The Christmas Surprise

Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop #3

by Jenny Colgan

Rosie Hopkins, newly engaged, is looking forward to an exciting year in the little sweetshop she owns and runs. But when fate strikes Rosie and her boyfriend, Stephen, a terrible blow, threatening everything they hold dear, it's going to take all their strength and the support of their families and their Lipton friends to hold them together.

After all, don't they say it takes a village to raise a child?

Genres: Christmas, Romance, Chick Lit, Fiction, Holiday, Contemporary, Audiobook

Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2014

About the author

Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including 'The Little Shop of Happy Ever After' and 'Summer at the Little Beach Street Bakery', which are also published by Sphere.' Meet Me at the Cupcake Café' won the 2012 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, as was 'Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams', which won the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2013.

For more about Jenny, visit her website and her Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter.

Jenny Colgan has also been published under the name Jenny T. Colgan.

Reviews

[Obsidian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I re-read the third book this weekend just because I was surprised to see it wasn't on my Goodreads read shelf. And then I recall why I didn't add it. I was annoyed the first time I read it and really annoyed and aggravated the second time I read it. This book should have just been called "White Saviors to the Rescue" or "The Blind Side: Part 2". I forgot how condescending and just awful this whole book was.

Rosie and Stephen are now engaged and Rosie is happy to be thinking of their future and running her sweetshop. However, things from Stephen's past come back to affect the couple. Rosie doesn't know if their relationship will be strong enough to get past this.

"The Christmas Surprise" honestly is a paint by numbers story. You are going to know what is happening way before it does. Nothing was a "surprise". And as another reviewer mentioned, this book had a lot of serious issues that honestly weighed the book down. It just didn't feel like a happy book, just mostly a book I read and went my God everyone is terrible.

The setting of the book moves from Lipton to Africa. And I won't get into the Africa parts in order to not spoil, but my God. Africa is a continent made up of about 54 countries. They are not all similar and it just irked my ever loving soul that when "Africa" makes an appearance in a book it's either people talking about lions or crap, the children who just love to see them and play, or extreme poverty.

The ending made me roll my eyes. The fact this is pushed as a "Christmas" book surprised the life out of me.

[LoLo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m almost guaranteed to love a Jenny Colgan novel and especially the Rosie Hopkins stories because they’re set in an English countryside village that snows at Christmas and there’s hot chocolate and everything is wonderful. For that reason alone, aside from the fact that I love these characters the best, I was looking forward to this novel.

To me, this novel felt extremely forced and predictable. I knew Rosie was pregnant before she was, I knew what would happen when they visited the African village and I knew what the real ‘Christmas surprise’ reveal was going to be. I don’t mind knowing where the lovely happy ending is going and that everything is going to turn out to be fantastically alright by the end, but this novel just felt entirely too formulaic to be fun. It also lacked the trademark charm of Colgan’s writing – the love interests were fighting about some pretty serious issues, the surrounding townspeople lacked a lot of the humour and loveableness that attracted me to them and Lilian – the real gem of the novels – felt like an afterthought or a cameo appearance.

There was a lot of serious drama to wade through in The Christmas Surprise from heavy financial burdens to serious medical problems and deep family rifts. It felt to me that in trying to work out all these very serious issues, the book didn’t have time to get around to the fun and the magic of Christmas. Considering that Colgan’s was one of the first Christmas books I read, and something that got my heavily into the genre, this novel felt like a disappointment.

[Katy O. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A welcome return to this series, but not my favorite Colgan story. Still a sweet one, though!

[Lisa Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an end to a sweet trilogy, it's nice to see everyone get a happily-ever-after, but some elements of this books felt forced and predictable to me. I love these characters and I'm glad I read through to the conclusion of their stories, but this 3rd book just didn't appeal to me the way the first two did. (Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies)

[Esmé Boom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah this is not for me and I knew it a hundred pages in. Seriously annoyed with all the 'I will show you Africa' or 'this was it: Africa' kind if stuff (reminder: Africa is not one country). Not woke, though it pretends to be. White saviourism everywhere. Character building was lazy with the 'villains'. Eugh. Should have DNF'd, but as I expected, I did enjoy the happy ending a little bit - but why did the social worker have to get a burnout for Rosie and Stephen to have their happy ending? Why the sudden change in some characters? Why am I still writing a review of a book I so clearly want to be done with?

