Saturday 28 October 2017

Book Review - Christmas at the Gin Shack by Catherine Miller

Amazon UK
Title: Christmas at the Gin Shack
Author: Catherine Miller
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: HQ Digital
Publication Date: 13th October 2017
Rating: 5 Stars


Gingle bells, gingle bells, gingle all the way…

Olive Turner might have lived through eighty-four Christmases, but she’ll never get bored of her favourite time of year. And this one’s set to be extra-special. It’s the Gin Shack’s first Christmas – and there’s a gin-themed weekend and a cocktail competition on the cards!

But, beneath the dazzle of fairy lights and the delicious scent of mince-pies, Olive smells a rat. From trespassers in her beloved beach hut to a very unfunny joke played on her friends, it seems that someone is missing a dose of good cheer.

Olive knows she’s getting on a bit – but is she really imagining that someone in the little seaside town is out to steal Christmas? More importantly, can she create the perfect gin cocktail before Christmas Eve – in time to save the day?

If you are looking for a Christmas book with Gin, Cocktails, Christmas spirit, laugh out loud moments, octogenarian antics, and a loveable cast of characters, then look no further than Christmas at the Gin Shack. 

Despite not being a Gin drinker, I could taste the variou Christmas Gin based cocktails the gang were coming up with in an effort to win a cocktail competition. I really wanted to try the chocolate orange one, and some of the decorative touches on the others were fantastic. 

This is an excellent sequel and it didn't even feel like I had been away from the Gin Shack. Within pages of starting this book it was like I was back with old friends and family and there were enough subtle hints at the story from the first book that I believe it would work as a standalone too. 

Olive is 84 years young, and shows no signs of slowing down, in fact she goes to every effort to make sure she speeds right up. There is after all The Gin Shack to help run, her beach hut, a potential new nemesis for the Gin Shack, still the fame of being part of the Oakley West Trio, and that before she comes up with all manner of ways to make the most of Christmas to their advantage. 

Richard who I struggled to like in the first book, has turned the corner and is a much nicer man nowadays, and spends a lot more time at the beach with his mum, and he has great ideas for the future. It is in part due to these ideas that I'm hoping there will be a third book in this series, as I need more from all of these characters. 

It's a warm hearted, uplifting, enjoyably entertaining story that was a joy to read. It spread festive cheer as well as plenty of action, good times, rivalries, one nasty man, and a surprising change of heart for one character.  I absolutely love spending time at The Gin Shack, which due to the age of the main character is such a refreshing change from most of the other books I read. 

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

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