Mistletoe Gardens is about to be demolished in the new year for property development. Essie, a local baker, is determined to save it and proposes to make a life size gingerbread house to get people to visit.
She can bake gingerbread no problem but to construct a house out of it! How hard can it be?
She asks local builder Joss to help her. One problem - Joss hates Christmas and is a bit of a grinch but he does agree to help.
Will they manage to do it in time for Christmas and Santa?

Loved this book, started to make me feel festive

Great addition to the cosy genre. Lovely Christmas romance with a lovely winter cover. Perfect time of year to read this one!

A Christmas story from Jaimie Admans is like a warm hug on a frosty day and
The Gingerbread House in Mistletoe Gardens did not disappoint, I am a huge fan of Christmas bakery themed stories and even though they don't spend a whole of time in the actual bakery, there is just something so magical about building a life sized Gingerbread house. My only question is where do I get one?

As always the characters are all likeable in their own unique way, even Mervyn managed to redeem himself in the end.
Essie and Joss have this magnetic enery from the moment they meet and complement each other perfectly.

This is the perfect festive romance!

Although I usually love Jaimie's previous books this one fell a little short for me. I'm not too sure why. But it just wasn't my favourite. Although still a good read.

My first book by Jaimie Admans. I really wanted to like it. I was drawn into it at the start and enjoyed the idea of the gingerbread house, but the sense of comminity didn't feel strong enough for me and in the end the book did not keep my attention. I could not connect with the characters either.

This was a DNF for me.

Thanks to Jaimie Admans, Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random Resources for my eARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

3 stars

Once again Jaimie Admans has delivered a very good festive romance. I read The Little Christmas Shop in Nutcracker Lane a few years ago and it made me feel so festive. The Gingerbread House in Mistletoe Gardens didn’t have quite the same effect, but I did really enjoy it.

Essie was such an interesting protagonist. She was fun but had a lot of self-doubt, this got a little annoying after her failed Paris bakery was mentioned a few times, but I really liked her. Especially because she dyed her hair bright red just for Christmas, that’s something I would do.

I’m such a sucker for a book about baking or bakeries. They are one of the best settings for a Christmas novel if you ask me. Although, this one didn’t actually spend too much time in the bakery, more in the garden, but baking-related activities were taking place.

I absolutely love the idea of an actual house made out of gingerbread, how festive. Do these exists? If yes, where can I see one?

This is also a little strange but The Gingerbread House in Mistletoe Gardens is the second gingerbread house-related book I’ve read recently. It must be a trendy topic or something, I’ve never read two festive romances with a similar theme before. This one is definitely my favourite of the two.

The entire cast of characters was so fun and I especially loved Mr. Arkins. At first, you think he’s a bit weird, but his story is quite heartbreaking. There was quite a lot of depth to every single character and I really applaud Jaimie Admans for that - it is no easy feat.

This was a pretty quick read for me and at no point did I find myself bored. I’ve been struggling to get through books recently, but this perked me up quite a bit.

“You never know what you might end up liking”

“There’s an old legend that says anyone who kisses under the mistletoe on a December night is guaranteed another year of love and happiness in their relationship.”

REVIEW

It’s September and it already feels like Christmas! Why? Because The Nerdy Bookarazzi’s favourite author Jaimie Admans is back again with a Christmas book and we are ready with an in-depth review. If you are looking for a holiday read then keep reading the review.

The Gingerbread House in Mistletoe Gardens is the latest Christmas book of Jaimie Admans, this is her first Christmas book with her new publisher Boldwood Books. Like every other Jaimie’s book, this one is also an absolute delight to read right from start to end.

“Folkhornton is funny like that – it creeps up on you and before you know it, you’ve fallen in love with the place.”

The Gingerbread House in Mistletoe Gardens is written in the backdrop of a fictional town called Folkhornton. This small beautiful town has an awesome community vibe where everyone knows everyone; everyone is keen on helping their fellow townsfolk. As it is known for small towns gossip travels faster than light. Our lead character Essie works for her mother in a bakery called Dancing Cinnamon Bakery and lives just above it. Essie lacks self-confidence and keeps self-doubting all her decisions and ideas, this tendency of Essie was developed because of her past decisions and experiences.

When Folkhornton‘s signature, Mistletoe Garden is in danger of being demolished as a part of town development, which holds Essie’s family legacy since her great-grandmother was the one to plant the first Mistletoe in the garden. Essie involuntarily pitches a far-fetched idea of building a life-size Gingerbread house to save the Mistletoe Garden which is very special to her family and to the town itself. For the the first time in a very long time, Essie is super confident about her Gingerbread idea and she truly believes she can pull this off and save their dearest Mistletoe Garden and probably get her kiss under the Mistletoe in the Folkhornton’s Mistletoe Garden for anyone who kisses under the Mistletoe under the Mistletoe Garden during Christmas will get one year of happiness in their relationship.

