Great read, just as expected when you pick up any Kate Hewitt book. A cupcake idea is suggested to bake something new and stir up new business for Christmas. The new business gives Olivia a stir.

Olivia James took over the running of her mother’s teashop and is trying hard to make it a successful business. She starts to introduce new ideas such as the 12 days of Christmas cupcake promotion, which seems to be attracting new customers including the tall and dashing Simon Blacklock. Olivia starts to realise she wants more from life than running things on her own, her friends are all happy in their relationships. Could the elusive Simon be the one?
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Kate Hewitt is the perfect author for a lovely Christmas read that is heartwarming with an emotional twist. This is a quick read, perfect for cozying up with a soft blanket and a warm beverage…and a cupcake, of course! It was lovely to return to Willoughby Close and the characters I have come to love, as they all play supporting roles in Olivia and Simon’s story. There is a twist with this one, not everything is rosy, as both Olivia and Simon are dealing with things in their personal lives that will have a lasting impact on their relationship, but Hewitt writes their story with such compassion that you can’t help but root for their Happily Ever After. I also love that this story sets new future stories!
#CupcakesforChristmas #WilloughbyClose #KateHewitt #TulePublishing

What is more fun than reading about Christmas and baking, baking cupcakes at that. Olivia James runs a tea and bakeshop on Cotswold village of Wychwood-on-Lea. Olivia is always the bridesmaid but never the bride, she bakes the most delectable cakes but will she ever get to make a cake for herself? As she works she meets new to town, Simon who returns each day to buy a cupcake from her. Simon and Olivia each have some things going on in their life that they are dealing with but it doesn't affect their relationship and they are understanding of each other's faults and weaknesses. A fun romantic holiday read that just feels good reading!
Pub Date 25 Oct 2018
I was given a complimentary copy of this book from Tule Publishing through NetGalley. Thank you. All opinions expressed are my own.

I've read quite a few of Kate Hewitt's books recently and enjoyed them very much. Cupcakes at Christmas sounded as though it might be a bit on the light and frothy side for me but actually it turned out to have more substance than I'd expected. Olivia and Simon are mature romantic leads (hurrah!) and they come with corresponding life experience and experiences. There are major issues in both their lives and although they are dealt, they don't dominate what is ultimately a feel-good Christmas read.

What could be better than cupcakes at Christmas? A sweet, endearing romance! Just perfect for the holiday season.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author. All opinions are my own.

A Kate Hewitt romance is a welcome thing. Hewitt writes her characters with insightful psychology. Their dilemmas are believable and well-developped. She writes with a light touch, making the reader chuckle with affection even as she sheds a tear or two. Her latest Willoughby Close, Christmas-romance incarnation is Cupcakes For Christmas, a trite title for a romance that tackles some difficult issues.

Olivia James, at near-40, is a spinster, having never committed herself to husband or family, even though she lived in London and dated for years before returning to Wychwood-on-Lea to run her now-retired mother’s bake-shop, Tea On the Lea. Hero Simon Blacklock is newly arrived in Wychwood, living with his sister, teaching music part-time at the local elementary school and playing his cello at church concerts. Simon walks into Olivia’s shop to buy a cupcake, answering the call of Olivia’s Christmas bakes promotion, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Olivia has been working hard to raise the shop’s profile and drum up business. The cupcake promotion is one of several events that run throughout the novel with a scrumptious Christmas-baked-goods theme.

Simon, of course, is less interested in the cupcakes than Olivia. He returns to the shop time and again and he and Olivia strike up conversations and make tentative steps towards a date. Simon and Olivia are quiet, careful characters: no lightning bolts of visceral lust strike them. Instead, Hewitt offers two lonely-used-to-being-alone people making hesitant steps towards connection and commitment. Nevertheless, their burgeoning relationship has some lovely romantic scenes: a drink and wings at the pub, a droll skating date, and a Christmas-tree chopping and decorating scene.

