Bella's Christmas Bake Off by Sue WatsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 1 day
Pages - 314
Publisher - Bookouture
Blurb from Goodreads
Two best friends. One big lie. The best bake off EVER. Bella Bradley is the queen of television baking - a national treasure. Her Christmas specials have been topping the ratings for years and her marriage to Peter 'Silver Fox' Bradley is the stuff of Hello magazine specials. But this year things are going to be different. For Amy Lane, Bella's best friend from school, life hasn't held quite the same sparkle. And when Amy's husband walks out three weeks from Christmas, it seems their lives are further apart than ever. Amy has watched Bella's rise to fame fondly, despite the fact Bella was always a terrible cook. But when she realises that Bella's latest Christmas book is made up entirely of Amy's mother's recipes, the gloves are off... After winning a competition to appear on Bella's TV show, Amy is going to make sure that for Bella and her viewers, this will definitely be a Christmas to remember... A hilarious, heart-breaking and feel good read about best friends, baking and the magic of Christmas.
My Review
Amy Lane is a content house wife, baking, watching her old estranged friend Bella's cooking programme and getting ready for Christmas. Amy is a teacher, living a relatively mundane life whilst her old friend is married to a big star, her cooking show goes from strength to strength & is living the perfect superstar life. When Amy's husband drops a bombshell it snowballs a chain of events that will change everything for Amy & Bella. Bella hasn't spoken to Amy in years, refuses to answer her mail & despite being rubbish at cooking is now pulling off amazing feats in her televised show. When Amy realizes Bella has been passing off her mothers recipes as her own, it is one blow to many & Amy is ready to take Bella down!
This is a great festive read although you can read it any time of the year. A story of friendship, betrayal, love, lessons in life, humour, realism and a wee glimpse into what appears to be a wonderful celebrity style life. Amy has felt guilty for years over why her and Bella fell out all of those years ago, now she is angry at Bella's betrayal, her husbands abandonment & takes matters into her own hands. The story is both endearing and at times quite amusing. There are a few wee surprises and revelations along the way although I did see one or two coming.
I could have read this book in one sitting had circumstances permitted however I did devour it over the course of one day. The writing flows, is very easy to follow and I really did enjoy it, a lovely wee read for Christmas eve. I would recommend this to anyone to be honest, I can't imagine anyone not enjoying it. Many thanks to Kim at Bookouture for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review and introducing me to a new author. I would read this author again, 4/5 for me this time, you can obtain your own copy now either on kindle or paperback.
Ohh xmas read :D I do like those
ReplyDeleteLainy, this book does sound very good. I'm not surprised you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful New Year! Thank you for all the blog visits and comments in 2015. They are much appreciated.
I think that my wife would really like this book. She likes food orientated plots and the story sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteI will recommend this to her.