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I dedicate this review to my darlin cozy babe Nina (she is awesome and sweet and kind and everything I would ask in a friend. Her love for me makes me feel as if I am basking in eternal sunshine, her friendship makes me less lonely in life, and her naughtiness makes me want to tease her more. Remember BOB) and to the author herself Jessica Redland (she is one babe who always, and I mean always, thanks every blogger, comments on every post on her blog tours. My respect for her as a human being far outweighs my love for her writing).

Well, gotta love and acknowledge awesome gals!!

You know it is Christmas when your heart gets warmed

You know it is Christmas when you love everyone

You know it is Christmas when you want to get cozy with a book

You know it is Christmas when you want cocoa cocooned in a blanket

And now I definitely know it is Christmas when I start reading Jessica Redland’s books

With a great ado, I picked this book, a perfect book to warm the cockles of my heart, to put me on the pathway to Christmas.

My first book by Jessica Redland saw me hooked on to Charlee’s story with my kindle, cuddled into the cushions. She was a complete person, a real lovable one who went through life’s tragedies and heartbreaks, getting stronger at every step of life. I hate the vapid, simpering damsel-in-distress kinds, so thankful Charlee was strong, bold, and courageous.

Charlee followed boyfriend Darren, started her chocolate shop on Castle Street, a plumbing emergency led to the meet-cute with the hottie hunk Matt, electricity flowed. But Charlee being the loyal kinds remained a good friend till things happened, relationships overturned.

Story told in two timelines was cute in its treatment and progressed slowly and calmly. There was love and camaraderie and friendship all around. Charlee knew when to stand up for herself, and I loved that.

Then came my niggles, Charlee’s absentee parents, their entry, their love and their future relationship felt a wee bit over the top. But if you can’t be so jolly in Christmas, then when can you be… Ho ho ho!!

This was the book so apt for Christmas where warmth of the hearts surrounded friends and coworkers, where goodwill and laughs cheered even when tears flowed, and where family came together even when they seem far. A perfect Christmassy read!!

I downloaded the digital copy of the book from Kindle Unlimited, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!!

All my reviews can be found here

Master chocolatier, Charlee Chambers, has plenty to be excited about as Christmas approaches. She’s moved in with her boyfriend, Darren, and she’s about to open a chocolate shop, following in her late granddad’s footsteps. If only Darren would show more interest in helping her refurbish Charlee’s Chocolates ready for a December opening.

When water starts pouring through the shop ceiling, and Darren can’t be contacted to help, emergency plumber Matt comes to the rescue. From that moment on, Matt does more to support Charlee in achieving her dreams than Darren ever has, and she finds herself drawn to him. But Matt’s engaged and Charlee loves Darren … doesn’t she? And Darren loves her … or at least, she thinks he does, but he’s been behaving a little strangely recently.

Then Charlee discovers that Darren has a secret. But so does Matt. And so, it seems, does the woman who abandoned her at birth …

Publication Date: 1st October 2017

Publisher: Little Bear Books

65 Responses

  1. I am currently reading and loving this one, glad you are enjoying this delightful author as much as I have

    Reply

    2. I realized I don’t know your real name…
      Your posts sometimes come under Andrea King… Are you or is that too a pseudonyms
      Girl, you are under investigation!! ❤️

      Reply

      1. LOL – you are such fun! The WordPress app seems to register my comments as Andrea King who is an IT guru and the gal who set up the page. Mystery revealed – I am DJ Sakata, the renegade blogger and fangirl of Shalini, aka Empress DJ on the blog, DeeJay Sakata on Facebook as they would no allow me to use my initials, and Honolulubelle on Twitter.

        Reply

  3. You are such a darling!!!! Love you babe.
    I was about to get ready for the day when I saw the notification for your review of this so I just had to stop by! Lol. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Charlee really is a classic Christmas read! So glad you enjoyed it. I hope you get a chance to enjoy the rest of Jessica’s book next year. I just reviewed the second of Jessica’s Christmas books that was released last year (or year before?)… Carly’s Cupcakes. It’s a sweet Christmas thanks to this lovely author!

    Reply

    1. I read and reviewed it.. It will come up in the next two days… I was out, I didn’t know if you would get a notification as I forgot to place a ping back. Good luck for today, darlin 💕😘

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        1. Whaaaatttt…. Yayyy🎊💃🎉😍😍😘😘💖💖😍😍💜💜❤️❤️💕💕♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️💕💕💕💕💕💕❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

          Reply

  4. You absolute star, Shalini. That intro made me go all teary … in a good way! You and Nina and so many other amazing bloggers have been so lovely to me and I’m thrilled that you’ve enjoyed my stories and that you write such beautiful heart-felt reviews. I’ve had a tough old year with a few writing-related unexpected and very upsetting situations and have toyed with giving up several times. It’s the kindness of reviewers like you that make me dust myself off and keep going. Thank you so much xxx

    Reply

    1. Awww… JESSICA YOU ARE THE STAR OF CHRISTMAS ….
      Don’t give up writing…
      I am glad you liked it…
      Some days I write heart felt things😉😉😂😂
      Other reviews are on 24 th and 27th…
      I don’t have a review for 26th… So come down to celebrate my birthday on the blog… 😂 😂

      Reply

      1. Thank you so much. You say the nicest things and happy birthday for 26th. I’ll definitely join you then 🙂 Looking forward to seeing the other reviews on here. Thanks again. And I realised I named Nina but not Honoloubelle who has been equally amazing so a shout out to her too xx

        Reply

        1. I wonder Empress DJ and Honolulubelle are the pseudonyms she goes by… Now we gotta investigate who is she…
          Empress DJ what is your real name… Are you Andrea King?

