Saturday 11 October 2014

Review ~ Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Café by Rebecca Raisin.

Title: Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Café.
Author: Rebecca Raisin.
Publisher: Carina.
Genre: Chick Lit.
Publication Date: October 15, 2014.
Source: Netgalley.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

Purchase: Amazon UK

You are invited to the wedding of the year!

Snow is falling thick and fast outside the Gingerbread Café and inside, its owner Lily is planning the wedding of the year. Her wedding! She never dreamt it would happen, but this Christmas, she’ll be marrying the man of her dreams - in a Christmas-card-perfect ceremony!

The gingerbread is baking, the dress is fitted and the mistletoe’s in place – for once, everything’s going to plan. That is until her mother-in-law arrives... Suddenly, Lily’s famous cool is being tested like never before and her dream wedding is crumbling before her eyes.

In the blink of a fairylight, the Gingerbread Café has been thrown into chaos! Lily thought she had this wedding wrapped up, but with so much to do before she says ‘I do’, can Lily get to the church on time – and make this Christmas sparkle after all?





Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Café has been my most anticipated book to be released since I reviewed the previous books in the Gingerbread Café series back in July. When I read those books, I genuinely believed that this series could get no better but Rebecca proved me wrong with my now new favourite book of the series. Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Café is simply divine, with stunning writing slipping between being utterly romantic, charming and fun-filled and a little emotional. It was great to be back in Ashford, like checking in with old friends and as Rebecca says this will be the last book in the Gingerbread Café series, I have to say that she surpassed herself here with this perfectly fitting ending.

That I loved this book would be a massive understatement. I wanted to live in it – to be there when Lily, CeeCee, Sarah and Missy are having their girly gossip and catch-up, to spend time at the Gingerbread Café (especially when Lily and CeeCee are baking up some treats) and definitely to attend the wedding of the year! What I adore the most about Rebecca’s writing is how beautifully descriptive and evocative it is. She builds a brilliant, vivid picture of every setting, person and cake. Cake especially as when they’re putting together Lily’s gorgeous wedding cake, it was so easy to imagine it and how it would taste. I’m still dreaming about that wedding cake now, actually. With Rebecca’s writing, I never feel like I’m simply a reader but more like I’m there at the heart of the book, watching the build up to the wedding and everything unfold rather than just being told about it. It’s a book I can feel like I belong in and full of memorable characters that I’d love to befriend.

We’ve seen the characters grow a lot since the first book in the series and their bond is so heart-warming to read – whether it’s the friendship between the girls or the relationship between Lily, Damon and little Charlie, there’s a massive feel-good factor whenever they’re around. So when Damon’s parents and more specifically Lily’s mother-in-law Olivia turn up, things look set to get a little disrupted. Olivia’s motives definitely don’t seem to fit in with the residents of Ashford and she seemed determined to stir up trouble in the lead up to the wedding. Rebecca did a great job at building up Olivia’s character - a character I may or may not have wanted to strangle at one point – and it kept me hoping for the harmonious nature to return because I wanted, needed, Lily and Damon to have their happy ending. I also loved the introduction of a couple of new characters which hint that maybe Ashford could still have a place in Rebecca’s future books.

Although Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Café was typically full of humour and happiness, this book felt better-rounded than the rest with some more moving and touching moments too. There was one particular part of this book which I could really identify with and hit me emotionally – but I thought Rebecca’s writing was sublime, as always, and it made this book even more special for me. Everything about this book proves why Rebecca is one of my favourite authors. Like the rest of her books, they’re perfect for pure escapism. Sitting down with some chocolate (or leftover birthday cake in this case) and one of Rebecca’s books is one of my favourite things to do and Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Café is her best book so far and a truly beautiful book to read.




Review also posted on Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Amazon AU

7 comments:

  1. Thank you SO much honey! You've written such a stunning review, I can't stop reading it! I feel so lucky and truly grateful to know you xxx

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    1. You are so welcome! Thank you for the gorgeous book and I am honoured to have got to know you, too :) xxx

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  2. Such a great review!!!

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  3. This will have to go on my TBR list!

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  4. What a really gorgeous review Sophie xx

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