‘Beautifully crafted and wrapped in romance’ Heidi Swain It’s time to come home to Cornwall With an exiting new life in Paris, Clemmie Hamilton isn’t looking forward to heading home to the picturesque but sleepy village of St Aidan, Cornwall. However, when she discovers that the cosy apartment by the sea, which her grandmother left to her, is under threat from neighbour and property developer, … her, is under threat from neighbour and property developer, Charlie Hobson, Clemmie realises she can’t abandon her home in its time of need.
With her childhood friends encouraging her, Clemmie decides to turn the apartment into ‘The Little Cornish Kitchen’ – a boutique pop up pudding club raising money for the repairs to the building in an effort to stop Charlie once and for all. But when Charlie and his easy charm won’t seem to go away, everything soon becomes even messier than the state of Clemmie’s Cornish kitchen…
Why readers love The Little Cornish Kitchen:
‘Have you ever liked a book so much that you wanted to give it a hug…chicklit GOLD’ Pretty Little Book Reviews
‘Jane Linfoot combines fabulous friendship with gorgeous true love…a fantastic captivating story with a sweet romantic ending’ With Love for Books
‘A character that you genuinely like’ Mrs Wheddon Reviews
‘The perfect holiday read…you feel as if you are part of the group friends’ Coffee and Kindle Book Reviews
‘Where should I begin with this wonderful, delicious novel...a stunning, fabulous read’ Kat, Goodreads
‘An uplifting, warm and romantic story that was a real pleasure to read’ Rae Reads
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This is lighthearted and humorous read built around a picturesque setting which makes it easy to get involved with the characters. Leaving no doubt why Clemmie has to save her home.
There are very few books I read in which I know it’s going to be a 5 star read for me, but I knew it instantly with The Little Cornish Kitchen. It wasn’t just one thing that made this such an enjoyable book. It was the storyline itself, the characters, and the setting. All those elements blended perfectly together!
When I read the section, “About the Author,” at the end of the book, it was noted that she writes romances with “feisty heroines and a bit of an edge.” That was certainly a perfect description of Clemmie. When she realizes the cottage her grandmother left her is in danger of being usurped by her neighbor and developer, Charlie, she gets very inventive and opens the Little Cornish Kitchen in the flat to use the money to save the flat. To her surprise, Charlie actually helps her learn to master the recipes her grandmother, Laura, left her.
Charlie is not anything like I expected in the beginning. I thought he would do anything to get what he wanted from Clemmie, but he really surprised me and made my heart pitter patter. He really appreciated her as a unique, independent, fiesty woman she was. As the two spend more time together, they learn more about each other. Through their interactions, I learned more about them. I learned why Clemmie is so afraid of putting down roots and having a relationship.
The secondary characters were fleshed out very well, even the dog and cat Charlie is caring for. What was amazing is the role that Laura played. She is no longer alive, but she was so important to the storyline. Because of her, major changes come to Clemmie’s life giving her the peace she craves so much.
The setting was beautiful. I happen to agree with Clemmie’s friends…the village is charming and picturesque with “pastel colored cottages” and the ocean right there. However, Clemmie believed the world was much bigger than St. Aidan. As she spends more time there, Paris loses some of the luster in her eyes, and she comes to realize how very special St. Aidan really is.
I loved how she ended the book with a “PS” instead of an “epilogue.” It made me feel more connected with the story, like Clemmie was writing me a letter letting me know how things were going! I just couldn’t get enough of the story, the characters, and St. Aidan. Plus, at the end of the book, readers are treated to some yummy recipes from The Little Cornish Kitchen!I highly recommend reading this book if you are looking for a “heartwarming and funny romance.”
I wandered around in this one as confused as Clemmie seemed to be . I enjoyed the food and cooking part and sine it all ended well I should probably give it four stars. But too much repetition and sub plots for my taste.
For anglophiles.
I couldn’t finish it-too much British slang to understand for an American.
Favorite Quotes:
I start to take a deep breath but stop halfway. In the five years since Sophie’s wedding, my dress must have shrunk in the wardrobe. A lot.
I purse my lips and stay silent. The only way to deal with Sophie in her ‘conquer the world’ mood is to go with her. Then clear up the wreckage afterwards.
As for me waking up for the first time in my life with a fur ball snuggled in the crook of my knees – comfortable doesn’t start to cover it. Suddenly all the stories about crazy cat women make complete sense.
I’ll always look back on that last hour we spent together as the time when the tilt of my whole world shifted –very gently, to a better place. There weren’t any thunderclaps or even any sobbing. In the end, there was nothing momentous or earth shattering about what is, after all, simply right.
I start to work my way down Sophie’s final menu list. Every item has the word ‘mini’ in front, except the drinks, which say large. According to Sophie, so long as food’s small enough to fit in a child’s mouth it has zero calories.
My Review:
It took me a good while to warm up to the character of Clemmie as she wasn’t always likable or admirable, she was often rude, thoughtless, snappish, and prone to escape or avoid anything that required much effort – such as conversations, relationships, self-analysis, or any type of feeling. The storylines developed gradually, at the slow and leisurely pace of a tortoise. Once I realized this, I settled in for a long, amusing, and gentle read that should have come with a warning label, as it proved hazardous to my diet. Don’t report me to your diet guru but – gasp – the food! It sounded positively delectable! The lessons, food prep, the mess, the eating… all of which had me frequently venturing into my pantry while foraging for food and gasp even a frightening moment where I was actually considering dusting off the mixer to replicate their baking efforts, that soon passed… But I was highly pleased to find a few recipes in the back, in particular, the one for brownies, which has only three ingredients and uses Nutella – OMG – that right there is worth purchasing the book.
And I hit a treasure trove of additions for my Brit Vocab List with: throw a wobbly (tantrum), Serviettes (table napkin), mahoosive (extremely large) skew-whiff (lopsided), Eton mess (a sweet dessert), and Bloody Nora (an expression of dismay dating back to a long-dead 17th century Duke after one of his servants, named Norah, who had a penchant for battering and killing the Duke’s other servants with odd objects such as celery sticks and tea kettles, and thus causing a bloody mess). Learning a new vernacular is such fun.