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Second Thyme Around
For years, things have run quite smoothly for Perdita and her organic gardening business. So what if her hair needs a complete overhaul, her sweater has more holes than Swiss cheese, and there's no hope of a boyfriend on the horizon? The last thing Perdita wants is a meddlesome man in her life-but she's about to get one, in the form of her completely infuriating ex-husband, Lucas.
Lucas in disagreeable, curt, arrogant, and smolderingly gorgeous. He's also the new chef at Grantly House, Perdita's number-one customer. Worse, Mr. Grantly has the insane idea of starting a television cooking show that will put Lucas and Perdita together as "The Gourmet and the Gardener."
Now, things are heating up in the kitchen--and elsewhere. With the bright lights blazing and old feelings stirring the pot, it could be a recipe for disaster...or absolute delight.
Lucas in disagreeable, curt, arrogant, and smolderingly gorgeous. He's also the new chef at Grantly House, Perdita's number-one customer. Worse, Mr. Grantly has the insane idea of starting a television cooking show that will put Lucas and Perdita together as "The Gourmet and the Gardener."
Now, things are heating up in the kitchen--and elsewhere. With the bright lights blazing and old feelings stirring the pot, it could be a recipe for disaster...or absolute delight.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
112 people are currently reading
3310 people want to read
About the author
Katie Fforde
96 books2,313 followersCatherine Rose Gordon-Cumming was born 27 September 1952 in England, UK, the daughter of Shirley Barbara Laub and Michael Willoughby Gordon-Cumming. Her grandfather was Sir William Gordon-Cumming. Her sister is fellow writer Jane Gordon-Cumming. Katie married Desmond Fforde, cousin of the also writer Jasper Fforde. She has three children: Guy, Francis and Briony and didn't start writing until after the birth of her third child. She has previously worked both as a cleaning lady and in a health food cafe.
Published since 1995, her romance novels are set in modern-day England. She is the founder of the "Katie Fforde Bursary" for writers who have yet to secure a publishing contract. Katie was elected the twenty-fifteenth Chairman (2009-2011) of the Romantic Novelists' Association. She is delighted to have been chosen as Chair of the Romantic Novelists' Association and says, "Catherine Jones was a wonderful chair and she's a very tough act to follow. However, I've been a member of the RNA for more years than I can actually remember and will have its very best interests at the core of everything I do."
Katie lives in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England with her husband, some of her three children and many pets. Recently her old hobbies of ironing and housework have given way to singing, Flamenco dancing and husky racing. She claims this keeps her fit. The writers she likes herself is also in the romantic genre, like Kate Saunders.
Published since 1995, her romance novels are set in modern-day England. She is the founder of the "Katie Fforde Bursary" for writers who have yet to secure a publishing contract. Katie was elected the twenty-fifteenth Chairman (2009-2011) of the Romantic Novelists' Association. She is delighted to have been chosen as Chair of the Romantic Novelists' Association and says, "Catherine Jones was a wonderful chair and she's a very tough act to follow. However, I've been a member of the RNA for more years than I can actually remember and will have its very best interests at the core of everything I do."
Katie lives in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England with her husband, some of her three children and many pets. Recently her old hobbies of ironing and housework have given way to singing, Flamenco dancing and husky racing. She claims this keeps her fit. The writers she likes herself is also in the romantic genre, like Kate Saunders.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 250 reviews
October 22, 2014
I picked this book up somewhat at random in the library, and I'm very glad I didn't spend any money on it. It was a most disappointing piece of work.
Perdita and Lucas were married, briefly and disastrously, some 10 years before the story opens. Now they are divorced, and she has, with the help of grandmother-substitute Kitty, picked herself up and built a market gardening business that supplies local restaurants and hotels. Suddenly, the head chef in the biggest local hotel leaves, to be replaced by...Lucas (last seen, incidentally, as a stockbroker). Cue angst, annoyance, and "oh god suppose he thinks I'm still pining for him!" on Perdita's part.
The story proceeds fairly predictably from there: it is, alas, about how how Perdita and Lucas get back together. I say "alas", because Lucas is an arrogant, obnoxious, bullying twit, and what Perdita sees in him I cannot imagine. Especially when he decides their marriage breakdown was partly her fault because she didn't tell him to stop when he cheated on her. WTF?
Mind you, Perdita seems to have no life beyond her market gardening, and not much more personality than her parsley (except when she's trading insults with Lucas, which she does a lot. This is apparently a sign of affection), so what Lucas sees in her is also unclear. I did like the character of Kitty, though; she's the sort of disgraceful old lady that I want to be when I grow up. And her sub-plot, though sad, was good. (Apart from the Roger part, which was too obvious, and badly worked out.)
Overall, I was thoroughly unimpressed with this book, and I doubt I'll be reading anything else by this author.
Perdita and Lucas were married, briefly and disastrously, some 10 years before the story opens. Now they are divorced, and she has, with the help of grandmother-substitute Kitty, picked herself up and built a market gardening business that supplies local restaurants and hotels. Suddenly, the head chef in the biggest local hotel leaves, to be replaced by...Lucas (last seen, incidentally, as a stockbroker). Cue angst, annoyance, and "oh god suppose he thinks I'm still pining for him!" on Perdita's part.
