I enjoyed Escape to the Country Kitchen for many reasons. The main female character, Juliet, returns to the run-down family manse, about an hour outside of London, to help with the family’s financial troubles. I liked the setting and the description of the family dynamics. I also enjoy stories of do overs or second chances, and Juliet is able to thrive again at home.

I also enjoyed the enemies to lovers romance between Juliet and a French chef who is helping to tun a cooking school in the manor to generate income. Unlike some other reviewers, I thought the romance developed at a believable pace and the reader could see a strong connection between the two.

I did, however, get a little tired of both romantic leads sabotaging their relationship because of their baggage from prior partners. Still, a very entertaining read.

Although the main storyline was good, the lead characters were irritating, often. In general, the story was enjoyable but I found Juliet annoying and her inner monologue tiresome at times.

TW: abusive relationship, gaslighting

Juliet comes home to help her family with their large crumbling estate. She meets Leo, a French cook who is hired by her family to make some revenue to help resolve their money problems. They both have secrets in their past that they're trying to move on from. Almost immediately, Juliet and Leo make judgments about each other, but when they are forced to work together, they start to open their hearts and minds to each other.

Tropes:
enemies to lovers
forced proximity
reverse grumpy/sunshine
slow burn
one bed

I thought that some of the dialogue was hard to follow, and at times, it seemed too formal and stilted. The transition from Leo and Juliet's initial aloofness to friendship to relationship was very abrupt. In the beginning, Leo seemed to be determined to remain friendly with Juliet, but it all goes out the window at some point and suddenly, they are in a relationship. And imho, I'm not sure Juliet is ready to be in a relationship. She is still reeling from her previous traumatic relationship, which makes her doubt herself and Leo's motivations so that no matter what Leo said, she never really trusted that it wasn't a manipulation and that he had her best interests at heart. Which is totally understandable, given what she went through, but I felt like she needed some time to heal, which she didn't get. This all came to a head with a third-act miscommunication (or lack of communication, I should say) that I'm usually not a fan of in romance books. But even after, I thought that the reunion between Leo and Juliet was too soon (literally a WEEK after), and I'm not sure if either of them had enough self-development to embark on their relationship again. In addition, I felt like the book ended abruptly, with no resolution for any of the side characters (namely, Juliet's sisters, Martha and Frankie, and Sylvia, who had their own side plots going on that were never dealt with).

There were some sweet moments between Leo and Juliet that I adored, but overall, I felt like the book was lacking the proper healing and development that both Leo and Juliet needed, and I felt like many of the plots were rushed through to get to the end. I felt like the interpersonal problems could have been flushed out more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC!

A lovely story. A beautiful falling down manor , 3 complicated artistic sisters and you have a fab story. Juliet was a complicated character and she was the main sister you followed . You feel there could be more books to follow. Ending was not what I expected. You had a horrid x and a lovely french chef .I loved the food descriptions . Parents have a lot to answer for. . A good author . Look forward to more books.

Juliet es una dibujante que tiene que regresar a su pueblo por la muerte de su madre, el padre le pide que se quede a ayudarlos porque tienen problemas económicos, entonces a pesar de que su hogar le trae malos recuerdos decide quedarse.
Su madre trató horrible a Juliet toda su vida, la hizo creer que era menos, que no tenia talento, que era fea, que no tenía valor, etc.
Leo es un chef que se acaba de mudar al pueblo.

Quería sacudir a ambos por dejar que sus relaciones anteriores dictarán sus comportamientos y se autosabotearan.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Escape to the Country Kitchen by new to me author Hannah Langdon, published by Storm Publishing, is a beautiful piece of literature.
An heartwarming , uplifting, slow burn, a sweet story.
Juliet is just out of a bad relationship and is coming home. She ha dto sort out the family's legacy.
Sweet, charming, a beautiful slow burn with characters easily to connect with.

Thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read Escape to the Country Kitchen by Hannah Langdon, a sweet and enjoyable read.

Juliet returns to her family home in the countryside and must deal with the legacy of family relationships, the end of a traumatic romantic relationship, and some ongoing family drama before she can move ahead. There were elements of this book I really liked, including a lovely sounding setting and the cooking school idea. The characters are sharply drawn and very distinct in a realistic way. I struggled a bit with some of the dialogue, which didn’t quite ring true to me, and with some of the miscommunication in one of the central relationships. It was very realistically done, just one of my least favorite plot points in general. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. All views are entirely my own.