Coming Home To Mistletoe Cottage By Celia Anderson

‘Coming Home To Mistletoe Cottage’ is the latest book by bestselling author, Celia Anderson.

Amid the salt marshes and rolling fields of Periwinkle Bay, Magda Conway is enjoying her retirement in ivy-clad Mistletoe Cottage. Yet with three weeks to go until Christmas, as the fairy lights twinkle and the trees go up around the village, her peace is disrupted when she’s left in sole charge of her two mischievous grandchildren. Before long, she’s at her wit’s end – but high on a kitchen shelf lies her mother’s handwritten recipe book. And as she turns to it for advice, she finds more than just recipes between its tattered covers: there’s a pinch of magic too, and maybe even a sprinkling of love.

It’s hard not to get into the festive spirit with so many Christmas books out at the moment and the latest offering by Celia is quite the story to warm the cockles of your heart.

The story is written through the narrative of Magda, who’s been left with her boisterous grandchildren Will and Desi whilst their parents get the opportunity of a lifetime to perform on Broadway. But Magda isn’t having an easy time of it with the children turning against her, her best friend also giving her the silent treatment as well as coping with Christmas without her mother’s baking to help soothe the soul.

This story is an interesting story about new beginning that made for warm reading. Magda was never good at baking, unlike Hope her mother, her best friend Fliss and her son Jared. So, this Christmas with the help of her mother’s recipe book, she’s hoping to prove everyone wrong that she can bake and hopes donning her apron will help reconcile her grandchildren and best friend.

When I initially started this book, I found I didn’t like Magda, I found her a bit self-absorbed and lost in her own bubble, particularly when it came to her friendship with Fliss, who’s also a fiery character. But as the story progressed with past and present narratives from Magda of being a single parent, we see that she gave up a lot for her life.

The story is packed with delicious recipes from Hope’s recipe book and also features some nuggets of wisdom to help Magda at her most uncertain. The characters are a lovely bunch, the grandchildren are fun and excitable although it’s sad to see Desi unable to speak due to her parents leaving at Christmas, but Will makes up for the dialogue in abundance.

A lovely story that is packed with warmth and charm, ‘Christmas At Mistletoe Cottage’ is a story about starting over and rediscovering yourself.

You can pre-order ‘Coming Home To Mistletoe Cottage’ from Amazon and will be available to buy from good bookshops from 27th October 2022.