Book Review: The French Cookery School

The Blurb

Mix together a group of mature students:

A culinary Sloane, a take-away cook and a food journalist.

Add in:

A handsome host

Season with:

A celebrity chef

Bring to the boil:

At a luxurious cookery school in France!

Waltho Williams has no idea what he’s letting himself in for when he opens the doors of La Maison du Paradis, his beautiful French home. But with dwindling funds, a cookery school seems like the ideal business plan.

Running away from an impending divorce, super-snob Caroline Carrington hopes a luxurious cookery holiday will put her back on her feet. Blackpool fish and chip café owner Fran Cartwright thinks she’s won the lottery when her husband Sid books her on a week working alongside a celebrity chef. Meanwhile, feeling she is fading at fifty, journalist Sally Parker-Brown hopes her press week covering the cookery course will enable her to boost her career.

But will the eclectic group be a recipe for success, or will the mismatched relationships sink like a souffle?

To buy a copy of this book, please click here.

My review

5 stars

I’ve decided to take a break from book reviews for a while to focus on my own writing, but I’m really glad to be going out on a high note with this delightful book from my friend, Caroline James.

I was so excited to read this one as I went on a cookery course last year and absolutely loved it. Although it was only for a day and in Yorkshire, rather than in France.

This is a hug of a book. It’s probably a bit of a cliché to say it made me want to pack my bags and go on a cookery holiday in France, but it really did! There is a lot of food in this book – as you can guess from the title – and this was one reason I enjoyed it as I’m a bit of a foodie. But I also loved the French setting and the characters – they were very relatable. Waltho especially stole my heart – what a dear man. Caroline’s writing is easy to read and fun, and whilst this would be a good novel to take on holiday with you, it’s also an excellent choice on a grey and rainy day when you feel in need of a bit of escapism.

About the author

Caroline James always wanted to write, but instead of taking a literary route, followed a career in the hospitality industry, which included owning a pub and a beautiful country house hotel. She was also a media agent representing celebrity chefs. When she finally glued her rear to a chair and began to write, the words flowed, and several novels later, she has gained many bestseller badges for her books.

The French Cookery School is Caroline’s tenth novel. Previously, The Cruise described as: ‘Girl power for the over sixties!’ was an Amazon Top Ten Best Seller. Caroline’s hilarious novels include The Spa Break and The Best Boomerville Hotel, depicted as ‘Britain’s answer to the Best Marigold Hotel’.

She likes to write in Venus, her holiday home on wheels and in her spare time, walks with Fred, her Westie, or swims in a local lake. Caroline is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, the SOA, ARRA and the Society of Women’s Writers & Journalists. She is also a speaker with many amusing talks heard by a variety of audiences, including cruise ship guests.

www.carolinejamesauthor.co.uk

Twitter: @CarolineJames12

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