The story proceeds fairly predictably from there: it is, alas, about how how Perdita and Lucas get back together. I say "alas", because Lucas is an arrogant, obnoxious, bullying twit, and what Perdita sees in him I cannot imagine. Especially when he decides their marriage breakdown was partly her fault because she didn't tell him to stop when he cheated on her. WTF?
Mind you, Perdita seems to have no life beyond her market gardening, and not much more personality than her parsley (except when she's trading insults with Lucas, which she does a lot. This is apparently a sign of affection), so what Lucas sees in her is also unclear. I did like the character of Kitty, though; she's the sort of disgraceful old lady that I want to be when I grow up. And her sub-plot, though sad, was good. (Apart from the Roger part, which was too obvious, and badly worked out.)
Overall, I was thoroughly unimpressed with this book, and I doubt I'll be reading anything else by this author.
June 15, 2007
I'm happy that no one says "bad things come in fours" because I've already had three and hope it is the last for a while. In the last 4 months, my dog died, then my Mother died, then my car died. I really wanted to read as a distraction, but could not bear anything heavy. Upon a recommendation from a librarian for a light beach read, I checked out this book. It was perfect. It was romantic without being gaggy and it contains no heaving breasts nor is there any trace of a open-shirted Fabio standing on a mountain with his hair blowing. Instead, it had an absorbing storyline and I pretty much read it straight through. Since I enjoy cooking, the fact that it is a romance between a woman who grows lettuces and a chef and takes place in a restaurant is all the better. The author has injected a dose of the present day by including a TV cooking show in the mix. The author is British and although many of her terms most Americans are aware of or can figure out easily, I'm still clueless to some of them. If they were important to the story, though, I would google them and I'm too lazy. This book is not a heavy-hitter nor is it the best book I've ever read; however, for a beach (or patio) read, and for a daughter still grieving, it is delightful.
April 15, 2013
A light, easy read, but not up to Katie Fforde's usual standards of good sense. The plot skipped along nicely, and I very much enjoyed the depiction of the relationship between the protagonist, Perdita, and her elderly friend and former guardian, Kitty. However, the romantic thread never gelled for me. Lucas, Perdita's ex-husband, has re-entered her life, and she is enormously attracted to him ... why?
Handsome and temperamental? He was that in their first marriage, and they were more problems than features. He's added some kindness to his flaws, but he's still a belligerent, pushy, demanding man.
That conversation in which he suggests she shares the blame for the demise of their marriage, in that she was too passive and "didn't make him behave"? No. She's your wife, not your mother. If monogamy is your agreement, then to reneg on the agreement is your choice, and you own it, not her. She can't "make you" behave. Either you want to be married, or you don't. Katie Fforde, how disappointing!
And that bizarre sex scene on the kitchen floor, where she's trying to stab him with a knife? Yes, I can see she's working out her anger here, but it scarcely reveals a healthy dynamic, does it? Nor do they ever sort that out properly. Oh, except that she accepts her share of the blame. Right. Of course.
Now, those are substantial problems with the romantic thread -- arguably the most important thread in a romantic novel -- but I still enjoyed reading it.
The late-in-the-plot involvement of the gold-digging nephew is contrived and unnecessary, too. I found myself skipping over the Roger pages, waiting for him to get his comeuppance and be gone.
I read it through because it was more fun than not, but I can't give it more than two stars.
Handsome and temperamental? He was that in their first marriage, and they were more problems than features. He's added some kindness to his flaws, but he's still a belligerent, pushy, demanding man.
That conversation in which he suggests she shares the blame for the demise of their marriage, in that she was too passive and "didn't make him behave"? No. She's your wife, not your mother. If monogamy is your agreement, then to reneg on the agreement is your choice, and you own it, not her. She can't "make you" behave. Either you want to be married, or you don't. Katie Fforde, how disappointing!
And that bizarre sex scene on the kitchen floor, where she's trying to stab him with a knife? Yes, I can see she's working out her anger here, but it scarcely reveals a healthy dynamic, does it? Nor do they ever sort that out properly. Oh, except that she accepts her share of the blame. Right. Of course.
Now, those are substantial problems with the romantic thread -- arguably the most important thread in a romantic novel -- but I still enjoyed reading it.
The late-in-the-plot involvement of the gold-digging nephew is contrived and unnecessary, too. I found myself skipping over the Roger pages, waiting for him to get his comeuppance and be gone.
I read it through because it was more fun than not, but I can't give it more than two stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2018
I really liked this, though you should be aware that this book deals with the illness of an elderly friend. This is a much bigger plot than the tv show mentioned in the blurb!
Also, this was released in 2000 and I probably would've guessed a few years earlier. There's some dubious consent in there.
But yeah, I liked it. I probably liked the relationship more in theory than in fact because I needed a litttttle more to really believe in it, but I could roll with it.
Also, this was released in 2000 and I probably would've guessed a few years earlier. There's some dubious consent in there.
