Customer Reviews

Marshmallows for Breakfast

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

*This review contains spoilers.*

This story covers a basic premise: broken girl meets broken family and together they heal each other. But the unraveling of the story is so beyond the imagination it leaves possibility and realism behind. Kendra, a woman grappling with the effects of a rape in her past and feelings of self loathing for loving a married man, is a hard heroine to get to know and love. Her reactions to things and condemnation of herself over her relationship (or lack of, see next paragraph) with Will become quite tedious as the story unfolds.

Kendra and Will love each other after having a pseudo relationship for 18 months with very little contact? I find this hard to believe. I just don't know how this relationship could be so profound with so little foundation. And when Kendra gets the letter from Will and refuses to open it...well, I just wanted to reach into the page and wrestle the thing out of her hands and open it myself!

Kyle is the perfect man. Sure he is flawed, ignoring his alcoholic wife's problem for too long, but when called upon he steps up. Kendra seems to think he and Ashlyn belong together, but I think Kendra and Kyle belong together and Kendra is too blind to see it.

The author does a good job of catching the reader's attention and making us wonder who will she end up with, will she abandon the children and Kyle for a life with Will? Or will she finally notice what's right in front of her eyes and grasp the life with the children AND their father. Unfortunately the way it plays out is disappointing and too far fetched.

I did like the way the story is written in a 1st person POV, but then switches to Kyle and Ashlyn's stories to give more depth to their history. But what this managed to do for me was make it seem even more impossible for the two of them to end up back together. Why couldn't Kendra see that?

I don't know, the whole thing was just not what I expected or even wanted in a story. I read this author's previous book "My Best Friend's Girl" and I loved it so I was excited for this one. It just didn't measure up to my expectations. The writing is great, the story is lacking.

After spending time in Australia, Kendra Tamale returns home to England to escape with a fresh start. She rents a room from Kyle Gadsborough. Her plan is to keep everything simple and with her landlord, mind her business while paying the rent on time; no personal relationships.

However she feels sorry for his twin six year old children who are in shock that their mom left them and their dad. As she learned upon her first meeting with the kids, Summer cannot shut up reminding her she is black while Jaxon with his thumb in his mouth looks like the world has ended. The pair are pros when it comes to taking advantage of their dad. Unable to adhere to her plan of non-involvement especially when Kendra becomes Kendie, Kendra creates the sugar Saturday breakfasts even as she falls in love with the single father and his two kids. However, she believes her past will taint her in their eyes and prepares to give up to live a lonely wretched life as she expects Australia to surface especially when the mom returns to take the children with her.

This is an intriguing family drama in which one person's choice destroys another individual's equilibrium. The story line is character driven by obviously the four prime payers, but also subtly by the wife and by what happened in Australia as the past strongly influences the lead quartet. Fans will appreciate MARSHMALLOW FOR BREAKFAST as Dorothy Koomson provides a deep look at relationship failure and how little it takes to bring a glimmer of hope.

Harriet Klausner

Kendra Tamale returns to Britain from Australia following a failed affair. She goes back to work for an old friend. Life should become much simpler for her now, but it wouldn't make much of a story if that were the case.

Of course there are many complications, and her awful history catches up with her. There are quite a few imaginative twists and turns along the way, which keep the reader interested. There are also plenty of amusing parts to stumble across.

For me there was only one upsetting aspect of this fiction. The evil wrongdoer shares my name, Lance. That aside, I would recommend this marvellous tale to any of my friends and family.

If your looking for a simple Love story..Boy meets Girl...Love Love Love..Then your reading the wrong Book. If your looking to heal, to face an ugly truth that you have been trying to hide from yourself and others, then this is your book. Honestly i picked this book up, to read a good IR novel, which all her books are, but this book gave me so much more. I had to read this book in one sitting. It was amazing. I laughed (What the-? Who do you think you are Mary Poppins..haha!) and cried. The way she told the story, the way you could picture everything like you were there! I cried like it happened to me! Dorothy K. is a amazing writer and i give her 2 thumbs wayyyy up. I didnt know that when i picked this book up, i was going to get the courage to speak on some of my own experiences. If there where more stars, i'd give them all to her.

Amazing.

