Cathy's Christmas Kitchen by Tilly Tennant
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Romance | Women's Fiction
Release Date: October 1, 2020

I really enjoyed this book. It is a sweet holiday romance that made me want to curl up in front of the fireplace with a big cup of coffee and pretend it is snowing outside (instead of 98 degrees!).

This was a quick read, that was very enjoyable!

I'm so grateful to Tilly Tennant, Bookouture, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Lost and lonely after the death of her mum, Cathy attends a church fundraiser with the goal of making new friends. Baking with her mum was one of her favourite pastimes and she is asked to organise a cooking class. With Christmas just around the corner, a chance encounter brings romance with Matt into her life. Will Cathy finally get the life she is longing for?

A heartwarming book with an engaging storyline which was a quick and easy read.

Absolutely loved this book, as with any Tilly Tenant book, Tilly really knows how to set the scene and make you feel your in the book! It was so festive and delightful! I would really recommend this book to any christmas lover!

This wonderful, uplifting Christmas story is filled with romance, holiday cheer, sweet friendships, and delicious baked goods. Set in the charming little English village of Linnetford, we follow Cathy who is trying to rebuild her life after her mother's death. Her love of baking takes her to a church coffee morning, where she makes some new friends and is persuaded to start a cooking class. Although nervous at first, Cathy is having a great time with her new friends and teaching the class, plus there's a potential romance on the horizon. But will a rude teenager from her cooking class and the appearance of an ex ruin her happiness?

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters and storyline kept me engaged until the last page. This cozy, feel-good story will warm your heart and get you in the mood for the holiday season. I definitely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a dleightful read, you should never be surprised with this by this author. Set aside all things domisicated and curl up woth some hot cocoa and a blanket and read this to make yourself all ready for the christmas events.
Cathy is single and isnt exactly happy with her her life has panned ut so far, she was her mothers career and she died and Cathy was left alone. Her ex finace didnt like her mum so they broke up but Cathy was happy looking after her mum.
Cathy works in a florist in Linnetford, and her friends are trying to get her to meet a man but shes not interested in it at all. The ex fiance keeps turning up at her shop but Cathy doesnt know whether thats good or bad and she trie sto put disnce between them., but wherever Cathy is, Jonas isnt far behind with his new wife! Another punch to the stomach... but Cathy loves to walk along the local canal in her town on the way to work and usually with tubs full of her baking the day before. She goes to a church meeting for charity in the town and before you know it, she has created a baking class with the locals and keeps on taking walks to find the random man walking his dog.
Cathy takes the longer walk to find the man who shes seen and before you know its one of her friends brother. They get on well or do they? Beacuse theres some family issues with him and this dreaded girl Tansy with more moods then a mood ring. WE have christmas baking and i am guessing you will want to try Cathy bakes too, she meets new friends at the church and new men come into her life and old ones but who does she want?
Read to find out but this book is about love new and old, people we have lost. Its a great read.
kat

Christmas, cake and romance....what could make for a better read! Cathy decides to make some positive changes to honour her late mother's memory by offering cooking classes. With a disruptive teenager in the class and the appearance of her ex, will Cathy find happiness?

Cathy’s Christmas Kitchen is the latest festive novel from Tilly Tennant. It follows the story of Cathy who following the recent death of her mother, now lives alone in Linnetford. She works part time on her friends flower stall but has a love of baking. After a trip to a church hall fundraiser she finds herself back there each week holding a baking class. Not only does she make some great friends, there’s also a potential love interest on the horizon. It’s a well written, heartwarming story that I thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

I started this book yesterday and read it overnight ( I have sleep issues)
The cover and of course the author, drew me in.
I loved the storyline straight away and the delicious cakes made me so hungry whilst reading!!
The characters were a fun bunch too.
This was an easy enjoyable read to really snuggly down with.

A cute story, didn't see the point in wasting time with the Jonas character, particularly as it didn't go anywhere. Would make a good series centred around the village hall with a focus on different characters

Cathy’s Christmas kitchen deals with some big subjects with a light touch. It is a warm and fuzzy book that invokes a sweet English village atmosphere, with the main characters congregating in the market and the church hall. It is the story of Cathy and how she copes after the death of her mother for whom she was the primary caregiver. The book is a quick pleasant read. Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for a review.

