Book Review: Eden's Comfort Kitchen

I want to express my gratitude to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of Eden's Comfort Kitchen by Tilly Tennant. This charming novel whisked me away to the picturesque Seaglass Bay, where I found not just a story, but a journey of healing, community, and unexpected romance.

From the moment Eden stepped into Four Winds Cottage, I felt her bittersweet nostalgia. The recent loss of her mother cast a shadow over her return, yet the warmth of the village enveloped her in a way that felt both comforting and inviting. I admired Eden’s determination to honor her mother’s legacy by creating a community kitchen. The way she connected with the locals over home-cooked meals was heartwarming and inspiring, reminding me of the power of food to bring people together.

Enter Cam, the ruggedly handsome antagonist with a hidden depth. His arrival stirred tension, but it also sparked something unexpected between him and Eden. I loved their playful banter and the way their relationship evolved as they cooked together. The kitchen scenes were electric, filled with humor and chemistry that made my heart race. Cam’s initial intent to buy the land added an intriguing layer of conflict, and I found myself rooting for Eden to show him the value of what they were building together.

However, the moment he disappeared felt like a punch to the gut. I found myself questioning whether Eden’s efforts would be enough to win him over. Tennant masterfully crafted this emotional rollercoaster, and I was fully invested in Eden’s journey of self-discovery and resilience.

Overall, Eden's Comfort Kitchen is a beautifully written tale that blends romance with a heartfelt exploration of loss and new beginnings. It’s a story that reminded me that it’s never too late to embrace change and rebuild one’s life. I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a cozy escape filled with love, laughter, and plenty of delicious food!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

This book was great! I loved the writing style and I loved the characters and their chemistry. This was a cute summer read.

Eden ran away from her life, and went back to Seaglass Bay, the place her family went to when she was a child and had so much fun. She believed she was a screw up and everyone was better off if she wasn't there as a reminder of what had happened. When she arrived, she met Livia, and they became friends, and she got a part-time job at the pub with Livia. It wasn't long before she had a few friends and when she saw what the pub was doing she decided she wanted to help the community by creating a community cafe. At the start of her planning, she questioned herself and thought the community would think she was an outsider trying to make changes. But, Livia and Ralph the pub owner, convinced her that everyone there was already welcoming her and loving her. Eden told them that she didn't like what she had done and who she had become when she ran away, and she was there because she wanted to be a better person.
She decided to go for it, and with the help of those in the community, the cafe opened, and it was a nice thing to have. It brought neighbors together instead of sitting at home in front of the TV.
One night when Eden and Livia were bartending, Eden's former boss, Cam showed up at the bar, she went and hid. Livia convinced her to go talk to him, and he was there to buy up the land, and it would shut down the community cafe. Eden convinces him to make a bet, he works with her for two weeks, at the cafe, and if after the two weeks, it doesn't change him and his heart, then she won't fight him on the deal he wants to do. It is an exciting two weeks. As Eden said, people come to Seaglass Bay one way but after staying a while, Seaglass Bay brings out the best in them. It did it for Eden but you will have to read the book, to see what it does to Cam.
I could relate to Eden, when she first came, thinking she wasn't a good enough person, but I could also see as I read the story, all the changes I made. This was a story that enveloped me with the love, the connection, and the togetherness of this small town. This is a very special book to me.
I received an ARC from Bookouture through NetGalley.

I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t put it down. It was such a lovely heartwarming read with the beautiful setting of Seaglass Bay.
The characters were well written, with Bilbo being my favourite, and I Ioved the community spirit that emerged throughout the book
The romance really added to the story but I liked the fact it had lots of other important plots.
A fantastic five star heartwarming read with lots of important themes.
I’m hoping for a sequel so we can catch up on not only Eden but all the other characters we meet along the way.
Thanks to NetGalley, Tilly Tennant and Bookouture for an advance copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Whatever expectations I had for this book were well and truly beaten. This was such a gorgeous story. It was a short read but it holds an important message and delivers it well. It's a snapshot of grief and facing the ugly truth of past actions and trying to make amends. Our lead character, Eden, is a flawed person who has made plenty of mistakes, but she realises it and that's the first stop for growth. I think everyone is capable of change and this story perfectly encapsulates that. A particularly poignant quote from the book was "...life might not go the way you want it to...but what matters is how you deal with that". This is so true.
I felt the ending to this book was perfect and left me feeling filled with hope. I loved it!

Thank you so much to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC and share my thoughts on the book. It is greatly appreciated!

Another cosy read from this fabulous author. This was a quick and easy read with a real community feel and sea glass cove sounds like a neurodiverse place to live and visit. The story covered a lot of hard hitting topics such as grief and family relationships and poverty in a very sensitive way and also showed that it’s never to late to make a fresh start and that people are not always how they seem on first impressions.

I hope there is going to be a second book in this series to continue Edens journey with the cafe and her new life in sea glass cove hoping this is the reason there wasn’t an epilogue wrapping everything up as we have the delights of a book two in the series to come.

Eden escapes to the seaside town where she's spent some childhood vacations after the loss of her mother makes her rethink her life and behavior. While there she becomes a part of the community and tries to reform herself through helping them. I enjoyed the story and relationships. A huge pet peeve though is a book ending at 80%< and the last 20% being an excerpt. I don't mind the odd excerpt but 20% is crazy.

This book was such a cute summer read and was a quick read as well. I do feel that the ending wrapped up very fast and would’ve loved to seen an epilogue with an update on the kitchen and what all Eden was able to accomplish. Other than that, this was the perfect quick read on a dreary day and a perfect book to end summer with!