But the only problem with this prodigious plan is Essie might be a talented baker who can make lakhs and lakhs for Gingerbread in her sleep but she doesn’t know anything about constructing a building. That’s when she decides to take Joss a local builder’s help. Joss hates Christmas and any festivity, most of all, he hates Folkhornton and doesn’t care if the Mistletoe Garden was saved or not. But Joss is Essie‘s only hope. Will she be able to build a life-size Gingerbread house and save the Mistletoe Garden and also get her kiss as well? That’s the story of this bodacious book.

Well, to begin with, who doesn’t love Christmas books? Except for the Grinch but even Grinch is falling in love with Christmas with these kinds of books and movies. Undoubtedly Christmas books are solace to the soul and Jaimie’s books definitely fall under this category. She has done a spectacular job with this book as well. The story is straight and simple filled with a lot of magical, cute and heartwarming scenes. If you have been reading Jaimie Admans for quite sometime, you will be able to feel the vibe which only Jaimies’ books can provide. At some point you will be able to find a pattern from her previous books but still you will enjoy it nonetheless.

The character building of both the main characters has been done meticulously. If you take Essie for that matter, her susceptibility to doubt herself and her desire to do something big and the creative side of her everything will make her character more relatable and readable. Joss, being that mysterious guy who showcases himself to be bad in order to protect him from the world was extremely interesting to read. The best part was, after spending more and more time with Essie, how all the walls Joss has painstakingly build around him crumbles and everyone sees him for the person he is, is absolute a bliss to read.

The slow and blooming relationship between Essie and Joss has been written so pleasingly. The community vibe that the side characters presented was phenomenal. The minor gestures and the little things the folks of Folkhornton did were extremely heartwarming to read. Their presence will make the readers wish that they lived in a town like Folkhornton. The sibling like relationship Essie shares with Saff, her best friend and a co-worker has been penned in a cute manner. Mr. Arkins in a dinosaur suite 24/7, The Mystical Mistletoe Magi aka MMM who sells portions like love portions made the book all the more interesting to read. And Essie‘s mom was one character, super hyper and authoritative.

“I begged my mom not to do anything embarrassing tonight, but no parent ever listens when they can embarrass their offspring in public, do they?”

As the book marches forward, the transition in Joss’s character is extraordinary. Or to be precise, when Joss exhibited his core characteristics which were so genuine. Be it a small gesture of buying coffee every single more for Essie, buying the portions sold by MMM despite him not being a fan of it, or helping the neighbours when he actually hates the town, all of these made him all more interesting to read about.

Both Essie and Joss are extremely creative. The entire journey of Essie trying to save the Mistletoe Garden was supremely engaging and entertaining to read. Not even at a single point in time while reading this book the readers will be bored or out of focus. They will be enthralled and engulfed by the magic created by Jaimie Admans’ words and characters.

All things considered, this book was magnificent. Do not miss reading The Gingerbread house in Mistletoe Gardens, this Christmas.

Book cover of The Gingerbread house in Mistletoe Gardens
“I like children because the world hasn’t yet turned them into cynical and selfish adults.”

MY VIEWS

Jaimie Admans’ books are my source of escaping reality and believing in magic and the good side of the world. Reading her books makes the inner child and romantic in me so happy. Jaimie has made my reading journey so much better. I have been reading the Games of Thrones aka A Song of Ice and Fire series for a few months now. I suddenly wanted to read a happy, light-hearted romance novel. I tried reading a couple of books and was super disappointed or rather let down. And then came Jaimie for my rescue with her new launch. Can this year get any better than this? I got to read two ARCs of Jaimie’s this year 🙂

Throughout the book, I was able to find some relevance between A Midnight Kiss on Ever After Street. Since I’m reading a lot of Jaimie’s books I was able to find a pattern. Usually, when I find a pattern, I do not like the book that much but surprisingly I loved this book nevertheless but not everyone likes it if they are able to predict or see a pattern. It is something the author can look into for her upcoming projects. Other than that, I loved all the characters in this book. I got so invested in this book and love Joss unconditionally that I felt like Essie overreacted a little bit towards the end lol. I got emotional while reading the backstories of all the side characters and how much the Mistletoe garden means to them.

