Book Review - The Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley Dunbar - #HolidayReading Mallorca

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Title: The Gingerbread Christmas Village

Author: Kiley Dunbar

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Publisher supplied copy

Publisher: Hera Books

Publication Date: 31st August 2023

Rating: 5 Stars

Everyone deserves a Christmas treat...

The annual Wheaton gingerbread exhibit (a model village made of gingerbread) and grotto has been an important part of the sleepy Cotswold hamlet’s Christmas celebrations for decades.

For years the gingerbread exhibition drew visitors from across the region and each year the model town grew more elaborate and ambitious but recently, interest has been dwindling. The gingerbread grotto needs to be rehomed or close forever.

Sixty-four-year-old Margi, the event’s founder, has had enough of village life (and its total lack of eligible men) and is planning to sell up and head to Birmingham to live closer to her niece.

She has lost her spark and her Christmas spirit and decides this will be her last gingerbread village, but despairs when she finds her only support is her old friend, Izzy, her niece Lucy from Birmingham, and Fern, the shy young farmer’s daughter. Oh, and Patrick, the gorgeous, reliable school caretaker.

As if this wasn’t enough, Lucy is determined to get her out dating again and persuades her to try some online dating apps but Margi’s had her heart broken too many times and wonders if she has just missed her chance.

Can they save the Gingerbread Grotto and can Margi get her old spark and her Christmas spirit back?

A cosy, totally feelgood seasonal read that will have you smiling. The perfect read to snuggle up and have you feeling festive! Fans of Jenny Colgan and Trisha Ashley will love this book.

Christmas wrapped up in a gingerbread bow. Utter festive perfection. 

For my first Christmas book of the 2023 festive reads season, I couldn't have asked for a better book. 

Despite reading it poolside in Mallorca in the heat of summer, it left me feeling rather warm and fuzzy, and with a strong feeling of goodwill towards everyone 

I couldn't get enough of Margi, Izz, Patrick and Fern as they try keep up Margi's family's tradition of making a gingerbread village. Despite the cost of ingredients going up and all manner of obstacles in their way. 

Add in some great side plots, and you have just a really fabulous festive ready, that will have you craving gingerbread.

Thank you to Hera Books for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.