Member Reviews

"A Recipe for Christmas" is a great feel-good romance set in Geneva, city of finance and chocolate. Our heroine Clara moves to Geneva on an impulse to be with her new boyfriend. She is an out and out chocoholic and has been signed up for a chocolate-making course. To say that it is not what she expected is an understatement! Will she last the course? Will she find friendship and love in the snow, leading up to Christmas?

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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4 star review … I finished this book in 3 days. I love the description of where Clara was in Switzerland and it felt like I was there. I loved the way the group and other characters were defined and they had their own individuality. I hadn’t read other Jo Thomas books until now but it’s made me a fan.

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This is a perfect, feel-good, cosy up with the fire and Christmas tree lit behind you kind of book. Perfect Christmas read, simple and easy! This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

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Clara (always reminds me of the Nutcracker - so a good start) does not like change but, with her 40th birthday not too far away she decides that if she doesn't step out of her comfort zone soon she may live to regret it.
taking a leap of faith she takes redundancy and moves to Switzerland with her new boyfriend. Here she has signed up for a six week chocolate course to give her something to do in the run up until Christmas - a time to reflect and decide what she wants to do next.
Both the boyfriend and the course are not at all what she was expecting but, as she is there now anyway can do nothing else but, give it her best shot. Allowing herself to make new friends, eat her body weight in chocolate, learn about Switzerland but, most importantly learn things about herself.
The descriptions of the area and the food in the book are written well and you can almost taste the chocolate and feel the cold. The characters have plenty of flaws just like the rest of us so are very relatable and there are a few twists and turns so the story is not too predictable. Overall a nice chocolatey, cosy Christmas read.

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Another feel good read from Jo Thomas, set in the stunning Swiss Alps, where the main character Clara has gone to escape and embark on becoming a chocolatier. Needs to be read whilst enjoying a huge bar of chocolate!

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As always, a very entertaining read but I couldn’t understand why she put up with Daniel for so long.

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This was a perfect recipe for an ‘under the weather day’ curled up with a cosy charming Christmas read with lots of information about chocolate.
When Clara takes redundancy after more than 20 years working for the same company, she takes a leap of faith and follows her new boyfriend to Switzerland . There she joins a chocolate school and turns her passion for chocolate into a flair for making chocolate.
She also finds new friends and a new role in life.
Beautiful scenery and a great description of chocolate making takes this mouth watering read into chocolate heaven.
The recipes at the end are just the sparkles needed to decorate the book.

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A fantastic Christmas read! I loved every page of this book. Full of wonderful characters in a beautiful setting just right for Christmas. This is one huge ‘feel good hug’ of a book not to be missed.
Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review. It was an absolute delight.

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A fantastic book just for the winter months, not just for Christmas. Clara works in HR but when her new boyfriend sets off to work in Switzerland she goes with him to do a Chocolate maker course. Along the way she finds out more about Daniel but more importantly herself. An easy read with fun characters. Thanks to Jo and her publisher. Thanks also to NetGalley

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I just love Jo Thomas's books and can never get enough of them, the pages of this book whizzed by and before I knew it they had come to the end. Loved the story and the bravery of Clara moving to Switzerland with a new love and then it all falls apart. Clare is determined and wont give up and the chocolate's well I tasted every one on each step of the course. Will Clare find happiness ? well read it and see.
Loved it
My thanks as always to Netgalley and Publisher Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Penguin of course the lovely Jo Thomas who makes dull day bright with her amazing stories.

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The perfect combination of romance, chocolate and the beauty of Switzerland! I loved every page.
This looks at the scary but exciting leap of moving somewhere new with someone new and finding out what's most important

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Another fantastic read from Jo Thomas combining romance and culinary delights . Be whisked CV off to the Swiss Alps where Clara , looking for a different life, embarks on a course to become a chocolatier. It is not without its ups and downs as you would anticipate. Come smell the chocolate and taste the experience. It will have you reaching for the chocolate box

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Another brilliant Book from Jo Thomas!
40 year old , newly redundant HR manager Clara is fed up of her old life. A relatively new boyfriend Daniel is moving to Switzerland with his job and on a whim she decides to go with him. Enrolling on a chocolate making course at a renowned chocolate school she soon finds she has joined a very different chocolate course.
This is the perfect Christmas read, beautiful scenery , plenty of snow , interesting characters and a storyline with plenty of twists and turns .
Full of friendship, community, love, and a bit of cheese !
Highly recommended, I couldn’t put it down
Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Uk and Jo Thomas for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

