This is a great book for a a Christmas gift, easygoing and comfortable with an upbeat, overcoming adversity, everything turns out for the best in the end kind of feel! It flows along quite nicely and the story line keeps you interested. It is all a bit too convenient and far fetched at times but sometimes it’s nice to escape to a fictional place where life is uncomplicated and good people have good things happen to them! A cosy type of book for cold winter days!

Thanks to NetGalley, publishers and author for an ARC of A Recipe for Christmas.

This book is like a lovely warm drink of hot chocolate on a snowy cold day. A classic romcom with chocolate making thrown in, where could it go wrong.
Recommend.

Jo Thomas can never do no wrong with her stories, she is beautifully descriptive and creative within every single word she writes and given that this story takes place around chocolate, I can very well say that all I did was crave chocolate during my time with this one. Clara was a really sweet and lovely character, wanting to better herself and improve her ways of life, moving to Switzerland was a scary but successful trip in making this happen. Clara's journey in Switzerland was definitely a rollercoaster of a journey, to say the least, and their were many characters that definitely could boil your blood. However, Clara is a patient soul who managed to win the hearts of everybody, including the dreamy Gabriel. I wish we had more time with Clara and Gabriel and less time with the waste of a space Clara first called her boyfriend, however what we did get of Clara and Gabriel was definitely worth the wait.

A move to another country and a fun chocolate course is what she is expecting, but the course proves to be anything but and is leaves doubts in Clara's mind. He boyfriend is not quite all she was expecting either and suddenly the new life seems to be unravelling.

However, Clara is not a quitter and soon we find out just how spirited she is and travel with her on a tough but enlightening adventure.

A delightful Christmas read set in switzerland. I loved all the characters at the chocolate school and enjoyed how their friendship developed so much throughout the book - a different kind of Christmas read but it made it all the more interesting

Jo Thomas never fails to impress me with her story telling, and A recipe for Christmas does not disappoint. With almost 40 something needing to take the next step, find themselves in a brief relationship there is a dribble of intrigue and a dusting of love all covered in heaps of chocolate. This is a fabulous story about Clara who takes redundancy and moves to Switzerland with her new-ish boyfriend she met on a dating app. All is not what it seems… but she takes a step in a beginners chocolate making course, which is not all it seems. Then there is Gabriel a grumpy master chef. Add some chocolate and we have a wonderful festive read that oozes Christmas and snow. Did I mention chocolate? Lots of chocolate. This book needs to be read while eating chocolate.
Jo Thomas really gives us everything! An amazing 5 star read.

#netgalley #arecipeforchristmas #chocolateconsumptionessential #thebookcaseofkay

It is not Christmas without a Jo Thomas book. Any book that starts with the line ‘How many Lindor chocolates can you fit your mouth at the same time?’ is a winner for me.

Jo Thomas writes characters and scenes so well, you can just imagine you are in the locations she writes about. I thoroughly enjoyed Clara’s chocolate adventure in Switzerland. I loved have the relationship between Clara and Gabriel developed. What a gem Alain was too.

This book should carry a warning though, it will make you crave chocolate!

Escape to Switzerland with Cara. Things don’t go to plan but it’s full of chocolate and self discovery.

This is Christmas wrapped in a chocolate box. Once I started on this magnificent book, I did not want to put it down.

Clara moves to Switzerland with her very new boyfriend. It turns out nothing like she imagined it would. True love hardly ever runs smooth. Within weeks the rose tinted glasses Clara seemed to have on, fell off.

One of her weaknesses was for chocolate. What better way of getting to know people than to join a prestigious training college and master the art of chocolate-making. Within a few weeks she has made wonderful friends, who help her move on, without the awful new boyfriend.

If you enjoy chocolate, by the time you have finished the book, your love of chocolate will have you smelling chocolate most of the time.
A truly delightful book which is well written and will definitely put you in the mood for Christmas. Jo Thomas has demonstrated the need for friendship and love. The characters all complement one another, with different personalities.

Jo Thomas has managed to write yet another novel which will entertain you and lose all sense of time as you will want to read this straight off.

I’m a fan of this author and enjoy every book so knew what I was expecting. Emotional story, great characters, a brilliant setting and delicious descriptions of food/drink. I was not disappointed at all.

A beautiful story about following dreams, overcoming adversity and perseverance. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and found that my mouth watered with such descriptive foods throughout.

A bittersweet story, full of delicious chocolate and vivid characters. A real gem, set in beautiful Switzerland.
I enjoyed reading this book so much.

Jo Thomas books are always great and this one was no exception! Nothing says Christmas like Switzerland and chocolate! Clara moves to Switzerland with her boyfriend only to find he is not as supportive as she would want. She enrols on a chocolate making course and meets some new friends and encounters some challenges along the way! This has a really lovely Christmas feel to it.