But yeah, I liked it. I probably liked the relationship more in theory than in fact because I needed a litttttle more to really believe in it, but I could roll with it.
January 26, 2011
When I drive, I like to listen to NPR radio or audio books that I don't have to think too much about. You know -- the ones that I won't want to go back and savor the words, re-reading a particular passage to marvel at how it was crafted or what it said. I usually pick books that are cozy mysteries (thrillers make me speed) or some of the lighter, whimsical (rather than whimsicle, as used on www.regretsy.com, one of my other online indulgences.), sometimes even grabbing something that could fit as chick lit or the dreaded "women's fiction". (Note: I also have been known to listen to audio books for big, heavy books that would be awkward to hold, or books that I haven't been able to get into when reading, but that are highly recommended. Sometimes a good reader can get me through those, and I come out liking them at the end.) This book fits one of those categories -- you be the judge.
The story is pretty straightforward. Perdita finally has her life on track after having her heart broken and her marriage dissolved. She runs a small organic gardening business, has faithful clients and good friends, including her dear octogenarian friend and mentor, Kitty (who is more family to Perdita than her actual family.) Everything is thrown out of kilter when her ex-husband Lucas appears on the scene. He, too has reshaped his life and is a world class chef. Somehow, even though they antagonize the crap out of each other, they are paired in a television cooking show. Into this mix, add Kitty's declining health and this book is born.
First off, I have to say that Divina Porter, the performer of the audio addition I listened to is marvelous. I intend to seek out more books read by her (I've heard her before in some other series, already, and thoroughly appreciated her remarkable talents.) Had I not been listening to this on audio, with such a skilled actor, this might have been very hard for me to bear. The interplay between characters was good, but as Kitty began to decline, it was all too easy to remember my own experiences. Fforde got inside my head and almost, but not quite, lived my life, British style. But it all was so beautifully done, and Porter read it all so eloquently, that I kept on.
And as for my criteria of audio books where I wouldn't want to capture a quote, well that was shot to hell. I had to pull over to the side of the road a couple of times to write things down. Gems like, "the difference between solitude and loneliness is that you choose solitude." Or "don't cry over things that can't cry over you" (said when a china teacup broke), which I don't entirely agree with, but I did like none-the-less.
Fforde created a world that I was glad to visit, with vibrant, distinct, characters. There was only one scene I didn't like (has to do with lust in the kitchen, if you really want to know), but it's just because it was just a little to rough for my tastes and experiences. Her characters evolve in a realistic manner, and I was glad for the glimpse into their world.
(I think this book goes under a different title, Thyme Out, in the UK.)
(More on Davina Porter here.)
The story is pretty straightforward. Perdita finally has her life on track after having her heart broken and her marriage dissolved. She runs a small organic gardening business, has faithful clients and good friends, including her dear octogenarian friend and mentor, Kitty (who is more family to Perdita than her actual family.) Everything is thrown out of kilter when her ex-husband Lucas appears on the scene. He, too has reshaped his life and is a world class chef. Somehow, even though they antagonize the crap out of each other, they are paired in a television cooking show. Into this mix, add Kitty's declining health and this book is born.
First off, I have to say that Divina Porter, the performer of the audio addition I listened to is marvelous. I intend to seek out more books read by her (I've heard her before in some other series, already, and thoroughly appreciated her remarkable talents.) Had I not been listening to this on audio, with such a skilled actor, this might have been very hard for me to bear. The interplay between characters was good, but as Kitty began to decline, it was all too easy to remember my own experiences. Fforde got inside my head and almost, but not quite, lived my life, British style. But it all was so beautifully done, and Porter read it all so eloquently, that I kept on.
And as for my criteria of audio books where I wouldn't want to capture a quote, well that was shot to hell. I had to pull over to the side of the road a couple of times to write things down. Gems like, "the difference between solitude and loneliness is that you choose solitude." Or "don't cry over things that can't cry over you" (said when a china teacup broke), which I don't entirely agree with, but I did like none-the-less.
Fforde created a world that I was glad to visit, with vibrant, distinct, characters. There was only one scene I didn't like (has to do with lust in the kitchen, if you really want to know), but it's just because it was just a little to rough for my tastes and experiences. Her characters evolve in a realistic manner, and I was glad for the glimpse into their world.
(I think this book goes under a different title, Thyme Out, in the UK.)
(More on Davina Porter here.)
October 25, 2009
I like it a lot, but don't understand what the auther has with angry men. This is the second book I've read of Fforde and agan, a man that's hot, super sexy and always fighting. What's the deal? Oh... I keep going back for more... ah... I get it now. Duh.
June 10, 2020
Perdita Dylan has a small specialist nursery growing unusual vegetables and herbs for the local restaurants and health club. She is making a precarious living, helped by the fact that her neighbour, Mrs Kitty Ansen, allows her to use her grounds for Perdita's polytunnels.
When delivering her usual daily boxes of vegetables, salads and herbs to the local hotel restaurant she is dismayed to find out that the new chef is none other than her ex-husband Lucas, last seen a decade ago when he was a stockbroker or something equally high-pressured in the City (of London). Perdita was only 18 when they got married and the marriage broke down after Lucas started staying out all night, had an affair with an older woman, and generally behaved atrociously.
