Book Review - The Great Christmas Cook-Off by Helen Buckley

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Title: The Great Christmas Cook-Off

Author: Helen Buckley

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Publisher supplied copy

Publisher: Choc Lit

Publication Date: 15th November

Rating: 5 Stars

It’s the festive showdown to end all festive showdowns …

“Queen of Chocolate” Beatrice Wodehouse, known for her decadent desserts, is ready to go head to head with her social media nemesis, clean lean baking machine Charlie Simmonds, in the Great Christmas Cook Off TV show.

Beatrice is fed up of Charlie’s sanctimonious attitude and is ready to show him that food is there to be enjoyed. Surely she’ll blow his keto, low sugar, low-carb mince pies out of the water with her chocolatey creations?

Except filming for the Cook Off turns out to be anything but sugar, spice and all things nice when the contestants realise there’s a festive saboteur in their midst – leading to melted ice cream, trifle mishaps and private stories leaked to the press.

As the countdown to the final commences, suspicions run high and sparks are bound to fly – and not just from the flaming Christmas puddings!

Part of the Spotlight series but it can be read as a standalone story.

How have I not ready any of Helen Buckley's spotlight series before? I mean they all sound like my sort of book but I finally knew I could resist no longer when it came to The Great Christmas Cook-Off. 

After all I love Christmas I love Bake Off,  I love romance and am fascinated with the behind the scenes of reality programmes!  So this hit all the boxes. 

And it was even better than I could have anticipated. I loved the nature of Beatrice and Charlie's rivalry but also enjoyed how their feelings towards each other changed many times over the course of book. 

They both have pre-conceptions about the other that will be challenged over the course of the book, and both of them bake the way they do thanks to things in their pasts. 

There is plenty of sweet treats in this story and I found my mouth-watering especially at anything that Beatrice and Alex were baking. 

Yet the eliminations on this show aren't necessarily down to the worst taste as it soon becomes apparent that the so called mistakes being made, might just be sabotage, which adds an air of mystery to the story. 

This was a quick and easy story to devour and I absolutely adored it. It felt hungry and festive while reading, while wondering if the couple that I was sure would happen, if they would indeed ever get together or not.  

Just a Christmas joy to read! 

Thanks to Choc Lit for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.