The Little Christmas Kitchen
by Jenny Oliver
Christmas at the Davenports’ house was always about one thing: food. But when sisters Ella and Maddy were split up, Ella to live in London with their Dad, and Maddy staying in Greece with their Mum, mince pies lost their magic.
Now, a cheating husband has thrown Ella a curved snowball…and for the first time in years, all she wants is her mum. So she heads back to Greece, where her family’s taverna holds all the promise of home. Meanwhile, waitress Maddy’s dreams of a white Christmas lead her back to London… and her Dad.
Now, a cheating husband has thrown Ella a curved snowball…and for the first time in years, all she wants is her mum. So she heads back to Greece, where her family’s taverna holds all the promise of home. Meanwhile, waitress Maddy’s dreams of a white Christmas lead her back to London… and her Dad.
But a big fat festive life-swap isn’t as easy as it sounds! And as the sisters trade one kitchen for another, it suddenly seems that among the cinnamon, cranberries and icing sugar, their recipes for a perfect Christmas might be missing a crucial ingredient: each other.
My review............4 stars
This was a book I picked up from netgalley, to read/review while participating in the holiday read-a-thon. What a wonderful surprise this turned out to be! When the book starts off, you have these two sisters (who are both a bit whiny and self centered), but as it evolves, you get totally pulled into their stories and struggles. It kept me totally engaged, and even though I knew it was probably going to have a happy ending, I wanted to see how it got there. It was a nice spin to have a Christmas book where part of it is set in a warm climate, you usually get the snow/cold scenario for most holiday books.
Now let's talk about the food! There is a huge emphasis on Greek food (the mum is the owner of a Greek restaurant). Oh my goodness, you will want to run to your nearest Greek restaurant, the descriptions of the food are heavenly!
I think the only thing that bothered me about the book was how the father ended up in this dive of a bar in London? I'm not going to give away any spoilers, but I was kind of shaking my head at why the author threw this in, when (to me) it didn't fit at all with something he would do.
I've never read anything by this author. I believe she is a UK author, but she has another Christmas book out (The Parisian Christmas Bake Off) that I'm definitely planning to pick up before next holiday season.
The good thing about Christmas stories is that they are pretty timeless. I often like to be reading the newer releases (since they are being buzzed about), but with holiday books I don't mind picking ones that are a few years old 🙂
Oh this looks fun despite the issue at the end! Food and a London setting? Definitely a book I'm drawn to!
That issue is kind of in the middle of the book, so it's pretty much forgotten by the end 🙂