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

This book is the perfect escapism, it makes you want to quit your job and work with chocolate all day (and eat it)
I loved it was based in Switzerland and you were able to imagine the festive feel of the town through Clara’s eyes. If you want a cosy, cute book with a mug of hot chocolate this is the book to read. 4 stars for me 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is a very sweet, emotional Christmas romance from Jo Thomas.
"You're doing what?" Raquel and Marianne stood open mouthed looking at their friend Clara.
Forty year old Clara worked in HR but had taken voluntary redundancy, she was taking a leap of faith and leaving for a life in Switzerland with her boyfriend Daniel, the boyfriend that she had only known for a few short weeks.
Part of Clara's redundancy package was payment for retraining, Clara had a love of chocolate and where better to learn more about it than Switzerland so she signed up for an apprentice course in chocolate making, was this a mistake ?her fellow students were half her age and were all experienced in the trade.
As this story unfolds Clara discovers that she and Daniel wanted different things and he didn't understand how she could turn down the chance to go back to HR to follow her "hobby".
The mentor on the course was world famous chocolatier, Gabriel Hartman, it soon became clear to Clara that Gabriel had a problem, a problem that could change his life, could she help him ?
This is Clara and Gabriel's story, the mountains they had to climb, the cut throat competition, the people who didn't want Clara and Gabriel to succeed.
Chocolate sometimes overwhelmed this story in my opinion but I did enjoy the book, Switzerland is one of my favourite places and I have spent many happy holidays there, this book took me right back. I love the way that Clara managed to fit in with her younger colleagues and earned their respect and friendship.
Thank you Net Gallery for this ARC, me review is my own opinion.

Love Jo Thomas books they are full of escapism and this one chocolate. The story flowed well and the Swiss mountains added an extra bonus, who doesn't like snow at Christmas. Highly recommended

Another winner from JonThomas and just in time for the Christmas season. Add chocolate and snow to the mix and you’re on for a treat of a read. Loved this.

Thanks for advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Main character Clara MacKenzie makes a snap decision to uproot from the UK after being made redundant from her HR job to make the move to Switzerland with her very recent boyfriend Daniel. She enrols in an intense chocolate making course in the run up to Christmas but soon feels totally out of her depth leaving her wondering if she’s made the right decision. Some of her fellow students appear to be disrespectful of Clara, thinking her of a tourist and not a committed Swiss resident which leads to bad feelings among the group of hopeful chocolatiers.
Romance arrives from an unlikely relationship making this story a must for romantic and chocolate lovers.

I think you have to be a chocolate lover and interested in chocolate making to appreciate this book. Unfortunately I’m not so I didn’t enjoy this book. Disappointed as the cover looked Christmassy and the blurb seemed interesting, but it wasn’t for me. Unusual as I mostly enjoy Jo Thomas books but not enough storyline content for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book.

Jo Thomas does it again with this book, about a woman who throws in her job, moves to Switzerland with someone she has just met and starts an advanced chocolate making course.

At first I wasn’t certain about this book, but I should have had more faith. Before long I was totally bought into this character the journey she goes on and all the adventures in between. In fact I couldn’t put the book down and finished it in 24 hours. There is so much going on in this book, and you find yourself totally invested in all the characters, in and around Clara.

Jo Thomas has such a great way of telling people’s stories as they make changes in their life and find love along the way. She has quickly become one of my favourite author and I strongly recommend this book. Now just to wait impatiently for her next book.

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

A charming holiday romance set in Switzerland. Great characters and I loved how Clara’s confidence developed throughout. A really lovely read. Recommended.