Christmas Wishes at Pudding Hall by Kate Forster is a warm, wonderful and festive book.
I enjoyed all the feelings of a warm holiday get together with characters that cared about each other. Out of a job and single isn't the way anyone wants to spend the holidays but that's a former Michelin-starred restaurant owner's reality. Then her best friend recommended her for position of private chef over the Christmas period. This is for grumpy rich divorcee Marc Ferrier and his rambunctious twin sons at their prestigious country estate, Pudding Hall. The descriptions of Pudding Hall, it's lovely decorations and the landscape sound exquisite. Filled with delicious sounding recipes. Christa succeeds at her private chef's job, but can she bring the holiday spirit to the grump and his twin boys? Enjoyed reading about the delicious sounding foods being made because you can't have the holidays without trying new foods and recipes. The twins were adorable and so lively.
Another book from an author that guarantees a nice feel-good read and I'll be looking for more reads by this author.

Pub Date 02 Sep 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Book wasn't meant for me. Hopefully someone will enjoy it more. I will look into renting it in the future

Lovely feel good book to read. It was a joy to read. Lovely characters. Great plot. The book was charming. Very well written. I’d definitely recommend this book. Idyllic location that set the tone of the book to perfection. Perfect seasonal book to get you in the mood for the festive season.

A wholesome beautiful holiday romance with interesting and endearing characters on of my favorite holiday romance reads. Thanks netgalley for the free book>

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really like this authors books.
It was a cute story with lovely characters. I really enjoyed. This was a 3.5 stars for me.

This was a brilliant read and is being featured on my blog for my quick star reviews feature, which I have created on my blog so I can catch up with all the books I have read and therefore review.
See www.chellsandbooks.wordpress.com.

Ever since I read "Finding Love at Mermaid Terrace" by author Kate Forester, I have become a huge fan of her books. So when I saw there was a new release coming out by author Forester, I immediately asked for an arc and was so excited to be granted one!
This book was everything I could have asked for in a Christmas romance such as family, friends, cooking, and a feel-good romance with a swoon-worthy hero and a down-to-earth heroine

A great Christmas story. I loved Christa and all of the other characters good or bad. Plenty of humour and fun in this story and definitely heartwarming. Perfect lighthearted Christmas read

This was a heart-warming and beautiful story that filled my heart up with so much happiness and joy. I found so much comfort within Kate's words and I admired the leading lady, Christa, so much. I couldn't have fallen more in love with this story and everybody else should too this Christmas.

A warm and welcoming book guaranteed to make you want to get cooking. A good variety of characters including the awesome twins and characters you love to hate … in fact this is a pantomime in book form! A lovely Christmas rom-com but with a little more depth

My goodness, I can't fully say how much I enjoyed this book - it is the book of Christmas and one which just has to be read. You will instantly want to put up the Christmas tree, hang up the stocking, play Michael Buble until the neighbours complain, it just makes you feel all festive ~ and for a person who is a notorious Scrooge that is a lot to say! ;-)

This is infact the first book I've read by Kate Forster, I'm not sure how she has passed me by for so long, it must be one of those times when I walk around with my eyes closed, I will certainly be reading more from her now - I can't wait, I feel sorry for my bank balance though, LOL!

This is a food-lovers paradise in every sense of the word, another reason I loved it so much!

This book certainly ticks all the boxes for me, it's got warmth and charm. It's got some wonderful and very relatable characters who you can't help but become invested in. A fabulous relatively fast-paced plot, but overall it will make you smile. It sends out all those much needed happy, feel-good and magical vibes which I think we are all wanting at this time of year.

I can't say a bad word, it's just spot on!

Warning: Before you start reading this book, make sure you have plenty of food to hand to snack on, it will make you hungry. In fact I decided to stop reading in bed about half way through and leave the book until lunchtime the following day, or I would have been too hungry to sleep that night, while I definitely wanted to keep on reading!

It's been a while since I last read a book by Kate Forster, but I felt right at home from the first few pages, and found it to be as fast and absorbing to read as all the others I have read from her.

And this as I may have mentioned is a food lovers paradise, and even has recipes between some of the chapters, but there is so much more to this book than that.

Both Christa and Marc have come from tricky backgrounds and its is interesting to see how they differ in their outlooks to life at least initially. Christa is also determined to make the world a better place, or at least the less fortunate of York.

