#Review By Lou of The Christmas Holiday By Phillipa Ashley @PhillipaAshley @AvonBooksUK #ChristmasReads #Snow #Christmas

The Christmas Holiday
By Phillipa Ashley

Cosy up to The Christmas Holiday, oozing with festive spirit and romance. Thanks to Avon Books UK for the review copy. Below is the blurb and my review.

Blurb

Krystle didn’t have a normal childhood and longed for warm family Christmases with presents under the tree. Now she makes sure everyone else has the perfect Christmas she never had, bringing beautiful decorations to cheer as many people as possible.

With her festive business booming, she decides to celebrate by renting a secluded house in the Lakes, with a plan to make this the ultimate yuletide getaway.

But fate immediately throws a spanner in the works in the form of a broken-down car, a flooded river and Max; a man who despises Christmas.

Krystle becomes determined to show Max the joys of the holiday. She won’t take no for an answer.

Can she melt Max’s Grinch-like heart? And can he show her that life doesn’t need to go to plan to take you somewhere magical…

Let Sunday Times bestseller Phillipa Ashley whisk you away to the Lakes this Christmas, with a story full of unexpected romance, second chances, snowflakes and starlight! Perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Karen Swan and Heidi Swain.

Review

Being transported to the Lake District at Christmas is a delight! This book oozies Christmas, especially with Krystle trying so hard to make everything absolutely perfect. Max, on the flip side is that classic grinch, who Krystle feels the need and desire to win over. If you like the HBO movies, this book would hit the spot. There is warmth and all the spirit of Christmas within these pages.
The supporting cast are strong and lead interesting lives too.
The message within the book about life not always going to plan is a strong one and brings that heartwarming feel that’s lovely for this time of year.
This takes readers on a trip through lovely scenery, Christmas atmosphere and second chances in life as well as making it a time to feel more complete and reconcile memories and heal from times of old.
It is a book of pure festive escapism!

A White Christmas on Winter St. By Sue Moorcroft @SueMoorcroft @AvonBooksUK #ChristmasReads #Christmas #RomanticFiction #ContemporaryFiction #Snow

A White Christmas on Winter St.
By Sue Moorcroft

Feeling Christmassy yet? Whether yes, or no, A White Christmas on Winter St. is just the ticket/book to transport you there and into Middledip, a recurring place in Sue Moorcroft’s contemporary fiction tales. Join the snow furry down to the blurb and my review, containing my thoughts on the book.

❄️ ❄️❄️❄️
❄️❄️❄️
❄️

❄️ ❄️❄️❄️
❄️❄️❄️
❄️

Blurb

When Sky Terran returns to the village of Middledip after losing the job she loves, she anticipates a quiet Christmas getting used to her new life. However, the annual street decoration competition is coming up and this year, the residents of Winter Street are determined to win.

As she is pulled into the preparations, Sky quickly grows to love the quirky, tight-knit community she is now part of. Including the extremely handsome Daz, who soon becomes more than just a friendly neighbour.

But when Daz’s ex turns up determined to win him back and it seems he might not be the man Sky thought he was, she remembers how much allowing people into her life – and heart – can hurt. As the snow falls, will she and Daz find a way through – and help win a Christmas victory for Winter Street?

A gorgeously festive novel about love, family and the power of forgiveness from Sunday Times bestseller Sue Moorcroft, perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan and Phillipa Ashley.

❄️ ❄️❄️❄️
❄️❄️❄️
❄️

Review

It is always a treat to return to Middledip to find out what is going on and meeting the people within it. This time, the focus is on Sky Terran. She has returned to Middledip, having fond memories of the time when she was fostered by Nan Heather. Now, all grown up, she had a job that she leaves, to become a landlord/landlady, for reasons you’ll discover in the book.

As Sky moves back into Middledip, discovering Corner House and unearthing it’s treasures in the undergrowth, she also goes exploring and finds friends new and old, that are rather moving, but will Nan Heather still be there?

Amongst the cosy Christmas vibe that makes it easy to cosy up against the wintry weather elements, there’s some serious and passionate conversations amongst the people in Middledip, including wildlife and trees. There are also personal challenges that affect characters directly and indirectly to varying degrees to face and deal with. They are sure to keep readers involved in this community, to see if they’re overcome. There’s a romance brewing, but will it reach sizzling point?

This is a Christmas book that’s a joy to unwrap and emerge in Middledip to discover what everyone is doing in the lead up to this Christmas. There’s much to entertain and intrigue as well as giving that cosy, heartwarming feeling, even on the coldest of days.

#Review By Lou of – Courage For The Cornish Girls By Betty Walker @AvonBooksUK @CornishGirls #Saga #HistoricalFiction #WW2

Courage For The Cornish Girls
By Betty Walker

I have a review to share of war time set book – Courage For The Cornish Girls. Thanks to Avon Books for a copy and review invite. Discover more in the blurb and my thoughts in my review below.

