Hi Readers! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, no matter how different it may have been this year. We had a very relaxing day and spent most of it in our PJs which made a nice change! I cooked my first and last Christmas Dinner in my house (not because it was terrible or anything – but because we’re planning to move this year!) and then we did a doorstep delivery to see family and my Mum came round for a cuppa and some Christmas pudding, which honestly made my day!

I wasnt feeling all too festive in the run up to Christmas so to really try and get the Christmas feels on, I picked up a book I received for Christmas last year which I’d been saving for the season. The title oozed comfy vibes so I was looking forward to picking this one up.

THE COSY CHRISTMAS CHOCOLATE SHOP, BY CAROLINE ROBERTS

“The Christmas calendar countdown is on. Can Emma rescue her business and her broken heart?”

The story follows Emma, the owner of ‘The Chocolate Shop by the Sea’, (I wish!) in a cute seaside town in the North East of England. She is in her thirties and lives alone after tragically losing her fiancé Luke 7 years ago, so just her and her dog Alfie for company. She runs her chocolate shop alongside her part time assistant Holly, and the setting is very typical small village life – with a pub where everyone knows everyone and some very cute gossipy old ladies.

The plot follows Emma and her business highs and lows over 2 festive periods (time line spans over a year) including rent price hikes and business developments. It also follows her struggles with finding love again, or moreover accepting the opportunity for love again. Her heart is still very much broken from losing Luke and she fears at having it broken again.

We follow Emma on a disastrous blind double date with Malteser Man and her chance meeting with a man on a beach.

The book is perfect cosy Christmas vibes, you can imagine the shop in the quaint little village and the characters are well fleshed out and each bring their own element of charm. The story had me a little bored to begin with as it was just talking business and old heartbreak but as the plot developed I found myself getting really into the book, in fact I read it within 48 hours!

It was of course a little predictable as these types of cosy Christmas novels are, but it had some charming humour amongst the pages. I did however have some slight annoyances, in that the story is in the third person yet the Author switched between Em & Emma in narration and then back again.. I don’t mind either but it seemed we didn’t stick with a name. Also I wasnt that keen on the main character herself, perhaps I’m a bit too much of a sweary sailor but the character was a little too squeaky clean for my liking, for example ‘bugger’ was seen as a swear word to our character and an erection is something to shy away from. I mean come on, she’s a sex deprived thirty something woman. I’m sure she’s seen a few erections in her time!

There was however some surprisingly steamy sex scenes going on, which were a welcomed surprise to an otherwise very clean and PG read!

I did feel that the male love interest was charming but in reality just completely wouldn’t happen. After playing hot and cold more times than Katy Perry says those words in ‘Hot n Cold’, if he was the catch we’re to believe he is, he’d of buggered off by now with some self respect and dignity still in place.

However, it made for a very easy charming cosy read which was exactly what I needed to get in the Christmas spirit!

CAN’T PUT IT DOWN RATING: 3/5

As far as seasonal feel-good reads go, this is a pretty solid one to pick up. Yes these books are fairly predictable in outcome, but it gave me some giggles and some serious cosy feels. I am totally blaming Caroline Roberts for my excessive Chocolate consumption that occurred over those 2 days! The descriptions of the chocolate making were so good, I could practically smell the shop!

Where to Buy:

Amazon: £9.99

Book Depository: £9.99

Not sure why this one is so pricey for a paperback, so perhaps check out charity shops or e-books.

WASHED DOWN WITH:

I mean is it Christmas without a Christmas coffee flavour? It had to be Ginger Bread Coffee for me this year! This one from Beanies is the perfect level of spice whilst maintaining a smooth coffee flavour – you can get yours from Beanies website or sometimes Aldi stock these for £1.99 in the Special Buy aisle, so keep an eye out!

For Christmas I received some lovely teas and a brew in cup mug which im super excited about, so I’ll be sure to share those with you once I’ve cracked them open.

Did you receive any books for Christmas? Check @papyrusandpeppermint to see what I received!

Remember you can follow me on here, instagram & on Facebook for updates.

Have a great week!

Until the Next Chapter,

Emma

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