Published By: HQ
Pages: 352
Released On: 22/10/2026
Noémi Blanc loves happy endings. In fact, she runs a cosy bookshop brimming with them. Following a friend’s tragic accident, Noémi is sworn off adventures (and love), and even refuses to bake her mouth-watering, crowd-attracting cookies.
Shay Cassidy craves adventures. In a whirlwind of costumes, he opens a pop-up business next to the bookshop, stealing Noémi’s footfall. His quirky activities and rival cookies quickly capture the interest of the small town, igniting Noémi’s competitive spirit.
As the festive season looms, tensions simmer and loyalties are tested. Noémi is determined to reclaim her customers and prove that her bookshop is a treasured part of the village. But Shay’s charm and wit are hard to ignore – even for Noémi. With the bookshop’s success hinging on a festive event and Shay’s lease almost up, Noémi must decide if she’ll open her heart to a chance at happiness and save the bookshop in time for Christmas.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I have been so excited about this one!
The Gingerbread Cafe is one of my favourite Christmas books so I was looking forward to seeing how she followed it up. And I mean, Christmas + Cookies…a match made in heaven.
I read it in the August heatwave when it was 35 degree and I was hating it and wishing for winter. This was so cosy and made me desperate for the heatwave to end and the snowstorm to come. Everything about it, I had this physical yearning when I was reading it.
I have read a few Christmas books recently that predominately involve a bookshop, but funnily enough, also a bakery of some kind. That was always my dream, to open a bookshop/bakery and here it keeps coming in these books, and I feel strangely emotional about it. But it means it wasn’t unique in terms of storyline but Anita’s storytelling is so exceptional that it really helped keep it fresh.
Noémi is stubborn and at times unwilling to change, but I understand her reasons (I won’t spoil why) and it was nice to follow her story. She felt very real and familiar. And Shay…I really liked him from the off, even if some characters didn’t. He was full of depth and just leapt off the page.
I blow hot and cold when it comes to the “enemies to lovers” trope and so I was a bit worried that would be a sticking point for me but it was handled well in this.
It’s cosy, heartwarming, festive, uplifting, cheerful, romantic – whilst I read it in the summer it’ll be the absolute perfect book for those evenings when it’s dark early and you’re curled up under a blanket in front of the fire…perhaps with a freshly baked cookie or two.
Every time someone mentioned a cookie in this book, I had to write down the flavour so I could find some recipes. The cookies added to that cosy, comforting nature of the story.
There was a subplot…how do say this without spoiling it…there was a subplot that I thought I had figured out and it turns out I did, and I’m quite proud of myself because I can never figure out things like this, even if the author has dripped little clues throughout. You’ll know which subplot I mean when you read it.
I was actually quite sad when I finished it because it was such a beautiful book. I cannot explain just how lovely it was to read, and I’m sad I can’t be part of this community.
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