Jessica Redland is one of my go to authors and I loved the sound of this book for one of my Christmas reads. It’s a magical festive story with a lot of chocolate and a little bit of romance. Charlee is such a wonderful warm main character and I loved how we get to know her through her relationships with her Nan and best friend Jodie. She was so brave to make the move to Whitsborough Bay and I really enjoyed seeing her build the business from scratch. Another perfect romantic read from Jessica Redland.

#blogtour reviewer

Another lovely book in the series by Jessica Redland.

Chocolate, friendships, romance, Christmas, Castle Street - how could you not enjoy it!

Full review to follow on the blog tour

So, what's not to love? Christmas and Chocolate in the title. OMG it's a dream come true.

My first my Redland but it won't be my last. Her story is easy to follow. It maybe a little cheesy but I have to admit it was fun. Hey, cheesy can be good right? Christmas, just about anything christmas catches my attention regardless of the time of year.

The other thing I loved it was set in the UK. In North Yorkshire which is a beautiful part of the country.

It's a great book for a wintry afternoon all snuggled up with hot chocolate and everyone out but you.

Enjoy!

I can not resist a book that is set around a chocolate shop even if it means disaster for my diet so even though it is only September I was excite to get lost in the pages of Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop by Jessica Redland.

Our heroine is Charlee and what a little diamond she is, after her grandmother passed away she inherits her house but with no family left her partner Ricky convinces her to start a new life and move to Whitsborough Bay with him. This is a big change for Charlee and she is determined to make this next step in her life be a positive one as she embarks on opening her own chocolate shop for her to use her passion and creativity as a master chocolatier.

Finding the perfect premises on Castle Street, the home to other much loved characters of Jessica Redland that we have met in her other novels, Charlee soon finds herself engulfed in a friendly and supportive community. As everything starts looking up for her career things don’t seem so full of roses in her relationship with the less than supportive Ricky.

I loved Charlee and really wanted to see all her hard work and ambition pay off, I got wrapped up in the excitement of shop hunting and the opening of the chocolate shop and the buzz of activity around the shop at Christmas time made it all feel so exciting and left me with a warm fuzzy feeling.
I had alarm bells ringing in my head from the start of the book when it came to Ricky, he was a vile excuse of a man that did not deserve to have someone as generous, hardworking and caring as Charlee, it was plain to see he was taking advantage of her nature and at times I really wanted to shake her but as they say love is blind and it is easy to see flaws looking in on a relationship yet when you are in it you will find every excuse under the sun to excuse their behaviour.

This is a storyline that just keep giving, and just as you think things are starting to wrap up something else comes to light in the storyline to keep you addicted and not giving you a safe point to put this book down!
If you are looking for an uplifting storyline that has festive spirit, mouthwatering chocolate goodies, a rollercoaster romance and a community that will envelope you in a welcoming hug then this book will tick all the boxes.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

Hallmark or Lifetime: Are you listening? This is a great book to movie holiday romance. We meet Charlee after the biggest event of her life. Her grandmother who raised her has passed away and she is scattering her ashes with her grandfather. That alone is a perfect opening of a Christmas book/movie, right?

Well anyway. Charlee is dating Ricky but there is no real chemistry between these characters. However he convinces her to start her own chocolate shop, which is the only thing that really makes her happy. Then we meet Matt when Charlee needs help and, of course, Ricky is nowhere to be found.

There is so much going on with Charlee. Great friends, two men, the mom who abandoned her, the father she never knew and, of course, her chocolate shop.

This is a great book to start off your holiday season to get in the mood. But have some chocolate ready because you will want some with every chapter.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Charlee moves to Whitsborough Bay to open her new chocolate shop. With her is a worthless boyfriend. She meets plumber Matt and the rest is Christmas magic. A great Christmas read

im a massive fan of Jessica Redland's and this story was as gorgeous as I expected it to be, lovely to return to Whitsborough Bay and see some familiar characters. The story has a lot of emotion, drama and community feelings, friends, family and is full of humour. Reading this as Jessica’s books always are is such a warm cosy feeling, a hug in a book is my favourite phrase for how these books make me feel. Absolutely recommend to anyone with a beating heart.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Yay for Christmas books, there is no such thing as too many of them.

I liked Christmas Wishes, but didn't love it.

I couldn't really connect with anyone in this one, and this is more on me than the book itself.

I know many others are going to absolutely adore this one, but we were not a good fit

This was book was good but it definitely does not sit anywhere near the top of my favourite festive reads. This mostly being because for over half of the book it isn’t even Christmas or even December. Everything took too long to get started and I found myself losing interest quite early on. I did stick with it, as I’m not really a quitter and it was an ok read.

When the book finally did get to the Christmas period it was over before it felt like it has really begun and then suddenly there’s a time jump of a year. This made the first part of the book feel a little pointless, other than setting up character relationships, but a lot of content could have been cut without changing the main parts of the story.

Speaking of relationships, the dynamics between some characters was just horrific to witness. There was a lot of gaslighting and toxicity within these relationships and a lot of heavy topics were covered. Obviously, this isn’t a totally bad thing as it does give the story more realness and depth, but it’s not something I personally want to rea about in a festive romance.

