Member Reviews
A beautiful mix of Christmas, new love and baked goods all taking place in Cornwall. Charming and warm.
A great holiday read. I recommend it.
This book was absolutely enchanting. It was perfect to curl up on the couch under a blanket and just read. I could so see this as a netflix movie. Im so glad that i got to read Ivy and Adams story. A wonderful 5 star read.
I just reviewed A Cornish Christmas at the Farmhouse Bakery by Linn B. Halton. #ACornishChristmasAtTheFarmhouseBakery #NetGalley
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This book is part of a three book series . Having only read this one, I can honestly say it didn’t matter, because it is so well written and so descriptive it was very easy to learn the characters, their history and life
This focuses on Adam, Ivy and the bakery - setting up the business and making friends.
This story made me want to move to Cornwall and start a new life, it’s beautiful and descriptive.
Definitely want to read the others in this series now.
I have a weakness for all things Christmas, so was excited to grab an ARC for this book.
Sadly, for me, this did not deliver.
Although the blurb suggests that the book is about Jess and her daughter Lola, the first 150 pages or so is actually about a side character, Ivy, and her café closing. It is not until Ivy decides to move to Cornwall to work in the bakery on Jess’ farm that we are introduced to Jess. The rest of the book centres around Ivy adding a café to the bakery, fixing up the bakery, and helping Jess to arrange a Christmas festival.
Apart form the confusion over who the main character is, ¾ of the book is simply repetitive dialogue, with very little action in between.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for my honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and Aria&Aries for the opportunity to read this lovely book for free in exchange for an honest review!
Book 2 of the Escape to Cornwall series following Ivy, Jess’s best friend and Adam, Iris’s husband. The couple are now past the first year of marriage and things are not looking how they planned. Iris has set up her successful business in Stroud and Adam is making do with the odd job here and there. However, after Iris’s rubbish landlord sells up the building where her business currently is the couple have to think through their options, some down the road and some may be too good to be true in the lovely idyllic Cornwall. Does everything work out the end?
I loved this book, especially the realism of the conversations and communication that needs to happen in a healthy relationship. I love that Iris is very much a realist and I can relate to her and her pragmatism. Adam sounds like the dream man who is supportive, listens and is always happy to help if you need a hand with something. I appreciated that we saw the couple really weigh up the options given to them when all their original plans are thrown into the air. This book was very close to convincing me to move back down to the South West of England again. What a lovely Christmas comfort read!
Get comfy with your hot chocolate and enjoy the holiday season in Cornwall with Ivy, Adam, Jess, Riley and the villagers at Renweneth Farm.
This is the second in the cozy Farmhouse series and the focus this time is on Ivy & Adam. Challenged by the ups and downs of life and business, they make the hard decision to relocate and start their careers anew. Hard, but rewarding work will hopefully turn their fortunes around.
Favorite characters return and new ones are introduced. This is a village that you look forward to revisiting.
A most enjoyable and easy read! Can’t wait to read what happens next!
Thank you to #NetGalley and Aria Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Pub Date 12 October 2023
The 2nd book in a series but this time Centring on Ivy and Adam although all the characters from the first book feature. The bakery needs new owners but can Ivy step up to this challenge. Definitely some unanswered issues which I hope will be answered in book 3 as I want to know more about Riley and his son.
Thanks to Linn and her publisher. Thanks also to NetGalley. An easy 5⭐️
A Cornish Christmas at the Farmhouse Bakery, is a nice enough story with a beautiful setting and lovely characters. My only upset is the story was too long and if it had been compact and bit concise I'd have enjoyed it more.
Books are an escape and Linn B. Halton delivers another lovely slice of escapism in book 2 of The Escape to Cornwall series. I read book 1 earlier this year and was excited to read book 2 and follow Ivy and Adam’s story.
Ivy runs a successful cafe in Stroud but her plans to expand are ruined by her horrible landlord. Ivy’s best friend, Jess, suggests that Ivy move to Renweneth Farm and takeover the farmhouse bakery on Jess’s estate. After talking it over with Adam, they agree to move to the farm and take over the bakery and help Jess organize the Christmas festival. Things are not as smooth as small town jealousy and snow cause chaos for the farm and Ivy.
Though there are hardships along the way, the community comes together to help Ivy and Adam start a new business.
This book has a lot of heart with everyone coming together to help. A beautiful setting and the author immerses the reader in the sights, sounds, and emotions of the story. A delightful, heartwarming and uplifting story.
Thank you to Netgalley and Aria for the advanced copy to read in exchange for my honest opinion.
5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I don't think there's a book title in the world that grabs me more than one containing the words "Christmas" and "bakery". My favourite thing to do is write recipes for, and bake, festive treats, so this earned a five-star rating before I'd even opened the first page.
It is book two of the "Escape to Cornwall" series, but I haven't read the first one and I didn't feel any worse off for not doing so. Sure, there's probably little things you may pick up if you've read the first, but it doesn't negatively impact the reading of this one.
Just the ver descriptions of festive baking...oh it's gorgeous. I don't bake nearly as much as I used to, for health reasons, but I used to be in the kitchen from dawn to dusk at Christmas time, baking fruit cakes, gingerbreads and stollens. And so this book really took me back. You can practically smell the festive aromas and taste the goods. It's really well thought out and written. It has made me really excited for the colder months and to go and lose myself in my festive cookbooks.
It is written from the point-of-view of both Ivy and Adam, across Cornwall and Gloucestershire. It means we get an insight into each of their lives, their thoughts and worries. Whilst I would say Ivy is the key protagonist for whom everyone else orbits, by splitting the chapters, it puts Ivy and Adam on an equal billing which was lovely to see, as male characters in romance novels are often not as well developed as the female.