After a brutal divorce she takes a job to chef at Pudding Hall for a month over Christmas, not really knowing who she is cooking for, and her arrival at the Hall was brilliant, and gave us a good idea about the various personalities staying there.

I loved Marc's twin sons, they really grew on me, and once you get to know her the housekeeper Peggy is brilliant too.

I loved the gradual festive feeling that embraced the book as Marc grew and started to overcome his dislike of the season. And I loved Christa, firstly her name, being festive but not one of the same few that frequently appear in books, so that was rather refreshing, and the way she was with everyone was fantastic, including having a wonderful vision for the future.

I have no issues with anything in this book, well other than Avian and Simon who I hated equally but we are meant to hate them so that is good.

This is just so so good, and I loved it so much. Another wonderful book that hit all the right marks for me from an author that always writes great books!

Thank you to Aria and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Kate Forster is a relatively new discovery for me and so far I have loved everything that I have read by this engaging author. Christmas Wishes at Pudding Hall didn’t disappoint with such a gorgeous Christmas cover, a fabulous setting, intriguing and varied characters and of course not to forget the mouth watering descriptions of food and cooking throughout. OK, the food being cooked may have been a little out of my comfort zone but that’s not to say I didn’t appreciate it and the recipes included. This is a quick and easy read and one that you settle into very quickly. The Christmas genre has been flooded with books in recent years. It just seems to get bigger and bigger with each year and it’s impossible to read them all, no matter how much you want to. But Christmas Wishes at Pudding Hall is up there with the best of them being published this year and it was an utter delight to read from start to finish.

We first meet Christa Playfoot as she is letting go of her dream of having a restaurant in London. The for lease sign is up and her marriage to Simon is over. She is a brilliant chef and Simon had bankrolled the business but now being a television judge seems to be what Simon wants and she is left to one side. Christa starts to think is being a chef her true calling now that the restaurant is gone. I loved this quote which summed up exactly how Christa was feeling because I think at one point or another we all feel like this at some stage. ‘The sense of a piece missing inside her but she did not know what to put there. It had followed her around ever since she could remember, popping up uninvited’. It’s obvious from the outset that Christa has remained in a loveless marriage for so long that she failed to realise it was more or less a business relationship. Her skills and talents were used by Simon and I hoped she could take the bull by the horns and now find some opportunities for herself in order to truly showcase her talents and be really happy in what she did.

Christa wasn’t full of confidence. When cooking she was but when it came to getting herself out there she was anxiety riddled and full of uncertainty, feeling like she hadn’t or wasn’t being enough. She avoids confrontation because Simon was the one who had been in control so when it comes to her personal well being it’s something she really needs to work on. You really do feel for her and hope that she can turn things around especially when she is presented with the opportunity by her friend Selene, a restaurant critic, to cook for someone famous staying in York for the month of December. This is where Christa’s resilience will really be called into question. Has she been belittled for so long or will she be able to showcase her talents? Will her stay with American businessman Marc Ferrier prove to have to many ups and downs to want to stay the month? Or will the run up to the most magical time of year work its magic on those that need help the most.

I loved the setting of Pudding Hall which Marc had bought many years ago but never really lived in it until now. I think Christa got a lot more than she bargained for when she accepted the job. Marc seems allergic to Christmas and came across as being angry and just all about his business. He didn’t seem to understand his twins Seth and Ethan that well and I think Christa could see this and wanted to bring the family together through her mouth watering cooking and also by bringing them back to basics and reminding them of the true meaning of Christmas. Marc likes to be in control of everything and the more we learn about him the more we can see how his childhood affects how he operates both as a business and family man. But will Christa with her genuine charm, good will and good intentions make him change to discover that Christmas is not something that should be more or less forbidden to be mentioned? Will the anger and resentment that he holds inside continue to fester and avoidance be his main trait?

Seth and Ethan were brilliant additions to the book bringing humour when needed and also there to teach both Christa and Marc some important life lessons. The connection Christa established with them was wonderful, genuine and heartfelt but still Christa kept things to herself because her past was too painful and alienating. Despite Marc and his attitude Christa manages to make Pudding Hall feel like a special place and I loved all the descriptions of the food she was making and the activities she engaged in with the twins.

