Baking Spirits Bright – Florence Gray

Her throat tightened at the thought of her. She closed her eyes, and for a moment, she could almost picture it: her nan, standing right here beside her, apron tied crookedly and humming along to some tune on the record player. Eliza’s voice trembled as she spoke. “If she’d been here, she’d be standing in this cottage, in this very kitchen, whipping up truffles and little sweet treats to tuck in each of our stockings.”

She gave a soft, wistful laugh. “She used to do that each year. Everyone always had at least one thing that was different from all the rest. My dad always got orange peels dipped in white chocolate because he swore it was ‘healthier,’” Eliza air-quoted. “And I would always get raspberry creams because I always tried sneaking those when I thought she wasn’t looking.” He smiled, leaning in a little closer.

“She sounds lovely.” “She was.” She stared into the mixing bowl. Her eyes glimmered with fresh tears. “She made the holiday feel enchanting, in a way. I still marvel at the magic of this place, but I know the real magic of the season was always her.” “You miss her.” There wasn’t room for questioning in his voice. Eliza just nodded several times, her throating bobbing. “Every day.” She wiped a tear. “But when I’m baking, it feels like she’s right here. Watching. Maybe even helping.” “I think she’d be proud.”

Eliza met his eyes. “Thank you,” she choked out. She went back to stirring, as if she repeated the circular motion in the batter enough times, she might be able to summon her nan’s laughter just to hear it again. “I hope so.” Lachlan stretched a yawn as he looked at the clock. One thirty in the morning. He shut his laptop. “Snow, I’m going to have to call it for tonight.” Eliza laughed, “Well, you’d better hurry now before the cottage barricades you in here again with me.

I’m afraid there isn’t a large enough mixing bowl for you to bum like Puffcake.” As if on cue, Puffcake let out a snore from inside his copper sleeping chamber. “Oh, I wasn’t in here tonight because I had to be,” Lachlan said. The truth hung in the air between them, thick as whipping cream. “By the by, I think you’re going to smash this baking contest. You should get some rest, too, instead of stressing about it.”

Copyright © 2025 by Florence Gray All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in reviews or critical articles. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

Cover and Illustrations by Kahns Design Edited by Ioana Cheldiu Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-963836-92-9 For more about the author, visit: www.florencegray.org 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1kitap1.com/en Dear Reader, First of all, thank you for choosing to spend part of your holiday season with this story. I hold this book especially close to my heart because Marjorie, Eliza’s Nan, is inspired by someone very real to me: my own grandmother.

She was warm, bubbly, bright, and full of life as ever, even until the end. Like Gretel’s description of Mrs. Elle Toe, she was truly ruthless with a piping bag! (Though in my grandma’s case, it extended to anything baking-related.) At its core, this story is about found family, cherishing the loved ones we have, and finding joy in all of life’s unexpected curveballs. Some readers may find Eliza frustrating in her hesitation to speak, or in her uneasiness when she does, but I wrote her with extreme intentionality.

I see her as someone who has been deeply hurt and manipulated, someone who carries heavy insecurities and is slowly learning to navigate it. She finds steadiness and control best when she’s working with her hands. She (usually) doesn’t leap before she looks, except her stay at Gingerbread Hollow pushes her beyond what feels safe and familiar. My hope is that her growth feels meaningful, profound, earned, and most importantly encouraging. Merry Christmas! xoxo, Flor 1kitap1.com/en Contents 1.

Sticky Situations 2. Enchanted GingerSnaps 3. Burnt Bread 4. Baking at Midnight 5. Eggnog and Wi-Fi 6. Christmas Spirit 7. The Snowball Fight 8. Baking Ad-Lib 9. Tree Therapy 10. Gingerbread Crimes 11.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 5924ac4ff4534910
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 5,019,849 bytes (4.787 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781963836929
• Pages: 186
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 265.8 minutes
• Total Words: 53,160
• Total Characters: 300,060
• Average Words per Page: 285.81
• Average Characters per Page: 1613.23

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