Book Review: A Tasteful Christmas by Victoria Penning

Mystery.  Danger.  Romance.  Trust.  And some hearty Christmas Cheer!
 
Olivia Jackson is finally living her life-long dream of owning a bakery.  Whipped Dreams Bakery is flourishing, and the Christmas season couldn’t be more promising.  But someone is trying to take everything Olivia has worked so hard to build away from her. 
 
When Olivia is given one week to close shop and clear out, things start getting complicated.  Adrian Callen, an FBI agent and friend of her father, steps in to help. But with her past still lurking in the corners of her mind, will she be able to accept his help? Can he help her discover who is trying to shut her down?  What is Adrian struggling with?  And will she ever learn to trust again?

My rating:

Guyyyyyyssssss.

It's Christmas book season. *grins*

I own a sad amount of Christmas books, and with the libraries on lockdown, I don't want to deal with that hassle. But thankfully, I think I've got enough to last me through Christmas.

I approached Victoria this summer about a book swap, and I was sooo excited when she agreed! So when the book came, I eagerly opened the package...and immediately forced myself to put it up on my shelf to wait to read until Christmastime. *sigh*

BUT. The time finally arrived, and on Thanksgiving day, I could wait no longer. I brought that baby down off the shelf, plopped onto the couch, and commenced reading.

I was drawn in right away. I'm a sucker for books that have 1) sports, and 2) food in prominent roles. So while it doesn't involve sports, there is a bakery and it made me soooo happy. One thing that bugged me, though, was that I don't remember the book ever mentioning the bakery name? Like, it's in the back cover blurb, but nowhere in the book? I mean, it's not a real issue, I just...idk. I just think it would've been fun for Livy to pop over the counter, covered in flour, when a customer comes in and say "welcome to Whipped Dreams Bakery!"

(Actually maybe she did do that...I don't remember *facepalm*)

Adrian was so cool. I loved his protective, big-brother attitude toward Olivia and Addy, and how, (*potential spoiler*) even when he and Olivia made their feelings for each other known, he still spent time with and gave attention to his sister. Also, it cracked me up every time someone called him Agent Callen—if ya know, ya know.

Addy was super fun. And of course I'm going to immediately like her if she's Adrian's twin. *grins* (again, if ya know, ya know) And Olivia was such a sweet girl, the poor broken cinnamon roll (they're actually all poor broken cinnamon rolls, really) with a form of PTSD. Her past kept being hinted at, and her DEEP DARK SECRET was so ramped up that I was afraid that by the time I actually found out what the secret was, it'd be a let down. But...uh...yeah...if I'd gone through that, I'd have PTSD too. *shudders* And Y'ALL LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT DERICK! Like, he definitely wasn't a major character. More like a minor of the minor characters. But I honestly loved the little that I saw of him, and I think he needs his own story. *nods*

The romance was actually super sweet and cute. There wasn't bucketloads chemistry and sparks described, which I really appreciated—just a man learning to let go and live, and a girl learning to trust. (If you'll excuse me, I need to go find a man to throw some flour on.)

The themes of learning to trust, and let go, and all that jazz was so good. I loved seeing the characters grow.

One thing that I didn't care for was the dramatization of Adrian's past. Like, I understand that the dude was brokenhearted. It made me feel really bad for him. But I felt like the fact that the whole avoid-saying-her-name-at-all-costs was kinda...overdone. *shrugs*

But all that said, it was a CHRISTMAS book. And the Christmas baking and hot cocoa and the coziness—*happy sigh*

I'm so looking forward to more by this author!

What Christmas books are on your TBR this season?