The Gingerbread Christmas Village

By: Kiley Dunbar

Many thanks to Love Books Tours and Hera Books for the gifted copy of the book!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The annual Wheaton gingerbread exhibit (a model village made of gingerbread) and grotto have been an important part of the sleepy Cotswold hamlet’s Christmas celebrations for decades.

For years the gingerbread exhibition drew visitors from across the region and each year the model town grew more elaborate and ambitious but recently, interest has been dwindling. The gingerbread grotto needs to be rehomed or close forever.

Sixty-four-year-old Margi, the event’s founder, has had enough of village life (and its total lack of eligible men) and is planning to sell up and head to Birmingham to live closer to her niece.

She has lost her spark and her Christmas spirit and decides this will be her last gingerbread village, but despairs when she finds her only support is her old friend, Izzy, her niece Lucy from Birmingham, and Fern, the shy young farmer’s daughter. Oh, and Patrick, the gorgeous, reliable school caretaker.

As if this wasn’t enough, Lucy is determined to get her out dating again and persuades her to try some online dating apps but Margi’s had her heart broken too many times and wonders if she has just missed her chance.

Can they save the Gingerbread Grotto and can Margi get her old spark and her Christmas spirit back?

MY REVIEW

I’m going to start this off by saying that I LOVE that this book’s FMC was a mature woman of 64 grappling with dating in a day and age when things are VERY different from when she grew up. I love that she tried online dating, and I love that there is an age gap here as well. It’s so different from other romance and rom-com books that I’ve read and it was so pleasant to read. Everyone, no matter the age, deserves love.

Dunbar creates such a wonderful Christmas and community atmosphere in this book as well. I want to go to see a village display made out of gingerbread! I’m a sucker for Christmas so I absolutely love these books that center around community Christmas activities.

Margi is surrounded by great friends, family, and community members. I really enjoyed that modern technology helped in the end. It just goes to show that while social media can be harmful, it can also be used for good as well.

There was nothing not to like in this book. I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to read it!

If you’d like to check this book out, you can find it here.