*Contains spoilers*
I was given this book by a friend to read. It was my first DK book. I did really quite enjoy it and found it hard to put down at times. I didn't think it 'dragged' like some other reviewers mentioned and I did actually quite like the characters of Summer and Jaxon. I thought they really sprang to life like typical 6 year olds. I think the thing that really bugged me about this book was the main character Kendra. She seemed a little too perfect and self righteous. Every man falls for her, she's beautiful with a perfect body and knows exactly how to be the perfect mother. She beats herself up about the 'affair' and then you find out she didn't even sleep with Will (because obviously if she had she'd no longer be perfect!). Sometimes I found her a bit too sickly sweet to really emphasise with even when you find out the awful thing that happened to her. I did find it rather disappointing that the culprit of all her unhappiness never gets dealt with or has to answer for his actions. For all we know he could be out there doing the same thing over and over again. That aside I do think this was a good book and I would recommend it.

This novel was very riveting to read because it had so many unexpected turns. Dorothy Koomson covers issues pertaining to race, fears, alcoholism, divorce, rape, self-esteem, denial, and unrequited love affairs.

This book was kind of love/hate. I love the story in general, it only took me 6 hours to read it on/off. However, I wanted soooo much more for the ending. I really like Kyle and wanted his relationship with Kendie to bloom in to much more. Especially, when she said that her and Will was not going to be together. I did understand that Kyle may still be in love with his ex-wife, but I wished Kendie would have allowed herself to feel something for Kyle. Kendie did not do that because all she saw was Will, and I get that but come on. Ms. Koomson is not your typical writer, especially with the endings, but so far I really enjoyed My Best Friends Girl and Marshmallows for Breakfast.

I recently finished her other book My Best Friends Girl(which I LOVED) and was excited to read her work again.

I am sad to say I was not able to really get into this book. I was expecting more romance than it had. It was well written and the story had good elements to make it interesting.

The characters were well developed but overall it left me wanting more. Kendra (the female) lead's angst put me off a little. I felt for Kyle and what he was going through. This book is worth reading because of her writing talent and how she makes her characters seem real. Her other titles The Chocolate Run and The Cupid Effect are on my TBR pile.

I've only read one other book by Dorothy Koomson so I decided to seek out another one of her books. I know this book has been out a while, but I've just discovered this author. Ms. Koomson did an excellent job with character development. I liked the fact that all of them had their flaws. Don't get me wrong this book was not terrible but it was too heavy for me. I agree with what another reviewer stated....there were too many issues being worked out and I got a little frustrated especially with Kendra not realizing that she and Kyle were made for each other. When I finished reading the book, I was so frustrated and didn't get any satisfaction. I didn't particularly like the ending. It was cute but I wanted more. I'm going to end up reading the Chocolate Run by Ms. Koomson to see if I like that one better. I also didn't really care for My Best Friend's Girl.

The reviewer Lori said it best when she stated:

"Kyle is the perfect man. Sure he is flawed, ignoring his alcoholic wife's problem for too long, but when called upon he steps up. Kendra seems to think he and Ashlyn belong together, but I think Kendra and Kyle belong together and Kendra is too blind to see it.

The author does a good job of catching the reader's attention and making us wonder who will she end up with, will she abandon the children and Kyle for a life with Will? Or will she finally notice what's right in front of her eyes and grasp the life with the children AND their father. Unfortunately the way it plays out is disappointing and too far fetched."

I agree with her....

"Kendra Tamale is looking for a fresh start and a simple life when she rents a room from Kyle Gadsborough." This is from the front flap.

Well, you know that's not how things are going to go, right? Trying to hide out, after the mess she left behind in Australia, Kendra's settling down in the English village of Kent is sure to provide her with the respite she needs. Right? Wrong.

Almost immediately, she is thrust into the daily life of the single father and his adorable, yet feisty, six-year-old twins. It happens when her new landlord invites her to breakfast, and she is thrust into the midst of handling breakfast drama with Summer and Jaxon while their father takes a phone call. A very loud and obviously argumentative phone call.

Soon she is their daily go-to person, since their mother is somewhere else--oh, yeah, New York--and has some mysterious ailment.

We learn more of Kendra's dramatic story, flashback by flashback, as we also learn about Kyle and his estranged wife Ashlyn.

Thinking this was going to be a light read was very erroneous on my part, but I was pleasantly surprised. It didn't take long for me to thoroughly invest in Kendra and Kyle, as well as in the twins. The author's skill at drawing the details of the characters in such a way that we could visualize and experience them had me hooked.

By the time I turned the final page, I felt as though these characters were a part of my life. Marshmallows for Breakfast earned five stars for me.