Tag: holidays

Categories
holidays

Christmas at Red Robin Cottage: An absolutely gorgeous and unputdownable holiday romance

252 pages Bookouture publisher September 30, 2022

ABOUT THE BOOK

Snow is falling on Little Newdale. Decorations are being hung and joy is in the air. But at Red Robin Cottage, single mother Sarah is feeling far from merry and bright…

Since her marriage went up in flames, all Sarah Dunne wants is a cozy festive season. Just her and her teenage daughter Ellie in their little cottage, watching all the classic Christmas films under piles of blankets in front of a crackling fire. On-screen romances only. Sarah will not be falling in love again.

But Ellie is feeling the blues, facing the holiday without her father. Following the trail of fairy lights into the snowy village, Sarah is determined to find baubles, mince pies and stocking fillers galore to make this an extra-special family celebration. The last thing she expects is to find herself gazing into the soft brown eyes of her childhood sweetheart, Luke.

After so long apart, Sarah refuses to be swept off her feet by Luke’s easy laugh and kind smile, especially after her messy divorce. Even though her heart races every time they bump into each other at carol concerts, seasonal markets, and Christmas parties. And when Luke shows just how much he cares by picking out a gift guaranteed to put a smile on her daughter’s face, Sarah wonders if letting him into her life would make her wish for a perfect family Christmas come true…

But then Sarah discovers a shattering secret about Luke’s past that makes her question everything. Devastated, with her daughter in lower spirits than ever and Luke begging for a second chance, Sarah wonders if she was wrong to open her heart again? And will she ever be able to make this a Christmas to remember?

Grab a blanket and a mug of cocoa and curl up by the fire with this completely addictive festive romance. Fans of Cathy Bramley, Phillipa Ashley and Heidi Swain will love this charming, feel-good holiday read that proves you don’t need the perfect family to have a perfect Christmas!

MY THOUGHTS

Divorce doesn’t just affect the spouses it affects the children as well.
Sarah Dunne knows Christmas will be different this year without her ex-husband, but she tries to keep it merry and bright for her teenaged daughter Ellie. With twinkling lights, warm blankets and hot cocoa, snow softly falling and winter activities they try to make the best of the holiday season.


Ellie is going for it, a little but really misses her dad and seems to harbor the secret thought they can become a family again.
While out enjoying the festivities Sarah sees someone she hasn’t seen in a while, can it be, possibly? When it turns out to be a former flame, she is so surprised, and they seem to hit it off again.

With Ellie keeping a big secret is there a possibility this romance can have a little Christmas magic happen or will a big misunderstand melt it away like the sun during a spring thaw? Once again, another lovely and fun holiday book by a great author. I was laughing out loud reading and loved the characters.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Sue was born in Liverpool and moved to Lancashire as a teenager where she has lived ever since. Her twelfth book ‘Theres something about Greece.’ will be published on June 15th 2023, with another sunshine book scheduled for August!

When not busy writing, Sue spends her time with her husband Derek, and ever growing brood of grandchildren! In her spare time, she enjoys walking, watching films and travelling. Her first book ‘My Big Greek Summer.’ was inspired by frequent visits to the Island of Rhodes in Greece. All Sue’s books are available from Amazon in kindle and paperback format.

Have a beautiful day and thanks for stopping in.

Categories
holidays

The Christmas Tree Farm: (Dream Harbor, Book 3)

369 pages October 2024 publication

ABOUT THE BOOK

Every book in the Dream Harbor series can be read as a standalone.

Kira North hates Christmas. Which is unfortunate since she just bought a Christmas tree farm in a town that’s too cute for its own good.

Bennett Ellis is on vacation in Dream Harbor trying to take a break from both his life and his constant desire to fix things.

But somehow fate finds Ben trapped by a blanket of snow at Kira’s farm, and, despite her Grinchiest first impressions, with the glow of the fairy lights twinkling in the trees, and the promise of a warming hot chocolate, maybe, just maybe, these two lost souls will have a Christmas they’ll remember forever…

The Christmas Tree Farm is a spicy romantic mystery with a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:

Second Chance

Grumpy x Sunshine

Small Town

Forced Proximity

One Bed

MY THOUGHTS

After reading The Pumpkin Spice Café a few years ago I knew I just had to read another book by the same author.
This is the third book in the Dream Harbor series, each book is connected some with the same characters, but you don’t have to read them in order, and each has a standalone story.


