What an excellent story about the cast of characters it takes to run a soup kitchen and to get involved with its local community. Kate, a/k/a Katie, is in need of a job while an insurance claim is yet to be settled on her restaurant. A trained chef, Kate accepts a temporary assignment at the soup kitchen in order to shake up the menu and train the permanent staff. Moving into that role with bluster, Kate doesn't always look before she leaps. Qualified yet without the heart for the community, she struggles. The dedicated mission leader, Nick, provides excellent counsel for the whole team. As the story unfolds we meet so many fabulous, well-developed persons such as Marika, Dallas, Sylvie, Berniece, and the list continues.
This is a first book for the author and she has crafted a believable story. Each of the main and secondary characters struggle with real issues of which the reader can surely find their own self in at least one. Thanks for the lessons about opening our minds and hearts for a community.

I do love a good novel that involves food, chefs, kitchens.... This one had all that and more.
Pots and pans fly as the two women battle to be the “Top Chef” all the while trying to feed the hungry and poor of the community.
Oh how I love a good competition and this one had me cheering both women on, the whole soup kitchen theme and it just brought a bit of fun and light to my reading.

Thoroughly enjoyed it, loved the characters and the fun and quirkiness of the whole story. A great read.

Thank you NetGalley and ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This book and author took me by surprise. I loved the faith element and the characters. It showcases how our lives can change when we take the time to evaluate and prioritize them. There were so many heartwarming, tear jerking moments. I loved the main setting of a soup kitchen. Highly recommend!

I was blessed with an ARC. The opinions expressed are my own and unbiased.

I really enjoyed being in M & M soup kitchen. It was interesting to think about all of the different prejudices that come into play regarding people who are in poverty.

There were so many different stories that were portrayed throughout the book which enhanced the book so much and gave me a greater perspective.

My favorite character was Nick, who was the director of the soup kitchen. Throughout the book he maintained a calm and steady presence. He gave his employees a chance to work through their problems. Nick also spent time each day interacting with the clients of the kitchen.

This was marketed as a Christian book and there was some swearing in the book, which was disappointing.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book!

It's set in the M&M soup kitchen. I enjoyed getting to know the clients and the volunteers and their experiences/stories. Nick runs the program, but he's being called to do more and spends most of the story trying to figure out what that is. Chef Kate is volunteering there after her restaurant has a fire and she's waiting for insurance money to rebuild. I wish she'd have figured out earlier in the story why she was there and what she needed to do. She was too pompus and arrogant in the beginning and I'm glad to see her character come around and learn from those around her.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

So I panicked first as on my kindle it said chapter one was 20 minutes and then I realised I'd not moved the page whilst I was talking 🤭

I really enjoyed this book, i felt Kate come across as looking down at people at the start but slowly warmed to her character,
I loved the way the book was written, I could picture each character and where everything was set out and also how the soup kitchen looked

Also enjoyed as a pallette cleanser away from thrillers

This is the first time I have read this author and I really loved this book. Katie O'leary's restaurant burnt down and she went to be the cook at the M & M soup kitchen. Marika thought she was going to get the job as the head chef but Katie was hired instead. . Nick had a reason for doing that as he wanted Katie to mentor her. Anyway,they did not get off to a good start. There is so much going on in their little community that a spoiler might happen so I suggest you read this book. It makes you think and makes you see how things can be, A GREAT READ,

I must admit that this novel wasn't very interesting, but somewhat boring. That Katie and Marika weren't likable in the beginning isn't helping and their change isn't really believable. The second half is a bit better, but the end, although surprising, is a bit disappointing.

i truly felt immersed into the authors world for this book. like i could hear the sounds, feel the feels and smell the food lol.
at first i wasn't sure. then thought maybe i was being over sensitive in my thinking so tried to let that go as maybe its just an oversensitive time in our world.and its so hard in today's messy world to know people true motives. especially surrounding topics featured within this one. that makes a book like this quite brave actually.
two woman are trying to be heads of this kitchen. and whats that age old line "too many cooks" and these two gals certainly define that at the start. but there is also so much more to the book, story line and characters woven within it. we get to see what it means to be humans at all end of scales and spectrum. we get to see what its like to be kind, to be given kindness. we get to see how a world can be cruel but it can also ave pockets within it where there is goodness. and we have to make sure we make those parts shine, shout louder.
at first i was thinking all the wrong things about Kate. she was coming to this soup kitchen have fallen on hard times herself. yet didn't then seem to see any parallels towards the mission of said soup kitchen!
then there is Marika who has grown up in this borough, shes eating at these tables. shes been with these people and now works to help and give back. she's worked her way up and then in steps Kate. nah.
we also get other characters who pass through the book and kitchen and serving hatch.
im so glad i didn't let my uncertainty dampen my read. it was a great one.

Truly, I always want to support a debut author, especially a debut indie author, but this book was just…

The brown and black characters were described so stereotypically I physically winced reading this. Describing a black man as “looking crazy” because “his dreadlocks resemble snakes coiled around his head” is just insane. Marika’s mother was a horrible mother, but luckily there was a white woman with enough kindness in her heart to care about this little brown girl! The POC are just rude, nasty, and often instigate arguments that are only broken up by white people or police.

There is also a transgender woman, who is physically and emotionally abusive toward her boyfriend. I’m not saying trans people can’t be abusive, but the author was more concerned with reminding the reader she was trans, not that she was abusive. Every time the victim was described, he was described as “being with the trans woman”. It felt like the author was trying to give her book a diverse cast but didn’t realize how offensive she was coming across.

Apart from that, there were multiple times I was just bored. So much of the plot and character relationships was told, not shown.

I do think, however, the author did do a good job discussing the issues of food deserts and opioid addictions in youth.

I do wish A.K. Hill a successful career with this novel and any ones in the future.

An amazing book with such depth and detail. A very realistic look at supporting people who are less fortunate for whatever reason and examples of how to develop community.

The synopsis of the novel does not do it justice. Yes, it starts off with two women in conflict over the control of a soup kitchen, but it is so much more. The author has written a heart-warming and heart-wrenching story that weaves together wonderfully complex characters, a contrasting view of two cultures within a city, and themes of love, loss, grief, altruism, compassion, generosity…well almost the entire spectrum of human emotions and behaviors. It certainly provides an illuminated view of people who are served in soup kitchens and those who serve them.

Kate O’Leary, a gourmet chef, is scrambling to survive the chaos of losing her beloved restaurant in a fire. Desperate to cover her living expenses while she waits through a prolonged investigation and the release of insurance money, she accepts a “temporary” position as head cook at Mary and Martha’s Soup Kitchen. She begins her tenure with a stereotypical attitude of superiority, even elitism, with little appreciation for the mission exemplified by the Executive Director, staff, and volunteers. Frankly, despite understanding her grief over the shocking loss, she makes for an unsympathetic, even obnoxious, character.

In contrast to Kate’s background, Marika Johnson grew up in the neighborhood eating at the soup kitchen, graduated from the culinary program of the local community college, and now works as a cook with a dream of being promoted to Head Cook. She is outraged and resentful that Kate has been hired to take over reorganization of the kitchen and to improve the appearance, quality, and taste of the food on a shoestring budget.

While the two women serve as a focal point of the storyline, the novel is filled with a plethora of interesting characters and subplots, which enhance rather than detract from this engaging book.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I appreciate the author’s insights into a topic that is so relevant in our current milieu and applaud her courage to follow her inner guidance and perseverance in writing and self-publishing this book.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.