*This book was received as an Advanced Reader's Copy from NetGalley.

A nice holiday romance is just the ticket; get all cozy by a fire, have a mug of cocoa, and oh, it's September as I'm writing this, but it doesn't mean I don't enjoy the mood that vision sets all the same! This particular book, while not especially Christmasy (there are some notes of it) still fits the nice cozy romance genre it searches for.

Cathy has been at loose ends since her mother died. Her caregiver, she now has a part time job and a wealth of time to spend in which she's not sure quite what to do with it. So when she's asked to head a cookery class (she's well known as a baker), she figures she has nothing to lose. And a budding romance enters her life at nearly the same time, giving her a lot more to think about.

I like Cathy, but she is tedious at times. I'm sure a lot of us are guilty at putting ourselves down and not having enough pride in our work, but with her it happens a lot and it gets tiring to read about. Especially because even in her modesty she does know she's good at things. And Tansy, I'm not sure where to even start with her; I really didn't read her character as in line with her supposed age, despite her troubled homelife. She seemed much younger by her actions and issues.

For romances, it was decent. I enjoyed the pairing and thought that the odd complication to it was a bit distracting, but overall a sweet courting of the two. This book though, it's really about the bakes (and no recipes sadly) and I could find myself eagerly looking forward to the next cake description. The baking descriptions really were the shining stars of the book.

This was a nice book, I just had trouble connecting with the characters. I think anyone who likes a quick, light Christmas read will enjoy this.

Review by M. Reynard 2020

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

The story of Cathy who is trying to find her place back in the world since the passing of her mum. She visits a coffee morning in her local church laden down with her home baking which sees her start to run her own cookery classes. I really enjoyed this book but felt a bit let down when I felt it suddenly ended - according to my kindle I still had 29 minutes left to read and suddenly I was at the epilogue. I wanted more - maybe I just wanted more baking.

PS - the extra 29 minutes was full of excerpts from Tilly Tennant books which I'm sure are great but I'm afraid I just skip over these!

I enjoyed this book.it is Nice to read about how far people Will go for their loved ones. I love to read about how people can change and i guess become a better person. And i am a sucker for sweet romance.. i would love to have a more meatier story if that makes sense. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this story. Cathy had been a caretaker for her mother who had passed away recently. She had loved to bake as well as did Cathy. Cathy worked at a flower stall for Fleure and Cathy brought her baked goods.
Read to see how her baking put her in the right direction as she was meeting people and was looking for her soul mate. See how all of this began . A GOOD READ.

Cathy’s Christmas Kitchen is a heartwarming Christmas romance story that deals with grief, loss, and heartbreak. It centers on Cathy and her love for baking, her loneliness now that her mother is gone, and her yearning for a family and a partner.

Cathy works at a floral stand in the Marketplace with Fleur, her boss. She only works three days a week, so she has plenty of free time that she is beginning to dislike. She doesn’t want to be in her house, all alone and left to try to block out all the memories that make her sad. While going through her mail, she notices a card from the Church inviting people to come to a ‘Coffee Morning’ that will raise money for cancer research. On a whim, she decides it would be a good idea to go in hopes of meeting new people and having some company.

After her second or third time going to the Church for their ‘Coffee Morning’, one of the church ladies, Dora, comes up with an idea to start a weekly cooking session at the Church. It would raise money for charity, give lonely people and those who wish to learn how to bake a place to go, and Cathy would be the teacher to help them. They turn their kitchen into a homey baking area pretty quickly, and as lessons go on, more and more people join and have fun. [This is also the first lie in the synopsis. This was in no way Cathy’s idea. She was actually very unsure about it at first and tried to convince them not to do it. She did not organize it either; Iris and Dora did. And then Erica made the Facebook page.]

That is, until Cathy’s new friend Erica, brings along her niece, Tansey. No one likes her. She barely acknowledges anyone, is almost constantly glaring, and does a few bad things that leave some of the other members begging for the girl to be kicked out. Cathy refuses to kick her out though. Not because she is Erica’s niece, but because she only agreed to do the lessons on the condition that everyone is included, no exclusion! Cathy tells them she would rather put an end to the classes than kick the girl out, especially since Tansey is a natural baker. [This is the second lie in the synopsis. Cathy was never ‘poised’ to kick her out, and thus Tansey’s uncle, Matt, never begs Cathy to give Tansey a second chance.]