I really liked that both the main characters have a backstory and the author did not dwell too much on it but nonetheless was able to make the readers understand the depth of those backstories. What was extremely difficult for me to do while reading this book was, I just decided I would not be eating any sweets or pastries and Essie was making some kind of amazing pastries and I couldn’t help craving for it. It was the real challenge.

And I learnt a little bit about Welsh customs and things to do. The most interesting thing of all was Cwtch. Before this book, I don’t know what Cwtch means. If you are not from South Wales, you might not know it, don’t google, just go read this book.

My rating for this book would be 4 out 5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.
I would like to recommend this book to all romance lovers, Christmas books or movie lovers. You will absolutely enjoy this book.

I just love Jaimie Admans and her books. Period. I don’t have anything else to say.

This is the most perfect holiday romance to read curled under a blanket with a fire and hot chocolate. I absolutely adored Joss and Essie. Perfect holiday read. I would give this 6 stars if I could.
I just reviewed The Mysterious Double Death of Honey Black by Lisa Hall. #TheMysteriousDoubleDeathofHoneyBlack #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Another fantastic Jaimie Admans read and this time it’s a Christmassy one so how much more excited could I get ! Well it’s me so probably a lot and there will be raised eyebrows from my family, but they just don’t understand how good these books are, though I do tell them !

This book is full of gorgeous characters , it’s full of fun and I loved the community spirit involved. One of my favourites was the addition of little tidbits of information about gingerbread heading every chapter, I love gingerbread, it’s an all year round thing for me, but I especially love it at Christmas.

If the Gingerbread House in Mistletoe Gardens doesn’t put you in a Christmassy mood, are you even a fan of Christmas! It definitely did for me , because I adored this slow-burn Christmas romance and it is perfect for a cold night with a hot chocolate and of course a gingerbread person.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A great festive read, the story of Essie and Joss. He reluctantly helps her with her plan to build a giant gingerbread house, but will all the time spent together lead to more for them?

What a gorgeous love story, overcoming the pains of the past, building love and community bridges. I loved the book and the audible, Love how it's a slow build but a definite deep love with a lot of feel good humour.
I wanted to hang out in that Gingerbread House too.

Essie and Joss's story is a slow burn romance which starts with them at loggerheads, with Joss in particular, coming over as the grumpiest Grinch there could be. Christmas is on its way but Mistletoe Gardens is at risk. Essie throws herself into trying to save the gardens and has to persuade everyone else out of their disappointment. Her idea to build a life-size gingerbread house opens the door for all those festive touches which seem to snowball as the story unfolds.

I particularly enjoyed Joss and Essie's conversations with a huge degree of sarcasm and humour which shows you that there is a certain amount of chemistry growing between them. Essie turns out to have a conflicted sense of her life and both Essie and Joss have past romances to come to terms with. You see trust growing through little touches like morning coffee and Christmas cookies which they share. Essie's relationship with her mother is also complicated as are Joss's memories of his father. They have a lot in common. This is an entertaining, festive read, with some lively supporting characters and a great community.

In short: friends, family and community

This book was just adorable it was so festive and was packed with community spirit. After the first chapter I was just obsessed. The main characters Essie and Jos completely melted my heart with their relationship and beautiful connection. I was so sad when this book ended and I am desperate for a sequel.

I am a huge fan of Jaimie Admans and her work.

This book has blown all of her other work out of the water!! And that is no easy feat!
I was sat here actually laughing out loud, I was having heart palpitations and could not read any faster!
I have read this in 2 sittings.. only stopping to sleep in between and even sacrificing sleep so I could read.

Jaimie always writes wonderful stories, amazing characters and her personality comes across in her work. ❤️ absolutely perfect combination.
If you have not purchased this book yet... what are you waiting for!!
Highly recommended by me.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion

I love Jaimie’s books, and always get excited to read her new ones. You know exactly what you’re going to get, and they’re always executed so well.
They’re cosy romances with some conflict, and like reading a warm cosy cuddle. Bonus points for it being totally Christmassy too. Loved it.

Are you feeling the cosy winter vibes yet? You definitely will be if you get reading the book! This just whisked me away and wrapped me in a cosy blanket, I think I raced through the first half in just a few hours and then slowed down so that I could preserve the book a little bit! Absolutely loved this, Jaimie really does have the ability to pick a theme and then just run with it and absolutely smashing it.

This was such a lovely story and is probably what's helped me get into the Christmas spirit and looking forward to those colder evenings - it's also made me think that this may be the first year I attempt to make a gingerbread house.. and yes I know I should have done it before!