[Livia · Rating 2 out of 5]

wenn man auf durchschnittliche und unrealistische Chick-lit-Literatur steht sicher ganz nett, aber für mich einfach nur banal und extrem langweilig. Hatte gehofft (allerdings vor 5 Monaten) es würde mich in eine gemütliche Weihnachtsstimmung versetzen, hat es aber in keiner Weise (Es spielt nicht mal durchgehend zur Weihnachtszeit!)
Nach mehreren Anläufen über 2 Jahre hinweg breche ich es jetzt ab und versuche es irgendwie loszuwerden (Freunde oder Internet)

[Hani Tiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book make my heart warm and cosy. Beautiful and perfect ending ❤

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone who knows me how much I adore Jenny Colgan books. I love the Cupcake series and the lovely Rosie Hopkins series so I couldn't wait to start this, which I did on 1st December to get me into the Christmas spirit. It hits the spot perfectly and catching up on Rosie and Stephen's lives is like meeting old friends.

It's just a lovely cosy feeling book and as always I had tears at the end. I didn't want to leave my old friends Rosie, Stephen, Lilian, Tina etc, so didn't really want to finish it.

I won't say anymore, just to say read it and get lost in it like I did.

Just lovely.

Happy Christmas everyone :-)

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great end to my 2015 Christmas readings. I always enjoy a Jenny Colgan book!

[Jodie- Readthewriteact · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for a Christmas read. It is both light and emotional at the same time, while filled with hope which seems to be a Jenny Colgan speciality. I must say that I did find the plot more predictable than the previous two books, which for me was a bit of a let down. Despite this, the journey to the end (regardless of its predictability) was still rich and engaging. The author has managed to stay true to the core personality of the characters in this book but also has demonstrated how they have grown, especially regarding the relationship between Rosie and Stephen. Some of the other storylines did seem a bit farcical, but it is fiction after all. Quite a nice, happy read even if it is somewhat predictable.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A joy to read.

[fran ☻ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the first festive instalment and this one was just as lovely and cosy as the last...

Definitely one to pick up if you’re a sucker for heartwarming yet funny Christmas reads! :)

[Sue Publicover · Rating 3 out of 5]

I normally enjoy Jenny Colgan’s books, but this one was about 120 pages too long. The multitude of plot lines was so tedious that I almost gave up. I’m not a quitter, but in this case, I should have made an exception.

[Melliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it and there were many sweet moments, but I downgraded it from four stars to three for being so predictable, and also for having a pretty pat ending. Still enjoyable, though, as part of the franchise.

[Amanda Katsion vadbunker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing like a cozy, heartwarming Jenny Colgan book to put you in the Christmas mood.

[Renee Babcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay, but one thing really bothered me about it consistently: the main characters take a trip to the African continent. I have friends who live on the African continent (which, BTW, is very big, with 54 countries). But throughout the book, the character always refers back to that trip as "going to Africa." That's a peeve of mine, because Africa is the continent. People don't say I'm going to North America, they say which country they're going to visit. Every time the author wrote this, it made me more and more irritated. She also only ever refers to the poverty and the arid climate, and while yes, there is both of those within the African climate, heck, we have those here in the US as well and in many other parts of the world. It felt very stereotypical.

While there, the couple end up adopting a baby. There's definitely some white savior thing going on here, and it's funny because a different character mentions it but no one really listens to her.

So while this was a pleasant enough read, I actually thought there were some serious problems with this book, enough so that I didn't enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed her books in the past.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a Christmas book. If you're looking for that, go away and come back to this book after the 25th of December, because this is a good book, but absolutely not a Christmas book.

It is also not a romance in the traditional, expected fashion. The protagonists are already together, and they're starting their family, living together, traveling together...this isn't your typical "boy meets girl" love story.

