This is a Hallmark movie in book form. It was cute and full of warm Christmas cheer.

I did love Sylvie’s character. She was goofy and quirky. Loved Abe, as well.

Overall, cute Christmas read.

What's a baker to do when she has to save her beloved cafe from being sold, juggle with a romance between a movie star who just came into town and the quiet goat farmer she's known all her life, and her own family drama? Tis the season for love. Sylvie West is a baker, she loves her family and her pet dog and she adores the cafe she works at... but when she discovers that her beloved cafe is going to be sold she is determined to save it! It also helps that a handsome actor is in town and she is determined to get the Holiday Channel crew to set a scene at the cafe. While there is a budding romance between her and the lead actor Royce, there is also her long time best friend, goat farmer Abe who is also worming his way into her heart. Now Sylvie will have to figure out where her heart belongs and how to save the one place that means everything to her. Unfortunately this one was a miss for me, I felt like reading this was so boring and it was a bit of a slog to get through however if it were a Hallmark movie or some Christmas movie it definitely would work better.

*Thanks Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This one was a slog to get through. The plot moved slowly and there was a lot of repetition. There were moments of humor and the male protagnoist could have been featured more. Patrons who enjoy cozy stories or culinary fiction will enjoy this one.

There is another heat advisory with temps exceeding 106° today, normal for where I live. This is why each July there’s Christmas movies on an endless loop on that TV channel I won’t name and I read holiday themed books. It gives me hope this too will pass. We get ice storms, snow here is rare, so I love reading about it.
This debut author has penned the perfect story to put you in the holiday spirit. It’s a cute rom-com with an adorable rescue pup who upstages the humans and some goats thrown into the mix. The Christmas Café is in Wyoming where Sylvie bakes memories of her grandma’s love of the season. This was her grams favorite time and it’s Sylvie’s busiest. The town will be decked out, there’ll be a parade, booths, endless hot chocolate and treats. All this will be topped off with the annual ball at a local mansion. If that’s not enough, a dreamy movie star is in town making a movie. He’s a hunk and might set his sights on Sylvie. Then her boss dropped a bombshell about the café.
Sylvie is a bumbler and a babbler, sorely lacking in social skills, a klutz with a heart of gold. Sylvia solves all problems with her baked goods. Her family is full of interesting and believable characters. The town has it’s cliques, gossips, farmers and businesses. There’s always somebody ready to spread rumors. I giggled and laughed out loud and dabbed tears. There are some subtle reminders to accept yourself for who you are, not what others may think you need to be. Pursue your dreams. I enjoyed this enough to reread during the next actual holiday season.
Thanks so much to NetGalley for the digital advance reader copy of “The Christmas Café” by Eliza Evans, published by Penguin, G.P. Putnam’s Sons. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this ARC of The Christmas Café by Eliza Evans! This novel follows Sylvie West from Silver Bells, Wyoming, who’s a baker at the town’s coveted Christmas Café. But when Sylvie learns that the Christmas Café might be going out of business, she puts her best foot forward to ensure that the pillar of the town is safe. Pair that with a dashing leading man from a Christmas movie being shot in town, and the brooding goat farmer who may harbor feelings for Sylvie, and this novel is cute and fun and a wonderfully enjoyable read.
I liked the cast of characters we had in this novel, especially Sylvie. Although clumsy to a fault, she was strong and smart and overall a really great female MC to root for. I also really enjoyed the plot line of Sylvie still dealing with the grief of her Grams’ passing, and the way Evan’s portrays love and loss had me dabbing my eyes at multiple sentimental moments shared with Sylvie and her Gramps. This book showed that grief isn’t linear, but you can still mourn the loss of someone while embracing the happy moments you shared in the past.
There wasn’t anything glaring that I disliked about the book, maybe I would’ve preferred some more build up between Sylvie and Abe for their inevitable get-together at the end of the book. I initially assumed that Royce wouldn’t be the one she’d get with, so I was reading on hoping we’d get some cute moments that’d make me root for Sylvie and Abe extra hard. It’s just definitely a book where romance takes a backseat, and the big focus is Sylvie as a character and her family and the town of Silver Bells.
Overall, despite reading this in July, I had a wonderful time traveling to the town of Silver Bells! I could definitely see myself cozying up with this book or another Evans’ novel by a fireplace in the winter. This would be book best suited for fans of Codi Hall’s Mistletoe Romance series, or if someone’s looking for the small-town feel but in a spring/summer setting, Sarah Adam’s When in Rome would be a good fit.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. Small town setting, likable characters, a cute story, and Christmas.