Heartwarming characters, lots of Christmas baking, a cute little robin, community spirit, a man permanently dressed as a dinosaur and of course we can't forget the life size gingerbread house! Would highly recommend this for the run up to Christmas this year.

I just adore Jaimie’s writing. Her characters are wonderful and always suck me right into the story and there is just the right amount of magic sprinkled in to make me forget all else and just want to snuggle up and read all day.

With Christmas being my favorite time of the year I knew I was in for a treat with this newest book by Jaimie. It’s like a Hallmark Christmas movie that gives you all the feels.

I loved Essie right from the start and despite some crap she had been through she still came across as little miss sunshine. A smiley happy person that was so easy to love! Joss also came with baggage but he had become grumpy and ended up hating Christmas (gasp!).

I really enjoyed seeing Essie and Joss banter and fall for each other while building a life sized gingerbread house. I can’t wait for it to be Christmas and to start baking gingerbread and drinking hot chocolate but I will definitely not be attempting any life sized gingerbread houses, or any houses at all… I think I will stick to gingerbread men and gingerbread hearts.

Beautiful Christmas book that is just like a warm hug on a cold day. I enjoyed this so much and thank you so much for letting me review this book for free, I would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a book that is beautiful and Christmassy and just makes you feel warm and fuzzy.

Jaimie Admans - The Gingerbread House in Mistletoe Gardens.
I always get a little giddy with excitement, when Jaimie Admans releases a new book. So it was a happy dance day when I got my copy of #TheGingerbreadHouseInMistletoeGardens.

Mistletoe Gardens is a magical place. Kiss under it’s trees and you will be blessed with happiness for you and your loved one.

Every year, it plays a big part in the town’s Christmas celebrations, with lights and a gingerbread display from the local bakery drawing people from miles around. Or at least it did.

This year, things are set to change, as the local council plan to sell off the gardens to build luxury flats.

Desperate to save their beloved gardens. The locals all pull together, to make this Christmas in Mistletoe Gardens the best one yet, and to convince the council that it’s a space worth saving.

Essie, the local baker, ambitiously plans a life sized gingerbread house. But she needs some help…

Joss, the local builder, is the obvious choice.
There is just the slight issue of his dislike for local people and the town in general.

Can gentle Essie, charm grumpy Joss and find a way for the pair to work together to save the town?

#TheGingerbreadHouseInMistletoeGardens is exactly what I’ve come to love and expect from Jaimie Admans. It’s warm and funny, sweet and romantic. It has characters that you will take to your heart, especially those who live in a dinosaur costume! It has a sprinkling of magic and a pinch of bonkers. With a gorgeous Welsh setting, and some wonderful welshisms running through the whole story…. It’s quite simply lush!

#JaimieAdmans has once again written a unique story that will transport you on a journey just past the boundaries of believability, to a beautiful place of dreamy escapism.

There is no doubt, you absolutely HAVE to add this fabulously, fresh, funny, feel good, festive tale to the very top of your reading list.

I hope this book flies high for you Jaimie Admans, you truly deserve it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources, Netgalley and Boldwood Books for a digital arc of this title.

The Gingerbread House in Mistletoe Gardens by Jaimie Admans

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

In Mistletoe Gardens a legend anyone who kisses underneath the mistletoe will be guaranteed another year of love… When local baker Essie Browne discovers that Mistletoe Gardens is to be demolished in January, she’s determined to save the place she loves so much. So Essie proposes building a life size gingerbread house to bring in the crowds…just how hard can it be? Well, quite hard actually. Essie can bake gingerbread blindfolded, but she hasn’t got a clue how to build an actual house with it! She needs help - and fast! Enter local builder, Joss Hallissey. Essie is convinced that with Joss’s help they can pull this off. There’s just one tiny Joss hates Christmas, gingerbread, and… well, just about everything else too. Joss the Grinch makes it clear that her idea is ludicrous and pointless, but he reluctantly agrees to help with her plan. Will the gingerbread house be enough to save Mistletoe Gardens? Or will Essie's chance for a magical kiss under the mistletoe be lost forever?

My Opinion

A new Christmas book by Jaimie Admans, do I need to say anymore? There was no doubt in my mind that this was going to be a must read. I have yet to read a disappointing book by Jaimie, and this is definitely another great one. This is a lovely, festive read that is full of joy and community spirit.

Jaimie has written a heart-warming festive book with some adorable characters. I did have one issue with this book - I spent the book wishing that I had some gingerbread to tuck into whilst escaping into Mistletoe Gardens. A highly entertaining read that will leave you wanting more.

Rating: 5/5