that Gloria was looking for...and Verity along with kitchen assistant Pixie (sh has to be one of my favourite characters!) has to be on hand with tissues for the more sensitive trainees; but when a catastrophe hits the village as a reality show comes to promote the school, they all pull together to try and make the event successful.

There are twists, turns and tragedies along the way, and everything is handled with Bramley's warm wit and beautiful descriptions. The characters in this book have been my favourite of hers so far, I would struggle to find a favourite as they really pull you into their world, making you care for them from the very beginning. 

I adored the ending and the decision that Verity made (even though it was touch and go and I was undecided for a while!) and loved the fact that all was tied up nicely with an epilogue. However, I'd love to see a Christmas at the Plumberry School of Comfort Food! My favourite 'Cathy' yet and a huge 5*!

5* Review: You and Me, Always by Jill Mansell

Available at Amazon.co.uk

On the morning of Lily's twenty-fifth birthday, it's time to open the very last letter written to her by her beloved mother, who died when she was eight.

Learning more about the first and only real love of her mum's life is a revelation. On the same day, Lily also meets Eddie Tessler, a man fleeing fame who just might have the ability to change her world in unimaginable ways. But her childhood friend Dan has his own reasons for not wanting Lily to get too carried away by Eddie's attentions.

Before long, secrets begin to emerge and Lily's friends and family become involved. In the beautiful Cotswold village of Stanton Langley, nothing will ever be the same again...

I had a feeling before I started to read this latest offering from Jill Mansell that it might be a bit of a tearjerker - a bit depressing, but no! It's absolutely not at all. Although the story is based on the tale of Lily, a young woman on her twenty fifth birthday who has just received the last of her birthday letters that her dying mother penned to her, that is only really a very small part of the book. It is more based on the living and the life that has been constructed for Lily around the lovely Cotswold village of Stanton Langley, and the friends that have been there for her whilst growing up.

Coral was her mother's best friend at uni and has brought Lily up as her own after the untimely death of Jo when Lily was small, and even after she was widowed herself when her husband died. She has provided a loving home and job for Lily in the antiques yard in the village.

Then there's Patsy, Lily's old babysitter who is around ten years older than Lily, the two have grown more like best friends over the years and Patsy runs the village salon. She is divorced and faces several (often really laugh-out-loud) dating disasters.

There's Dan, the boy Lily has loved since childhood but has kept her feelings well hidden as he is somewhat of a Casanova, and Lily does not just want to be another notch...and several other villagers who form the fabric of Lily's life, which is steady and somewhat boring...until the day she finds Eddie Tesslar, famous and gorgeous Hollywood star hiding out in the village.

You and Me, Always really is a lovely light read to lose yourself in. It isn't the usual boy-meets-girl romance, it does have depth, light and a lot of humour, but essentially is it a well written feel good read, perfect to curl up with on the weekend. The characters - though there are a lot - are easy to get to know and follow, the dialogue is good and the situations that crop up along the way really are funny. 

A highly recommended read for fans of this genre!

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.