**Thank you NetGalley and bookouture for an advanced copy, make sure to snag this on release day on October 23rd.**

After the sudden passing of her mother, Eden leaves her fast-paced, successful life in the city to escape to Sea Glass Bay, a quaint waterfront town her family used to frequent when she was a child. For most of the book, we deal with Eden's feelings of inadequacy as a daughter and guilt over the person she was in London, to her mom, and to her family after her mother's passing. Eventually, Eden finds purpose in creating a safe space for residents of the town to receive a hot meal for free or at reduced prices. Insert Cam, the hot villain from the city poised to ruin the entire operation (as well as provide an opportunity for a love interest for Eden).. will Eden stay in SGB? Will she reconcile with her family? Will Cam ruin everything? Will they end up together?

While this book held my interest and was a nice, low-risk read, I did find myself feeling a little too frustrated with the "old" Eden from the beginning to have as much of an appreciation for her character development as I would have liked. It seemed her new SGB friends held most of the burden, and Eden had very little input for the kitchen other than the initial idea, which came across as self-absorbed and flighty. I also found the ending to be quite abrupt and was shocked when I finished the last page to find there were no more chapters. I would have given this book 3 stars as the feelings of guilt/grief are very relatable and nicely written, but as the book provided little in the way of a conclusion for any of the plot lines, I can't help but feel a bit slighted.

After edens mum dies suddenly she blames herself and decides she needs to leave her family job and home in london and start again.
She moves to seaglass bay were she used to go on holiday as a child and stays i the house on the cliff were she used to stay.
She soon becomes friends with the ice cream parlor owners and starts a little job in the pub. and finds out there are a few families in the Bay that struggle to feed there families and come into the pub for care packages of food that is not needed to help them.
Eden comes up with a plan to help more people than the pub can .

It was a good story about giving back and realising your mistakes. Some great characters. A perfect wet Saturday afternoon read. I loved Sea glass . The village was lovely and all pulled together and you had a great love element .

~Romance, Small-town, and more!~

Eden's Comfort Kitchen by Tilly Tennant follows Eden in the small town of Seaglass Bay. After the tragic and sudden death of Eden's mother, Eden feels lost and runs to her childhood vacation spot in Seaglass Bay. Giving up her flat and losing her job, Eden embraces the small-town life to hopefully heal her broken heart. As Eden starts connecting with the locals, she discovers many of them struggle to get by, working two jobs and still struggling to have food on the table. Fueled by the guilt of her mother's death and her determination to help the community that welcomed her with open arms, Eden decides to make a change and open a community cafe where people can pay what they can and still have a home-cooked meal. Everything is going great until a handsome but aggressive land developer comes to town interested in the spot where the cafe is run. Will Eden and the community be able to convince him to back off? Will Eden discover there is more to him than meets the eye? And will Eden stop running and deal with her grief?

3| This book was a quick and heartwarming read. I love the cover and the unique premise of the book. The town of Seaglass Bay is cozy and like a lot of small tourist towns. Though I think this story had a lot of potential, it sadly fell flat for me. The whole story seemed a little rushed and not fleshed out enough. The side characters were my favorite part of the book, but even then, I found myself wishing I got to hear more about their backstories. Edens's character is interesting, and I enjoyed the character growth she went through, but I felt like something was missing. I also wouldn't consider this a romance book. I wish this story focused just on Edens's character growth, healing, and self-discovery; the romance seemed rushed and like an afterthought. I felt like Cam's character came in too late into the story, which made things escalate quickly and seem forced. We never got to hear his whole backstory, nor did Eden ever share why she was in Seaglass Bay with him, which seemed like an oversight. I think the topic of grief was dealt with nicely and seemed realistic. Her actions to honor her mother were sweet and heartwarming. I loved how much the community came into play and helped her. The small-town aspect came through and I loved that. The descriptions of the town were also well done and allowed me to get a good sense of the scenery.

I did wish we got to see more of Eden's relationship with her family. The reconciliation came relatively late in the story, so we never saw how she would handle new conflict with her family. While Eden did go through a lot of growth, I wish I got to see how that growth affected her future decision-making. My biggest issue with this book was how unfinished it felt. The ending was sudden and seemed unrealistic. Something like an epilogue or even a couple of extra chapters that expand upon the ending would have significantly improved this. For example, where is Eden going to live? Is Cam going to move? How is she going to make enough money to support herself? So many things in this book were left unsaid that it felt rushed. I do think this book has a lot of potential; the side characters are charming, the town is picturesque, and Eden is an intelligent and strong character. There were many heartfelt moments in this book, but the pacing just threw the whole story off for me. I think with some changes, this book could be great because the plot itself is interesting, but as it is, it's not my favorite.

Overall, I did enjoy some aspects of this book. I really loved the side characters and how strong-willed Eden is. I love how she is able to own her mistakes. The descriptions were beautiful, and the sense of community in the town was strong. This story has a lot of potential, and with a change of pacing, I genuinely think this could be a great book. With that said, it was not my favorite, but I do see how others might enjoy it.

I had the absolute pleasure of reading Eden’s country kitchen over the weekend and it was absolutely a gorgeous read!
I could relate to Eden’s character and her loss as of recent loss of a parent myself your looking to go back to places that brought you joy as a child or remind you of that person.
Eden’s heads to beautiful Seaglass and I love how she carries on her mother’s footsteps and opens a community kitchen to give back to those around her to have a nice hot meal. Something her mother would be quite proud of.
Enter handsome love interest Cam who unfortunately comes and puts a big dent in Eden’s success. Thankfully though he opens up and the two combine forces and when Eden thinks she found solace in someone or potentially more he disappears. I don’t want to spoil it for readers but you definitely have to check it out to see what happens and you won’t be disappointed. This book was a true warm hug. I adored every moment and readers will too!
Please check out this beautiful heartwarming book from the lovely publishers at Bookouture. It inspired me to start something like this in my own community and I hope inspires others to give back in any way big or small that they can.