Lucas has been offered a pilot TV show and the producers want to use Perdita's tiny, picturesque cottage for filming and have Perdita herself as a side character!
Has Lucas changed and could this be a second-chance romance?
I really enjoyed this, after starting and putting down half a dozen books, including several ARCs which are overdue for a review because the books have already been published, I devoured this in a single day. However, it is a product of its time (first published in 2001 I think).
First there are some dated references to a long-defunct TV show called Changing Rooms (Katie Fforde was clearly obsessed with the show because it seems to feature in so many of her novels).
Second, and this is a particular bug bear of mine with Katie Fforde's novels, she uses the word rape where she means ravish. I truly wish her publisher would just do a search and replace in all her digital books because she uses the word in several books and uses it wrongly. Rape is a violent crime, a violation of a person and to use it to describe a consensual act
Finally, I was rooting for Lucas until .
However, notwithstanding those points, and Perdita's inability to use a mobile phone (again, she's only 30 not 90), I enjoyed this cosy second-chance romance.
When delivering her usual daily boxes of vegetables, salads and herbs to the local hotel restaurant she is dismayed to find out that the new chef is none other than her ex-husband Lucas, last seen a decade ago when he was a stockbroker or something equally high-pressured in the City (of London). Perdita was only 18 when they got married and the marriage broke down after Lucas started staying out all night, had an affair with an older woman, and generally behaved atrociously.
Lucas has been offered a pilot TV show and the producers want to use Perdita's tiny, picturesque cottage for filming and have Perdita herself as a side character!
Has Lucas changed and could this be a second-chance romance?
I really enjoyed this, after starting and putting down half a dozen books, including several ARCs which are overdue for a review because the books have already been published, I devoured this in a single day. However, it is a product of its time (first published in 2001 I think).
First there are some dated references to a long-defunct TV show called Changing Rooms (Katie Fforde was clearly obsessed with the show because it seems to feature in so many of her novels).
Second, and this is a particular bug bear of mine with Katie Fforde's novels, she uses the word rape where she means ravish. I truly wish her publisher would just do a search and replace in all her digital books because she uses the word in several books and uses it wrongly. Rape is a violent crime, a violation of a person and to use it to describe a consensual act
And as I didn't cuddle him, only hugged him that time he brought me home after Christmas, and didn't actually let him rape me in the ladies' powder room at Grantly House, I must have pretty much got Lucas out of my system.is abhorrent to me.
Finally, I was rooting for Lucas until .
However, notwithstanding those points, and Perdita's inability to use a mobile phone (again, she's only 30 not 90), I enjoyed this cosy second-chance romance.
September 17, 2022
Also published under the title Second Thyme Around. A pleasant enough romantic comedy and just the light-hearted fluff I needed after Cutting for Stone! The story is cute, if somewhat predictable, and the setting is picturesque. The main plot is really about Perdita and her friendship with the elderly and failing Kitty. After Kitty suffers a stroke, it is clear that she cannot continue to live on her own. The author has done a good job of exploring their unusual friendship, issues of failing health, loss of independence, and ultimately dealing with the loss of a surrogate parent. The sub-sub-plots of Janie, who has a crush on Lucas, and Roger, the "long-lost" nephew adds a nice depth and some humor. I was less satisfied with the romance between Perdita and Lucas. After focusing so much in the first part of the book on how badly Lucas had treated Perdita, and on his anger issues, and tendency to be a bully, I just didn't see enough of a change in him to feel comfortable with their relationship. And to try and justify his behavior by saying that Perdita had been too passive and let him get away with it? Come on, seriously? I am glad that Perdita has learned to stand on her own two feet, but the bully is still a bully. Still, I would read more from this author.
Book Description: For years, things have run quite smoothly for Perdita and her organic gardening business. So what if her hair needs a complete overhaul, her sweater has more holes than Swiss cheese, and there's no hope of a boyfriend on the horizon? The last thing Perdita wants is a meddlesome man in her life-but she's about to get one, in the form of her completely infuriating ex-husband, Lucas. Lucas in disagreeable, curt, arrogant, and smolderingly gorgeous. He's also the new chef at Grantly House, Perdita's number-one customer. Worse, Mr. Grantly has the insane idea of starting a television cooking show that will put Lucas and Perdita together as "The Gourmet and the Gardener." Now, things are heating up in the kitchen--and elsewhere. With the bright lights blazing and old feelings stirring the pot, it could be a recipe for disaster...or absolute delight.
Audiobook narrated by Davina Porter.
Book Description: For years, things have run quite smoothly for Perdita and her organic gardening business. So what if her hair needs a complete overhaul, her sweater has more holes than Swiss cheese, and there's no hope of a boyfriend on the horizon? The last thing Perdita wants is a meddlesome man in her life-but she's about to get one, in the form of her completely infuriating ex-husband, Lucas. Lucas in disagreeable, curt, arrogant, and smolderingly gorgeous. He's also the new chef at Grantly House, Perdita's number-one customer. Worse, Mr. Grantly has the insane idea of starting a television cooking show that will put Lucas and Perdita together as "The Gourmet and the Gardener." Now, things are heating up in the kitchen--and elsewhere. With the bright lights blazing and old feelings stirring the pot, it could be a recipe for disaster...or absolute delight.