Despite this, it is, in fact, a love story in its own right. It is the story of passion, adoration, hardship, tragedy, depression, trauma, and what all of those things can do to a previously very solid and healthy relationship. It's about healing, stretching, humility, acceptance, and absolutely, 100% true love.

And, because it's post-2009 Jenny Colgan, it's a wonderfully heartwarming, sweet story you'll love. Just don't pick it up expecting a holiday romance because that's not what this is. And if you expect to be surprised at what the Christmas Surprise actually is, brace yourself, because you won't be. It's obvious by the time you hit page 100 what the surprise is going to be--but don't let that ruin your reading!

It also feels a bit like this is two different stories that should have been told separately but connectedly--maybe one book from Stephen's perspective, involving a harrowing trip to Africa (which, by the way, is not a country--someone please stop letting authors refer to the continent like it's all one single culture and people) and the impact it has on his relationship with Rosie, and another book from Rosie's perspective focused on the primary plot line of this book and the impact all of that has on her relationship with Stephen. Or maybe one book, but alternating chapters? It just felt really jarring to be taken on that jaunt to Africa in the midst of grief. It felt heartless and disjointed.

That being said, I did love how that whole side of things panned out--it just felt weird in this particular book. And of course there is always the stellar wit Colgan uses in her dialogue between characters, which I adore.

All in all, truly another lovely story featuring sweet Rosie Hopkins and her reclusive love of her life. I give it 3 stars only because it feels like misleading marketing to put Christmas in the title, and because it is so entirely predictable.

[Rosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 ☆

The Christmas Surprise by Jenny Colgan confirmed something for me: Colgan has grown both better at character development and better at unpacking what appears to be internalized fat phobia in her writing over the years.

The Christmas Surprise is the 3rd and final installment of stories about Rosie Hopkins. This was published in 2014, and Colgan has written many more accessible, engaging books since then. So far, for me, I have had much better experiences with her more recent Christmas story offerings.

This story, and Rosie's entire arc, reads with a tone that is very Bridget Jones-esque. Enter "plump" girl who falls all over herself to be a problem solver (and in many cases feeling hider/stuffer) so that she can prevent everyone around her from giving up on their relationship because she dares to be "larger than a size 8" (that specific qualifier mentioned in this installation). She must be a people pleaser or they might notice!

This style also conveniently elevates the males in the story as somehow saints for not caring about poor Rosie's giant character flaw: not being tiny. How dare this girl exist in an average body. Also convenient? The men in these types of stories, and Rosie's fiance fits this bill, then direct judgement and exasperation at the protagonist because she can't just let go and be honest. You can totally be honest with me, big girl, because I'm a saint! Barf.

The second book in this series was enjoyable, and the internalized fat phobic nonsense somehow wasn't as prevalent as it is in this final piece. It was there, mind you, but not as glaring.

The Christmas Surprise still features Colgan's skill at time, place, and feel, but the characters are so plastic and negatively impacted by such vapid vanity that it's distracting. They're all awful. Even the same characters that didn't seem as awful in the previous book. And I cannot fail to mention that Colgan's handling of "Africa" is...questionable. Maybe she forgot Africa is a continent? And that "poor" and "too hot" are not primary, exclusive defining qualities of countries within the continent. Also white saviorism? There's a bit that's problematic here. I would recommend picking up one of Colgan's more recent publications. They are leaps and bounds better than this one.

[Gina R. Briggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

As a loss and adoptive mom, there were many elements of this story that hit close to home. Lots of heavy topics were handled with grace. In particular, I loved how it was noted that Stephen and Rosie will never forget that their son has two mothers. This is something I think about everyday. You never forget your child’s birth mom if you have adopted. Though aggravating to be reminded that such people exist in this world, I felt it was realistic for Colgan to include that not everyone immediately supported Stephen and Rosie’s adoption. Sadly, that part of the story was very close to home for me as well and I found those dynamics realistically portrayed. All that aside, this is a cozy and heartwarming seasonal read. Jenny Colgan is sure to get you in the Christmas spirit.

