Struggled to finish this book. Some funny little bits but seemed to go nowhere and by the end of it we weren’t a great deal further than where we started. Not enough to keep me interested for more than about 10 minutes at a time and I’m someone who will often finish a book a day.

Mixed feelings about this one to be honest.

I loved the furrie convention and had the book been all about Furries I would have probably enjoyed it a lot more.

I had read Perfect Meringues years ago, but don't recall enough that any prompts went straight over my head. AT times I felt this was repetitive. And yet the TV bit which I did enjoy, despite it being a blatant rip off of Loose Women, felt too short and for something mentioned in the blurb, no where near as important.

The ending I can't help but wonder if my copy was missing an extra few chapters as the ending was rather abrupt, and had it gone on for longer I would have probably been giving this a higher score.

Lizzie will make you laugh out loud! This book has a stream-of-consciousness vibe about it as Lizzie ponders her reality. And it’s not looking good. She’s an ex TV chef who feels Jamie and Nigella got better breaks. Her home is not what she wanted it to be and her relationships? Well they’ve seen betters days!
So she runs away
To Aberystwyth as you do....
Fun and funny!

A strange read. Amusing and lighthearted and certainly different. I didn’t love it but it was fun and sweet.

This follow-up to Perfect Meringues works as a stand-alone novel and I enjoyed it very much, as I do all of Laurie Graham’s work. In this her latest novel (2018) she returns to Lizzie Partridge, a TV cook whose personal life and career seem to be going nowhere. Then some new opportunities arise and perhaps her life is going to change for the better. I’m an enormous fan of Laurie Graham, but for me this wasn’t perhaps one of her best. Some of the characters were perhaps just a little too exaggerated and the scenarios just a bit too off-beat. However, Graham is an excellent writer, funny, witty, wise and compassionate – and she knows how to write a cracking good story. Her ability to blend the serious with the mundane and the amusing with the tragic is second-to-none and if not quite up to standard this is nevertheless a thoroughly enjoyable read.

It had promise with a great storyline but sorry I didn't finish it. I hope lots of people enjoy it but it wasn't for me.

I did not finish the book sorry. I did start to read it but just could not get in to the story or what was happening.

Laurie Graham has long been one of my favourite authors, and although I was somewhat sceptical about the idea of a sequel to Perfect Meringues, it turns out it was just what I wanted - funny, well observed and incredibly readable.

Lizzie Partridge used to be a TV chef on local TV. Then there was that incident with the chocolate mousse and suddenly she's the wrong side of 60 and her last cookery gig (a magazine column) has been cancelled. She decides to run away in a desperate bid for attention, but nobody notices that she's gone although she spends a week in off-season Aberystwyth. But while she's there she starts to see the light at the end of the tunnel and then her nephew's girlfriend has the bright idea of reuniting her with her former local TV nemesis for a new TV show and life really does seem like it might be going her way again.

Lizzie's inner voice is pure Graham - funny, dark, sarcastic and with an observant eye on others, but not as much self-awareness as she thinks she has.  I could have read pages more of the exploits her exploits and there are definitely a few things left not as resolved as I could have wanted.  There aren't enough books with leading ladies who are over 60, and Lizzie is definitely not a fading old lady in a twinset and pearls. She's spunky and fun and not done with life and love yet - and she hasn't got a bank balance to sit back and retire anyway.

Perfect to cure your end of summer blues.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really liked this book and the way it was written, it was actually quite funny and sad at the same time.

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I loved it!

It is a lovely story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has some great characters and I loved reading about them, I read the book in an afternoon and it was a delight to be able to sit down and read it and take a break and escape from the day to day norm for me.

This book is a sequel to “Perfect Meringues” but I read it as a stand alone and I didn’t feel that I missed out, but after reading this one I have downloaded a copy of the first book as I loved the characters and writing style so much!

Four stars from me for this one, very enjoyable and highly recommended!!