I do love a Jo Thomas book and I did love the setting of Switzerland for this one. Clara takes a leap of faith by moving to Switzerland with Daniel after only being with him for a short time. He has a new job so Clara enrols on a specialist chocolate making course at an elite cookery school as she wants to do something completely different from her old job in HR. She is determined to finish the course despite her unauspicious start and her rocky relationship with Daniel. This was an easy read and I was rooting for Clara. I did find the premise of moving to another country with a man you hardly know a bit unrealistic though! However, it had fabulous descriptions of the scenery and I learnt a lot about making chocolate! Thankyou Netgalley for copy of this book.

A good festive read. A really enjoyable novel set in an idyllic location with some great characters.When Clara decides to start a new life in Switzerland with someone she hasn't known long things don't go the way she expects but with grit and determination she's desperate to succeed. If you are a chocolate lover like me this is the book for you

A Recipe for Christmas is a lovely romance filled with chocolate, maybe a little too much chocolate (Can't believe I said that!) With a romance the formula is pretty usual, it was always obvious who was and who wasn't the man for Clara, but the journey to the conclusion was very readable, very interesting and full of delightful characters and I almost felt I was actually in Switzerland. I didn't really understand the emotional engagement with the chocolate flavourings but what do I know! The perfect seasonal read.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy in return for an honest review.

What an absolute delight of a book. A really different christmas tale. I loved the adventure i was taken on. From the moment I read that Clara was filling herself with Lindt chocolate, I knew it was a winner. I also have a new Christmas game! When Clara decided to take a massive leap of faith to not only give up her job but to move to a new country with someone she has barely met and to follow her love of chocolate, i was routing for her. She signs up for a chocolate course which turns out to be for highly skilled chocolatiers and is made not to feel welcome. But with true determination she stays on the course. It proves not to be a smooth path but more a rocky road. Clara is a warm friendly person, who finds out who she is and continues her love of chocolate, whilst trying to navigate new relationships and friendships on the way, read this on a afternoon with a hot chocolate and your favourite box of chocs. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

A Recipe for Christmas is my third festive read from Jo Thomas and it was 100% my favourite. I’d almost completely given up on her books last year, but when this popped up I decided to give her one more try. I’m glad I did. A Recipe for Christmas was an enjoyable read from start to finish and is a contemporary romance I’d recommend.

My usual complaint for Jo Thomas books is that the characters feel one-dimensional with no personality other than a love for baking and while Clara does talk about chocolate a lot, she was extremely likeable. Starting the book with her trying to fit as many Lindors in her mouth as possible was a great way to bring life to her character.

I wouldn’t say this book was particularly festive, but the Swiss landscape more than makes up for it. The constant talk of snow, hot chocolate and general cosiness made me feel all warm inside and really crave some chocolate. Which is pretty unusual for me.

I will always enjoy a ‘baking’ scene in a book and the chocolate making in A Recipe for Christmas was so interesting. The descriptions were written so well I could vividly imagine how each chocolate would taste. Which didn’t help with the cravings I mentioned above.

The chocolate school scenes were some of my favourites, topped only by the chocolate making outside of the school. Which I won’t go into detail about as it’s somewhat of a spoiler.

As always with these types of books it’s obvious who the romantic interest will be and it’s never who they start out with. I don’t mind this though as finding out how the current relationship will fall apart is an anticipated moment for me. Does that make me weird? Maybe, but Daniel showed red flags from the get-go so I was excited to be rid of him.

The real love interest was clearly the right choice for Clara and their chemistry was great. Even if he was a little rude to begin with.

Reading a Recipe for Christmas has given me some much needed energy to continue with my festive ARCs. Here’s to hoping the rest are as enjoyable and heartwarming.

If you like chocolate, you will love this.

A lovely light romance with some great characters in a wonderful wintery scene.

What more could you want.

Absolutely gorgeous book. Chocolate, mountains and delicious men what more could you want!!! Loved the cover and love Jo Thomas books x

A feelgood christmassy read. Clara has been in a rut- working her way up from Saturday girl to HR in her local department store. She decided to take redundancy and in an uncharacteristic act of spontaneity, moves to Switzerland with her new boyfriend, Dan. They've only met in person a few times but it feels right. Using her redundancy training to pursue her love of chocolate, Clara finds herself a student on a very intense chocolate makers course in the Swiss Alps. Lots of ups and downs, laughs for the reader as we imagine her mishaps, and ultimately a satisfying ending. Clara is a delightful character and the characterisation of the environment is wonderful. #netgalley #ARecipeForChristmas