Christmas, love, and a batch of cookies.Leela Miller’s mom passed away last spring. Now, Leela is desperate to fill Mom’s shoes in the Ladies’ Auxiliary by chairing the Cookie House fundraiser. The hitch: mean-eyed Mrs. Coldicott refuses to host the event at her Society Row home as planned.Leela must find a new venue big enough and fancy enough to draw in customers, or Mom’s event might get … or Mom’s event might get canceled. There’s only one perfect place: the Layton Mansion.
New vet school graduate Jay Wilson has been remodeling the Layton Mansion since he inherited it this summer. It’s almost Christmas, and the house is nearly ready to flip!
If he can get a good price for it, he can buy a partnership at a veterinary clinic out of town.
However, by stipulation of the will, Jay can’t sell the house until he cleans out the attic.
Jay needs help completing the enormous task before his deadline. The beautiful Leela will eagerly help—if he agrees to allow her to use the house for her event. But, when Jay learns that the Cookie House event is the same day as his sale deadline, will he sell the house out from under the girl he might just be falling in love with?
The Christmas Cookie House is Book 1 in the Christmas House Romance series by award-winning author Jennifer Griffith. Other books in the series include The Sleigh Bells Chalet and The Holiday Hunting Lodge.
Jennifer writes clean, escapist fiction she calls Cotton Candy for the Soul—light, sweet, gone.
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Such a fun story. Perfect read leading up to Christmas
I adored this story from the first page. A klutzy heroine and drool-worthy hero I could relate to. Read it in one sitting. Burned supper because I was reading while cooking.
Leela wants to continue in her mother’s shoes by arranging the annual Christmas cookie event. But she is constantly being thwarted by 2 people. What is Mrs. Coldicott’s problem anyhow? The Ladies’ Auxillary has used her home for years but not this year. This is a mystery that Leela has to solve for the event to even happen at all. I so much enjoyed the surprise ending.
The Christmas Cookie House by Jennifer Griffith would make a great Hallmark Christmas movie. I loved this book! Both Leela and Jay seemed so realistic to me. They are both dealing with issues but work together to try to solve their problems. What an awesome antagonist – mean spirited, manipulative and much worse. Even the cookies seem to be a character in this story – expect major cravings. I love how Ms. Griffith resolved all the issues with a perfect ending! Everyone got their just desserts!
I really enjoyed this story. The characters were interesting and well developed. I loved that the family rallied to help take care of the sick family member. This sweet, clean romance was fun to read and of course ended with that HEA.
The dialogue in this book was the best part of it! For such a short book, the build-up of the MCs relationship was extremely well executed. The banter between them and the Christmassy metaphors had me smiling from ear to ear!
I loved this book! The characters are great, the plot is a lot of fun, and the little town is the best!
Leela is such a great character. She’s an only child, her mom has died recently, her dad needs tons of care. Leela has moved home to Massey Falls to care for him. And to take her mom’s place in the Ladies’ Auxiliary. A lot of the people in the town seem to be against Leela, or maybe it’s just one. She’s not quite sure why, but everything seems to be a fight. She must find somewhere to hold the Cookie House event and fast!
Jay inherited a big, beautiful house. He’s been working to renovate it to sell it. But he’s just learned that he can’t sell it until he cleans out the packed attic. I loved the way this brings Leela and Jay together in the story. They work together to clean out the attic. It’s mutually beneficial, because Leela wants to use the house for her events. They discover so many things from the junk in the attic. There are so many secrets hidden in the attic.
I loved the plot of this one! Make sure to take time to read it.
I was sent an e-copy of The Christmas Cookie House as a gift from the author. All opinions are my own.
The Christmas Cookie House by Jennifer Griffith (5 stars)
Humor is difficult to write, but Ms. Griffith’s sense of humor shines through all the pages of his book: from clever dialogue to quirky characters to funny confrontations with crazy ladies! (Plus there’s an Easter egg in this book-keep an eye out for it!)
If you are going to choose one Christmas book to read this year, this is the one! You’ll be left with a big smile on your face (and some ginger snap cookies in your tummy).
*poor, **ok, ***good, ****very good, *****something special
It’s no secret that I’d rather read than watch TV or movies, but a book that reads just like a Hallmark movie is a definite bonus. I love getting that feel-good fix that the Christmas season brings and this story brings a lot of holiday feels.
