I love diving into Kiley Dunbar's books, and I was looking forward to this latest one, and it didn't disappoint.
Margi, our main character, is a 64-year-old woman who is in a bit of a dilemma in life. She feels like the laughingstock of Wheaton Village after a messed up shortest-ever marriage the previous year and wants to start afresh. Only she has a huge responsibility on her shoulders, in the form of a gingerbread village that she creates annually with the help of some friends. It is a tradition started by her mother and one she can't bear to stop. However, circumstances seem to be pushing her in the direction of ending it.
I am not going to regurgitate the story as my review, as that won't be fair on any prospective readers.
What I will say is that if you want a feel-good romance with heart, and a HEA, then Kiley Dunbar is definitely the author to turn to.
Kiley has also written a slightly different character as her main one, this time, in the form of an older woman, not quite in her twilight years but feeling past it.
Women in their 60s are not perceived as how they were a couple of decades ago. They aren't all automatically a part of the blue rinse brigade and only fit for knitting, tea and low walks with zimmer frames. Margi, I feel, thinks she is not worthy of another shot at happiness, especially with someone younger than her, and I loved the morphing of her thinking towards the end of the book. (Even though doubt is never far away.)
And all the reading about gingerbread made me crave some, in the middle of the summer, too! I'd love to see a gingerbread village like the one Margi's mum and then Margi created.
A wonderful festive read!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Hera Books for an ARC.

LOVE!! Margi has lost her Christmas spirit but she’s about to get it back ten fold. Omg I love anything Christmas, I’m one of the most festive people around so the fact I got to bring a little Christmas into my life in July made me so happy. The community feel, the Christmas setting , everything just screamed cosy feel good vibes to me.

I received a free copy of, The Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley Dunbar, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 64 year old Margi has lost her Christmas spirit, she lives in a beautiful town of Wheaton in the Cotswolds. This Christmas they have a to make a huge gingerbread Christmas village. Margi has a love interest, but will she brave enough to actually act on it? Margi has great friends especially Izz. I really enjoyed this book by Kiley Dunbar, she is one of my favorite authors,

A lovely story about friendship, community and aging without apology. I enjoyed these great characters and this relatable story.

What a cozy, uplifting holiday read. This is the first book I've read by this author and I will definitely be going back for more.

Margi has taken over the tradition of creating the town 'gingerbread village' (a tradition that had been carried on by her mother before handing over the reins to her daughter).as the years have passed and 'life' has started to harden the heart towards Christmas, Margi has started wondering if her future includes gingerbread , or if it's time to move away from her beloved community and start living a life solely for herself. As the holiday season continues, disaster strikes the beloved tradition. As the community navigates some holiday challenges, Margi (as well as her friends and family) learn that relying on each other is just the thing they all need in moments like this.

This beautiful story gives you ALL of the holiday feels - romance, traditions, friendships, family, community and of course the holiday beauty of bakeries, quaint cafes, Christmas markets and gingerbread. This is the kind of book to cozy up with in front of a fire while sipping some hot chocolate. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this wonderful holiday book!

I love a Christmas book and this was a slow cosy romance that had it all. The characters were charming and the plot was fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

The Gingerbread Christmas Village - Kiley Dunbar

Really enjoyable characters and the feeling of community ran through this book for me. I feel that there could be a follow on book from this one, and would love it if there was. I felt it was a cosy easy read book, that would be perfect for Christmas time. I adored the setting being in the Cotswolds as that area is very fond to me. This was my first time reading a book from this author, and I very much look forward to reading more from them. Thanks so much Netgalley and Hera Books for this e-arc in return for my honest thoughts ans opinions.

3.5⭐

This author is an auto-read author for me; I’ve enjoyed all three of her Borrow-A-Bookshop books!

What’s not to love about reading a Christmas book in July?! Right?

How about a chance to smell the gingerbread? How about a chance to stroll through a Cotswold village? At Christmas? Sign me up!

As I read about Margi getting her Christmas spirit back, mine increased, too!

In addition to the festive spirit you’d expect from this book, you’ll also read about women, friendship, aging, romance, and community togetherness.

Dunbar explores the problems society creates around expectations on how women are supposed to age. In opposition to the invisibility women in their 60s and 70s feel, Dunbar’s starring roles go to these spectacular women of a certain age. She crafts them as bold and beautiful with plenty still to contribute to society.

Dunbar also highlights intergenerational friendships and shows that they are mutually beneficial, encouraging readers to reach out and create cross-generational bonds.

I appreciated her message about loving yourself first so that you can give and receive love.

I was gifted this copy by Hera Books and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Sweet characters and the setting is fabulous. Dunbar has nailed the perfect Christmas book! I was reading it for a Christmas in July book challenge and it was spot on for those cozy vibes I was desiring. Four stars. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Christmas in July, filled with cinnamon, hot chocolates and gingerbread. It brought together the community spirit, friendship, love and kindness, which is what Christmas is all about.

'... where life is guaranteed to be as sweet as Christmas gingerbread and where no matter the time of year, we let love happen'.

I enjoyed the multi-generational characters (and their views on dating), the heartwarming community / friends aspect, and how true happiness is found within yourself, no matter your age.

It's an overall feed good Christmassy book. Grab yourself a hot chocolate, no matter the weather, and get cosy to read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hera Books for this copy. This review is voluntary.

