Cover Image: The Little Bakery of Hopes and Dreams

The Little Bakery of Hopes and Dreams

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

A lovely festive read full of hopes and dreams.

When Josie arrives in Sunnycombe she has no plans of sticking around for long. After her mother left the family home on Christmas Eve, from the age of 12 Josie hasn’t been very fond of the festive season.

Keen to avoid further disappointment, Josie is reluctant to make friendships or start relationships until she begins working for the recently widowed and single dad Callan.

As both Josie and Callan spend more time with each other, they realise that they might just be ready to fall in love again. Although nothing worth having was ever easy and straightforward. With his five year old daughter Mia to also consider, is it worth starting a relationship with someone who is likely to run at the first sign of trouble.

I really enjoyed this book and would like to thank NetGalley for a copy in exchange for a review.

The characters are were all well written and I enjoyed the relationship of Margo and Brendon which is explored alongside the main characters. A fun, romantic story of letting go of negative experiences and discovering love and friendship.

Was this review helpful?

The Little Bakery of Hopes and Dreams was a great book to get me into the Christmas cheer. A warm hearted story that left me wanting more. My first book by this author but certainly not my last.

Was this review helpful?

A feel good story of single dad Callan and his 4 year old daughter Mia who run his wife’s bakery after her death. He does not bake well. Enter in Josie, who is a professional baker and she wants a job. Both are attracted to each other, but have issues to overcome. Overall I did like this and would recommend, although her running, or considering running away seemed unnecessary. Maybe just me. Liked the side romance too.

Was this review helpful?

I throughly enjoyed this entertaining and well written romance. Great plot and characters. Romance readers will enjoy this book. I received an arc from the publisher and this is my unbiased review

Was this review helpful?

Josie runs away to a small town looking for work, and she finds the perfect job at a local bakery. She can tell right away, that the owner needs help because the baked goods are looking flat and hard. Callan, a widower and the bakery owner, quickly hires her to work in the front but not to bake because that was his wife's domain and he's not ready for anyone else in the kitchen. Mia, his four year old daughter, loves Josie immediately begins to see a future before Josie and Callan are ready.

Josie and Callan are both emotionally walled up individuals and too stubborn to allow help to break their walls down. They also find similarities in their unusual dislike for all things Christmas,, but when you live in a town like Sunnycombe it's hard not to fall in love--- maybe in more ways than one!

This story was romantic and gave all the cozy Christmas vibes. The perfect sweet romance about opening your heart to love. It was a quick and light read, and is perfect for the holidays while sitting by a hot fire!

Was this review helpful?

If you enjoy Hallmark Christmas movies, this is a perfect read for you!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

A feelgood romance, with cakes! Josie moves to a village where she begins work in the bakery, owned by widower Callan who has a young daughter, Mia. Christmas is coming, but both Josie and Callan have their reasons for not feeling festive ... however, the bakery and the village community won't allow for moping, so they have no option but to join in, getting closer as they do so. A lovely story, well written, and I would read more from this author.
Thanks to the publisher for a review copy.

Was this review helpful?

I loved The Little Bakery of Hopes and Dreams and it was perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit.

The basic plot is girl moves to a small town, gets job at a bakery (which is run by a good looking guy), has feelings for said guy, their stories come to light, they learn about themselves, and then The End. Nothing in the plot was overly surprising, but the charm of the small town and the main characters draw you in, while Mia (Callan's daughter) helps to keep you hooked. There was enough backstory about the characters that i did truly feel for them and it did make me want to succeed. The biggest criticism is that the plot does feel like a romance novel recipe, but that isn't always a bad thing.

So while the book read like a typical Hallmark movie, it was still fun to get through and I did enjoy reading it.

Was this review helpful?

I’m a sucker for books about single fathers and this one pretty poignant. Despite Callan trying his best to bring Mia up, there’s just something missing. And Josie, the daughter of a single father herself, knows what that is. It’s a book about learning to trust in love again and I really loved each of the characters in this sweet Christmas story.

I’ll certainly be reading more of Kellie Hailes’ books soon.

