Review: Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

13 October 2017 by Melissa

About the book Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (October 10, 2017)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and the perfect moment to escape to a charming English village! From the beloved author whose novels are “sheer indulgence from start to finish” (SOPHIE KINSELLA) comes a delightful holiday story — funny, heartfelt, romantic and packed with recipes — perfect for the winter months.

In the Cornish coastal village of Mount Polbearne, the Christmas season has arrived. It’s a joyous time for family, friends, and feasting, as decorations sparkle along the town’s winding streets and shop windows glow with festive displays. And in Polly’s Little Beach Street Bakery, the aroma of gingerbread cookies and other treats tempts people in from the cold.

Though Polly is busy keeping up with the demands of the season, she still makes time for her beekeeper boyfriend, Huckle. She’s especially happy to be celebrating the holiday this year with him, and can’t wait to cuddle up in front of the fireplace with a cup of eggnog on Christmas Eve.

But holiday bliss soon gives way to panic when a storm cuts the village off from the mainland. Now it will take all of the villagers to work together in order to ensure everyone has a happy holiday.

Full of heart and humor, Jenny Colgan’s latest novel is an instant Christmastime classic.

Buy, read, and discuss Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery:

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Jenny Colgan

Jenny Colgan is the New York Times-bestselling author of numerous novels, including The Bookshop on the Corner, Little Beach Street Bakery, and Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery, all international bestsellers. Jenny is married with three children and lives in London and Scotland.

Connect with Jenny:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts:

Revisiting the Little Beach Street Bakery and the world that Jenny Colgan has created around it, in her version of Cornwall, is like reuniting with an old friend. You may not have spoken for years, but as soon as you see each other, you pick up as if no time has left.

I won’t give Colgan all the credit for my own fantasies of living in a lighthouse, but I’m sure her work stokes the fire. Sure Polly and Huckle (and Neil the gull) are living in the cold and damp much of the time, but they do it with such good humor and zest for life that having to bundle yourself under layers of sweaters (each more shapeless than the last) or preheat the electric blanket on your bed feels romantic rather than distressingly rustic.

What I continue to love about this series is that the characters grow and change, but remain intrinsically themselves. Kerensa, Polly’s best friend, is dealing with a communications issues within her marriage and a pregnancy, but she still retains the wild-child element that so defines her, and Polly herself, while more settled with Huckle, and keeping her bakery a success is still delightfully neurotic, and full of heart.

Set at Christmas time, this novel is perhaps a bit fluffier, or more soft-focus, than the previous entries in the series, but I think considering the subject matter, and the amazing ending, that softening is appropriate.

This whole series makes you want to curl up in a chilly room with a heavy quilt, a pot of coffee, and freshly-baked treats. Conveniently, there are even recipes included in the back.

Goes well with mincemeat twists and awesome hot chocolate; recipes for both are in the book!

Tour Stops for Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery

Tuesday, October 10th: BookExpression

Wednesday, October 11th: BookNAround

Thursday, October 12th: A Chick Who Reads

Friday, October 13th: Bibliotica

Monday, October 16th: Buried Under Books

Tuesday, October 17th: A Bookish Way of Life

Wednesday, October 18th: bookchickdi

Thursday, October 19th: Kahakai Kitchen

Friday, October 20th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Friday, October 20th: Reading Reality

Saturday, October 21st: Girl Who Reads

Monday, October 23rd: Into the Hall of Books

Tuesday, October 24th: StephTheBookworm

Wednesday, October 25th: A Bookworm’s World

Friday, October 27th: Jathan & Heather

Friday, October 27th: Books and Bindings

Little Beach Street Bakery, by Jenny Colgan (@jennycolgan) – #review @tlcbooktours

31 March 2015 by Melissa

About the book, Little Beach Street Bakery

Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (March 31, 2015)

In the bestselling tradition of Jojo Moyes and Jennifer Weiner, Jenny Colgan’s moving, funny, and unforgettable novel tells the story of a heartbroken young woman who turns a new page in her life . . . by becoming a baker in the town of Cornwall.