If you want a Hallmark Christmas movie in book format, this is for you!! A little cheesy at points, but oh so sweet! Set in Silver Bells, Wyoming, small town baker, Sylvie, lives with her Gramps after Grams death. Silver Bells is the location of a christmas movie being filmed, bringing in actor Royce Elliot. Can’t forget about goat farmer, Abe, who has known Silver since they were in grade school. So much love and life with lots of holiday sweetness mixed in😉

Thanks NetGalley and Putnam Books for the ARC🎄

Omg I loved this book!! Perfect Christmas in July book for me! I loved all of the characters and their banter! I can’t recommend this enough!

Thank you, NetGalley for this arc copy. Perfect Christmas Hallmark movie in the form of a book. If you are looking for something cozy that will create a festive atmosphere for you in any month of the year, then this is the book. And the main character is trying to save her cafe and here you will find the atmosphere of a family, of recipes for cooking, comfort, and much more. There was a feeling that snow had already fallen around me and it creaked under my feet, garlands were shining around me and small snowflakes were spinning and falling on my face. I recommend this book to anyone who loves Christmas.

Christmas in July #2 🌲

Sylvie from Silver Bells (I can't make this shit up) is the clumsiest, most awkward baker in the world. She has a very badly trained dog named Crumpet that eats things that dogs shouldn't.

This plays out like all of the cheesy scenes in a Hallmark movie, because, lo and behold, they are filming a Christmas movie in the area. And the star of the movie is seemingly into Sylvie. But so is her childhood friend. I wonder which one she will choose.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Reading this arc felt like watching a mediocre Hallmark Holiday movie, the characters are all just a little flat, there’s far too much noise going on and it’s too much drama without building enough romantic tension. It’s a perfectly harmless read, and there are parts I really enjoyed (the MC, her dog and the goat) but overall it wasn’t super memorable and nothing really pulled me in.

The Christmas Cafe was a very cute little read! It’s not as much of a romance book as I anticipated, but it was perfect nonetheless. It does give off somewhat of a love triangle which i’m not a fan of love triangles but in this book it is very good. This book is all about christmas, baking, family and Sylvie’s confidence growing.

Silver Bells is the perfect christmas town you see in all these Hallmark movies. Which makes perfect sense that a production crew is heading on down to Silver Bells to film a Christmas movie. But the lovely Sylvie isn’t as excited as everyone else that they’re filming a movie because she is so busy and so passionate about baking in the restaurant that holds so many memories to her.

It all begins with Sylvie chasing her dog Crumpet down the street with her bra in his mouth when a car almost hits Crumpet. The driver comes out of the vehicle and check and see if everything is okay. But they get to talking and Sylvie tells him to go to the Christmas Cafe to grab some breakfast. What Sylvie didn’t know at this point was that this guy was the famous Royce Elliot who is the male lead in the movie that’s about to start filming.

As the book goes on, Sylvie realizes that the Cafe is in trouble and her boss is getting ready to sell it. But Sylvie begs him to not sell the Cafe as she tries to find ways to help save the Cafe. Sylvie realizes that having the production team in town can help save the Cafe. Which leads to her and Royce getting together quite a bit but she hesitate about their whole relationship.

Having a relationship between them has brought more customers into The Christmas Cafe and the movie production has even decided to film a scene within the Cafe and have Sylvie play a role in it. As exciting as it sounds, Sylvie really isn’t into being all out there and wanting to be in the movie but she would do anything to say the Cafe.

While we watch how things go with Sylvie and Royce, we also see how things are going with Sylvie and Abe. Abe and Sylvie have known each other for years and have been friends for years too. He only recently came back into town for his family and works on his farm where we mainly see him with goats. He even helps out the restaurant with giving them milk, cheese and things like that. But, as the book continues you begin to notice that Abe has feeling for Sylvie.