Audiobook narrated by Davina Porter.
September 30, 2012
Wasn't expecting especially much from this Katie Fforde. Generally I enjoy reading her books while they're in my hands, but then they fly completely out of my head the second I put them down. Thyme Out, though, I really enjoyed and I think I'll think about for a lot longer. Sure, there's the usual romance plotline involving Perdita and her ex-husband Lucas, but what really got me involved in this story was the relationship between Perdita and her elderly neighbour Kitty. It gave a lot more depth and emotional connection to the book than a simple romance would have. It actually made me cry towards the end of the book. Definitely worth a read.
December 21, 2018
What a dispoointment this book was! I am not a fan of chick lit apart from very few authors and Katie Fforde is the foremost. She always made me feel good and till now, I closed her books with a smile on my face, they were the equivalent of the grownup's fairytale. But in this book she tried to tackle more serious subjects and situations and it just can't fly. Transient, ischaemic attacks, strokes, pedpans etc are not the foundation for a novel to help one escape, because that what KF's novels are, the door to a brighter, sunnier, ideal and utopic land where good things happen in surroundings that make us dream. So, I am sorry but this was a sore disappointment.
December 11, 2008
This is my favorite Katie Fforde book and one of my all-time-favorite romance novels. I re-read it when I need to cheer myself up with a happy ending.
October 27, 2020
Traag en saai, het boek raakte me niet. Halverwege gestopt met lezen.
April 26, 2010
i should change my "crummy chick lit" tag, because i don't actually find chick lit to be "crummy" across the board. i actually really enjoy it when i am in need of something fun & frothy between the heavier doses of non-fiction to which i subject myself. this particular dose of chick lit, however, wasn't particularly to my tastes.
the plot stars perdita, a 29-year-old organic gardener who supplies a few local restaurants & a "health farm," which is a british-ism that i don't understand. at first i thought it was a rehab center, & then i thought maybe it was a spa. it doesn't really matter, it's not especially relevant to the plot. perdita's little house backs on to the land that is owned by her good friend kitty, an elderly wealthy lady who happens to be perdita's mother's godmother. perdita's parents are world travelers & are never around, so perdita spends most of her quality time with kitty. perdita is a divorcee, having married an unsuitable bully of a man who could not be faithful when she was 18. their split was a dark chapter in perdita's life, but kitty helped her get back on her feet, emotionally, & professionally, by giving her a parcel of land on which to build "poly-tunnels" (greenhouses?) in which to begin her gardening business.
perdita supplied veggies to a local hotel, but gets the shock of her life when she makes a delivery one day & finds the old chef has been replaced with a new one--none other than her ex-husband, lucas, who was a stockbroker when she knew him. & we pretty much all know what's going to happen, thanks to the punny title, but the author still makes us wait the entire 360 pages before we get there. there are your usual hijinks--the sous-chef, perdita's very young friend janey, gets a crush on lucas & perdita sets her up with her employee, william, to try to distract her. lucas seems to hate perdita, but still gets her to agree to allow him to film a cooking show in her kitchen. perdita is tapped to be on the show as well. one night, perdita connives to get janey a night off to go on a date with william & fills in in the kitchen. lucas is angry because supposedly a michelin reviewer is in the dining room & he thinks perdita will mess up his chance of earning a star. they have a huge fight that actually involves perdita attempting to stab lucas with a butcher knife (!!!), & then they almost do the deed right on the kitchen floor. it's your classic bad-boy-you-can't-resist story, which is why i say it's not to my taste. i never found lucas a sympathetic enough character. i was never convinced that perdita should let bygones be bygones & start things up with him again.
then kitty has a series of strokes & requires around-the-clock nursing care. perdita moves in with kitty & her caretakers. a long-lost nephew turns up & perdita is the only one who seems to understand that he's just there to try to get kitty to sign over her assets to him in the will. he hints that he'll charge perdita for the use of the land her poly-tunnels are on once it's all his, so not only is perdita distraught by the impending death of her friend, but she's also concerned about the future of her gardening business. of course, she doesn't share her suspicions with anyone else. she just bottles it all up, & once kitty dies, she puts off learning about what's in the will because she's convinced that the nephew inherited everything. she isn't taking care of herself & everyone is concerned, until lucas whisks her away to the cabin in the woods where they spent their honeymoon. they start things back up again & lucas gives her a long speech about how he had come back to town to find her again & convince himself that he hadn't made a mistake by splitting up with her, but instead found that she had grown up & become a confident, capable woman that he wants to marry again RIGHT NOW. they immediately (like literally within a few hours of hooking back up again) start making plans for their re-marriage & all the babies they're going to have. lucas has seen kitty's will & knows that perdita inherited everything. they move in to kitty's house & lucas jokes that perdita may already be preggers. perdita realizes that she misses kitty, but she doesn't need her anymore, now that she has lucas's love or something.
