Review: Christmas in London by Anita Hughes

Title: Christmas in London
Author: Anita Hughes 
Format: Paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publish Date: October 3, 2017
Source: PR

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "A charming, glamourous love story set at Claridge's in London during the magical week before Christmas starring a sweet NYC baker and the Cooking Channel Producer who could change her life.

It’s a week before Christmas and Louisa Graham is working twelve hour shifts at a bakery on Manhattan's Lower East Side. When a young cooking show assistant comes in from the rain and begs to buy all the cinnamon rolls on her tray, she doesn’t know what to do. Louisa is just the baker, and they aren't hers to sell. But the show burned the rolls they were supposed to film that day, so she agrees.

The next morning, Louisa finds out that her cinnamon rolls were a hit, but the star of the show was allergic, and the whole crew is supposed to leave for London that afternoon. They want Louisa to step in for their annual Christmas Eve Dinner TV special at Claridge's. It’s a great opportunity, and Digby Bunting, Louisa’s famous baking idol, will be there. Even if he does seem more interested in her than her food."

My Two Cents:

"Christmas in London" is a warm story about food and romance in the coziest season of the year. A chance break lands fledgling baker Louisa on a huge cooking show in London. She is whisked away to London, a city that seems to be made for the holiday season. Louisa finds herself in the lap of luxury and with a potential love match in Noah, the man who discovers her baking talent and lands her the show. There is also Kate, the television producer who may rekindle an old flame in London.

This is a confection of a story; exactly the kind of story I'm looking for in the cozy season upon us now. I really liked both of the romances in the book. Louisa and Noah get off on the wrong foot and then the wrong foot again and then the wrong foot again as they try to figure out each other. Kate and Trevor are old flames with a bunch of misunderstandings between them themselves. I was a little more interested in the history between them a little more. There were some swoon-worthy moments!

The major draw for me to this book was the setting. London is one of my very favorite cities in the world and this book made me want to visit London during the Christmas season. The characters hit all of the major sites. Harrod's at Christmas sounds wonderful. Some of the characters get to go to a royal reception at Buckingham Palace - swoon!

The writing was okay. There were a few sticky parts where the narrative got hung up with saying too much and not showing enough. Overall, this was a sweet read.