This book was fantastic - a lovely easy read that drew you in from the first few pages .
It really made me believe that there is always room for second chances in life - that even if life has closed one door another one will open.
The characters were all relatable and sounded as dysfunctional as me.
I couldn’t put the book down , I needed to know what happened next and definitely recommend it to others .

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the chance to preview this book

Ahh Lizzie Partridge – I think she is the matriarch for us all. Hard as nails on the outside – the clawing and the finger pointing of others bouncing off her Teflon-tinted surface. Yet underneath she is just like one of us, searching for love and affirmation, for her niche in both life and the hearts of those she loves.
For Lizzie, humour is armour. Her tongue can match the ‘cut of her jib’ as well as the cut of her hair. We meet when life has tried its hardest to pigeon hole Lizzie. Quite literally, she is stuck behind her front door (well for most of the year, until the seasons change, and it unsticks), between her next-door neighbour’s X Factor wannabe dog and her ‘son of the year’ contender brother. Lizzie is feeling quite bereft as her long-term partner has gone off to find himself, (apparently, he was lost all along in the arms of someone else) and her high-flying daughter Ellie, has decided that she no longer needs her Mum, as other ‘experts’ are available.
The writer instantly pictures for us the little niggles that grind us down in a relationship, you know, all those little foibles that in the early days of romance are just ‘adorable’ and a few years in become matters of life and death, that’s your life and someone else’s imaginary death. Lizzie believes that there is a better life out there for her and the realisation that no one else can or perhaps will go out there and grab it for her spurs her on to seek out her own fortunes – landing her of all places in a little welsh town, in the pouring rain, with some strange characters for company.
It is this impetus for life, a survival instinct with built-in battery, a bit like a Duracell bunny, that ultimately starts a chain reaction for our Lizzie. There are a few sparks that fly – some with dramatic effect and there are much to Lizzie’s delight, there are fireworks too. Along the way Lizzie re-discovers her mojo – in the time old tradition – that is with a little help from her friends and her frenemies.
Lizzie too has been known to judge a book by it’s cover and to rely on her own assumptions. Sometimes her gut instinct is spot on, but sometimes, like all of us, she has woven a script around a person that doesn’t tell their full story. This helps us to love her that little bit more, she’s only human after all – hoorah. We as readers are waiting in the wings of her life cheering her on and shaking our heads in mirth at her daring. As the rain begins to clear and the clouds lift, Lizzie realises that her talents, be they for TV or cooking up a storm, are all intact. She has all the ingredients for a healthy and hearty life– a loyal friend, her family; including a loving daughter, a delightfully mischievous grandson in the making, an indefatigable mother and nieces and nephews galore. Best of all she has herself – she accepts herself ‘just as she is’ and in that way, she is her own ‘Darcy’ – she looks out for herself and is humble enough to realise that she too could pull her socks up in some areas of her life. She is not so tough that she can’t see her way through to her own second chances. That is a message for all of us, an uplifting tale that is not afraid to tell it how it is and yet still offer a hand of hope to pull us up when we are down. This story is a modern-day Mary Poppins – where a spoonful of sugar is not enough to make the medicine go down, but like a lovely glass of wine, it sure smooths the way.

