Christmas stories tend to bring people together, but sometimes the people who need that togetherness most are carrying things nobody else can see. A struggling parent, a grieving family, someone overlooked after years of hard work, and a grandfather discovering retirement isn't quite as restful as everyone seems to think all find themselves crossing paths in one very welcoming café. Add festive treats, community activities, and a child determined to spread a little Christmas magic, and there are plenty of lives about to become tangled together.
A Dash of Christmas Spirit by Susan Buchanan
Series: The Christmas Spirit #5
Genres: Holiday Romance
About the Book:

CAN LARA ADD A SPRINKLING OF MAGIC THIS CHRISTMAS?

Jacob introduces ever tastier treats to the Sugar and Spice cafe’s menu as the Christmas Spirit knits her magic into the lives of those finding this Christmas tough.

Florence is struggling to make ends meet and afford the present she knows her son wants for Christmas. Her ex-husband flaunting his new girlfriend and their baby isn’t helping her mood.

Widower Jude feels a failure as a father to his two young children after the tragic death of his wife. The move to Winstanton was meant to make life easier. Can he learn to carve out time to build new friendships and give himself the chance to grieve?

Rachel’s boss has given the promotion he promised her to the man twenty years her junior, whom she trained. She’s fed up with being taken for granted, and the lack of sympathy from her husband and teenage children.

Retired David feels Grinch-like as his son expects him to look after his grandchildren all the time, without taking his life into consideration. He used to love Christmas, but this year it has lost its sparkle.

Can the warm welcome at the Sugar and Spice café help them find their Christmas spirit?

A feel-good festive romance with a heartwarming community and a generous helping of Christmas spirit!

Tropes:🎄 Christmas

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I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A Dash of Christmas Spirit was my first book by Susan Buchanan and my first visit to this series, and this really is Christmas in a book. There are festive treats, Christmas movies, holiday books, crafts, community activities, and plenty of reasons for people to gather at the Sugar & Spice Café.

The café is really the heart of everything. It’s the sort of place where different generations naturally mix, whether they’re coming in for something delicious, joining a book club, taking part in an activity, or simply needing somewhere welcoming to spend a little time. Uncle Jacob keeps everyone well supplied with treats, while Lara seems determined to make sure nobody leaves without a little more happiness than they arrived with.

And Lara is delightful. She’s kind, observant, and somehow manages to notice when the adults around her are struggling. I kept thinking of her as Santa’s little helper because she genuinely wants everyone to have a wonderful Christmas. The problem this year is that she has quite a few people who could use her particular brand of Christmas magic.

There are several storylines happening at once, and initially I thought one character would become my clear favorite. Then I’d move into someone else’s life and change my mind.

Florence really tugged at me. She’s separated, raising her son Rain, looking for work, and trying to stretch money that simply doesn’t stretch far enough. Her ex isn’t taking nearly enough responsibility, which leaves Florence trying to protect Rain from realizing just how difficult things have become.

I admired how determined she was. She gets knocked back and keeps looking for another opportunity. She worries about Christmas and the present Rain desperately wants, but she’s dealing with much bigger questions about rent, bills, and what happens next. She doesn’t stop trying to give her son some stability.

There’s also the possibility that romance hasn’t completely disappeared from her life because Jude catches her attention. Jude may have eventually edged everyone else out as my favorite. He’s a widower raising two young children who are grieving their mother while he’s still grieving his wife. He has moved his family to Winstanton hoping for more support and perhaps a chance for all three of them to begin living again.

I liked that the story doesn’t treat moving forward as forgetting his wife. Jude isn’t trying to erase her or replace her. He’s tired of simply existing and wants to find some happiness again while helping his children do the same.

Watching something begin to develop between Jude and Florence was especially sweet because neither one needs someone to swoop in and magically repair everything. They’re two people carrying very different difficulties who begin seeing something in one another that might be worth exploring.

Then we have Rachel, whose work situation made me mad on her behalf. She was promised a promotion. Instead, it goes to a man twenty years younger whom she trained. As if that wasn’t irritating enough, things continue getting worse at work, and initially she isn’t getting the support she needs at home either.

I wanted somebody to start flipping tables. Rachel’s storyline brought something different to the book because her problems aren’t centered around grief or money. She’s dealing with being undervalued after putting years into her career and watching someone else benefit from her experience. I was glad her husband eventually began redeeming himself because there were moments when I wanted to sit him down and explain a few things.

David’s situation hit another familiar nerve. He’s retired, and his son Lewis seems to have interpreted retirement as “Dad is available whenever I need childcare.” David loves his grandchildren. That’s never the issue. The problem is that his time is still his own, and helping family shouldn’t automatically mean being expected to drop whatever he’s doing whenever someone else makes plans.

Lewis’s reaction when David finally pushes back had me frustrated. Maybe it’s because I understand how easy it is for someone who likes helping people to slowly become the person everyone assumes will always say yes, but I was firmly on David’s side.

With all these problems, you might expect this to become a fairly heavy Christmas story. It doesn’t. The difficult parts give the Christmas cheer something to work against. The Sugar & Spice Café keeps bringing everyone back together, and the community surrounding these characters becomes increasingly important. There are books, movies, crafts, festive food, lovely drinks, and those small holiday traditions that make December feel different from the rest of the year.

There is also a mysterious benefactor quietly adding another layer to everything happening around Winstanton. I enjoyed the fact that the Christmas magic isn’t really about waving a wand and making everyone’s problems disappear. Florence still has to worry about money. Jude and his children still miss someone they love. Rachel has to decide what she’s willing to accept at work. David needs boundaries with his family.

Christmas simply gives these people a reason to come together, and sometimes finding the right people at the right moment can change what happens next. My first trip to the Sugar & Spice Café left me wanting something warm to drink, a ridiculous Christmas treat, and a seat close enough to Lara that I could see exactly whose life she plans to meddle in next.