This one is as Christmassy as it gets. I mean who doesn’t love the thought of a classic cut your own Christmas tree farm with dogs running around?
Throw in a grumpy Christmas tree farm owner, Kira who really doesn’t know how to promote her business.


When Ben takes his dogs for a run in the woods and meets Kira for the first time it’s not that flowery meet cute, we all dream about. She accuses him of trespassing, and he can’t wait to get away from her.

The book had me laughing out loud so many times. He’s fun and sunshiny, she’s the grump and despite him trying she’s really not interested in changing.
She’s a dog lover and I think his dogs may have swayed her to start coming around. He seems to just pop up everywhere she is and things just take off from there.


Loved seeing the Christmas tree farm coming to life and the towns people so happy and spirited and the Christmas spirit of the season hits them.
A spicy Christmas story full of warmth and charm.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Laurie Gilmore is a No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller and a USA Today bestseller who writes steamy small-town romance. Her Dream Harbor series is filled with quirky townsfolk, cozy settings, and swoon-worthy romance. The first book in the series, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, was featured on Good Morning America and was named the TikTok Shop Book of the Year 2024.

She loves finding books with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice and strives for that in her own writing. If you ever wished you lived in Stars Hollow (or that Luke and Lorelai would just get together already!) then her books are definitely for you.

Categories
Blog Blitz

Blog Blitz for Maddy’s Christmas Wedding by Rosie Green

ABOUT THE BOOK

Maddy’s Christmas Wedding

With the wedding of the year approaching, excitement is running high at the café! But there’s just one problem. Maddy is grappling with a secret. Could it derail all of hers and Jack’s glorious plans for their big day? Will there actually be a wedding?

MY THOUGHTS

Another book in the Little Duck Pond Cafe? Well then that’s cause for a celebration. These novella length books are like a party in a book, and I love that I can read them in an afternoon especially this busy time of year.
The characters……….. I love them and being back for another visit to them is such a fun thing.


At the end of the last book, we had Maddy’s father unsure about a health issue that had come up and we get an answer to it in this book.
Maddy is engaged to be married on Christmas eve, but a monkey wrench seems to be thrown in not just that plan but a few other things with Maddy as well.


Once again, the community rallies around Maddy, and also the Little Duck Pond Cafe has others picking up the slack when needed.
Charming, small town, friendly, generous and helpful folks, what’s not to love.


Maddy’s story is so realistic but she’s hiding something and it’s causing her a lot of stress. This is where her friend’s step in and reassure her. There’s a whole lotta romance and a whole lotta Christmas spirit and goodness in here. I love these books and am so glad the author will continue writing these because I consider these a smile in a book and these books are just my kind of thing.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own. +

Purchase Link

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CR8BYQ1V

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR8BYQ1V

Author Bio – Rosie Green’s Little Duck Pond Cafe series of novellas is centred around life in a village cafe and most can be read as stand-alone stories. (‘The Sunshine Sisters’ is a trilogy within the Little Duck Pond Café series and it would benefit from being read in order: Aurora, Skye and Blossom.) Look out for ‘Cosy Nights & Snowball Fights’, and ‘Maddy’s Christmas Wedding’, both out later this year in time for the festive season!

Follow Rosie on Twitter – https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green88

Have a super day. Thanks for stopping in.

Categories
holidays

The Unplanned Christmas Family: An Uplifting Inspirational Romance (Heartland Sweethearts Book 3)

215 pages Love Inspired publisher Publication dateOctober 22, 2024

ABOUT THE BOOK

’Tis the season for a fresh start…

and a second chance at love.

After a stressful season, event planner Natalie Cooper has strict instructions from her doctor: rest. But when her grandmother volunteers her to plan her retirement community’s Christmas fundraiser, she can’t say no. Now she’s being roped into working alongside the home’s director, Thad MacDougall. The grumpy single father’s priority is his relationship with his son, and Natalie’s workaholic tendencies have them butting heads over every detail. But through hot cocoa and ice fishing with Thad and his son, Natalie’s about to discover that her chaos-filled holiday break might be just what the doctor ordered…

From Love Inspired: Uplifting stories of faith, forgiveness and hope.

MY THOUGHTS

I am delighted to continue reading the Heartland Sweetheart series, this is number three.
That is takes place in Iowa is another thing I love about this series. My daughter lives in Iowa and being from Pennsylvania I thought I knew a thing or two about winter. Well let me tell you, Iowa winters are brutal. The wind absolutely goes right through you. Iowa is beautiful though and very progressive, a wonderful place to visit.