Coffee Cup Conversations and Teapot Talking Points:
If you and I dear reader were sitting down together today, perhaps in a cosy cafe in Aberystwyth, having both read the book, here are a few of the points we could mull over together.
Have you ever been on TV?
Years ago, my husband appeared on a TV show with Ulrika Jonsson, it was called ‘Dog Eat Dog’. He was terrific at all the challenges and got to the final, but sadly his team lost. He had that awful moment of knowing the answer that his teammate sadly did not. I can be heard screaming and cheering him on in the background -quite embarrassing really. It was an interesting experience for us both. Our twin babies were really little, and we had to leave them with family, which was tough for a young set of parents. Sitting in the green room with all the other people who were there hoping to win the £10,000 prize, seeing behind the scenes and noticing how it all worked as the cameras were switched on and off and the set was swapped about. What a day. We have never forgotten it.
Who is your oldest friend?
Some people are lucky enough to have cultivated a friendship from as far back as primary school, others keep their university friends close to them even into adult life. I have friends that I have worked with many moons ago who I know that I still count on and my husband has been my best friend for 29 years now. Friendship is not an easy kettle of fish or a given – it does take work and some friendships are just for a season. Lizzie’s friend Louie is a treasure – on the surface he could be viewed quite harshly, but his commitment to his friend is unquestionable and reveals the many beautiful facets of his heart and soul. The whole process of making and keeping friends is never particularly easy, but we can also overcomplicate it. Maybe this can be a year of making friends.
Have you ever made it up with a ‘frenemy’?
I was fascinated by the concept of ‘frenemy’ revealed and redefined so well by this author. I know that I am very quick to judge, it is a fault in myself that I often turn in on myself and so I have become aware of it and really try to be much more self-compassionate and empathic. Sometimes, I have found that the person that I thought I would not like, quite often turned out to be someone with qualities that I most admire. With teachers, when I was young, the smiley sweet ones didn’t last as long on my respect radar as the ones who were firm when I met them but fair and friendly as I got to know them. I think what matters most is our view of ourselves. If we resist the urge to compare ourselves, and let’s face it, that always means a negative comparison – then perhaps we can view all people in a positive light, hoping for the best from them, unless they prove themselves otherwise.

**I would like to thank NetGalley and Quercus books for my copy in exchange for an honest review.**

'Entirely original, this makes us laugh a lot and take a long look at our lives. I absolutely adored it!' KATIE FFORDE

Just desserts and second chances…
 
The laugh-out-loud sequel to Perfect Meringues - can former queen of the TV cooks Lizzie Partridge claw her way back into the nation's hearts? For fans of Dawn French, Jenny Eclair and Cathy Hopkins.

I haven't read the previous book, Perfect Meringues, or any other books by this author. The plot from the first in this series was easy to pick up & this book could still be read as a stand alone. The main characters in the books I usually read are a lot younger than Lizzie Partridge but she was a faboulous, relatable character.

Although the book is mainly humourous, it also deals with some more serious issues too. Lizzie and the other characters experience many ups and downs throughout the book which the readers can emphasise with.

Highly recommended but I thought the ending was very abrupt and I just wanted that little bit more.

Lizzie Partridge used to be a chef on a morning TV show but, after a very spectacular grande finale, she was replaced. But Lizzie usually never gives up and keeps going. However, we meet her when she hits a low point after being fired from a magazine that she writes recipes for. Feeling low and taken for granted, she decides to go missing to see how long will it take before her friends and family start to look for her. She maybe hasn't been successful in this matter but during her short break she meets new people and some changes are to come. She might be 64 year old, she might be jobless and a little overweight, she might be single and her mother might rely only on her brother, but Lizzie is determined to achieve something in her life.

And I though, go girl! Show them!

Where has Laurie Graham been hiding my whole life, I'm asking myself guys. This book was so right up to my street, and the author has written loads of books and I am really, really surprised that I haven't heard about her before - my bad. I should go and hide under a rock. Although, at the beginning, I was dead sure that I've read this author before, heck, that I've read the first book about Lizzie as it came so familiar to me. But no. I haven't - although I've read a book very similar in plot. But not so good! And yes, "Anyone for Seconds?" follows adventures of Lizzie Partridge, a woman with the sharpest tongue ever and the best one - liners and replies and thinking on her feet I've seen in a very, very long time. I haven't read the previous book but I didn't have any problems to just pick up and go on.

Lizzie was a fabulous character. She was strong and determined, she complained, she was unhappy, she was an attention - seeker, she was also a drama queen, but she was so normal in all of this, so true and honest. I loved her dry humour and the way she's seen the world and things - not only good things but she could be cynical as well. She's seen things just as they were. Her habit of creating newspaper headlines out of things people did around her was simply great. All the characters were hilarious, but in a good way. They were impressively described and very well rounded and it was so easy to see what make them tick. They were all so different but every single one has a great and huge personality.

