Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!
It is Christmas time again. And what better way then to celebrate the season with familiar characters that you know and love. I was a huge fan of the Little Beach Street Bakery and Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery. Both books whisked me away to Mount Polbearne on the Cornish Coast of England. Lots of drama, romance, tragedy, and loaves of bread later I am on book three.
Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery is written by Jenny Colgan. It is published by William Morrow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. It is a year after the events of book two, and the small tidal village is gearing up for a festive season. Polly Waterford is still running the Little Beach Street Bakery and the Mount Polbearne Bakery. She is once again joined by Jayden (who apparently did not join the post office after all) and her loving Puffin, Neil. Engaged to Huckle, her handsome beekeeper fiance, Polly lives in a drafty lighthouse on the coast of the village. Her best friend Kerensa is still married to Huckle's annoying, but filthy rich friend, Reuben. As the fresh ginger bread begins to waft over the cold streets of Mount Polbearne, Polly is looking forward to a quiet Christmas with Huckle in their lighthouse. But that is about to change.
At a town meeting discussing the possibility of re-opening the village school, Reuben and Kerensa have a big announcement. But that is not even the beginning. The local bird sanctuary where Neil often goes is losing its government funding. They need cash fast or all the Puffins may need to find other homes. Polly wants to help, but is strapped for cash with all of her current expenses taking her profits. But a chance to cater Reuben's family Christmas party sheds some light on Polly's wallet. If she can suffer through Reuben's family, she will have enough money to save the sanctuary. Among the hustle and bustle of preparing to cater Reuben's event, Polly receives a phone call that changes her holiday mood.
Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery was a cozy book for the most part. But I felt that it lacked the cheerfulness of its predecessors. Midway in the book the course changed and it became very sad with angst seeping into the village. There were dramatic personality changes that did not suit the characters at all. And we even learn that one of the happy moments at the end of book two ended sadly. As the story unfolded it began to repair itself with some funny moments, and a birth that was handled rather sweetly. All culminating to an enormous surprise that wrapped up the series like a Christmas gift.
However Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery seemed to read like a stand -alone novel, ignoring much of what had transpired in books one and two. One of the story anomalies I was perplexed by was the sudden changing of Polly's origins. In book one we are introduced to Polly's fond memories of her childhood. She even recalls her father reading Alice in Wonderland to her, and how he had already passed away. But in book three, it is as if a wind came into port and swept away all of the previous narratives. In this book Polly appears to be an only child who never knew her father. This was confusing to me, since I had read the first two books finding no inconsistencies. I do not understand why Jenny Colgan changed Polly's story. There are a few other inconsistencies, but they can be explained as having happened "off the page". But something this integral to Polly's entire existence made reading this book a bit off-putting. I was left feeling that part of this book was written by another writer who never read the previous volumes.
I read this book in part with the voice work of actress, Anne-Marie Piazza. She did a fine job bringing Mount Polbearne to life. Regardless of the odd story choices taken in this book, I looked forward to her reading. Her handling of Reuben's parent's accents had me laughing out loud. She brought his outrageous mother to life quite vividly. Her narration was enjoyable. I will look for more books read by her.
In the end Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery took a confusing turn that eventually righted itself and became the cozy Christmas story that I was looking for. The inconsistencies unfortunately made this a two star read for me. If I had read this as a stand-alone, then I may have enjoyed it better. But this did not serve as a good ending to the trilogy. Also be aware that the book description on the back does not match the book at all. You may wish to skip the description.
Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what are some of your favorite reads of 2018.
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