I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

📖My Thoughts📖

How can there be anymore of a perfect holiday book? I have read some really great Christmas rom-coms, but this one takes the cake by a long shot! OK, so I’m an absolute sucker for total ooshy gooshy, hits you in all the feels, brings you to tears, happily ever after book. They’re good for the soul. The characters in this book were all just written so well. I loved the storyline and how it all played up, especially the unexpected twist. What a refreshing and joyful book to read. If you’re looking for a good fun Christmas book to read, definitely snag this one up! You won’t regret it!
Thank you Netgalley, Jessica Redland and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and review this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop - Jessica Redland

In this book we follow Charlee the master chocolatier as she loses a loved one, goes through a break up and rediscovers who she is with a little help from her friend and close community. This was a really comforting read, the perfect escapism from the current climate and muchly appreciated. I adored all the chocolate talk, and cosy Christmas detailing. Thank you so much NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the e-arc in return for my honest opinion, I can only apologise for the delay in my response

Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop: A Tale of Two Christmases

by Jessica Redland

Charlee was raised by her grandparents. When they both passed away and her beloved mentor at the chocolate shop moved back to France, Charlee is encouraged by her live-in boyfriend Ricky to move to the city where he has just found a new job. She decides to open her own chocolate shop. Meanwhile, she continues to pay all of Ricky’s expenses because he is trying so hard to pay off his credit card debt and he puts in a lot of overtime. If you are less naive than I or Charlee, for that matter, red flags are probably fluttering high.

Charlee has one really good friend Jodie who moves to Charlee’s new town soon after Charlee and works in Charlee’s shop. Through their hard work and the friendship of other small business owners on lovely Castle Street, her new business prospers. Charlee meets the very kind, handsome, and engaged Matt who saves her shop from a plumbing disaster. She also takes the plunge to find her biological mother who abandoned her when she was a baby. It is not a step she is sure she wants to take nor does she know if she wants a relationship with this secretive woman.

In Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop, the setting is very Christmasy including decorations, snow, and tree lightings. A major theme is the difference between Charlee’s first Christmas and the second in her new home of Whitsborough Bay.

There are many questions Charlee has to work through. The journey she takes is fascinating, and the reader will be rooting for Charlee to succeed both personally and professionally. As the book draws to a close, there are many surprises. You will be hoping for a happy ending for (almost) all of the characters.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 4/5

Category: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Romance

Notes: I am not generally a huge fan of the romance genre, but I occasionally like to mix in a few, especially when they are Christmas themed. As happens frequently in modern romances, in the beginning of this book, lust gets confused with love. So the first part has a lot of “steam,” but not graphic descriptions. Later in the book, the characters have for the most part worked out what love is, and the focus switches to relationships and making honorable choices.

Publication: August 3, 2021—Boldwood Books

Memorable Lines:

“And now my best mate in the whole wide world, the only person who I care about spending time with, has bogged off to live at the seaside, leaving Billy No Mates here with nothing to do except gorge on Spam sandwiches and watch the soaps every evening.”

Matt and I were obviously destined only to be friends and I was going to have to hope that I’d wake up one day and be over him. Was that a pig flying past my window?

Castle Street was the perfect setting for that magical Christmas feeling. Full of Victorian character buildings and old-fashioned lamps there was almost a Dickensian feel to the place.

Lovely feel good book to read. It was a joy to read. Lovely characters. Great plot. The book was charming. Very well written. I’d definitely recommend this book lovely location. Perfect seasonal book to get you in the mood for the festive season. I love this authors books. She has such a lovely descriptive writing tone. Makes me wish I was right there.

This was such a great Christmas romance! I love reading Christmas books all year long and it was just what I needed for Christmas in July! Highly recommend!

Hallmark Christmas movie in a book! I’m still blown away by how good this was. I love a good Christmas book I can pick up every year and I feel this one has taken my number one spot. Makes me want to go out and buy a chocolate shop ASAP! Thank you netgalley for giving me the chance to review this

This checked off everything I look for in a book. Was not disappointed. Really enjoyed this book. I will read more from this author.

Another amazing beard warming story from Jessica Redlands, love the characters & everything about this she’s fast becoming a favourite author of mine,

I automatically fall in love with any Holiday story. This story had friendship, secrets, romance, fresh starts, and a strong sense of community. It has all the sweet, gooey warmness I look for in a Christmas read. There was a death of a family member in the storyline that made it not all sunshine and snowflakes but it made it feel more real.

I really enjoyed this story of Charlee the master chocolatier who has just moved to a new town, started her own business and broken up with her user no-good boyfriend in the lead up to Christmas. Charlee is also getting over the loss of her grandparents who raised her and wondering about her birth parents. After spending Christmas devastated, she finds friendship with local tradie Matt who has his own relationship issues. With the support off her best friend, Charlee and her business starts to thrive as her friendship with Matt turns into a spot of unrequited love. Will the next Christmas be better or is she destined to live alone wondering about why she can never find the right man and who her parents are.
A great feel good story (apart from the loser boyfriend).

Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate shop is a delicious treat this time of year. Master Chocolatier Charlee has the opportunity to open the chocolate shop of her dreams in Whitsborough Bay. Losing her beloved grandparents, she's determined to start over in a new town with her boyfriend. However, her boyfriend is more of a drag than a help, the shop needs numerous repairs and the gorgeous local plumber helping her is engaged. Nothing some Christmas magic can't fix! This will make you believe in the magic of the season.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

The perfect Christmas book for cosy nights abd frosty mornings. The ideal mic of. Likeable characters and storyline. Perfect.

This is a wonderful festive, cosy read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the setting and Jessica Redland has such a talent for creating fully-rounded characters that I am fully invested in. Although the storyline is a little predictable, it makes it no less heart warming. If you a looking for a feel good read to get into the Christmas spirit, this is brilliant.

Nothing says the holidays like abusive boyfriends and your rescue coming in the form of a cheating "friend".
Very disappointing.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Yet another fun holiday read to get you in the Spirit. This is the first book I have ready from Jessica Redland and I will definitely be on the lookout for more. The hometown feels will be bubbling over when you are done with this book,

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my copy of Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop by Jessica Redland. It published August 3, 2021.
Once again, Redland brings it for this sweet series. I just love reading these books. The relationships, the sweet idyllic town, Christmas traditions, it’s all so wonderful! I highly recommend!
I love that it’s not cheesy or causing eye-rolling, but you truly care about the characters and their lives!

Christmas Wishes at the Christmas Shop by Jessica Redlands

Sometimes you need a little Christmas magic to make your wishes come true.

This was a lovely novel. Started out sad, but ended up wonderful. Lovely characters, well-written story. I recommend this book.

When Charlee’s boyfriend gets a job in Whitsborough Bay, she decides to take a chance and go with him. She makes the decision to follow in her Grandad’s footsteps and open up her own chocolate shop, and finds the perfect premises on Castle Street. As she tries to prepare for opening she realises Ricky isn’t much help at all, and not particularly interested and when a crisis occurs, plumber Matt comes to the rescue…..The chemistry between them gets her questioning herself, but then Matt already has a fiancee and Charlee has Ricky …….Will Charlee get a happy ever after? And will Christmas be everything she wants it to be?

We all know I love a festive read, and I adored this. I can’t wait till Christmas now and wish it wasn’t just October! The characters are absolutely wonderful. Charlee is such a strong woman and I just wanted her to ditch Ricky and get with Matt! Although I loved her she was a bit frustrating at first, but eventually sorts herself out! The community within the Bay is wonderful and comes across as one of those places you’d love to go.

The setting is fantastic, as are the descriptions (as you can imagine from a book with chocolate in the title!). The setting and story just made me want to curl up under a blanket with a hot chocolate (of course) and lose myself. The writing is wonderful and warm with a touch of humour, you won’t want to put it down. But don’t be fooled, there are some emotional times so be prepared!

So if you’re looking for your next wonderful, emotional and heartwarming read that will get you in the festive spirit and make you want to eat your bodyweight in chocolate, then this is for you! Highly recommended by me!

5 Word Review: Friendship, betrayal, belonging, family, Christmas.


Oh no, not me Googling yet again whether Whitsborough Bay is real.

Charlee has gone through so much in her life, she's not had it easy. I found myself empathising with her with every page. She's so talented, her work with chocolate had me drooling and eyeing up the Christmas chocolates I have already bought.

Fair waring - this book will make you crave chocolate and beer. And maybe some wine. It's the type of book to properly coorie up with in the long winter evenings.

Matt is such a generous soul. He's loyal almost to a fault and it did mean that this felt very much like a slow burn. The attraction was there, but Matt's abilities to put his feelings aside really could be a touch frustrating as understandable as his actions were. He's a stark contrast to Darren

Jessica Redland has the most amazing ability to make you truly loathe characters. I absolutely hated Darren and BJ with a passion, they honestly had me seething. And if that isn't good writing, I don't know what it. And with them being so utterly terrible, it was even easier to fall in love with Charlee and Matt. And Jodie, I want her to be my BFF.

I loved the strong friendships in this book, the sense of community and the found-family themes. Somehow they made it feel all the more festive.

Whitsborough Bay is the most perfect setting. The small town really comes to life on the pages, and the Christmas lights switch on scenes were so wonderful and magical. I want to go to Whitsborough Bay, to Castle Street, and experience it myself. I wish it was real.

I thought the ending was particularly delightful, and I loved how everything wrapped up so well.

This book is so freaking uplifting. I loved it. It put a massive smile on my face and filled me to bursting with heart-warming hope. Get this on your TBR.