The Lemon Tree Cafe by Cathy Bramley

There was much about this book that should have annoyed me, lots of things that just didn't add up when exposed to rational thought but somehow the author overcame my objections and made me fall in love with Rosie and her family.  I have a tendency to get annoyed with pro-feminist characters as they are always written as self-righteous and a bit screechy (probably because all the ardent feminists I've met in real life are both these things) and there is a bit of that with Rosie.  She jumps to knee jerk conclusions but at least she has the courage to admit when she gets something wrong, she also admits to being a little bit self-absorbed which is unusual in this genre - usually our heroine can do no worng.  The business side of things is more than a little cringeworthy as much is glossed over - for instance, we never find out how she wriggles out of the tax situation, it just disappears.  In fact there are a lot of little things that just seem to resolve themselves quietly in the background with no explanation.

Somehow though I found myself overlooking the inconsistencies and the threads picked up and left dangling with no resolution and thoroughly enjoying myself.  So much so I was perilously close to being late for work thanks to the "just one more chapter" syndrome.  I do love a good rom-com novel and there is romance and comedy in abundance in this book and I found myself being drawn further and further in to this world and even though Nonna's big reveal was no such thing (fairly clear what that was going to be from the outset really) it was more fully fleshed than I anticipated.

The family dynamics in the book are realistic and made for fun reading - no family is perfect and no family life runs smoothly and this is very true here.  No big misunderstandings between characters just the normal, every day niggles that get blown out of all proportion when you know people so well.  This is probably the best bit of the book, the characters - every person in the book is distinct and a whole person no matter how little time we have to get to know them and how peripheral they are to the plot.

This is a decadent read because it will lead you to miss doing the laundry, make you ring out for takeout because you forgot to cook anything for dinner, make you miss your stop on the commute.  Fun and joyous and whilst I didn't laugh out loud I did smile an awful lot and that just can't be bad.