Sadly, while I loved Simon and Olivia together, they don’t spend that much time ensemble. Simon tends to “disappear” for days, leaving the confidence-light Olivia to wonder if he really is interested. In the meanwhile, Olivia also struggles with the new-found realization that her mother, Tina, is exhibiting strange, disturbing lapses of memory. Tina lives in a retirement home nearby and Olivia and she are close. They share that special, tight bond only a single mother and only child do. Tina’s road to dementia is a difficult one to navigate for them. Hewitt does a wonderful, heart-wrenching job of portraying the fear and loss experienced by Olivia and Tina: Olivia’s struggle with her mother no longer being the one who takes care of things, and Tina, with her confusion and, in her lucid moments, mourning her loss of self. But Hewitt also offers, maybe not hope, but equanimity, her narrative impetus always moving towards taking things one day at a time and finding joy in the good moments.

Simon and Olivia’s relationship progresses in fits and starts: lovely and affectionate when they’re together. Simon is beautifully supportive and understanding about Tina and makes sure he and Tina strike a friendship. But his mysterious disappearances are a strain. Hewitt again does not disappoint: the reasons behind them are very human and vulnerable, nothing alpha-chest thumping at all. By the end of the romance, Hewitt gives us a family: with difficult circumstances to steer, but with the strength of being together and living well for the joyful times, while pulling together for the bad. It’s a humble little romance novel, with delightful Christmas touches, and written in the true spirit of the season: to delight in each other, love each other, and look towards the dark together. Miss Austen and I thought it wonderful, indicative of “a mind lively and at ease,” Emma.

Kate Hewitt’s Cupcakes For Christmas is published by Tule Publishing. It was released on October 25th and may be found at your preferred vendor. I received an e-galley from Tule Publishing, via Netgalley.

Lovely festive Christmas read. Perfect for over the long winter nights. Magical storyline. Great characters that pull it all together

I really enjoyed Cupcakes for Christmas. It left me feeling very Christmassy and hooked me in from the first few pages. An enjoyable read.

Cupcakes for Christmas by Kate Hewitt is a lovely emotional story filled with hope, love and cupcakes.
It´s sweet and just a well written story that makes you fell good about people and friends. It makes you believe in love and hope.

We are back in Wychwood-on-Lea this holiday season enjoying the wonderful story of Olivia James and Simon Blacklock. Olivia runs the village bakery where she and Simon first meet over a cupcake. He returns day after day until it feels like romance is is in the air. It might take a little holiday magic to get these two to take a chance on each other.

This is a very well written book and I enjoyed these characters. I would definitely recommend this light quick holiday read.

Cupcakes for Christmas by Kate Hewitt is the first book I have read of hers. This is a feel good holiday book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I wish I had read the Willoughby Close series of books first. It is not necessary but I really think it would add more to this story. This is a sweet, cute and heartwarming quick read. It will make you laugh out loud and then it will also make you cry. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

I recieved a digital arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this one it was nice and quick. And dealt with some tough subjects quite well...

The characters were a bit shallow, and honestly I hated the doubt that was constantly shown by the MC... I know it makes her more real but I didn't enjoy how she constantly put herself down and blamed herself for everything.

The writing style didn't really do it for me I ended up skipping scenes as I just wasn't interested in them... Not sure if that's my mood after a huge book I just finished but it's making hesitant about reading reading more by this author

Cupcakes for Christmas is book number one in the Willoughby Close series by Kate Hewitt. This is Olivia James and Simon Blacklock’s Story.

This is a cute, sweet story and heartwarming quick read. Olivia runs a tea shop and meets Simon when he comes to her store and buys a cupcake then continues to come to buy cupcakes. They are attracted to each other but they each have other issues in their life that they are dealing with. Will these two take a chance on love or will hard knocks of life get in the way?

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I’ve loved Kate Hewitt’s Willoughby Close books and was thrilled to see this latest addition on my ARC list. It didn’t disappoint. Olivia and Simon are ordinary people facing ordinary challenges in their lives yet together these two made my heart swell. Both have faced challenges in their lives so even though they clearly like each other from the first each is a little wary. I loved watching those walls they’d put up to protect their hearts slowly cracking until eventually these two kind and caring people got their own happy ever after.