Event planner Natalie has been told to take it a bit easier because of her health. A staycation of sorts. She is not the type to sit idle and try as she may when grandma at the retirement home asks for her help with the retirement community Christmas fundraiser, she simply can’t say no. Grandma wasn’t privy to the doctors’ words of wisdom.

Meeting Thad MacDougall, grumpy single dad and the retirement home’s director seems to be one fiasco after another. Not able to agree on anything except for their secret attraction for each other they start bonding when she meets his precious son.


I loved how well they started getting on as they spend more and more time together event planning often with his son there. Natalie is a workaholic, not able to let the thought of someone else plan or have much input in the Christmas fundraising event. She knows she can do it bigger and better. When things don’t works as planned will she concede things are better when you have help and ideas from others?

Lovely and uplifting inspirational fiction with an upbeat Christmas theme.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Best-selling author Angie Dicken balances a busy schedule of school sports and activities, date nights with her husband, and get-togethers with her longtime friends. Whether historical or contemporary settings, Angie writes clean, heart-deep stories. Check out her books and news of upcoming releases at http://www.angiedicken.com

Have you read many Christmas books this year? I’ve read some but I have many more still to read. Have a great weekend.

Categories
holidays

A Wish for Christmas

360 pages Avon publisher November 14, 2023 publication date

ABOUT THE BOOK

In this heartwarming story from New York Times bestselling author Courtney Cole, an unhappily married couple makes a wish on an enchanted snow globe that they had never met, but when they wake up the next day in separate lives, the magic of Christmas helps them to realize that some love is just meant to be. 

Two weeks ’til Christmas…

Noel Blake is not in a great place. After several years of marriage, she and her husband Jonah are quietly drifting apart. The only time they really talk at all anymore is when they walk their dog, Elliott. And even then it usually ends in bickering.

When, one snowy day, Elliott manages to slip his leash, they find him blocks away in the care of a mysterious old man who asks them to make a wish on an old snow globe. Eager to get their dog safely home, they agree to his strange request. Neither one realizes that the wish they’re about to make will change the course of their lives… possibly forever.

When Noel and Jonah wake up the next morning, they’re in separate beds, separate apartments, separate lives. But are they any happier? As they live the existences they’d always wished for, both feel that something very important is missing. And when a chance encounter brings the pair back together, they find they have a spark of something very special.

Will they be able to find their way back to each other before it’s too late, or does the Christmas Magic have another fate in store?

MY THOUGHTS

This is a very magical Christmas story. I’ve never seen a book with this premise before.
A married couple who used to be so in love who have lost the shine in their marriage are walking their Mastiff one evening. Unable to control him the leash slips out of her hands, and he runs off through the busy streets into an elderly man’s Curiosity Shop, full of odds and ends you’ll find it all here.


The man gives them a magical snow globe and they make a wish to have never met.
Waking up the next day single, each has their own life and jobs they are proud of, and they don’t know each other.


A work-related task and an elderly parent both call them home for the holidays and they happen to both coincidently be going to the same town. We follow them on their day-to-day life as they get a second chance at writing wrongs and falling in love all over again.


That old snow globe may have just sprinkled a little holiday magic in the air for this couple. Sweet second chance romance in a charming small town.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

THE AUTHOR

Courtney Cole is a New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels. She enjoys eating reader emotions for breakfast, wearing cashmere socks (when she’s not barefoot) and collecting hula girls.

An optimist, Pacman champion, trophy wife, and fierce mama, her motto is to live with grace. She believes in the power of blonde hair dye and red lipstick, and feels that a well-timed smile can change the world.

To learn more about her, visit http://www.courtneycolecreates.com

Enjoy your day. Thank you for stopping in.

Categories
Uncategorized

First Line Friday

Happy Friday & welcome to First Line Friday hosted at Reading is my Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line. Today I’m delighted to feature A Corpse Among the Carolers by Debra Sennefelder a book published in November of this year. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to read it soon.

276 pages November 12, 2024 Beyond the Page Publishing

First Line

Food Blogger Hope Early always gets a hearty holiday laugh knowing that the weeks leading up to Christmas are as frantic as they are festive.

