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Monday 18 September 2017

The Worst Case Scenario Cookery Club by Chrissie Manby




About The Worst Case Scenario Cookery Club

In the quaint seaside town of Newbay, a beginner's cookery course is starting. And three very different students have signed up...

Liz's husband has left her for a twenty-something clean-eating blogger, and she's determined to show the world - and her daughter - she's just as capable in the kitchen. John, newly widowed after fifty years of marriage, can't live on sympathy lasagnes forever. To thirty-year-old workaholic Bella, the course is a welcome escape from her high-pressure job. Their only common ground: between them, they can barely boil an egg!

Enter talented chef Alex, who is determined to introduce his pupils to the comforts of cuisine. As Liz, John and Bella encounter various disasters in the kitchen, the unlikely trio soon form a fast friendship. Their culinary skills might be catastrophic - but could the cookery club have given them a recipe for happiness?

The wonderful new novel from bestselling author Chrissie Manby is perfect for fans of Jill Mansell, Trisha Ashley, Cathy Bramley, and The Great British Bake Off.


My review of The Worst Case Scenario Cookery Club

The Worst Case Scenario Cookery Club was an absolute joy to read. After devouring several dark and grizzly crime thrillers, I felt that I needed a change of tone and pace, and this book fitted the bill perfectly. It's a gentle romantic comedy that ticks all of the right boxes. I loved it!

The main themes of the novel are food, cooking, friendship and love. This is the backbone to the four main characters that we meet. We have Liz, a dental hygienist whose husband of twenty years has run off with a food blogger and lifestyle guru Brittney. Liz has a teenage daughter, Saskia, and dog called Ted. Liz has taken the breakup particularly badly, and she can't seem to get over it, although it happened a year ago. She also can't cook and lives on a diet of ready meals. We then meet Alex, a loner and cook who is down on his luck and who sets up a cookery class, which Liz joins. Two other locals also join the class, John who is an elderly gentleman and widow, and Bella, a lawyer with a heart of gold who has lost her love of cooking.

What we read is an intricate account from each of these characters. We learn why they lost their love of food, what food means to them, and why they can't cook. The cookery class that Alex runs teaches them so much more than cooking.

This book, although funny, (there are lots of laugh out moments, many of which involve Ted the dog, and the car bonnet scene made me spit my coffee out) also has many poignant and reflective  moments. It's a much deeper book than at first you might think, because you judge it on its genre and lovely cover. The inner feelings of these characters are fully explored, and I felt as if I really knew them, that I understood them. I felt so sad when I finished the book, as I had to say goodbye to them.

The Worst Case Scenario Cookery Club really does have everything. It's a quick and enjoyable read, there are a couple of love themed stories, and it made me laugh. I highly recommend this book when you need a little pick me up. It's a lovely read.

The Worst Case Scenario Cookery Club is published by Hodder Paperbacks on 21 Sept. 2017. It cn be found on Amazon here.

With thaks to the publusher and Bookbridgr for the Advanced Reader Copy






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