It was a really funny read with some much more serious and poignant moments that were so well balanced into the story. In a very amusing way we were able to experience all of the ups and downs in Lizzie's life, the good and bad that happened to her and guys, it was impossible not to fell for Lizzie - immediately. Laurie Graham's writing style is unbelievably sharp and she takes no prisoners, she has a great comic timing, and she always knows when to add a word or two to either break the ice or make the scene even more hilarious - not everybody can do this as effortlessly as Ms Graham. I actually had a great feeling about this book and well, it worked out. There was a great feel - good factor to it and even though our main character is older than our usual heroines, I still could relate to her on many levels and I think we just share the same sense of humour. It is this kind of book that the more you read, the more you want and I was really disappointed when the novel came to an end.

Altogether, "Anyone for Seconds?" was one of the sharpest, incredibly spot - on observed novels that I had a pleasure to read, guys. Story about new and old love, about friendship and family relationship, but also about never giving up, about living your life to the full and watching fur conventions and your best friend in a panto. It was refreshingly honest, it made me bitterly laugh at the realistic and brutally honest observations and now when I've discovered Laurie Graham, I'm going to go through the whole back - catalogue of her books - I really don't know why she doesn't receive more of the deserved recognition, guys. Highly recommended!

I do enjoy Laurie Graham - the books are always an enjoyable read, often unexpected, often insightful and, more often than not, hit the funny bone. This is no exception. An entertaining read with a credible protagonist. Good, solid escapism for a wet weekend - which is fairly often.....in Aberystwyth.

I've not ready any of Laurie Graham's books before and this one caught me unawares. On reflection i enjoyed it tremendously however half way through I did wonder what I'd got myself into....a woman of a similar age to me, doing all sorts of things I should be doing too! It really did make me think about life. I'm sure if I ran away as Lizzie did then no one would miss me either. It is a really funny and poignant book and has a good ending.

I hadn't realised there was a previous book in the series, I'm off to get that as although it wasn't necessary to read it to make sense of this book, I'm curious and would like a bit more background!

Absolutely hilarious, beautifully observed and completely spot on. Read in one sitting, giggling all the way.

I don't know where to start with this one. I have loved all the other books I have read by P Dangelico and I was super excited when I saw this had released. Unfortunately this felt like it was written by a different person.

Maren Murphy is a highly successful tennis player, dating her coach, she breaks her arm in the final of the US Open and discovers that her grandfather Rowdy has died and she is named as an executor of the will. Her grandfather's will has a number of stipulations, most of them involving the love of her life since she was 10 years old, Noah Callahan. Rowdy and Noah were business partners and if Maren is to inherit she must stay in her old home town and learn the business. Maren hasn't been back home for years, ever since Noah betrayed her most horribly. Now she is determined to come back a winner and rub his nose in it. According to the blurb Noah was a bad boy, he's reformed and he wants a chance to prove to Maren that he loves her. I have to say I saw very little evidence of any of that. Noah seemed to sulk and pout and be rude to Maren by turns, apparently she could see 'in his eyes' the feelings he isn't expressing. I call bulls&*t.

The previous books I have read (in the Hard to Love series) had endearing heroines and sparkled with humour. I have to say I didn't warm to Maren or Noah. I didn't see that either of them loved the other for the person they had become, their love seemed to be based on the teens they used to be. I certainly didn't find either of them loveable, or even likeable. I also have to say I am 'over' books where the main characters allude to 'something' which happened to change their lives and yet the reader is kept in suspense for most of the book as to what the 'something' is. Frankly by the time the secret is revealed I was (i) unimpressed and (ii) irritated beyond words. Also, it was a plot device I had read more than once before.

On the plus side, I want to read about Maren's sister Bebe - I see a twisted relationship between her and the dark and dangerous police chief as she tries to lose her pesky V-card in order to seduce Peter Perfect - some kind of sex guru romance.