The Secret Supper Club by Dana Bate

Paperback, 480 pages
Published December 6th 2012 by Canvas
ISBN 1472102312 (ISBN13: 9781472102317)

"If twenty-six-year-old Hannah Sugarman had her way, she'd be whipping up carrot cakes and running her culinary empire. Instead, she spends her hours cooking up papers on the financial crisis. It doesn't help that no one in her life takes her passion seriously - not even her boyfriend.

When her relationship implodes, Hannah decides to jump-start her life by hosting a secret supper club out of her landlord's flat. Her underground operation presents some problems. Running an unlicensed restaurant out of someone's home is not, technically speaking, legal.

As the success of Hannah's supper club grows, so do the number of secrets she is forced to keep. Can Hannah keep her pop-up restaurant underground? When mysterious guests turn up for dinner, can she handle the heat? Or will she have to step out of the kitchen? A charming romantic comedy, The Secret Supper Club is a story about finding yourself, fulfilling your dreams, and falling in love along the way.

(Note: This is the UK edition of THE GIRLS' GUIDE TO LOVE AND SUPPER CLUBS)"

I just want to say that I loved this book. It was really fun and I could really relate to Hannah. The author really made her seem like a real person, there was so much depth and history to who she was. I liked that she was unsure of herself and sometimes didn't know if her life was going in the right direction. I think that the way Hannah deals with her parents' conflicting expectations of her was really good. How she develops in the book is great and at times so funny I was chuckling to myself on the train, which was a little awkward I can tell you! I also loved that she was a little bit crazy and couldn't stop it from showing, it's great to know you aren't the only one.

When I was first recommended this book I had my doubts about how good it would be, even though I knew that my friend and I have very similar tastes in books. I thought, secret supper clubs, what on earth are they? How do they work? Etc etc. However, the story behind this completely turned my thoughts around. Even though I'm not a massive foodie - chocolate is my main culinary passion - this makes me want to try new foods and flavour combinations. You can tell that the author is really passionate about food like her main character.

As the blurb says, this really is a charming romantic comedy, frothy and fun but with a story that answers questions that we all have about our lives. I give this a 9 out of 10. It left me feeling really happy and enthusiatic about life.