Would you want to continue on with reading this? I probably would just based on the adorable cover alone. You’ve got to love Beagles.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Hope Early is fully immersed in the spirit of the Christmas season, until the sounds of joyful carolers are silenced by the words “Ho-ho-homicide” . . .

Food blogger Hope Early always gets a hearty holiday laugh from knowing that the weeks leading up to Christmas are as frantic as they are festive. But in spite of everything she has to do, the one thing she always has time for is the annual Jingle Bell Stroll, a night when the community gathers to sing their hearts out and enjoy each other’s company. This year’s caroling feels especially heartwarming, until the final note lands with a thud when Hope finds the body of the man who’d volunteered to play Santa, a knife plunged into his back.

With virtually the whole town present at the caroling, the list of suspects seems endless. It doesn’t take long, though, for both Hope and the police to turn a sharp eye on the victim’s bitter and vindictive ex-wife, along with his new wife, who may have been after his money. Then Hope unearths a clue that suggests the dead man may have been hiding a sordid past and connections to unseemly characters. But as she closes in on the killer, they’re determined to wring her neck before she can ring in the new year . . .

Includes tasty and toasty holiday recipes!

About the Author:

Debra Sennefelder lives and writes in Connecticut, where she shares her home with her family and slightly spoiled Shih Tzu. An avid reader across a range of genres, mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. She’s the author of the Food Blogger Mysteries, the Resale Boutique Mysteries, and the Cookie Shop Mysteries. When she’s not writing, she’s either baking or reading. To learn more, visit her on the web at debrasennefelder.com.

Categories
Uncategorized

Publication Day Push: The Duchess Hotel. Book 1 Santa Maybe

ABOUT THE BOOK

Santa Maybe

Have yourself a merry little fauxmance—with a dashing Santa who just might make it real.

Rosie Gonzalez isn’t having a wonderful Christmas time. Not when she’s at risk of losing her job as assistant manager of the Duchess—Victoria’s oldest boutique hotel. If she and her team can’t bring in more guests by the end of December, she’ll be let go. Adding to her stress is a calendar filled with family gatherings where her mom will inevitably nag her for still being single.

Drew Richardson isn’t faring much better. As if working alongside his ex at Northlife Fitness wasn’t bad enough, now she’s invited him to her December wedding. And since all his coworkers will be there, bailing isn’t an option. To get through it, he’ll need a plus-one for moral support.

So, when Rosie recruits him to play Santa for her hotel’s activities, he also proposes a fake-dating scheme to benefit them both. Just for the holidays—nothing more. But as things between them turn from nice to naughty, they’ll have to decide whether a real relationship could be the best Christmas gift of all.

MY THOUGHTS

Who would have thought a book taking place in a hotel could be so entertaining. Now this is what a Christmas book should be.
I loved the mmc, he’s humorous, entertaining, hot, generous, to sum it up, just about the perfect guy but with enough faults to be likable. Not to mention he loves children and is a volunteer Santa for them.


The Duchess Hotel is in Victoria, the provincial capital of British Columbia. It’s located on the West Coast of Canada.
Though not an actual hotel the descriptions of this old past its prime boutique hotel makes me think of it in its former grand days with all its elegance.


Rosie works there and has been there for quite a while, frankly she enjoys her job and works hard at it. With a new GM in she’s worried she and her coworkers will lose their job if hotel business doesn’t pick up drastically during this holiday season like it has at the competition, the Duke Hotel.
The holidays are something she’s starting to dread; all the family plans she must be present for, and her family is expecting her to bring a boyfriend.


A former love interest comes to the rescue, he needs a plus one for a wedding and she needs a few dates for holiday family gatherings. I love this couple, Rosie and Drew. Let the fake dating begin.

This rom com kept me in stitches, their interactions with each other was great and the other characters were just as entertaining. I loved seeing the plan they came up with to save the hotel. The book was so festive, it really had Christmas written all over it.

Hot chocolates, children’s crafts, holiday breakfast, beautiful decorations, cookies, I mean they thought of everything, and it makes the book so festively warm and welcoming.


What’s going to happen when the holidays are over, and the fake dating can end? Can they just go back to the way things were?
Fully supportive family and friends make this a holiday read you’ll be sure to read more than once.


