Christmas at the Marshmallow Cafe
by C P WardSetting: England
Genres: Fiction, Great Britain
Published on September 30, 2020
Format: eBook Source: Owned
When downtrodden checkout assistant Bonnie Green receives a letter from a mysterious uncle, she can hardly believe her eyes.
Gifted a hundred-year lease on a famous cafe situated in the middle of a mythical theme park, Bonnie sets off with her best friend Debbie on an adventure to a hidden valley in the Lake District where they will find new friendship, love, and happiness, all set against the magic of Christmas ... and more marshmallows than they can possibly eat....
I’m not a person who loves Christmas stories. However, I am a sucker for stories about people taking over some kind of cafe. When I saw this book offered I hoped the joy in the trope overrode my annoyance with the Christmas theme.
Things I Loved About This Book
1. A Middle-Aged Protagonist! I love romances and chick-lit type books with someone who isn’t twenty anymore. Bonnie is 52. She was in a bad marriage that has recently ended and her grown children are estranged from her because of it. She’s working as a cashier in a grocery store. Her life needs some excitement. She’s a great protagonist!
2. It is oh so snarky. I love realistic dialogue and in my world that means sarcasm. It always strikes me as strange if people are too syrupy sweet in fiction. Bonnie has a friend named Debbie who is half her age, likes to party way too much, and wishes she was in a rock band. The two of them together are hilarious.
‘There,’ she said. ‘Mickey D’s. I need breakie.’
‘I thought you didn’t do corporations?’
Debbie shrugged. ‘I make exceptions for food. The taste alone is punishment enough.’
What I Wanted More Of
1. Logic. This is a cute story. Just go with it. Don’t think too hard about how they have been making ends meet or why they haven’t been shut down by inspectors. Just go with it and have fun.
2. Recipes. Bonnie inherits a shop that served homemade marshmallows. Specifically it served marshmallows made without gelatin. As a vegetarian, I perked up. Then it talked about there being hundreds of recipes for different ways to make marshmallows without gelatin. I was ready. I was going to make some fancy marshmallows! But there aren’t any recipes in the book. I’m still going to Google but these types of books often have at least one recipe at the end so I was disappointed.
If you are looking for a quick fun holiday read I’d recommend picking up this book!
[…] with a British Victorian flavor. Heather shared “a quick fun holiday read” — Christmas at the Marshmallow Cafe. Tina told us about a fun Christmas contest at Nigella Lawson’s website and about an upcoming […]
I could put up with a little lack of logic for a middle-aged protagonist and a fun read!
Snarky sounds good and I like a middle-aged protagonist, too. I love that photo of hot chocolate at the top of the post! Looks delicious!
Sometimes you just need a light , fun read.
The original marshmallow, as you may know, was made from a plant called the marshmallow, which produces a sticky white substance. I wonder if you could still get that to use instead of the gelatin that replaced it in the commercial recipe something like 100 years ago.
Your observation that there are many books about people (mainly women with problems) taking over cafes is interesting. As a starting point it could lead a lot of ways. I don’t think I have read any books with this plot.
be safe… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
In this book there is a patch of mallow that they grow for the cafe. I would have love a description of how they made the marshmallows from it.