Novella Review: Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson

Title: Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe

Series: Comfort Food Cafe #2

Author: Debbie Johnson

Publisher: HarperImpulse

Date: September 23rd, 2016

Pages: 187

Format: eARC

Source: from Publisher for a review

 

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 

‘My new favourite author’ – Holly Martin

‘A lovely, emotion-filled, giggle-inducing story’ – Sunday Times bestselling author Milly Johnson

The brand new Christmas romance from best-selling author Debbie Johnson and the follow up to ‘Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe’.

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.

Review:

This summer I read Debbie Johnson’s Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe and, even though I had a hard time connecting with the main character Lauren, I ended up liking it.
When I heard about festive novella Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe, I knew I wanted to read it because:

a) I liked Johnson’s full time novel, the setting and characters she created so I was glad I had a chance to revisit that imaginary cafe full of positive vibes;
b) Festive stories are my favorite reads so, of course, the curiosity won me over;
c) The novella follows a different narrator. This time we have a chance to read about Laura’s sister Becca, who we didn’t get a chance to meet properly in the book one;
d) The cover is just plain gorgeous and I am weak when it comes to beautiful covers, especially christmassy ones.

Revisiting Dorset and „exploring“ it during winter was a pure pleasure. It was so nice to see how Laura‘s life is going after the Summer is over and how her relationship, but also the lives of all the side characters I already knew improved.

This novella has 187 pages, so it is on a longer side. Honestly, it felt like a novel to me.
Nevertheless, I think it is just about perfect leight because it reads like a complete standalone story that left me satisfied. I wouldn’t want it to be longer or shorter.

Becca was a narrator I found to be easy to connect with. Because of that, I enjoyed Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe so much more then it’s predecessor.

This is a standalone novella and you can it read even if you haven’t read Summer at the Comort Food Caffe. The writer explained everything that happened before and the story is easy to follow.
However, you should be warned that going into this novella you will be spoiled for the book one, so if you plan to read both stories, I suggest you to read them in order they were published.

The writing style is simple and easy to read.
The story is written in first person from Becca’s POV.
Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe consists of three parts: Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future.
The first part is written in third person.

Some parts of the story were little rushed (ex. the wedding), some were a bit predictable (ex. a big thing that happend to Becca closer to the end), but overall it was a good festive read that I would suggest if you’re in the mood for something quick that will put you into Christmas Spirit.