There was something so incredibly comforting about this book and I think it had a lot to do with the fact that Caroline featured so many delicious puddings throughout. I read this book through our most recent 4-day bank holiday weekend, with the glorious sun, the scolding heat and the smell of barbecues coming from every direction. The only thing I needed was Rachel and Jill’s pudding pantry, and I would have been the happiest girl in the world!

When I realised that this story was heavily based on a farm, I became a little hesitant on whether or not this would be a read for me, however, that being said, the farm was a gorgeous place to get pulled in to and the setting ended up being that refreshing change I needed in a book. Being able to read about how Rachel maintains her farm was really interesting, and I also learnt a thing or two about looking after the animals, good times and hard times.

Rachel and Jill’s life had recently taken a turn for the worst, therefore, seeing the girls pick themselves up and pursue the Pudding Pantry was so exciting to witness – their spirits lifting with every chapter I read. The community was also so wonderful and supportive of their new business venture, including Tom, their extremely handsome neighbour and a man Rachel had grown up with since she was just a little girl.

Rachel, currently being a single mother, isn’t really on the market to finding someone new, however, with her daughter growing up and asking questions about her father, she can’t help but wonder if a certain someone could one day be the perfect father figure to her – most of this coming from the weirdly romantic feelings that had started occurring all of a sudden.

This was the best cosy read to spend my bank holiday weekend with. The light-hearted and warm story had me hooked from start to finish, falling in love with everything from Primrose Farm, the pudding pantry, the characters, all the way up to Rachel and Tom’s mature, budding romance. What more could you possibly want!?

A heartwarming tale of country life and how to adapt and survive! Reminded me of the family sagas I used to love reading in my Gran's copy of "The People's Friend" (though Gran would have drawn the line at the couple of rather unecessary sex scenes!)

The descriptions of the various puddings and cakes are excellent - so don't read this with either an empty stomach or pantry!

The storyline is a little predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for my honest review.

I loved the idyllic setting of this book, although I could see how a younger Rachel had fallen for the charms of Jake, an exciting newcomer. He'd left her to fend for herself bringing up daughter Maisy, and they'd settled into the normal routine of farm life with Rachel's mum and dad, until her dad's death. We don't learn the circumstances of his death until later and I admired Rachel all over again for coping with so much at such a young age. I did laugh at how her mum was portrayed, as fairly elderly, if Rachel was 24, she probably was only in her 50s or very early 60s!!! We meet Rachel struggling to make ends meet on the farm, even with the help of neighbour Tom, and she sets her mind to finding new ways of raising income. She's a very determined young lady and I was full of admiration for both her and her mum, who rallied round after the shock of her husband's death. A nice story, with a good helping of romance. Not sure I'll look at apple crumble the same way again! #netgalley #rachelspuddingpantry

I tried to ignore the hype around this book so I could read it impartially. I do normally enjoy Caroline's books however this one just didn't do anything for me. Was rather long winded with not much really happening. Shame as i do like Caroline's book.

Family, love, friendship and humour this book had all the magic ingredients of a great unputdownable book. Loved the farm setting and the food. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

A lovely light romantic read ideal for taking on holiday. A feel good tale which, although somewhat predictable has lovely relatable characters. As the title suggests there are scrumptious sounding puddings involved plus cakes and bakes. I'd have loved more recipes at the end of the book, there are two! As expected the end can be foreseen but there are a few twists and turns on the way.

Carolines books are always a pleasure to read. This book is pure escapism. Romance, family and food are a perfect combination. I could almost taste the beautiful food and could imagine the characters and their surroundings. I didn't want the book to end.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This is the first book I have read by Caroline Roberts. It was very good and kept me reading late into the night. Highly recommended

A lovely heart warming story. Rachel lives on the farm with her mother and young daughter. It’s a struggle but she is determined to keep going in memory of her father. She realised that to make ends meet she will need to bring in extra money and so The Pudding Pantry is born.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

What a lovely read. Although it made me feel far too hungry whilst reading it with all the talk of the cakes and puddings! A good story following Rachel’s efforts to keep the farm afloat.

After reading Caroline Robert's previous books I just knew I was in for a real treat with this latest book. I was literally a chapter in and I was hooked. The characters are the loveliest people ever and I really wished I knew them. Not a bad bone in their bodies. Primrose farm would make you want to live on a farm it just sounded so lovely and welcoming and definitely a real family place. Rachel, Jill and Maisy are so close and its lovely to see them pull together when times are tough and really come through them together.
Oh and then there is the subject of them delicious recipes, oh my goodness let me tell you my mouth was watering throughout this entire book. Take my advice if your reading this and make sure you have something yummy to eat and satisfy the cravings. I was lucky enough to receive some of the little recipe cards that featured in the book so I cannot wait to get started and make some and taste these beautiful foods!
I think this is one of my favourite books this year, it is just fabulous and really easy to read and is sure to put a smile on your face.