For the majority of the book, I was wondering where the title of the book was going to come into play. It felt to me that the ‘wish’ part of the book was a definite afterthought that was added so the book could have a cute title. The main character Charlee didn’t wish for anything until near the very end and even then these wishes were mentioned in passing.

I’ve made it sound like I really hated this book, but I didn’t I promise. As I said in the first part of this review it was ok - not the worst but definitely not the best.

I liked the relationship between Charlee and Jodie and thought that the found family trope was used quite well. Jodie was actually my favourite character with her funny one-liners and good advice.

The romantic relationship that comes into play felt very natural and wasn’t entirely rushed. With the way, the book ended it should have seemed like it was, but they had known each other for over a year so I let it slide.

Charlee was a decent main character who had a great deal of development in such a short time. When she was with her useless boyfriend she was a complete pushover and I really hated that she wouldn’t stand up for herself. However in the end she really grew as a person and I like her more for it.

The chocolate shop seemed like a really nice setting and I would have loved to have more of the story set inside it during the Christmas period. Although saying that, the Christmassy parts of the book were really nice, I will not be reading this book again anytime soon.

A couple of my favourite things. Christmas and good chocolate. Combined together in one of my other favourite things, BOOKS!

It is the perfect easy, feel good read to get you in the Christmas spirit. It is a book to read while sitting in from of the fire, cuddled under a rug with a hot cup of tea. It has some great characters and of course the best was Charlee. She was easy to relate to and had a lovely warmth about her.. The descriptions of everything made me reminisce a little bit and made me want to be right there is the town of Whitsborough Bay and in the chocolate shop.

I read this so quickly I as I just wanted to devour it like I would a box of chocolates. YUM!

What’s not to like, chocolate and Christmas always work! It’s a feel good Christmas novel that you can read when your all cosy by the fire with a hot chocolate in hand! Finding love at any time of year is always nice but it just seems more special in the festive season.

This is the second book that I have read by this author and won't be the last. My understanding is that is a revised book of a previous release.
The story takes place over two Christmases whilst skipping the majority of the year inbetween which sounds strange but actually works.
The characters are likeable and it is definitely a feel good book that should be on everyone's list of Christmas reading.
Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for this read.

Love Jessica’s books and this is another great one
Charlee is a chocolatier
She has just lost her grandmother who she lives with.
Her boyfriend has lost his job but has got another one in Whitsborough bay
Charlee has nothing to keep her ther anymore so she decides to sell the house and open up a chocolate shop in Whitsborough Bay.
Things don’t go great with the boyfriend
Charlee opens up her shop on Castle Street
Then she falls in love with Matt but Matt has a fiancée .
Will Charlee get her happy ever after
Brilliant read
Thanks NetGalley

I adore a good holiday romance title and this one fit the bill.

Not just the romance component, but having it set in a chocolate shop made it a delight to read.

The only thing that irritated me a bit was the main character's inability to see what was in front of her. Then again, we all have our blind spots.

This was perfect book to start out my holiday reading with.
After having read the Hedgehog series by this author I was most excited to see a Christmas book by her. There is something magical about the combination of Christmas and a chocolate shop.
Charlee and Matt were such a fun couple to read about, I loved them.
From surprising reveals to reconciliations this heart-warming book is just the holiday pick me upper you need!


Pub Date: 03 Aug 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This is my first Christmas read for this year, and it was certainly a good one to start with.

The magical picture that is painted of Castle Street and Charlee’s Chocolates has me longing for Christmas.

While the story was a bit cliche - it had your typical boy meets girl but there’s confusion and mix-ups before they all live happily ever after - it was just what I needed to get my excited for my favourite time of the year.

I really enjoyed this book and the characters were wonderful.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great storyline with excellent characters. I would highly recommend this book as it was a great read.

It was a fun experience to read a winter-themed story during summer. I didn't know the author but was pleasantly surprised. It's a feel-good read that bought some holiday spirit into the summer season. I wanted to cosy up with a hot chocolate, even though it was 30 degrees outside, which just proves that the author did a great job creating the world and characters. I loved Charlee and Matt. This book is an all-around heartwarming, emotional story that makes you wish it was December and gives you all the cosiness and romance you need.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I LOVED this book by Jessica Redland. I think I've read a novel by this author before but it didn't stick with me like this one has. I liked main character Charlee and best friend Jodie, LOVED Matt and of course the Christmas feel to the novel with all the chocolatey goodness! At first I thought Charlee was a bit of a pushover but she soon came into herself and I just really enjoyed every page of this novel. Would definitely recommend and will be looking out for more novels by this author in the future

Before picking up this book I had never read any of Jessica Redland's books. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It was a great feel-good read with just the right amount of holiday spirit. The characters were well developed and the storyline was full of wonderful surprises. The story follows Charlee, who learned the art of making chocolate from her grandfather. After losing both of her grandparents, who raised her like she was their daughter, Charlee feels lost and decides to follow her boyfriend and move to Whitsborough Bay. Once there she opens her own chocolate shop. Things don't go as planned and there is plenty of plot twists. I did shed a few tears reading this book, but in the end Charlee does get her happy ending.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest review.