it wasn't a terrible book, but all the british lingo was tough to parse out sometimes, & the plot seemed to move in fits & starts. there were long sections where perdita was keeping all her thoughts & feelings to herself & nothing seemed to be happening, & then boom! she's back with lucas & making baby plans in like five pages. but whatever--all i wanted was froth. i did expect the book to be a little funnier than it was, & i expected a little more glamour from the whole TV program plotline, but...whatever.
the plot stars perdita, a 29-year-old organic gardener who supplies a few local restaurants & a "health farm," which is a british-ism that i don't understand. at first i thought it was a rehab center, & then i thought maybe it was a spa. it doesn't really matter, it's not especially relevant to the plot. perdita's little house backs on to the land that is owned by her good friend kitty, an elderly wealthy lady who happens to be perdita's mother's godmother. perdita's parents are world travelers & are never around, so perdita spends most of her quality time with kitty. perdita is a divorcee, having married an unsuitable bully of a man who could not be faithful when she was 18. their split was a dark chapter in perdita's life, but kitty helped her get back on her feet, emotionally, & professionally, by giving her a parcel of land on which to build "poly-tunnels" (greenhouses?) in which to begin her gardening business.
perdita supplied veggies to a local hotel, but gets the shock of her life when she makes a delivery one day & finds the old chef has been replaced with a new one--none other than her ex-husband, lucas, who was a stockbroker when she knew him. & we pretty much all know what's going to happen, thanks to the punny title, but the author still makes us wait the entire 360 pages before we get there. there are your usual hijinks--the sous-chef, perdita's very young friend janey, gets a crush on lucas & perdita sets her up with her employee, william, to try to distract her. lucas seems to hate perdita, but still gets her to agree to allow him to film a cooking show in her kitchen. perdita is tapped to be on the show as well. one night, perdita connives to get janey a night off to go on a date with william & fills in in the kitchen. lucas is angry because supposedly a michelin reviewer is in the dining room & he thinks perdita will mess up his chance of earning a star. they have a huge fight that actually involves perdita attempting to stab lucas with a butcher knife (!!!), & then they almost do the deed right on the kitchen floor. it's your classic bad-boy-you-can't-resist story, which is why i say it's not to my taste. i never found lucas a sympathetic enough character. i was never convinced that perdita should let bygones be bygones & start things up with him again.
then kitty has a series of strokes & requires around-the-clock nursing care. perdita moves in with kitty & her caretakers. a long-lost nephew turns up & perdita is the only one who seems to understand that he's just there to try to get kitty to sign over her assets to him in the will. he hints that he'll charge perdita for the use of the land her poly-tunnels are on once it's all his, so not only is perdita distraught by the impending death of her friend, but she's also concerned about the future of her gardening business. of course, she doesn't share her suspicions with anyone else. she just bottles it all up, & once kitty dies, she puts off learning about what's in the will because she's convinced that the nephew inherited everything. she isn't taking care of herself & everyone is concerned, until lucas whisks her away to the cabin in the woods where they spent their honeymoon. they start things back up again & lucas gives her a long speech about how he had come back to town to find her again & convince himself that he hadn't made a mistake by splitting up with her, but instead found that she had grown up & become a confident, capable woman that he wants to marry again RIGHT NOW. they immediately (like literally within a few hours of hooking back up again) start making plans for their re-marriage & all the babies they're going to have. lucas has seen kitty's will & knows that perdita inherited everything. they move in to kitty's house & lucas jokes that perdita may already be preggers. perdita realizes that she misses kitty, but she doesn't need her anymore, now that she has lucas's love or something.
it wasn't a terrible book, but all the british lingo was tough to parse out sometimes, & the plot seemed to move in fits & starts. there were long sections where perdita was keeping all her thoughts & feelings to herself & nothing seemed to be happening, & then boom! she's back with lucas & making baby plans in like five pages. but whatever--all i wanted was froth. i did expect the book to be a little funnier than it was, & i expected a little more glamour from the whole TV program plotline, but...whatever.
July 17, 2015
Thyme Out by Katie Fforde was a Goodreads First Reads win.
I usually half think what to write as I read a book, but once started on this book I found it a bit of a page turner and just enjoyed the read instead! It focuses on Perdita, who had a disastrous marriage and has recovered with the help of elderly Kitty (a substitute Granny), and with her poly tunnels of organic salad vegetables. She is shocked to find one of her regular customers has disappeared, and been replaced by her ex - husband, Lucas, now transformed from a city slicker into a competent and ambitious chef (Imagination needed here for the story line!)
The story is about the volatile hate/love relationship between Perdita and Lucas and is a bit larger than life. Lucas, because he is a chef is allowed to be bullying and loud. Perdita is stuck in the trauma of her failed marriage, as if time hasn’t changed her.
Sparks and insults fly, especially when a plan is afoot to film a cookery programme in Perdita’s small kitchen, which doubles up as a garden storage area/greenhouse; and is rarely used for cooking.
