Review: Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson

The brand new book from best-selling author Debbie Johnson will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you raid the pantry in the middle of the night…
The Comfort Food Cafe is perched on a windswept clifftop at what feels like the edge of the world, serving up the most delicious cream teas; beautifully baked breads, and carefully crafted cupcakes. For tourists and locals alike, the ramshackle cafe overlooking the beach is a beacon of laughter, companionship, and security – a place like no other; a place that offers friendship as a daily special, and where a hearty welcome is always on the menu.
For widowed mum-of-two Laura Walker, the decision to uproot her teenaged children and make the trek from Manchester to Dorset for the summer isn’t one she takes lightly, and it’s certainly not winning her any awards from her kids, Nate and Lizzie. Even her own parents think she’s gone mad.
But following the death of her beloved husband David two years earlier, Laura knows that it’s time to move on. To find a way to live without him, instead of just surviving. To find her new place in the world, and to fill the gap that he’s left in all their lives.
Her new job at the cafe, and the hilarious people she meets there, give Laura the chance she needs to make new friends; to learn to be herself again, and – just possibly – to learn to love again as well.
For her, the Comfort Food Cafe doesn’t just serve food – it serves a second chance to live her life to the full…

Shona's review 5 of 5 stars

My most recent reads have been gritty psychological thrillers and I was struggling to read, what I needed was some comfort reading, and where better to look than the comfort food cafe. Right from the very first pages this book was like a breath of fresh air, swooping in and lifting the heaviness from my shoulders, even if the story itself was a little heavy on the heart as we meet Laura who is still trying to get over the death of her husband two years ago. 

This book has a perfect mix of highs and lows. There are many laughing out loud moments, and many moments when I was glad I was reading in the privacy of my home. All that played out alongside glorious scenes of the Dorset coast.

This is the first time I have read anything written by Johnson and I cant help but feel like she might be the worlds best kept secret. I absolutely loved this book. Even when I spent the last 70 or so pages with tears streaming down my face I loved this book. This has been a real pleasure to read and I will definitely be looking for Johnsons other books.