Aside from the weekly cooking class, Cathy has to to come to terms with the fact that her ex is in town and is stopping by her work a lot, and she also wants to meet the mystery man again. She would try to walk the Canal Path more often in hopes of seeing the mystery man, even though it took a little longer to get home that way. Eventually they exchange names and begin to get to know each other. She was unsure of her feelings at first, especially with her ex in town, but her ex only ever went to her work to buy flowers. He was not desperate to get her back, begging for a second chance. Matt never grew distant, leading her to question their relationship or anything. [And those are the last two lies from the synopsis.]

This was a well written Christmas romance full of baking, friendship, and growth. I adore the descriptions of the food and the relationships that are made because of the cooking class. However, the synopsis for this book is very misleading. Not much happens in the book. There is no love triangle, no drama about kicking anyone out of the cooking class. There is also way too many flashbacks that are pages long and don’t add anything to the story other then backstory for a character we don’t really need to know.

Overall, this was a story that made me wish Christmas season was already upon us so that I could eat a bunch of Christmas cakes and pies. If it interests you, I recommend it!

*I received a free e-arc from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review*

I have read and enjoyed Tilly Tennant books before. This time we follow Cathy, who is rebuilding her life after her mother’s death. Her love of baking takes her to a church coffee morning, where she makes new friends and where she is persuaded to hold a cookery class.

Cathy is a warm, caring character who is always happy to help others. There are some interesting supporting characters such as Tansy and the ladies who look after the church hall

A quick read, full of friendship, forgiveness and baking.

This book was enjoyable, though it was a little hard to get into at first. It definitely makes you want to cozy up next to a fire with some ginger bread cookies and decorate a tree. Don't read this while hungry because it will make you even hungrier. If you are someone from a small town or appreciate family values, this is a good one to read. It is a good movie to get you in the Christmas mood, and it was nice to read.

Cathy lost her beloved mother a few months ago. Together they baked and made the world seem right. Cathy gave up lots of things to look after her mother when she most needed her including her fiance and friends. she now realises that she has to make a life for herself and so ventures to a local church group where they are asking for home baked goods- right up her street! Her one friend is Fleur who is her boss for the three days she works at the floristry stall on the market who encourages her to get out and about and tries to give her some much needed confidence. I really enjoyed this. Not everyone has had a loving mother but the inspiration behind Cathy shines through and this is such a well written book. There is so much more than the “story” if that makes sense. A thread of getting out there and developing confidence (albeit it quietly) and appreciating the small things in life- as well as cake! (not so obvious as it may seem for some). Although there is a little of a Christmas theme this could be read at any time of year. It had me hankering after baking rather than thinking of Christmas! My only disappointment is that there isn't a copy of the recipes. Maybe that's the next book! A wonderful uplifting read for any time of year.
(rest of links as part of blog tour)

I enjoyed this novel but it was nothing special. The story was interesting and kept my attention but it felt very flat, not much happened in the book and I feel as though there was no real climax. Another criticism I have is that the description of the book was very different and not accurate to the novel. I mainly enjoyed the book because of the heartwarming and feel good vibes.

Is it Christmas yet? And now? And now? As you can see “Cathy’s Christmas kitchen” completely got me into the Christmas mood. It’s never too early to read a Christmas story! I got that and oh surprise, a terrible craving for cake!

As per usual, Tilly Tennant delivers a charming story where the sense of community and friendship permeates every page.

Cathy, our heroine, is for the most part a lovable character, although sometimes I felt liked giving her a smack on the head. Girl, have some confidence and stop underestimating yourself!

The cast of characters are quite likable, minus a couple of exceptions (Jonas, wanker!). At first I would have given Tansy a slap on the face too but once we got the whole picture I quite understood her.

I love how Ms. Tennant’s characters are basically good people who good things happen to, cause sometimes that’s just all you need to read about.

The cooking lessons seemed like a thing I would totally sign up for myself and I would have love to get some of the recipes they tried in them.

Delightful read that will take you straight into the Christmas spirit.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing and eARC in exchange for an honest review.