Leela is under pressure to find a location for the annual Cookie House fundraiser and has the perfect place–the Layton mansion. A load of complications arise, making this book full of drama, ingenuity, and a budding romance.
These characters are quirky and fun, bringing a light element to the drama, which really is the perfect recipe for a Hallmark show. Although a tad bit predictable, it’s exactly what the heart needs to warm and swoon.
I can always count on this author to deliver a charming story and the gingersnap cookies that are mentioned throughout sound like they’re to die for!
Content: mild romance
*I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own and were voluntarily given.*
I laughed, and I read it quickly, to see how it turned out in the end!
This is a fun story about Leela, whose mother died in the spring, and she is trying to get into the Ladies Auxiliary by chairing the Cookie House fundraiser, to honor her mother. She is trying to find a venue for fundraiser and thinks of the Layton Mansion, so goes by it, trying to see what it looks like, inside. She falls, while looking in an upper window, and someone rushes out of the house when they hear a loud sound. The handsome man she sees has inherited the house, and fixed it up, and is hoping to sell it. But there’s a problem preventing that easily happening, and Leela agrees to help him with it. I highly recommend the book, and its author!
Jennifer Griffith writes feel good while you read and afterwards too kind of stories. Christmas Cookie House does follow that rule except it begins with one Auxiliary member, Una Mae Coldicott doing her best imitation of Scrooge. I disliked her before I had finished reading the first page. Which only served for me in rooting for Leela Miller even more. However, I couldn’t help but feel that there was more going on than a Cookie Fundraiser with that villain of a women, Sure enough it does come out in the end.
Still a sweet romance in the middle of attic cleaning, house flipping and Christmas Open House – Cookie Fundraiser. Leela and Jay Wilson made an awesome pairing, both have plans, dreams and goals in life. Leela’s have become overshadowed by her mother’s death which is difficult for anyone the first Christmas without the loved one. And no I didn’t like Una Mae Coldicott any better at the end of the story but Leela and Jay I loved. Sometimes, well all the time in a Jennifer Griffith book, the good guys win.
The publisher/author gave me a complimentary ARC of the book which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Christmas Cookie House is a charming sweet read. Leela desperately needs to find a venue for the annual Cookie House fundraiser in order to continue her mother’s legacy. Jay needs to fulfil the terms of his uncle’s will so he can sell the house and move away. They both have the same deadline. Helping each other brings more than one surprise.
This book would make a perfect, feel good Christmas movie. It has great characters, both good and bad, and cookie too. I recommend you curl up with a cosy blanket, your favourite winter drink and this enjoys this book.
I love all the sweet romances that I have read that have been written by Jennifer Griffith. And I double love her sweet clean Christmas romance such as this one. It won’t be hard to guess at who the lovely couple is going to be, but you would never guess the ‘how’. This one couldn’t be better. Besides the romance, we have a terrific venue of a beautiful mansion in a small town at Christmas time. We also have an ‘icky’ antagonist which couldn’t have been more ‘icky’. And we also have COOKIES! What could be better?
An absolute joyous story to get you in the mood for Christmas. With lines like “His kiss swept her from the warm kitchen to the North Pole, with a full view of Santa’s workshop” who can resist. Wonderful. I received a complimentary copy and I am voluntarily reviewing.
This was a sweet novella. The romance was fast paced since the story took place in just a matter of weeks. And as fast paced as the romance was, the story seemed to slow to a crawl for Jay to figure out the issues with the deals he was making. Talk about dense. Dude, if something seems to good to be true, if someone is trying to push you to make the deal quickly, if your gut says no, THOSE ARE ALL SIGNS TO WALK AWAY! Ha ha. It wasn’t really that long obviously but it seemed like forever for him to see truth.
I liked the main characters and really this story could be a Hallmark movie. I’m dying to see that house, especially decorated for Christmas and I wanted the antagonists to go down. Hard. Didn’t get to see that last part but there was hope for it in the future.
So if you have a free evening and want a little Christmas magic story, give this a try. But be warned. You’ll probably crave cookies by the time you are done.
No sex, language or violence
*I received a complimentary copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
Leela and Jay discover treasure and not just in the attic. Loved how they were connected to each other. A really sweet romance with a bit of mystery as well as a villain. The author made me feel as if I was there eating the cookies and making discoveries alongside the characters.