In this latest offering from Sue Watson we return to the village of Appledore, the story is set over the Christmas period and well worth a read.

Chloe and Gianni have always had a tempestuous relationship, Gianni is a larger than life Italian chef with a fiery temperament and when a continued lack of communication causes a rift within their marriage, Chloe decides she has had enough and leaves Gianni on Christmas day.

Fast forward a year and Chloe receives a call asking her to help Gianni out, he is opening a new restaurant in Appledore and due to his tantrums with his staff, suppliers and a food critic there will be no one there on opening night. Chloe has to decide does she go to Appledore to help Gianni or is her marriage over for good.

This book is festive and fun, Chloe and Gianni are definitely chalk and cheese, Chloe is calm and thoughtful whereas Gianni is feisty and passionate and his confusion of certain words was hilarious. Add into the mix the girls from the ice cream shop and you have a warm lighthearted entertaining read that we have come to expect from Sue Watson.

I'm impressed this has all the fun of Sue Watson book, but it also has a lot of heart to it, and its a lovely story of second chances, and the book predominately focuses on two characters, from one point of view, which means you get to know Chloe and Gianni incredibly well.

It is the story of Christmases' past and present, for Chloe and her soon to be ex-husband, with a moveable timeline taking in how they got together, the early years they had as a couple, all manner of highs and lows in their lives bringing us up to date with the previous Christmas where they separated, and now onto this year.

Gianni is fantastic, he is an explosive Italian Chef with a god complex, who is magnificently good at alienating staff, customers, critics and anyone else that gets in his way. He it trying to set up a new restaurant in Appledore, Devon and is going about it the wrong way. Cue Chloe being brought in to try and help out her husband's ailing business.

When I say Gianni has a god complex I mean his previous restaurant had no name, as he expected people to just know they wanted to come because he was the chef, and this new one he is wanting there to be no menu and he reckons people will eat what he tells them to! Add in some rather creative language especially when swearing (no real swear words as such), and most of what he says could be reminiscent of Gordon Ramsey with an Italian accent!

I felt incredibly sorry for Chloe throughout the book, she has not had the easiest of times being married to Gianni, but yet she doesn't want to see him fail either. It is Chloe that tries to get the locals on side starting in a rather familiar ice-cream shop.

For this is the third book set in Appledore and like the others can be read completely as a standalone, especially as the main focus of this book is Italian food and not Ice-cream!

Speaking of food, yet another book by Sue Watson that has had my stomach rumbling throughout, apart from when offal is mentioned! I love the various descriptions of both Gianni's Italian cooking roots, and also his rather more modern pretentious cooking style!

I am really hoping this isn't the last book in Appledore, as I love the setting, and this particular book was superb. It was a fabulous mix of food, Christmas, Italian temperament, second chances, heartache, an obsessive "Trekkie" and some hilarious conversational exchanges. I found I really got to know our main characters, and was rooting for them continually.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bookouture for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

There is something warm and inviting about picking up the latest Sue Watson book and what makes even more special is that its a christmas book!

As in previous books by Sue, this book is based on a strong woman character, her name is Chloe. Chloe is very easy to love, shes been through a lot and its made her incredibly strong. That is until she takes the opportunity to work in her Ex husband's latest restaurant in Devon. After not seeing someone for so long especially after all their history together it is clear that there is chemistry together and a bit of sexual tension between the two and as a reader it makes you think are we going to see Chloe and Gianni get back together again and finally get their happy ever after. It could go either way, seeing him and working with him again could cause tension and make things worse between them and we could see Chloe flee back to London again. I loved guessing the whole way through the book what would happen between them.

I loved the character Gianni. I thought he was brilliant, a real feisty Italian stallion you just can't help but have a soft spot for.

This book is set in Appledore, which is the location for 2 of Sue's previous books and has returning characters from them that we know and love. I love this touch as it makes it familiar for us as a reader to imagine and makes it so easy to read.

This is a really magical read, absolutely perfect for this festive season

In the run up to Christmas I always get excited waiting for certain authors books to come out as I know they will always get me in the festive mood. Sue Watson is one of my favourite authors so to be honest she could bring a Christmas themed book out any time of the year and I would happily snuggle up in a chair and switch off to the outside world and lose myself into her novel.

There is a lot of humour in this book which is brought by Gianni. He is Italian and even though he has lived in England for some considerable time, his accent and knowledge of the English language makes for some fabulously funny moments. He actually comes across as quite a bit of a dragon and I have to admit if I were to meet him in person, he would probably have me in tears in no time. Think of an Italian Gordon Ramsay and you won’t be far wrong. Not in looks though I should say, though I do find myself quite attracted to both but enough about me.

Chloe is lovely and as with all the leading ladies in the authors novels, I took to her straight away. I loved finding out the history between both characters and why their marriage broke down as I wanted to know everything. There are some very bitter sweet parts in their past which make for some emotional reading. Being a newly fledged cat lover, my heart especially melted at the mention of Snowflake the cat.

The story certainly raises some questions to do with relationships and as with all the authors books, there are some serious parts to the story line. I think any one who has gone through what Chloe has will find her easy to relate to and the author does it all in a wonderful way that she makes it a very much light hearted read, which with the times that we currently live in, it is very much welcomed.

Snowflakes, Iced Cakes and Second Chances is a heart melting and laugh out loud read that you do not want to miss. A story that will have you hooked from start to end whilst gearing you up to that wonderful festive feeling you only usually get around Christmas time. Go on, get snuggled up in that comfy chair with a big mug of hot chocolate and a copy of this book. You won’t regret it, I promise.