Was this review helpful?

Absolutely delightful! The Little Baker of Hopes and Dreams by Kellie Hailes is the perfect Christmas romance to put you in the mood for the holidays with wonderfully developed characters and a beautiful plot that delivers all the warm, fuzzy feels of the season. Heartwarming and sweet, it was so easy to love this story!

Was this review helpful?

5 - "Maybe we need to rethink that kissing under the mistletoe tradition…" Stars!

Absolutely loved this one, perfect Christmas reading, both the H/h are working their way through some serious issues on the build up to Christmas, but nothing was OTT on the drama front, and add in a precocious but precious toddler, some great secondary characters, a lot of seasonal sparkle and it was an absolute winner! I hope the author has more stories in store for the residents of Sunnycombe in the future.

"To second chances."

I read this little Christmas treat in one sitting, and I look forward to seeing what Ms. Hailes has in store for her readers in 2020!

Was this review helpful?

This was a beautiful story about Josie who had been running from her feelings for years and finds herself in a lovely Christmassy village with lovely people finding her able to see a much happier future for herself. Lovely feel good fast read.

Was this review helpful?

Josie hates Christmas! Everything about it reminds her that her mother left her on Christmas Eve and her Father became a recluse. However her latest decision to move to a small village for a new job changes everything. Sunnycombe has Christmas traditions galore, and Joise gets invited to them all.

Callun is a single Dad, after his wife died he too has shunned Christmas. But he will do anything to make his 4 year old daughter, Mia happy. Even if it means encouraging his new employee, Josie, to join in on the Christmas joy.

This is a tale about becoming part of a community, and healing broken hearts in the process.

Was this review helpful?

"The little bakery of hopes and dreams" started out really sweet and I was sure I was going to love it.

We meet Josie who is looking for a new job and finds herself in the Café of widowed Callan. The beginning of the story was very atmospheric as well as emotional and I had high hopes for the book.

Somehow the book lost me throughout the story and I missed the atmosphere of the café and the emotions between the characters. I felt that everything was very rushed and I couldn't connect with Josie and Callan. I really liked Mia, Callans daughter, who was totally funny and cute.

I liked the Christmas cakes and cupcakes they were baking and there could have been more about the Café and Christmas.

The book was good to read but for me something was missing for a good festive read.

Was this review helpful?

This was a lovely little feel good story all ready for Christmas.

It told the story of Josie who applies for a job at the little Bakery in Sunnycombe.

The Bakery owner Callen and his little daughter Mia take to Josie and welcome her help.

Of course at this magical time of the year with mistletoe hanging anything can happen.

Enjoy, it is a lovely little story.

Was this review helpful?

Want a real festive book to read this year then this is the one. This is the first I have read of Kelly's but it wont be the last, I intend to look for others. This is a real curl up with a hot chocolate novel and I will be buying copies for my friends.

Was this review helpful?

Unfortunately, this was not my thing. I found the characters cookie-cut and the plot obvious since the first pages, but I understand that probably there are people looking for exactly that so I'm not going to put much importance in that. I DNF, actually, I stopped reading fairly early and maybe lost some good scenes. But the part I read was in all, boring, and it didn't draw me to continue.

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoyed reading about how Josie, someone who detests Christmas after her mother left her family one Christmas Eve when Josie was young, walks into the lives of widower Callum and his little girl Mia, which starts the mending of three broken hearts.
The development of the feelings between Josie & Callan were really early on in the story and I spent most of the time waiting for the inevitable spanner in the works; however, this didn’t detract from the cosy romance wrapped up with Christmas magic which flowed throughout the book.
A lovely story to read over the festive period.

Was this review helpful?

This is the first book I’ve read that was written by this author and I have to say it was fantastic. I loved the flow of the story it kept moving and didn’t disappoint. I couldn’t wait to find out the ending but I wasn’t ready for it to end. Thanks Ms. Hailes for such a great book. I would definitely read more of your stories.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This was really sweet story, this was Christmas and a fluffy romance that was lovely to read. With heartwarming characters.

Was this review helpful?