A Cosy Christmas at Bridget's Bicycle Bakery by Alex Brown

 

Finding yourself without a home in the weeks before Christmas would break most people, but for Bridget Carrington it’s a chance to start again. Mulberry-On-Sea has always been her happy place and she’s hoping it can work its magic this festive season and heal her family after a difficult year.

Now, as the community wraps Bridget and her children in its warm embrace, she starts to feel like herself again. With a new business, kids who are starting to smile, and the promise of a second chance at love, Bridget’s holiday season might just be a happy ever after…

Alex Brown is one of my top 5 authors and every single one of her books have been an absolute dream to read. I trust in her writing so much now that I don’t even read the synopsis to tempt me I dive straight into her novels with no expectations other than to know she will blow me away every single time.

Her new release A Cosy Christmas at Bridget’s Bicycle Bakery has been on my wish list since I first glimpsed the online trailer for the book and I have desperately been waiting for the paperback release but I am going to admit I have caved in early and read the book on my kindle but let me tell you having just this moment finished reading the book I am sitting here with a very satisfied and content grin on my face desperate to get my thoughts down for you all to read.

Bridget and her twin sons and daughter will steal your heart from the start of this novel, a family huddled together nursing the grief of the loss of husband/father Ted learning to adjust to their new life with a big gaping hole where he should be. Returning to her roots in Mulberry on Sea she is hoping they can all begin to heal and adjust surrounded by a caring and supportive community but Bridget also needs to start earning a living to support her family, could her love for baking be the distraction she needs and the solution the community of Mulberry on Sea need?

The novel has a tenderness to the storyline where it follows the families struggle with the loss of Ted but also a very uplifting feel too with hopes and new beginnings opening up and new sense of purpose and direction that is helping Bridget on the next path of life. Friendships new and old comfort not only Bridget but also bring a familiar and welcome feel to the reader as we are reunited briefly with much loved characters such as Eddie, Georgie and Sam who we remember from the wonderful Carrington’s series.

I love books that have characters setting up new little businesses so this one really appealed to me and I felt myself getting swept away with the excitement of Bridget’s baking business and I was eager to see her succeed.

Alex Brown has managed to capture the modern vibrant feel from her Carrington’s series and moulded that with her cosy, uplifting feel of her Tindledale books to make this book an exceptional read that ticks all the boxes for me. As I was reaching the end of the novel I really didn’t feel ready to leave these characters behind, I still fell like there was so much to explore in this story but to my delight I then read at the end that we can look forward to reuniting with them all again in another book in the series so I am already counting down the months until I can return in A Summer Holiday at Bridget’s Bicycle Bakery.