Having loved the borrow a bookshop series by this author I couldn’t wait to get t stuck into this and I normally do Christmas in July but this made me start in June this year and I wasn’t disappointed. This was a beautiful festive read which really gets to the heart of Christmas and the community spirit and shows what can be achieved with a bit of help from friends and the community.

Loved that the book contained a mixture of multi generational and relatable characters and that a lot of other real life themes were intertwined in the story.

This book was uplifting and positive and brought happiness to the reader and also some early festive cheer.

I hope this is going to become a series as I would love to hear more about how the lives of the characters and the gingerbread village progress.

Truly a perfect wintery fiction read full of heart & community spirit. This book encapsulates all that is wonderful about intergenerational friendships, and celebrates older women in such a positive way.
I really loved Kiley Dunbar's author letter at the end and I think so many readers will appreciate her message and this being an uplifting, kind read with no tragedies, something that's more important than is often realised when people who are going through grief or tragedy at Christmas just want an escapist book that guides them tenderly through. Wonderful book!

A very lovely Christmas book, scented with hot chocolate and freshly baked gingerbread.
This was very festive and sweet, the characters were lovely and it was a predictable romp of a book.
Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

IT took me a good bit to get into this story, I almost DNF'ed But it is a good story of family and tradition which is really important especially around the holidays

A really lovely book about the power of community and that we are better together. When everyone clubs together to save and piece back together the gingerbread village after it is destroyed. A really lovely christmassy book and one not to be missed this festive season.

“The Gingerbread Christmas Village” is a delightful exploration of community, multi generational friendships and love. It is full of seasonal warmth, the scent of cinnamon and the spark of Christmas lights.

When disaster strikes and the gingerbread village of the title, is destroyed, a whole community of people help to save the situation. The main character Margi is in her early sixties, the book follows the complex emotions she goes through as she battles with the anxiety that society sees older women differently. She believes that she should move, settle down and not continue being the exuberant, joyful woman who has put all her energies into building the community gingerbread village every year that she can remember. However, she is encouraged to to embrace who she is by her young friends, even trying online dating to prove that age doesn’t change you, you can work, play, travel and find true happiness just being yourself. That being said the main question is, will she also dismiss love when she finds it based on her perceived expectations of society or will she go for it?

I loved reading this heartwarming book. It is always refreshing to read books that ensure that people understand life doesn’t end at 50 and that fun, laughter and romance continue and blossom with age. It gives us all something to look forward to.

The Gingerbread Christmas Village by Kiley Dunbar is a wonderful and festive contemporary fiction that I truly enjoyed.

I have enjoyed Ms, Dunbar’s books in the past, so of course I wanted to read this gem. (And I have to mention that I love, love, love gingerbread…like big time.)

I loved the concepts of friends, community, hope, promise, love, kindness, and evoking the spirit of what the Christmas season can bring. It was so nice to read something uplifting and positive. It was also very awesome to be able to follow along with a MC in her 60s, Margi. She was relatable, likable, and realistic, adorable, imperfect, and oh so funny and…did I say awesome already? One couldn’t help but be a fan in her corner. As a female reader nearing 40, it is hard to find books where the MC is the rightful star of the show that is middle-aged. I loved this.

I loved the whole cast of characters in the little village of Wheaton in the Cotswolds. Sure it is picturesque and quaint, but the author holds no punches in that it is just like any small town, and you are what you make of it. I loved the inhabitants and the transformations that overtake this village physically and also within each person. I loved Patrick, Izz, Lucy, Fern, Shell, Sully, Leo…and I can go on and on. Yes, this is a Christmas book, but I think it can easily be enjoyed at any time of the year.

The ending was perfect, and I would love to see another book to follow. I really feel these characters have more in them and more to say…it would be very exciting.

I finished the book feeling warm, cheery, hopeful, and smiling.

Another home run from Ms. Dunbar.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Hera Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 8/31/23.

This was such a great warm cozy read. I loved how it focused on a older protagonist which unfortunately you don't see to much of anymore.Without giving to much away it had a beautiful storyline, great cast of characters, and beautiful scenery. I loved every moment and I know our readers will too! Kiley's books are such a treat! Looking forward to her next title!

A wonderful, feel-good book that I very much enjoyed reading while having tropical temperatures here in the NL.

It took me a bit to warm to this story, but with when Lucy (who is able to read Margi as a children's picture book) enters the story things take off with a different speed.
Indeed, aging women (dye the hair, don't dye the hair) and even those who are not yet considered middle age are burdened with other do's and don'ts about their appearances (Drop a Dress Size for Christmas)...
Just do as you please and don't let others dictate how to behave (be noisily or even mischievously) or how to look (frog green nail polish, anyone? Makes my day!).

Often I make a point of inclusion or diversity when it lacks in a book I read, but in this case I was happily surprised by the variety (for want of a better word) of people being part of the community of this small town. Without all of this being emphasized as a theme of the book. Instead, simply them being there.

I'm hoping The Gingerbread Christmas Village to be the first in a series. For that, all we need is a character being a chronic or disabled :)

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

A lovely read . A little slow to get going but got better and better.. A lovely story of tradition and pulling together as a community. I loved the difference in generations over dating and crowd funding . Made me laugh. The way peoples attitudes changed especially the headmaster Leo was great. Nice setting in the Cotswolds. I love the gingerbread measurements. Read it.