I had to deduct a full star and a half for one gigantic issue—ending with the implication that Rosie is now pregnant. This was unnecessary. Rosie’s family is complete with her adoptive son. Why does she NEED a biological cherry on top? And given that it’s been explained that she’s previously lost a child and has major fertility complications, this bit of writing doesn’t give me excitement or hope. Knowing that Rosie may be pregnant, realistically, leads me to believe that she’ll have another loss. Just being real here…Why can’t the adoptive child be enough? Irritatingly, this narrative plays into the harmful joke of “If you want to get pregnant, just start the adoption process!” Just food for thought.

[Shelley Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ stars
This story, my friends, is one of my all-time favorites. It is the conclusion of a trilogy that I absolutely adored, characters, setting, sentiment and all, and what a magnificent conclusion it was.

This story was everything I love about reading. It was charming and picturesque, totally atmospheric, cozy and lovely. It’s the place I’d dream of living, with people I’d want to surround myself with. This story made me laugh and also made me tear up. It made me pause and think, and it transported me to another place, time and culture. I lost myself in this story. Everything about it just totally worked for me and made me feel so good reading it, but also a bit heart-broken to see it end. It was a perfect reading experience, the quintessential Christmas story, and I am so grateful to authors who write books that are truly long-lasting gifts to their readers.

[Karen Biegert · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 3.5 than a 4. Heartwarming story about the life you dream of versus the life you have. Some parts seemed to drag on at times, but the humor made up for it. Some parts didn’t make sense: for example, Stephen is posh, but he & Rosie have money issues. Also, since the first book of the series, Rosie has wanted to get married. By the end of the series, she’s still not married (although she has a fiancé & an adopted baby). Overall, a sweet book. This is my second favorite book of this series.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of Jenny Colgan I must say I was a little disappointed with this book. I have read others about Rosie and her sweet shop but this one lacked that charm of the other books. That is not to say it wasn't a good book with plenty of family, community, emotion and more but it just didn't hold my attention as well as the others did.

I love that Rosie and Stephen adopt a child and that the community rally around but there wasn't as much about the sweet shop in this one. It is a good book but it just didn't enthral me so I give it 3 1/2 stars.

The Christmas Surprise
Jenny Colgan

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt solidly fine. It was nice to return to these characters and community again but I never really got into the story. At times the problems or characters felt to contrived or like caricatures it was almost comical. There were also some comments made about characters weight or physical disabilities that felt very dated and inappropriate. It was a nice conclusion to the series and tied everything up with a bow.

[Iona Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wildly enjoyable book as ever but loses a star for a really egregious case of Africa-as-a-country. There is a whole substantial plotline involving a main character's time with Medecins Sans Frontières and the people he met while he was working for them, and how he spoke perfect French as a result of his time in this richly described village in a richly described landscape - but it's just "Africa". WHERE.

[Calliss · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this one as much as the previous 2, but I just could not.

I found almost none of the charme from the other books and everything revolves around Ap (and I am just not into that) so it felt like everything else were left behind. I also needed more background, more christmas, more ending.

It's still cute, its not that... but compared to the other two RH books it let me down.

[Sonia Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the richest ending to a sweet trilogy. I don't have words. It's such a heart warming book, simple, sweet, cute. Everyone knows that a book featuring a child is always the best and this book is just one more proof of that. More than a child, it's about family, community, helping, enjoying the simple pleasures of life and of living.

Jenny Colgan, again, proves her talent.

[Lisa Whittaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a shame you can’t give half a star as this would be a 3.5 stars from me. Nice to catch up with Rosie again. Lovely story. Happy ending. A nice, feel good Christmas read which, after this absolutely awful year, we all need.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 3 in the Rosie Hopkins series. Cute story. I need to read book 1 in the series though to get Rosie’s backstory & how she meets Stephen. I was looking to read something Christmasy. Jenny Colgan always has a light hearted story to read…almost Hallmarkish…but not nearly as cheesy

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed something warm, bright, and quick - this fit the bill perfectly!

[Catherine Stead · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nearly a DNF, unfortunately didn't enjoy this one.