I really enjoyed this tale of Rachel who lives on a farm with her mum and young daughter.
Since her father tragically died Rachel has taken on most of the farm work, but is struggling to keep it afloat. Tom their closest neighbour helps out when needed and although Rachel has grown up living next to him and sees him as a friend, the more time they spend together, the stronger her feelings grow.
Knowing they need to do something to bring in some money Rachel comes up with the idea of selling her mums’ delicious puddings. Using the last of her Mum’s savings they renovate one of the barns and open a tea room. Will it be enough to save the farm and can Rachel find happiness with Tom.

Wow where do I start? Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Loved the characters from start to finish. Empathasised with them in their sadness and felt their relief when their situation began to improve. Rachel tried to put everyone before her and her own happiness. A true heroine!

An OK read, though rather sugary sweet and sentimental. Fairly predictable and very light reading. Far too many puddings, for my taste; I was actually tasting them all in my mind as I read, which left me feeling slightly nauseous. I should have known better, as the title gives a pretty good idea of the likely content! I must confess that I don’t have a sweet tooth, and if you do, you may well enjoy it more than me. A good account of the difficulties that farmers face. It wasn’t really my sort of book, and the characters said “no worries” so many times that was cringing. However, people do overuse the phrase in real life, so the book is probably a reflection of this. A suitable book to read on holiday.

wonderful Holiday reading. A lovely feel good read of the trials farmers are fighting these days and ways to beat them with romance thrown in for good measure.

Rachel has grown up at Primrose Farm surrounded by her loving family but things are much harder now and she is trying to work out how to make ends meet without selling. We follow her daily goings on and get to meet the characters in her life. Gentle and detailed.

I absolutely loved this book, I swallowed up every single page greedily. A truly lovely story that centres around life on a farm. It touches on some serious issues some face in life but in a delicate way, gives a real sense of community and I found myself invested in the characters. I can’t wait for book 2! Already have it on pre order and will be reading other books by this author.

I’m always happy to find new romance or women’s fiction novels that centre around food businesses, especially when we’re promised recipes to go with some of the offerings described in the story. Since I also know a fair bit about sheep farming, and have written about it once or twice in my time, this book looked like it might be an excellent introduction to a new-to-me UK author. I was also very taken by the idea of a farm and associated bakery business run and staffed by several generations of women.

Rachel is a single parent to five-year-old Maisy, and took on the management of her family’s Northumbrian farm after her father’s unexpected death. Her mother still lives in the farmhouse with them, taking on the majority of the housework while Rachel deals with the more strenuous outside tasks, helped by their one farmhand and occasional input – not always useful – from their immediate neighbours. The farm has been struggling financially for some years, and Rachel knows they need to diversify into other sources of income if the business is to survive and they are to keep their home. Reluctant to tap into the local tourist trade by offering accommodation, Rachel hits on the idea of selling her mother’s homemade puddings, most based on handed-down family recipes, first to local shops and then direct to the public from a teashop she decides to establish in an unused barn.

There’ll be extra expenses at first, but Rachel is confident of being able to raise some money through grants and the rest through selling off some of her land. I had to suspend my disbelief at how little Rachel was selling the land for, although I could sympathise with her reaction when the only offer she received was for a fraction of that. Fortunately help arrives in the form of another neighbour, Tom, who offers to rent the land, thereby saving Rachel from having to break up the farm. Tom is a generally all-round useful chap, actually, although Rachel’s head is initially turned by other less suitable single men in the area. And then there’s Maisy’s mostly absent father, who’s not a love interest, but does manage to cause chaos on the few occasions he makes contact.

I took a while to get into this book; the prose was a little simplistic and unexciting for my taste, and there were none of the promised recipes within the story itself, although we got a couple at the very end. Things got going eventually, but, as with the story of the attempted land sale, I felt that a lot of the farming scenes were a little dumbed down for my tastes and the business seemed to solve all the problems as hoped, without any real sign of things actually getting busy. All in all, not my favourite for this subgenre, but I can see it appealing to less cynical readers.

Thank you to HarperImpulse for my copy of this book via netgalley and for letting me take part in this tour. I have read most of Caroline's other books and I love her writing style.

Caroline loves to write books that involve food so my tip is, make sure you have something to snack on while reading. This book gave me a real craving for cake! The chocolate puddings sounded amazing as did the rocky roads. Mmmmm. I should move on from the cake!

This story follows Rachel and her family as they struggle to keep their farm afloat and cope with the loss of her father. Rachel is an easy character to like. She is strong, clever and very reluctant to give up. She puts her family first. Always.

There was some romance lurking in the background but this book was more about family and dealing with grief and how we need to keep going despite our pain.

This was a nice easy read. The chapters flowed easily and I enjoyed all the characters, not to mention the food! I also loved seeing Emma from The Chocolate shop by the Sea! I love a good crossover.

I was sad when the book ended because I felt like I could have carried on this story for a long time yet. I was super excited when I read that there is going to be a sequel later in the year!

I really enjoy this authors titles - I feel part of the book and the people involved I feel I know. This was no exception.