Blodeuedd's Monday Review: The Christmas Bookshop

Narrated by: Eilidh Beaton

Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins

Release date: 11-16-21

Publisher: HarperAudio

Women's fiction

To review

Carmen has a dead end job, and then the store closes. She likes her life, but is not really doing much. So she ends up in Edinburgh, living with her sister and working in a bookshop. She sees her sister as perfect, and is rather resentful.

And sure Sofia is rather perfect, but she works hard for it. She says that her water can broke in the office and she will then go have her baby.  But yes she needs to let loose a bit. And not to rely on her truly annoying nanny (omg, ugh the nanny.)

As for Carmen, she also have to loose some of her prejudices. She will also see how good she really is trying to turn around a bookshop. And finding out kids are not horrid.

Lots of interesting people comes into her life, a chance for romance too, but since this is not a romance it takes time.

And I really want to visit that street in xmas times now. Awww xmas times.

Good xmassy book.

The narrator had this great voice for Carmen that fitted her so well, the same with the rest if the voices too. Annoying people, stuck up people, the kids, yes everyone got the voice they deserved.

When the department store she works in closes for good, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. She doesn’t want to move in with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered Edinburgh life.

Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want Carmen there either. Her sister has always been sarcastic and difficult. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs a retail assistant for his ailing bookshop, so welcoming Carmen might still have some benefits for everyone.

At Sofia’s behest, Carmen is thrown into the daily workings of old Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the streets of the old dark city. Can she use her design skills to revamp the store and bring it back to popularity in time to benefit from Christmas shopping traffic? Can she choose between bad boy literary rock star Blair and quiet Quaker student Oke? And will she heal the rift with the most important people of all: her family?

Audiobook Review: Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan

Author: Jenny Colgan
Narrator: Michelle Ford
Title: Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe (At the Cupcake Café #1)
Genre: Women's Fiction/Chick Lit, Fiction, & Romance
Pages: Audiobook
Published: April 14th 2011
Where I Got It: My shelf (Audible)



A sweet and satisfying novel of how delicious it is to discover your dreams


Issy Randall can bake. No, Issy can create stunning, mouthwateringly divine cakes. After a childhood spent in her beloved Grampa Joe's bakery, she has undoubtedly inherited his talent. She's much better at baking than she is a filing so when she's laid off from her desk job, Issy decides to open her own little café. But she soon learns that her piece-of-cake plan will take all of her courage and confectionary talent to avert disaster.

This has been sitting on my audio library for a while. Not sure why I kept skipping it. I’ve been wanting to listen or read it for a while and I finally got it and then I let it collect virtual dust. Mhmm. I’m kicking myself for avoiding it. 

This was such a good story. It follows Isabel who was fired from her job during the recession. So many people lost their jobs in downsizing. Poor girl. She is given a decent buyout so she decides to follow a dream and create her own bakery. She is an amazing baker because of her grandpa and so she wants to share her love of cakes and sugary yumminess with others. She meets new friends and a hot banker who is raising his kid brother and trying to balance his own life. We have some other characters who get to share a bit of their POV and story. 

Loved, loved Isabel and Austin. I was rooting for Austin from the moment he fumbled his way onto the page. I just wanted to give him a million hugs. I want to work with Isabel! I would gain soooo much wait though and I would be okay with it. 

I didn’t mind the other POVs. There were a couple of characters who I questioned WHY the author bothered to share. But it all worked well together. 

Grrr I hated that boss guy. He was a super jerk and I knew it from page 1. Isabel, you deserve better. You deserve Austin!!!

The whole bits of her and her grandpop made me sad because it reminded me of my grandpop. Alzheimer’s is a nasty thing. So sad. 

My only one issue was the narrator. She did well and I liked her voice a lot, however, with all the different POVs popping up sporadically, I wished she would’ve used different voices for them. There were small differences, but I think she could’ve done more with this. However, I wouldn’t mind listening to more by her! 

In the end, I really adored this story. I want this to become a movie. It had all the perfect elements. It had romance, comedy, sadness, and reality. Perfect! My only complaint is minor because I still really liked the narrator. I’ll give this 4 stars. 

Blodeuedd's Monday Review: The Lovelist Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan

It's true that Anna Trent is a supervisor in a chocolate factory . . . but that doesn't necessarily mean she knows how to make chocolate. And when a fateful accident gives her the opportunity to work at Paris's elite chocolatier Le Chapeau Chocolat, Anna expects to be outed as a fraud. After all, there is a world of difference between chalky, mass-produced English chocolate and the gourmet confections Anna's new boss creates. But with a bit of luck and a lot of patience, Anna might learn that the sweetest things in life are always worth working for. 

Audio CD, 10h
Published January 18th 2018 by Tantor Audio (first published January 1st 2013)
Women's fic /romantic fiction
For review

My thoughts:

OH I can still hear Anna's voice in my head! She sounded so fun, and like we would have a jolly good time together.

Let us begin. Anna has an accident and spends some time at a hospital and re-connects with an old French teacher of hers. She kind of floats through life, sure working at a choco factory is fun (omg, that would be so amazing!), but what else?

The book has another POV too. A young Englishwoman in the 70s who falls for a handsome Frenchman, and well it is obvious how it connects, and kind of sad too.

I liked Anna and her new life in Paris. She has no idea what to do but she just goes for it. She truly finds something to be happy about.

I also liked the 70s story and wondered how it all would work out...

Conclusion:

Sweet, and bittersweet. Fun and I need to go to France and eat REAL chocolate. Oh and food.

Narrator:  Beverley A Crick

Oh her Anna voice was so fun! Yes, like I said, Anna and I would be amazing friends. Her voice was just perfect. Shy, happy, confused, sad and witty.

She really made this book fun

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