Will Sylvie and Royce continue out their relationship or will they fall apart? And what about Abe? Will something happen between Sylvie and Abe?

You’re just gonna have to read and find out 😉

cute book, very reminiscent of a Hallmark movie. A fun quick holiday read

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the review copy.

This was a cute, Hallmark-esque Christmas story. I really liked the characters Abe and Gramps, but never really connected with Sylvie; she just fell flat to me as a character and other than her weird relationship with her dog she seemed very passive and one-dimensional. I enjoyed how Claire's character changed throughout the book and actually Brando even experienced some change on the limited pages he was on. I would be interested in their stories if that is something the author plans on doing in the future. I also liked the town and it's fun eccentricities, plus the Christmas spirit throughout was joyful and made me want to find a Christmassy town to visit one day. Overall if you're looking for something cutesy with a Grumpy/Sunshine trope, Hallmark movie vibes, and baby goats this is what you're looking for!

P.S. - for the editors - I live close to this goat farm and the website is actually incorrect in the Acknowledgements.

This was a cute book. Especially if you love Hallmark movies. I would rate this as 3.5 but I rounded up to 4 stars.

It was an easy enough read and would be nice if you just want a nice cozy book to get your mind off life.

The main character bothered me a little. She’s extremely anxious (me too girl, I get it) but also came off as too whiney and stubborn in a few places. I didn’t really understand her absolute disdain for Royce. He was a typical actor, but he was trying to help the cafe…she didn’t seem appreciative at all or willing to go along with what she needed to do for him to help. Just wear the dress, Sylvie…you won’t die.

I wish there would have been a little more with Abe. It just seemed like he randomly popped up occasionally to catch Sylvie when she fell and then disappeared.

So, it was cute, and if you want something light and Hallmark-y and are willing to just take it for what it is, this is just fine…but if you’re looking for anything other than surface level, maybe not.

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for letting me read The Christmas Cafe.

While I enjoyed Eliza Evans' novel, The Christmas Cafe was a bit too Hallmark-y for my taste! Enjoyed the characters, however, and the pace!

The Christmas Cafe is an easy and cozy read and feels like a Hallmark movie in book form! It's super cute, but didn't blow me away.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for this ARC!

I enjoyed this book for than I thought would. I was entertained with this book! It was a good read and I would absolutely recommend reading it to my friends. Quick easy read for me.

There was so much cuteness in this book. It reads very much like a Hallmark channel Christmas movie, including small town romance, baby goats, grandparents, found family, love triangle, lots and lots of town Christmas events, and of course, trying to save a local restaurant. Oh, yea.... and there are recipes from the story included in the back! Bonus!!

Reading this book brings you all the holiday feels, in my opinion. You're cheering people on, hoping characters see truths, and attending Christmas festivities alongside the cast. It was heartwarming and very cute, and I'm always a fan when an author makes animals full characters in their stories!

Something I didn't like was that the story seemed to propel forward at lightening speed - I would have liked some chapters to have more time in those scenes, more details or background on some relationships,etc. I also got a little turned off with every time Sylvie fell there was someone to catch her. I feel like it's ok for her to fall and get up herself (especially after the Cinderella story gets brought up), but there was always a guy there to help her and that just felt unrealistic in an offputting way.

All in all, I enjoyed the story and it helped keep the Texas summer heat at bay while I immersed myself in a Silver Bells Christmas.

A Hallmark movie in book form! And I mean that in the best way possible. I don’t usually read Christmas books early, but since I had the ARC I decided to make an exception. I LOVED all the Christmas feels of this book, from sleigh rides to twinkling lights and decorations. I also really loved all the Christmassy confections that Sylvie came up with. (I was so glad the book included some recipes in the back!) Everything she made sounded yummy and I would love to eat at the Christmas Cafe! I also really enjoyed the characters, especially Gramps, who is mourning the death of his wife (Sylvie’s grandmother) and the dog Crumpet (such a cute name!). The romance was a bit lackluster, but it was still cute and gave me major Hallmark vibes. (I totally pictured Abe to look like Tyler Hynes!) Overall this was an excellent debut, filled with Christmas magic, and guaranteed to make you hungry for an eggnog scone!