When Kitty is ill, both show a more caring side to their natures. This sub plot is treated in a more sensitive and touching manner. Kitty has a stroke and realises life as she knew it has gone and the future unsure. Anyone who has faced a life changing event would have sympathy with this and empathise with the resulting sadness and stress.
The ending of the book is transparent almost from the beginning, no unexpected twists and turns, except for the rather feeble appearance of a long lost relative. I think he was written into the story to add a bit of uncertainty to the ending, but it didn’t work – you knew he was irrelevant.
The book was well written, witty and easy to read, perfect for sitting in the sun and indulging in a summer reading spree.
I usually half think what to write as I read a book, but once started on this book I found it a bit of a page turner and just enjoyed the read instead! It focuses on Perdita, who had a disastrous marriage and has recovered with the help of elderly Kitty (a substitute Granny), and with her poly tunnels of organic salad vegetables. She is shocked to find one of her regular customers has disappeared, and been replaced by her ex - husband, Lucas, now transformed from a city slicker into a competent and ambitious chef (Imagination needed here for the story line!)
The story is about the volatile hate/love relationship between Perdita and Lucas and is a bit larger than life. Lucas, because he is a chef is allowed to be bullying and loud. Perdita is stuck in the trauma of her failed marriage, as if time hasn’t changed her.
Sparks and insults fly, especially when a plan is afoot to film a cookery programme in Perdita’s small kitchen, which doubles up as a garden storage area/greenhouse; and is rarely used for cooking.
When Kitty is ill, both show a more caring side to their natures. This sub plot is treated in a more sensitive and touching manner. Kitty has a stroke and realises life as she knew it has gone and the future unsure. Anyone who has faced a life changing event would have sympathy with this and empathise with the resulting sadness and stress.
The ending of the book is transparent almost from the beginning, no unexpected twists and turns, except for the rather feeble appearance of a long lost relative. I think he was written into the story to add a bit of uncertainty to the ending, but it didn’t work – you knew he was irrelevant.
The book was well written, witty and easy to read, perfect for sitting in the sun and indulging in a summer reading spree.
June 11, 2019
This is a tricky book to rate and review. I picked it up off the library shelf because of the title, and the description made me decide to give it a try. I've not read anything else by the author, and contemporary romance isn't a huge category read for me, but I was in the mood for something light and fun. With gardening. :)
I absolutely loved the first third - I smiled my way through it very quickly. Then a few things happened in the plot that I didn't love, and I started to wonder what the MCs saw in each other. The final third of the book was better, but the author never really convinced me those two belong together. In fact toward the end I wondered if she would end up with Thomas; he seemed nicer and they got along well.
I did come to see that the MCs are a good fit. She's the kind of person who focuses all her attention on one thing and doesn't cope well with the rest of life; he's the guy who wants to be in charge. She never really grew up, IMO, and he likes to have someone who needs him. So their personalities work, but I never felt like there was actual attraction between them - nothing in common, no shared sense of humor or hobbies or anything. For a book that is only focused on their relationship, that really didn't work for me. So 2.5 stars
I absolutely loved the first third - I smiled my way through it very quickly. Then a few things happened in the plot that I didn't love, and I started to wonder what the MCs saw in each other. The final third of the book was better, but the author never really convinced me those two belong together. In fact toward the end I wondered if she would end up with Thomas; he seemed nicer and they got along well.
I did come to see that the MCs are a good fit. She's the kind of person who focuses all her attention on one thing and doesn't cope well with the rest of life; he's the guy who wants to be in charge. She never really grew up, IMO, and he likes to have someone who needs him. So their personalities work, but I never felt like there was actual attraction between them - nothing in common, no shared sense of humor or hobbies or anything. For a book that is only focused on their relationship, that really didn't work for me. So 2.5 stars
April 24, 2010
Cute. This was my first novel by Katie Fforde and I really had no preconceived notion of what I was getting into; the only fact I gathered being that it was difficult to get ahold of her books. I found the unabridged audio version online and I'm so glad I gave it a chance. Narrator Davina Porter had the perfect amount of sweet, witty and smart as Perdita and just the right amount of sage nobility to play the elder best friend of Perdita, Kitty. She even does a decent job discerning the male voices in the story, the most prominent role being Lucas, Perdita's ex-husband. I enjoyed getting to know the characters in this story full of humor, romance, friendship and sorrow. While the detailed portrayal of their everyday lives made it somewhat slow in spots, I think the detail also owed to the good feeling I was left with at the novel's conclusion. After finishing this book with a smile on my face, I will definitely be seeking out more books by the author.
July 25, 2008
One of my favorites by Katie Fforde. After a disastrous marriage, Perdita has managed to put her life back together and start up her own business growing and selling vegetables to local restaurants. She lives in a quaint English village across the garden from her elderly godmother, who dotes on her, dispensing sage and practical advice. One morning while she is delivering her veges to the local hotel, she is shocked to learn that the hotel has taken on a new chef . . . her ex, Lucas. Somehow she is talked into letting a television crew film Lucas' cooking show in the kitchen of her picturesque cottage and even makes an appearance in the episode. As the sparks fly between Perdita and Lucas, she has to deal with the tumultuous emotions she thought she had put to rest after her divorce. As an avid Food Network fan, I especially enjoyed the culinary aspects of this romantic comedy.
