Mistletoe & Mystery by Daisy James

Mistletoe & Mystery by Daisy James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 173

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Welcome to the Cotswolds Festive Feast cookery course...
Fresh off the successful opening of the Paradise Cookery School in St Lucia, Millie Harper is headed to the Cotswolds for Christmas!

Co-presenting Claudia Croft’s famous Festive Feast cookery course at Stonelea Manor is a dream come true for Millie…as is reuniting with gorgeous estate manager Zach Barker.

But arriving in a winter wonderland Millie learns the manor is under a mysterious threat. It’ll take a holiday miracle, but Millie is determined to save the school and get Zach under the mistletoe to finally finish what they started in the Caribbean!

Cosy up with this fun, festive visit to the Cotswolds premier cookery school! Perfect for fans of Jenny Oliver and Sarah Morgan

If you loved Mistletoe & Mystery, why not read the first two stories in The Paradise Cookery School series? Sunshine & Secrets and Confetti & Confusion s are both available now!


The Paradise Cookery School Sunshine & Secrets Confetti & Confusion Mistletoe & Mystery



My Review

I hadn't realised this was part of a series so don't get a twitchy eye but I have started with book 3, doh! Obviously you get nods to previous happenings in the other books so spoiler alert but you can always go and start with book 1. I wanted a festive read anyway and you absolutely can read this as a standalone.

Millie has been through the mill personally, now she has a career opportunity that she cannot pass us. As a very talented chef the opportunity to work with one of the best, established and with their own tv show Millie heads off and grabs the opportunity with both hands. It also brings her back to Zach Barker, handsome, fabulous, certainly a spark there however having being burnt before and his past relationship things never seemed to kick off. Could this be their time?

This is a perfect choice for just now, festive, seasonal and just mostly really nice characters, a feel good read. I liked it so much I am going to buy book one and two of the series and will be looking for more by this author, 4/5 for me this time.

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Kitchens Of The Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 351

Publisher - Riverrun Books

Blurb from the back cover

To her father, a chef, she's a pint-sized recipe tester and the love of his life. To the chilli chowdown contestants of Cook County, Illinois, she's a fire-eating demon.

To the fashionable foodie goddess of supper clubs, she's a wanton threat. She's an enigma, a secret ingredient that no one can figure out. Someday, Eva wil surprise everyone.

One by one, they tell their story; together, they tell Eva's. Joyful, quirky and heartwarming, this is a novel about the family you lose, the friends you make and the chance connections that define a life.


My Review

Eva Thorvald is our main character, either in the immediate telling or round about with other characters and eventually how they link to Eva. We kick off with Eva as a child and her immediate upbringing. Then chapters flip forward to later in her life, the chapters aren't dated so it takes a bit to work out how far ahead we have jumped. The chapters also introduce new characters and the storylines get the reader drawn in and involved only to jump forward to new people, timelines and drama. Whilst the author does a very good job of capturing the readers interest in many new characters, it is a bit frustrating as you want to know what happened to the people you just left behind.

The book has some recipes dottered sparsely throughout the book, from red onion soup to calorific cakes. This is normally something I would skim past but actually, the way food is dealt with and written about within the story, I actually quite enjoyed reading them and may even try one or two myself. There are many issues addressed in the book, from abortion, child abandonment, loss, and love to relationships, death, jealousy and some bad language.

This is not normally a book I would pick up myself, from the title or theme of food, among others, I am really glad RealReaders sent me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review. 3/5 for me this time, I would certainly pick this author up again. Whilst I felt a lot was left unanswered and I generally don't like so much jumping between timelines & characters, I still found myself drawn in and engaged in the characters.

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