A Gingerbread Cafe Christmas (The Gingerbread Cafe #1-3)

I almost gave up. The beginning of the book was painfully down home and folksy. Like almost every good Hallmark movie, there is a supportive Black friend. In this case, she’s an older woman. Throw in love at first sight on the hero’s part, and the cliches are all in place. Said hero is tall and blond, with skin tight jeans and ‘checker’ shirts he unbuttons halfway down his chest. There’s also an obligatory nasty character who (of course) becomes a total sweetheart by the end.

The book is full of Britishisms: holiday for vacation, Father Christmas, fall pregnant, punters. They stuck out to me. A British author and her beta readers should be aware of these differences.

Why did I finish, you might ask? Partly inertia, partly my ability to skim, partly mild curiosity. It’s the sort of book one reads when paying attention to the story isn’t mandatory.

While I am enjoying this series of novellas, the constant use of British terminologies in a book set in Connecticut, has become a bit distracting. Someone threw a “spanner” into the works, for instance. They are always putting things on the stainless steel “bench” in the cafe. The “windscreen” in the car is covered with snow. There are many more Britishisms but you probably get the idea.

Other than that, the books are cute, though of course, like most romances, completely predictable and idealistic, which is actually okay with me. I don’t like tragic plot twists in what I expect to be a happy-ever-after story. So…I recommend the books as long as you realize going in that you will have to overlook a few editing gaffes and you will soon wonder why everyone in Ashford, Connecticut sounds like they come from a small village in the UK except for Cee Cee, of course, who sounds as though she wandered in from “Gone With the Wind.”

Loved this!

nice cute story. Love the little town, businesses and interactions of the characters.

Enjoyed this whole series!

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