I like the intergenerational aspects of the characters. We have the main adults, but we also have their own children, and their own parents, which allows Linn B. Halton to fully explore what Christmas means to the different age groups.
As a whole, this is a book about community, about helping others and loving others and supporting others. About how strangers can become friends, and friends who can become family. And it's a community I would quite happily be a part of.
There's hardships, like in real life: single parenthood, new relationships, relationship difficulties, moving house, unemployment, long-distance employment, self-employment, mortgages, financial issues etc. But that's what makes it real. That's what makes the good times so great, because you've got to overcome the bad.
I have never been to Cornwall in the winter before but I think it would just be idyllic. I love it in the summer - and I hate summer - but love winter, so assume it would just be the most perfect time.
Like I say, I didn't read the first in the series, and I don't know if there will be anymore in this series, but I really hope there is. It just grabbed me and I'm still thinking about it now.
It is just a really uplifting, cosy, warming, beautiful cuddle of a book and I highly recommend it.
I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t put it down - beautifully written, great story, plenty of ups and down to keep you hooked and a bucket load of feels. As soon as I started reading I felt transported right to its heart and if Renweneth Farm existed I would be visiting in a heart beat. The characters are all brilliantly portrayed and relatable and the variety of them really adds to the sense of community. Similarly the setting in Cornwall has a real sense of place and almost becomes a character in its own right. This is the second book in the series and reading it feels like a catch up with friends. In essence it is a perfect piece of romantic escapism which will transport you away from the stresses and strains of everyday life and leave you feeling uplifted and warm and fuzzy inside. As comforting as an indulgent hot chocolate on the coldest winters day it’s one not to be missed!
Naomi thought she would be with Ben forever, but now fresh from divorce she is moving to a rundown country holiday home for a new start.
Set in Cornwall, the story allows the reader to share every experience and Cornwall sounds amazing, the story does a great job of allowing the reader to join Naomi as she experiences her new life and I cant wait to read more from Linn B Halton.
I really enjoyed this book, it can be read as standalone. Great Characters though i did feel as if Ivy was going to have a breakdown. Lovely book cover.
A Cornish Christmas at the Farmhouse Bakery is very slow. I found it unnecessarily long-winded, but maybe I would feel differently if I had the prior book in the series.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.
A lovely Christmas story. I loved reading about Ivy and Adam’s journey and I liked how we read both sides of the story. A nice, warm-hearted read.
This was a cute book about a young woman trying to make her bakery a success when her landlord sells the space out from underneath her. She then tries to figure out what to do to keep her bakery dream going. She has 2 choices to Stay in the town she knows or go somewhere new to keep her dream alive.
This would be a great read around the holidays instead of watching a hallmark movie.
If you enjoy those movies, you are sure to enjoy this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.
I was excited to see this on NetGalley, having read book 1 earlier this year. I love the characters and setting!
Ivy runs a successful cafe in Stroud, but her expansion plans are ruined by a horrible landlord. With her husband Adam's full support, they move to her best friends farm in Cornwall to open a new bakery. But along the way small town jealousy and snow cause chaos for the farm and Ivy.
I really enjoyed this book and stayed up far too late reading it (despite having a newborn who was definitely going to wake me up too early).
I loved the jumps between Ivy and Adam telling the story - early on offering alternative perspectives on the same issue and then just talking about their new lives.
In my review for book 1, I mentioned a map would be useful to help understand the layout of the farm/campsite etc. I was very pleased to see a map on page 1 this time - although sadly I couldn't expand it on Kindle to read it properly.
The acknowledgements say it's a 3 book series - I can't wait for book 3 (is it Riley's story? Do they move into the manor? Can't wait!)
I was very excited to escape to the countryside in Cornwall for a lovely Christmas story with descriptions of delicious baked goods woven in.
When I read the synopsis, the plot was described as centering around Jess who has moved with her 8 year old daughter Lola to her grandfather's farm in Cornwall. The book was supposed to center around her efforts to restore the farm and bring the community together. I was a little confused when I started and it seemed to center, rather around Jess' friend Ivy whose bakery and cafe is closing due to her landlord selling the shop out from under her. The first 100-150 pages centered on Ivy's figuring out what to do next. She finally agrees to move to Cornwall to takeover the farmhouse bakery on Jess' estate. The rest of the book is about Ivy shoring up the bakery, adding a cafe, and helping Jess organize the Christmas festival.
The end was a heartwarming Christmas gathering of family and friends celebrating the success of the estate renovations and bakery/cafe opening.
Overall, this was a sweet and cozy read. It was just a little off the mark for me. Like I said, there was the confusion about the main character, and I prefer a little more action or intrigue than just every day life, but that is personal preference. I did love the descriptions of the Cornish countryside and the community.
Thank you to Netgalley and Aria and Aries Publishing for granting me the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.
Lovely to be back at Renweneth Farm.You follow Adam and Ivy’s story. Great. Lots of hard decisions and hard work. People are quick to judge. I loved the story. Lots of teamwork. Loved the idea of healthy cakes. Felt for Rachel.. A brilliant read. A perfect happy ending for Adam and Ivy
I received a free copy of, A Cornish Christmas at the Farmhouse Bakery, by Linn B. Halton, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book 2 of The Escape to Cornwall series. Newly weds Adam and Ivy are starting over in the winter, in Cornwall. This book has so much heart, everyone comes together to help Ivy and Adam start a new business, everyone deserves friends like that. Such a great Christmas story, just warmed my heart.