Combined with all that was going on at the hall, Christa had her own little secret that she was engaging in and given the way Marc acts she is determined to keep this secret. This was perhaps the most heart-warming aspect of the book and really does remind you of the true meaning of Christmas. It provides the reader with a real moral to the story and gives you plenty of food for thought and a reminder not to get too caught up in the things that really don’t matter when it comes to Christmas. Rather, remember go back to basics and do things that you know will benefit others and in doing so it will really help you to feel good about yourself. Especially when many things are sent to try you. This strand of the story also helped bring about the romance element which given the type of book this is it really needed to be present. Of course a few surprises are thrown in to upset the apple cart and some surprise arrivals with connections to certain characters really test Christa’s metal to the max not to mention the tentative self esteem she has built up since her arrival at Pudding Hall?

Christmas Wishes at Pudding Hall is a gorgeous read. The characters are all flawed but never dull. It has such a lovely, deep and meaningful message behind it all that really gives you all the feels and has you rooting for Christa from the get go. Quite simply, it’s a lovely festive story that deserves not to be forgotten this year and should definitely be read curled up on the couch on a cold winters day.

What better way to spend Christmas than at Pudding Hall – it sounds a lovely place. Sadly its residents are not so lovely.

Marc Ferrier, owner of the hall is living there with his twin ten year old sons seemingly permanently attached to their gadgets whilst he spends his hours focused wholeheartedly on his business and nothing else. Along with his lawyer and his lawyers partner. It’s more of an office than a home.

That is until Christa arrives. Divorced, homeless and jobless in one fell swoop she takes the job of cooking at Pudding Hall for a silly amount of money, but it gives her chance to at least have a roof over her head for a month while she decides what to do next.

Christa shows Marc and his boys that there is another life to lead and one that is filled with pure enjoyment of Christmas and the simpler things in life. Whilst always remembering that there is some who are less fortunate than you might think.

With some ghosts of the past to face up to and some ghosts of the future to perhaps tackle, this is without a book which takes the good old fashioned Christmas tales of the past and gives it a lovely unique twist.

Written as if you are experiencing the ultimate Christmas Menu, Kate Forster takes the joy of food and Christmas and combines it with this lovely story which can be devoured in a couple of sittings at least. And not a ounce of weight will you put on!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

A lovely book to get you into readying Christmas stories.

Christa who’s recently divorced, she lost her restaurant to her husband, and is now without something to do. So her friend puts her forward as a private chef over Christmas, working for a divorced billionaire whose a workaholic and has two cheeky sons, twins.

She begins to works her way into their affections, giving the twins some discipline and showing them there’s more to do than play. It’s going well, that is until, her ex and Marc’s ex turn up, now a couple and wanting to spend Christmas with them too.

It’s a was a fun, and enjoyable Christmas read.

I LOVED this gorgeous Christmas read, absolutely adored every page!
Christa, Marc, the twins and their whole load of just wonderful friends are fabulous, both Christa and Marc have had a rotten childhood and rotten marriages, but it's made them both completely different yet so incredibly kind and wanting to do good for others, it embodies the true spirit of Christmas for me and I loved it so much Im ordering the paperback as I know this is a book I will enjoy every year on the run up to Christmas. A gorgeous read!

After separating from her husband and losing their restaurant, Christa takes a job as a private chef at Pudding Hall, leaving London for rural Yorkshire. She meets Marc, his twin boys and his employees, and is not overly impressed to start with, but soon starts to make friends.

A twist I was not expecting kept the book moving, and it was a fairly fast paced read.

Some great characters, especially Peggy!

This was such an easy to read, festive story. It really gave me the Christmas feels and I will definitely re-read this at Christmas time

Christmas Wishes at Pudding Hall is a heart warming seasonal romance. Following a her divorce from a nasty husband Christa takes up the chef job at Pudding Hall. Throw in a divorced billionaire, twin boys and another nasty ex and you have the beginings of a fairy tale romance, complete with all the ups and owns. Overall a lovely warming Christmas read to curl up by the fire with.

I loved this book, it's full of Festive stress, coming up to Christmas time. Why is it we always get stressed out near Christmas!? However we do and this book hits the nail on the head.

Its also have romance and Christmas cheer aside from the stresses.

When Christa meets the twins is such a lovely part, as a qualified youth worker I know that sometimes young people can get a bad reputation but are also misunderstood. Sometimes they just need attention, patience and an ally, which is why I love how Christa treats the Twins.