          Reply

    2. Oh no! I’m so sorry it’s been a tough year Jessica. You have a loyal and devoted following of readers and we adore you. Remember that the next time things are tough. Your writing brings us joy and we will gladly be there for you when you need a little lift!

      Reply

  5. Oh Shalini, this sounds very good. I love a cozy book, curl up on the couch especially in the winter time by the fire and ready my cozy mystery. YES! Wonderful review Shalini, I have never read anything by her, so I am going to have to try this for sure. Have a wonderful weekend 😉

    Reply

    1. Jodie, Jessica has been so sweet even when she didn’t know me.. So I had to read her book because she is a great human being…
      I read 3 of her books in 2 days 😂😂 back to back
      Hope you love it too..

      Reply

      1. Jodie, you got to read Jessica’s books… She is all about love…
        Jessica, my friends are really sweet and awesome. I love them all.. When they come to talk to me, my worries all go away!! 💕💕

        Reply

    1. Aww… Kim… A comment from you makes my heart fly💕💕 how are you my darling.. How is your health? Are you feeling much stronger? Sending you all my love, honey…
      And Jessica’s books are really sweet, filled with warmth and coziness

      Reply

        1. Wtf…. Can I say something? As a doc and as a patient, since I have been on both sides, docs know nothing most times. Your brain is extremely powerful, it can make your body okay… So take that fatigue syndrome with a huge pinch of salt and get on with your life… Just listen to what tour body says and do accordingly… Our forefathers didn’t have all these syndromes, their life was pretty healthy…
          Again this is my take, no doctor will like this. And not many believe what I say… But just try it.. It will work… Listen to your body now, not to the world…
          I have nothing against your doc personally, but I have gone through this personally, where the docs couldn’t come to a diagnosis and tried to call me psyc

          Reply

          1. I appreciate your take on it Shalini. To be honest I’ve learned not to completely trust the medical community. Their only answer is to throw medication at you that have horrible side effects and make you feel worse. I do know I’ve had a wonky immune system since childhood. I have a feeling this might have been exacerbated by the constant state of stress and anxiety I was under living with my abusive mother. As an adult, except for migraines, I was doing okay until I was bitten by a tick and got Lyme disease. I was put on antibiotics but about 4-6 months after, I started having muscle pain all over my body and then numbness in my hands, feet and lower legs. I also started having vertigo. So, what they’ve come up with is: fibromyalgia, neuropathy, orthostatic hypotension, sjogren’s syndrome, and now chronic fatigue syndrome. The current theory is that because the Lyme disease wasn’t caught quickly, it did something to my immune syndrome which already wasn’t 100%. I’m off most of the medication they had me on and I now just take a tricylic antidepressant and muscle relaxant for pain and to help me sleep at night. I’ve been forcing myself to go on short walks and I’m eating much healthier than I was.

          2. Just add deep breathing exercises to this and let it all go. Glad to know that you take only two medications.
            To improve immune system only homeopathy would work… If you get a good genuine homeopathy doc and take those pills for a year then the immunity will improve. But be warned, there are many crooks. I am struggling to find one here.
            Kim, try Indian spices in your food, they really help in boosting health. Turmeric in milk helps a lot… Acquired taste but.
            Eat pomegranates every day, they have the richest anti oxidants. If you can get dragon fruit, they have some weird immune boosters… If possible take most fruits as it is instead of smoothie.
            I am here whenever you need me

          3. Thanks to my smart watch, I’ve been doing deep breathing exercises 4-5 times a day. I’ve actually been taking turmeric in milk for a couple of months now because I heard it can help migraines. I haven’t seen a difference yet, but I’m not giving up. I eat a lot of berries, but I hadn’t heard about pomegranates being full of antioxidants as well. I’ll have try them. I’m not a huge smoothie drinker. Too much effort LOL! I’d rather eat my fruit and veggies as is. Thanks for the advice as always Shalini.😁

          6. Turmeric in milk helps me against my cold coughs viral infections because it is suppose to improve immunity, and decrease inflammation. So it helps… Not heard it being used for migraines at least from the old folks here.

  9. This sounds like the perfect Christmas book! At first I thought it was going to be a sequel to Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. lol. I love the way the author used the title of that, but crafted a different Christmas story!!!

    Reply

    2. Thank you 🙂 Interestingly (or perhaps not), I was always going to create a different story but perhaps have some nodes to Roald Dahl’s story in there. I’m a pantser rather than a planner, though, seeing where the writing takes me, and it didn’t want to go in that direction so I just played homage to the name instead x

      Reply

  11. I can’t reply on the same thread but just wanted to send my love to By Hook or by Book Reviews (love that name). Kim, is it? So sorry to read about your health challenges. I have a good friend with fibromyalgia and know how exhausted she can be with it. Wishing you all the best xx

    Reply

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