Christmas has come and gone for another year, and although we are suffering from the January blues we can’t let Christmas go that easily! This past month we have been reading Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan and we can’t start a new year without letting you know our thoughts on our latest read…
Chloe
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book from start to finish. Before we started this one I was slightly worried the story would be unclear as we hadn’t read the previous Little Beach Street Bakery books, but I have to say the back story was wonderfully introduced and I felt completely up to date with the story. We were introduced to Polly and Huckle and their adorable puffin Neil, Polly owns the Beach Street Bakery and the loved up pair live in a gorgeous lighthouse in picturesque Cornwall! Polly’s life is thrown into turmoil when her best friend Kresenda reveals she’s pregnant, but she’s unsure whether or not her husband Reuben (also Huckle’s best friend) is the father of her unborn child or the hunky Brazilian stripper she had a one night stand with a few months previous. Throw into the mix a wedding to plan and a long lost father to find and this results in a brilliant read with a fantastic plot line!
I have to say this book had the perfect mix of personalities throughout resulting in laughs, shocks and tears. I am so happy for Polly that she met her father and found that peace within her life. Not to mention the fact that Polly and Huckle finally got married, at times it was clear that keeping Kresenda’s secret was driving a wedge between their relationship, but thankfully true love prevailed!
The only thing I am disappointed with is the fact I haven’t read the other Little Beach Street Bakery novels! All in all this one was a fantastic festive read.
Sarah
This was the absolutely perfect Christmas read for me – snuggled up with a hot chocolate, I couldn’t put this book down! Polly is a strong but flawed character and so easy to relate to and the story had a great mix of friendships, relationships, love, laughs and drama. Jenny Colgan is magical at writing a descriptive Cornish atmosphere and her love for the area shines through and I pictures myself there as I flipped through the pages. I completely related with her struggles regarding whether to meet her father or not and how she felt about that having been through a similar situation myself and it was written so realistically and handled so sensitively, as someone who has been there, the struggle was perfectly handled.
This is chick lit well written not just girl meets boy, falls soppily in love, loses self, but with real strong, flawed and three dimensional characters, real life and real struggles. It’s clever, witty and feel-good, I can’t fault it. Like Chloe, my only downside is that I haven’t read the other Beach Street books OR any other Jenny Colgan books up to this point – something I will be putting right over the next few months, I think she may be a new favourite for me!
Let us know what you thought of our festive read by dropping us a comment below or by getting in touch via our Social Media!
Thank you for reading.
Sarah & Team Hurley
xo
Sarah Hurley Blog 