A quiet seaside resort. An abandoned shop. A small flat. This is what awaits Polly Waterford when she arrives at the Cornish coast, fleeing a ruined relationship.

To keep her mind off her troubles, Polly throws herself into her favorite hobby: making bread. But her relaxing weekend diversion quickly develops into a passion. As she pours her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, each loaf becomes better than the last. Soon, Polly is working her magic with nuts and seeds, chocolate and sugar, and the local honey—courtesy of a handsome beekeeper.

Packed with laughter and emotion, Little Beach Street Bakery is the story of how one woman discovered bright new life where she least expected—a heartwarming, mouthwatering modern-day Chocolat that has already become a massive international bestseller.

Buy, read, and discuss Little Beach Street Bakery

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

About the author, Jenny Colgan

Jenny Colgan is Scottish born and bred, born in Ayrshire in 1972, but currently lives and works in London. After graduating from Edinburgh University, Jenny worked for six years in the health service whist moonlighting as a cartoonist and doing stand-up in the outer fringes of London’s comedy circuit.

Connect with Jenny

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

This cozy little novel was exactly what I needed on an overcast weekend when I was fighting poor sleep patterns and a dawning migraine. It’s funny, engaging, and really makes you wish you lived in a harbor-front flat in an old fishing village.

The protagonist, Polly, has just come through a bad breakup and a bankruptcy when we meet her, and she clearly needs a sea change in more ways than one. Taking the flat in the ramshackle building that once housed a bakery, in a once-thriving town that now barely survives on summer tourism, is her first step of a reawakening that we readers are privileged to watch.

Author Jenny Colgan has a knack for writing snappy dialogue that immediately gives us a sense of who each character is – Polly, Tarnie, Huckle – all have distinct voices. Then she throws in a dash of whimsy (an adopted rescue-puffin) and romance, and mixes it up with a sense of place that allows us to feel the chilly water rise over our feet as the causeway is flooded (a daily occurrence) by the changing tides.

At almost 450 pages, Little Beach Street Bakery is a bit meatier than the average ‘beach read,’ but there’s never a sense of having filler in the story. Every page counts, and every scene matters, and the whole novel is entertaining, engaging, and even a bit heartwarming.

What else can I say? I LOVED this book.

Goes well with A plate of fish and chips and a glass of iced sweet tea.

Jenny’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, March 31st: Bibliotica (That’s ME!!!)

Wednesday, April 1st: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Thursday, April 2nd: A Chick Who Reads

Friday, April 3rd: Kritters Ramblings

Tuesday, April 7th: Drey’s Library

Wednesday, April 8th: Kahakai Kitchen

Thursday, April 9th: For the Love of Words

Friday, April 10th: 2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews

Tuesday, April 14th: A Bookish Way of Life

Thursday, April 16th: Walking With Nora

Flames of Winter

We fill our homes with candles that represent nothing more than a cozy glow, and we gather ’round our gas logs or Franklin stoves even when our houses are fitted with central heating systems, because there’s something – some magical thing – about fire that seems to drive away the stress and darkness of winter in a way that electric light never can.

The Gift of the Mergi

A handful of pearls. That was all Nerissa had. Oh, she’d grown up in Poseidon’s Grotto, with abalone combs and aquamarine and moonstone gems, but when she’d left the great ocean to marry a land-walker, she’d forfeit her jewels and pirate’s treasure hoards and kept only the handful of her nameday pearls.

An Excerpt from “A MerChild’s Christmas with Whales”

And on solstice mornings, with landwalker-entrancing song and candy darters, they would send me out to play and I would glide through the swaying kelp searching for news of the Seven Seas,

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Description: #audio #mermaidadvent #mermaidcarols #dogdaysofpodcasting #dogdaysofadvent #dogfishdaysofadvent Excerpt: We mermen of deep ocean are, Bearing gifts, we swim from afar Through coves and eddies, Past rock jetties We follow the great sea star Links and References Learn about The Dog Days of Podcasting Guest Voices: N/A Support: The Bathtub Mermaid is now on […]

TBM-2412.17 – Dogfish Days of Advent: Flames of Winter

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