This story was a short quick read and it left me with a huge warm heart! Olivia, a small town tea shop owner who is afraid of love opened her heart to a broken Simon when he came into her shop one late evening. This is a story of how no matter how broken you feel, you deserve and will find love!

Cupcakes for Christmas, written by author Kate Hewitt, is the perfect feel-good holiday romance. I am a fan of Kate Hewitt's books, and especially loved her Willoughby Close series. Cupcakes for Christmas is the first book in a new series, Return to Willoughby Close. Although reading the previous series is not required, I strongly recommend it. Kate Hewitt writes characters that we can all relate to...ones that live ordinary lives with everyday struggles.

Olivia James is almost forty-years-old, and she is still trying to adjust to the recent changes in her life. Her mother (Tina) decided to retire and move out of the apartment they shared above her mother's tea and bakery shop, Tea on the Lea. Now in charge of running the bakery, Olivia has accepted the fact that although she will continue to make wedding cakes for customers, she will never have one of her own. She would love to be in a relationship, but realizes that the clock is running out...the only one sharing her bed at night will be her mother's finicky cat, Dr. Jekyll. Her nights might be lonely, but her days are kept busy running the bakery and trying to find new ways to attract business. After receiving some suggestions, Olivia decides to go with a "Twelve Days of Cupcakes" promotion...featuring a different cupcake on each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas. On the first day of the new promotion, she meets a handsome stranger...a man that has given Olivia a renewed sense of hope.

Simon Blacklock is the new music teacher in the town of Wychwood. Late one afternoon, he decides to stop in Tea on the Lea. He has a hard time deciding what to buy, and that is when Olivia explains that it is the first day of the "Twelve Days of Cupcakes" promotion. If he comes in every day for twelve days and buys the featured cupcake, he will receive a free cupcake after the promotion. Intrigued, Simon agrees to come back....especially since it will give him the opportunity to get to know Olivia better.

The story that unfolds is a roller-coaster of emotions. Olivia and Simon seem to be the perfect match...close to the same age, both lonely, and both attracted to one another. Olivia learns early on the Simon is hiding something, and Harriet's gossip confirms her suspicions. However, Olivia has a few secrets of her own, and she is determined to get to know Simon herself and ignore the gossip. Tina, Olivia's mother, is a character that most will be able to relate to, and at the same time, she is going through something we all hope never happens to our own loved ones. The characters are all extremely well-written, and the supporting cast of characters add the perfect balance to the story...including the moody Dr. Jekyll. Without revealing the details, the author handles some difficult topics, and she handles these topics with a caring and thoughtful approach.

Overall, this is a beautifully written story that focuses on love and romance, friendship and family, and the struggles we all face in our daily lives. The setting is one fans of Kate Hewitt will be familiar with, and one that feels like going home. If you are new to this author, you will fall in love with the residents of this small, close-knit community. Of course, it takes place over the holiday season...and the spirit of the holiday season is the perfect backdrop to this uplifting story. I absolutely fell in love with the characters, and I am looking forward to the next book in the Return to Willoughby Close series.

I would like to thank Tule Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Cupcakes for Christmas. My views are my own, and are in no way influenced by anyone else.

I love the Willoughby close series and was so excited to get stuck back in! Cupcakes at Christmas is the perfect festive story that is actually a lot more than a little bit of fluff. I love how some important and emotional topics were discussed. If you are a fan of Kate Hewitt or looking for a touching Christmassy story then this one is perfect!

I really liked the premise of this book, but the storyline just didn't connect with me. The characters were well written, but I was unable to finish the story..

Kate Hewitt writes a series of cute and engaging books that take place in the Cotswold in the town of Wynchwood-on Lea. In this novel we meet Olivia James. She has taken over her mother’s tea shop and is creatively finding ways to bring in business. She meets Simon Blacklock who comes in late for a cupcake. As he comes and goes into her shop and life, she knows there is more going on that he’s let on. She puzzles that while trying desperately to cope with her mother’s sudden illness. Simon comes to mean a lot to Olivia but whatever he is hiding is holding him back.