One Enchanted Evening by Katie Fforde (Blog Tour)

What does March mean to me? It is my mum's birthday, mother's day and time for a new Katie Fforde hardback release!!!!  

Regular readers of my blog will know that I am a huge fan of Katie Fforde. I always look forward to  it with great anticipation and when I heard that 2023's release was going to be the third book (previous titles were A Wedding in the Country and a Wedding in Provence) featuring  Meg, Lizzie and Alexandra , a group of girls who met on a cookery course in London. The book series is set in the 1960's, a different style of novel from Katie Fforde, but it is full of Katie's usual easy to read style of writing with strong female characters and the perfect book to curl up with in the cold winter afternoons or to relax on a sun lounger under the hot summer sun. 

Ever since she can remember, Meg has wanted to be a professional cook.

But it's 1964, and in restaurant kitchens all over England it is still a man's world.

Then she gets a call from her mother who is running a small hotel in Dorset.

There's an important banqueting event coming up. She needs help and she needs it now!

When Meg arrives, the hotel seems stuck in the past. But she loves a challenge, and sets to work.

Then Justin, the son of the hotel owner, appears, determined to take over the running of the kitchen.

Infuriated, Meg is determined to keep cooking - and soon sparks between them begin to fly.

Will their differences be a recipe for disaster? After all, the course of true love never did run smooth...
____________

I was very happy to find that One Enchanted Evening was again, a brilliant read. I loved meeting back up with Alexandra, Lizzie and Meg and to find that Meg was going to take centre stage, helping her mum out in the small hotel in Dorset, where the running of the hotel was left to her mum following the owner's trip away due to a death in the family. On the first day Meg was confronted by the owner's son, Justin, who did not appear to like Meg's ideas for the kitchen and the menu for an upcoming banquet.  Of course, this is the 1960's where women in professional kitchens, in the top positions were not veryj often seen. There appears to be an ulterior motive in Justin's behaviour but will there be a happy ending for Meg, her mum and Justin?

I really recommend this book to all book lovers who enjoy Katie Fforde's books or those who enjoy women's fiction in general. Although this is the third book featuring the three ladies, this book can be read as a stand alone book or in order but nothing is lost from not reading the others first. 

There are so many good characters in this book. I really liked the French chef, who Meg was due to work with, under his tutorage before she had the call from her mum asking for help. One of the hotel's residence, Ambrosine, was a fascinating character, who's back story began in WW2 and was a key part of the story's end. 

I don't know what Katie has planned for her next book but I have really enjoyed this trip back to the 1960's. I know Katie was nervous of taking her writing in this style, but I really hope she has had lots of readers expressing their love for these stories and that she may consider writing more set in the 1960's or 1970's. I would love to see where Meg, Alexandra and Lizzie's lives go next. They each have their own storylines, with them living in different countries and have families of their own but i am sure that they have many more stories to tell.

One Enchanted Evening by Katie Fforde is out 2^nd March, published by Century in hardback, priced £16.99

Thank you to both Random House and Net Galley, along with Ed PR for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review.