June 29, 2021
I normally just rate books, not review them (unless I win them through Goodreads.) Not sure why, that's just me. But I love this author so I felt I must speak up. :) Yes these are chick lit books, but they are clever chick lit books. Hilariously clever, entertaining and the characters are fantastic. The heroines are not typical, gorgeous bimbos. They're still pretty, sure, but not perfect. I think what I love most, is how her characters actually change and grow. This is one of my favorites of hers. The other thing I love about this book is her allusion to James Herriot books, which are probably my all-time favorite books. Yep, I'm a nerd. My other favorite is Love Letters. I'm working my way through her books and I highly recommend her. :)
July 30, 2015
Notes: I won this in a Goodreads Giveaway.
This is not my usual reading genre and I do not believe I am the target audience. The book is well written with fairly good pacing. It is a very light, frothy and easy read.
However, I found the book a little on the ridiculous side. Everything from the characters to the plot felt a bit implausible. The main characters didn’t seem to have any common sense, Perdita in particular felt very divorced from reality. The story was predictable. There was no tension or build up of suspense, the story just trundled along to the inevitable happy ending. Not for me.
This is not my usual reading genre and I do not believe I am the target audience. The book is well written with fairly good pacing. It is a very light, frothy and easy read.
However, I found the book a little on the ridiculous side. Everything from the characters to the plot felt a bit implausible. The main characters didn’t seem to have any common sense, Perdita in particular felt very divorced from reality. The story was predictable. There was no tension or build up of suspense, the story just trundled along to the inevitable happy ending. Not for me.
December 23, 2013
This book reminds me of a Lifetime movie from the 1990s. The poor main character just can't pull herself up and stand on her own two feet. Instead she has a myriad of people telling her how to feel/think/act, and she's reeling with uncertainty.
That said, the setting is interesting and the different characters kept me wanting to finish the book, however, the premise is ridiculous and the main character lacks common sense (she can't figure out how to answer her cell phone, etc). Predictable story, that never really develops much suspense, but the cooking references were fun.
That said, the setting is interesting and the different characters kept me wanting to finish the book, however, the premise is ridiculous and the main character lacks common sense (she can't figure out how to answer her cell phone, etc). Predictable story, that never really develops much suspense, but the cooking references were fun.
September 7, 2010
A great summer fluff read. I was dreadfully scared it was going to get really bad before it got better, but it strayed only slightly into the dreadful zone. Peri got a little batty at the thought of loosing everything, but it never got that bad. Quite pleasant. Ended just as i had thought. I had never really sorted out how big kitty's house was implicated to be, but it was nice to comprehend at the end. Good British tea drinking insanity
November 28, 2011
I've read quite a few Katie Fford's recently. They are all easy reads, page turners but ultimately a bit naff. I finish them and wonder why I bothered. This is the best one I've read so far. It is what it is and no great work of fiction but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The character of Lucas was particularly well drawn - so much so I found myself daydreaming about him during a (ok, v, dull) meeting at work today. A cracking, enjoyable read, well worth the effort.
The character of Lucas was particularly well drawn - so much so I found myself daydreaming about him during a (ok, v, dull) meeting at work today. A cracking, enjoyable read, well worth the effort.
January 22, 2013
Yet another Katie Fforde book that I love! Am currently working my way through her older books having started a few years ago about five books in. I couldnt put this down, the characters are likeable and believable and I was totally enthralled by Perdita's relationship with sprightly Kitty and the moody and very sexy Lucas. Couldnt wait to finish to find out what happened but then was disappointed when it ended, might even read it again!
May 8, 2013
One of my favorite books in the romance genre. Thyme out is refreshing light & perky and a delightful read. The story revolves around cooking and how this shared passion bring two ex's together. The plot and the chemistry between the two are as simmering and spicy as the dishes they cook. People who love to farm and cook will appreciate this book a lot.
September 2, 2011
I bought this on a whim because I was ordering other books, and it just caught me eye. How fortuitous! This is a really fun, fast-moving read, and I'll definitely be seeking out more Katie Fforde. Highly recommended.
July 3, 2016
Katie Fforde did it again! She has an amazing ability to write unique stories with satisfying romantic endings. I cried a little and I also laughed a ton! I could hardly put this novel down and when I did, I was dying to pick it back up!
July 13, 2024
Whenever I read a page or two, I easily get bored. It doesnt interest me at all. I dont feel any sincerity from Lucas, though I liked Perdita's character. Its a kind of novel which can be easily forgotten. So its a 2 star from me
May 6, 2008
This is a very cute summer read. Easy, fun and romantic. In all of her books the main character is always a little down on their luck and coming out a relationship. Great for the beach.
April 20, 2009
I discovered this author during college and love her simple, happy, pretty romances. (Strictly PG)
January 17, 2011
Not my favorite. It had some interesting themes: caring for the elderly, dealing with the death of loved ones and picking up a life fallen to pieces.
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