I am looking forward to the next book in this series and it has a Fall theme.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Purchase Link – https://books2read.com/u/bMB0Z8

MEET THE AUTHOR

Carla Luna writes contemporary romance with a dollop of humor and a pinch of spice. A former archaeologist, she still dreams of traveling to far-off places and channels that wanderlust into the settings of her stories. Her books have been called “escape reads,” ideal for perusing during a beachside vacation, a long flight, or a relaxing weekend at the lake.  When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading, baking, and taking long walks while listening to pop culture podcasts. Though she has roots in Los Angeles and Vancouver Island, she currently resides in Wisconsin with her family and her feisty Siberian cat.

Social Media Links:

Website:  https://www.carlalunabooks.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/casacullen

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CarlaLunaAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlalunacullen/

Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3temHlw

BookBub Page: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/carla-luna

Have a super day. Thanks for stopping in.

Categories
Uncategorized

Giveaway and Blog Tour for Christmas at Polkerran Point 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Christmas at Polkerran Point

Fate may have brought them together, but secrets seem destined to keep them apart…

 

An accident and a lost passport mean Gemma’s six-month sabbatical to go travelling is not off to a strong start. She heads to Polkerran Point to stay at her aunt’s while her new passport is processed and to find temporary work in the meantime.

Enter musician Matt. Newly moved into a secluded, renovated mill – complete with a recording studio – Matt is preparing for his band’s big reunion tour. Focused on writing new music for the album, he needs a live-in housekeeper.

Even as sparks fly, Gemma can sense Matt’s keeping secrets and with her role ending once Christmas is over, will there be anything to keep her in Polkerran?

A cosy, festive Cornish romance for fans of Phillipa Ashley and Cressida McLaughlin.

Purchase Link – https://geni.us/CAPP

MY THOUGHTS

Do you have favorite places you enjoy traveling to? So do I but I also have favorite places I love traveling to through the books that I have to always read the latest when it releases. As I real I feel as though I’m on a grand vacation visiting the characters who are best friends with me.


I’m always so excited to see when Christmas books start releasing every year as they are one of my favorite types to read and this one is full of holiday spirit.


I love the author’s books and her writing style and was so happy to be back in the world of Polkerran Point. We meet a few new characters this time around, one of them being Gemma. An accident has her spending the holidays in Polkerran Point and taking a job with boyband member, Matt as his housekeeper.

Now we have a grumpy meets sunshine here, Matt being the grumpy one here. Gemma takes a dislike to Matt, and I’ll say he didn’t really have a lot to recommend himself with at first. After all, how far do good looks go if you don’t have the personality to back it up.

I loved watching Gemma and Matt’s relationship grow and evolve as they came to understand each other and start getting on better with each other. A slow burn romance that you’ll love snuggling in with while getting lost in it.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

VISIT OTHER BLOGS ON THE TOUR

MEET THE AUTHOR

Author Bio – Cass began her writing life in Regency England, enlisted Jane Austen’s help to time-travel between then and the present day and is now happily ensconced in 21st century Cornwall.

Well, in her imagination and soul; her heart and physical presence reside in northern England with her ever-patient husband and Tig and Tag, their cute but exceptionally demanding moggies.

A bit of a nomad, Cass has called three countries home, as well as six different English counties, but her aspiration is to one day reunite with her beloved West Country.

In the meantime, she writes feel-good contemporary romances set in Cornwall and, in doing so, manages to live there vicariously through her characters and settings.

An Ambassador for the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation, Cass is also a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Jane Austen Society UK and the Society of Authors.

Social Media Links –

FB – https://www.facebook.com/cassie.grafton

X – https://twitter.com/CassGrafton

Insta – https://www.instagram.com/cassgraftonwriter/

Giveaway to Win a paperback copy of Christmas at Polkerran Point along with a small gift bag (Open Int)

The gift bag contains a pack of Christmas post-it notes, a Cornish coaster, a gingerbread tree ornament and some festive-wrapped Tic Tac mints!

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

<a class=”rcptr” href=”http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494601/&#8221; rel=”nofollow” data-raflid=”33c69494601″ data-theme=”classic” data-template=”” id=”rcwidget_ou8k922w”>a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>

https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

OR if you don’t like html or are on WordPress.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494601/?

Thank you for stopping in. Enjoy your day.

Categories
Uncategorized

Can’t Wait Wednesday

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released.

I’ve read several books by the author and have enjoyed them. I’ve gotten into cozy mysteries in the past few years, now I can’t get enough of them.

Pub Date Aug 20 2024

The eighth installment in a charming cozy mystery series set on an island off the New England coast and featuring the cat cafe owner Maddie and her cat JJ.

