I am back in Honeybourne and I am glad as I was desperate to know what was happening to the characters I fell in love with in the first book The Little Village Bakery.
Christmas is just round the corner, and Millie seems to have settled into life in this little village along with Dylan and a couple of new additions to the bakery since the last book as well.
Jasmine and Rich are still very much together, and whilst this book does not focus on them very much, they are there in the background and it seems that perhaps everything is not as rosy as it seems Spencer and his girlfriend, Tori are the main characters this time round. Spencer having been in America comes back to his home village to spend Christmas not just with Tori but with his parents and hers. The meeting of families which is bound to be doomed from the start when we realise that Tori’s parents are not exactly enamoured of Spencer.
They will be less when they arrive in this snowy country village.
Like her previous novel, this is a very character driven story and it draws you in and holds your attention, without it all being light and fluffy. In fact there were some darker moments and conflicts that were perhaps once buried in the past, coming screaming into the present.
Added to that the bonus, of it being winter, it has snowed and the world outside the goings on in this village is gloriously painted in white. The village come together, in fact everyone comes together as is expected in these types of books, especially when you add being snowed in, Christmas and difficult in-laws to the mix!
A lovely Christmas read (though it worked just as well – reading it in August!) and it was great to catch up with the folk of Honeybourne, I just hope there is more to follow, that village has plenty more stories to tell I am sure.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book.
Christmas at the Little Village Bakery is out on 16 Sep on Kindle.
The Book Jotter 