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At 40 years old, redundant HR manager Clara takes a leap of faith and decamps to Switzerland with a man she barely knows, enrolling in a chocolate course until she decides what to do next with her life. But both her new relationship and her course prove more challenging than she is expecting. Will either work out for her?
This was a typical Jo Thomas Christmas book, full of warmth, passion and flavour as she explores the world of the chocolatier in the crisp, snowy setting of Switzerland. There is a lovely range of characters, from Clara herself, to focused Fleur and selfish Sebastien, from forlon Ferederic to Gabriel, local god of the chocolate world, mentor to the schools' pupils, and a man with some challenges of his own.
The setting is wonderful, transporting us to a world of fondue and raclette, ski-ing and sledging, cowbells and churchbells, and, of course, chocolate! It's also a very fast=paced plot, with plenty going on in and out of the chocolate school, including a spot of sabotage.
But in the end, friendship, loyalty and kindness win out.
If Jo Thomas's new novel were a chocolate, it would be silky and rich with an aftertaste of spice, melting in the mouth to leave the reader's heart warm and happy at having sampled it.
There are already Christmas chocolates in the shop - grab a box, grab this book, and get yourself in the mood for a wonderful festive read.

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As usual Jo throws all of her magic into a book and makes it sublime. What a read. This is beautiful and a chocolate lovers dream make sure you have some to hand whilst reading this because you will crave it!!

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A Recipe for Christmas by Jo Thomas

A perfect read for this time of year.
If you like chocolate & romance ( who doesn't ? ) than you will love this . Great characters , a lovely setting , girl meets boy , and you have a perfect read.
Great.

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Clara has never really liked change, but when her boyfriend, Daniel, takes a new job in Switzerland and asks her to go with him, she agrees.
Enrolling on a chocolate making course, she loves chocolate how hard can it be, Clara embraces her new life.
On her first day at her course, Clara feels she may just have bitten off more than she can chew. Chocolate is much more complicated than she thought and the others on the course all seem to have a head start on her. Added to that her home life isn’t what she expected either, Daniel isn’t the man she thought he was. Throw into the mix enigmatic chocolatier Gabriel, and Clara finds herself with a stark choice. Accept that her leap of faith didn’t work out and go home or stay and take yet another chance to change her life for the better.
This is basically Christmas wrapped in a book. It’s got snow, chocolate and a dash of romance. The characters are relatable, the setting is stunning, and you can almost taste the chocolate!

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Fed up of her life seemingly going nowhere, Clara makes a decision out of the blue to move to Switzerland with her newly found boyfriend!
What follows is a lovely, wintery tale of friendships, relationships, Christmas and chocolate!
The setting is magnificent, the author describes everything so very well that you will feel you are right there, sipping hot chocolate with the characters.
I love how the friendships develop in this book and the sense of sticking at something, even when it seems the last thing you should be doing.
This book will make you feel happy, it won’t let you put it down. It will make you want to move to Switzerland to make chocolate (or just try all the delicious sounding dishes mentioned in the book!)
A beautiful, heart warming book which you will not want to end (please can we have a sequel to this one!) A story you can totally loose yourself inside and pretend the real world does not exist.
The cover should read: enjoy this book with a delicious hot chocolate and a box of chocolates!

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I really enjoyed this book. It was a nice feel good Christmassy book and it involved my favourite thing, Chocolate! I feel like this book was different from others I’ve read and I found it quite interesting. I love Clara’s love for chocolate. I love how the friendships develop in this story, I’d love another book to see how the friendships and relationships develop. I also now want to take a chocolate making class and develop my own box of signature chocolates!

A Recipe for Christmas is a heartwarming Christmas romance that takes readers to the snowy mountains of Switzerland. The story follows Clara, who has always dreamed of a perfect Christmas filled with warmth, loved ones, and delicious food. When her new boyfriend invites her to move to Switzerland, she eagerly agrees, envisioning an idyllic holiday in the Alps.
However, things take an unexpected turn when Clara signs up for a chocolate-making class, only to find herself in a rigorous chocolate-making bootcamp. To add to the surprises, her boyfriend isn’t quite what he seemed. Despite these challenges, Clara begins to make new friends, including the intriguing Gabriel. With all the ingredients for a magical Christmas at her fingertips, Clara sets out to create her dream holiday.

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Here's comes Christmas!!🎄

A Recipe for Christmas is utterly gorgeous, it's heartwarming with the most delicious chocolates, yup I'm completely hooked!!

I am a big fan of Jo Thomas's writing, I love her feel-good stories which are always full to the brim with romance and friendship and this is no different, I loved the story of Clara starting again and taking chances, she is proof that you can start again no matter your age. Her journey is one of following your heart, finding your true self, learning to love and respect yourself and taking a step out of your comfort zone which leads to new beginnings and love.

It's a beautiful story and very inspiring, and there is a sweetness and kindness to Clara that you can't help but like, she has a good heart and is supportive though I do feel her kindness wasn't appreciated and even taken for granted at times, and I adore her

There is a lightness to this, especially with the Chocolate BootCamp, which brings a lot of fun scenes which will make you laugh and wonder what on earth Clara has got herself into, It's so much fun to read!

A great feel-good, beautiful book, with the most amazing setting sweetly lovable and very relatable main character and all the joys of the season, a definite must-read!

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