Beware the cats of Christmas past…

It’s the holiday season on Daybreak Island, and Maddie James is looking forward to stepping out of the limelight, watching the island’s Christmas decoration competition from afar, spending time with her boyfriend and family, running tours for visitors as part of the festivities and spreading holiday cheer through cute cats in jingle bell collars.

But trouble hits close to home when word gets out that Donna Carey, the publisher of the island’s only daily newspaper where Maddie’s best friend Becky is editor, may be selling the business. Becky is a diehard journalist and to her, selling the only newspaper on the island is a fate worse than death. She publicly opposes the potential sale, wreaking havoc on her relationship with her big boss.

Maddie is sympathetic, but she has her own problems – like getting pulled into a role on the Christmas event committee despite her best efforts to stay far removed, and solving the case of a mysterious cat breeder trying to sell expensive designer cats as holiday gifts on the island. But then Donna winds up dead—electrocuted by her own Christmas decorations—and it appears to be more than an accident. To make matters worse, Becky becomes suspect number one. Maddie is thrown into another murder investigation in order to save her best friend from a Christmas behind bars.

Thank you for stopping in. I hope your day is great.

Categories
Uncategorized

Catching up, a few Christmas book reviews for you: Winter Fires at Mill Grange and Single all the Way

416 pages Aria publisher November 11, 2021 publish date

ABOUT THE BOOK

Mill Grange is putting on a show this holiday season!

When young Dylan Harris‘s former babysitter (and soon to be step-sister), Harriet, needs a last-minute venue for her acting troupe’s outdoor production of Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, the staff at Mill Grange throw open its doors, keen to fill their halls with guests over the holiday season… but they may get more drama than they’d bargained for!

With pageants and plays to arrange, a much-anticipated book launch, an unexpected arrival, a heart-warming offer, and a little bit of the manor’s magic, this Christmas is one that Thea, Tina, Sam, Shaun, Helen and Tom – along with retirees Bert and Mabel Hastings – won’t soon forget…

MY THOUGHTS

This is the last book in the Mill Grange series as we’ve read through the seasons with the book titles. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the generations of the family over the series and have seen so much character development.


Will Mill Grange be up for all that’s asked of it? Harriet, Dylan Harris’s former babysitter (and soon to be stepsister) is out of options and is in desperate need of a venue for her acting troupe’s outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale.

With staff more than eager to please they offer their help in any way. Let’s just say, if it can go wrong, it’ll go wrong.

The characters have highs and lows. A welcoming return of characters we’ve met in the other books in the series had me excitedly flipping pages and feeling right at home. Small town charm, sweet romance and community togetherness. This is a fun book not to miss.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

264 pages Boldwood books August 18,2022 publish date

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Dani’s boyfriend (and boss!) dumps her for a younger model, the only silver lining she can see is to be able to spend Christmas at home with her family after years away.

Determined to surprise them, Dani turns up unannounced in her hometown, excited to see that the festive season in Marram Bay is in full swing with Christmas lights twinkling on every corner. But disaster strikes when she finds her parents’ house is empty and they appear to have gone away on holiday!

Christmas alone and single is not ideal, and when Dani starts bumping into old friends, neighbours and potential love interests, she can’t face telling them the truth. So in a panic she claims to be home to throw a Christmas party for the whole town – easier said than done with 12 days to go before Christmas…

As the fake party approaches, little does Dani know that there may be someone there under the mistletoe for her, if she can just let her guard down and see them…

MY THOUGHTS

I haven’t read many books by Portia MacIntosh but the ones I’ve read have made me chuckle at the predicaments the characters get themselves into.
In this one Dani’s boss/boyfriend dumps her right before Christmas. Haven’t these women learned anything, why they keep continuing to date their boss in these books is beyond me. That’s one thing that’ll never turn out well.

With no dates for the holiday, she’s got it all planned, with her extra time she’ll go visit her parents for the holiday and just show up as a lovely surprise. The surprise is on her though when she finds out her surprise visit is a bust as her parents are not home but on holiday themselves without telling her. Deciding to stay there while they holiday, she runs into old friends and acquaintances.

She’s hopeful a romance may just come knocking this Christmas season for a little kissing under the fairy lights. Cute, romantic seasonal read packed with humor.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Have a super day and I’m always so happy to see you here. Thank you!