Blurb

April 1942. Enemy gunfire on Penzance beach brings the Cornish Girls rushing to the rescue…

Yearning for adventure, Demelza dreams of one day joining the fire wardens. But before she can do so, gunfire during a trip to the beach provides her with an unexpected opportunity to get stuck in.

On hand to help the wounded beachgoers, Lily draws admiration with her nursing skills and is offered an exciting new position in the hospital in Penzance.

And swayed by her niece, Lily’s Aunt Violet agrees to take in three evacuees rescued on the beach, though they turn out to be more of a handful than she bargained for.

But even as the war rages around them, the biggest challenge facing each woman turns out to be one of the heart. Can the Cornish Girls help one another to open themselves up to love…?

Review

Set in 1942 in Cornwall, the bombs are dropping and war is marching ever onwards with its devastating consequences, but through the bleakness of this, life still continues through its challenges and glimmers of hope shine through here and there.

Life is on the up for these Cornish women!

Demelza, who wants ever so much to be a fire warden and works very hard to catch her dream and gets stuck into opportunities, no matter how unexpected, in an attempt to gain what she wants from life.

Lily is gaining all the attention in her nursing career, she is offered an exciting position in Penzance.

Violet doing her bit for the war effort by taking in refugees.

It’s a book that draws upon, to some extent, women just getting on with the job of attempting to do what they see is necessary to help others in the war effort, whilst also chasing their dreams, even though many challenges and potential obstacles present themselves.
The three main characters are a heartwarming and determined set of women.

There isn’t only the obvious obstacles, such as the bombing that the women have to figure out how to work around, but also love and the obstacles of themselves, however, they try to face this too and open up to each other about this. It’s quite a multi-layered book of light, shade and darkness, yet on the whole, there is often something uplifting for readers to grasp onto and a sense of desire to cheer them on in the hope they get out of life, what they set out to do.

It’s a heartwarming book with a compelling storyline.

#BookReview By Lou of A Spoonful of Murder By J.M. Hall #JMHall @AvonBooksUK @HarperCollinsUK #CrimeFiction #Mystery #BookRecommendation

A Spoonful of Murder
By J.M. Hall

A Spoonful of Murder is an engrossing, enjoyable cosy crime with an edge, full of former teachers who have started a coffee club, who become unlikely sleuths. Readers are in for a treat! Take a look at the blurb and my review. Thanks so much to Avon Books for gifting me this in a “care package” at the online Avon Books Showcase in 2021, I was kindly invited to and thoroughly enjoyed seeing what was coming in 2022.

Blurb

Retirement can be murder…

Every Thursday, three retired school teachers have their ‘coffee o’clock’ sessions at the Thirsk Garden Centre café.

But one fateful week, as they are catching up with a slice of cake, they bump into their ex-colleague, Topsy.

By the next Thursday, Topsy’s dead.

The last thing Liz, Thelma and Pat imagined was that they would become involved in a murder.

But they know there’s more to Topsy’s death than meets the eye – and it’s down to them to prove it…

Sit down with a cup of tea, a slice of cake and this perfectly witty, page-turning cosy crime novel.

Review

There is something in the air about Thursdays. It is becoming an increasingly dangerous day as the years pass by. I am now thinking I perhaps had better watch my back on Thursdays, you just never know what might occur or whether you might end the day dead or alive or involved in trying to solve a murder! First came The Thursday Murder Club and now comes a group of retired teachers in a Spoonful of Murder, and here is where any similarity (except genre of course, ceases and it comes into its own and is also a very enjoyable to read. It’s mysterious and humorous throughout its twisty and entertaining plot.

The retired teachers are an interesting bunch of characters that the more you delve in, the more you want to know about them. There is Liz, who likes David Essex and takes care of her grandson when she picks him up on Fridays Thelma who does a stint in a charity shop and Pat who does shopping on Fridays, meet every Thursday at Thirsk Garden Centre, Yorkshire, for coffee and cake as they set up a Coffee Club. There would be Monday and Tuesday free, but there’s a funny reason that seems perfectly justifiable as to why not those days… The idea of a coffee club sounds great! It is all innocent enough as they sit around talking about life and their former school, giving insights into their personalities and what they do the other days of the week as they do so. Then there is Topsy, who they go to visit, who sadly isn’t keeping so well and there are health and there are financial troubles and large sums exiting her account… and then, she is dead. Unintentionally the retired teachers are caught up in this to discover the murderer. There is also Topsy’s daughter, who Thelma almost witheringly rips through for what she was doing before her mum died and about care, or lack of. There are some poignant moments, dilemmas as well as secrets and deceptions. These unintentional sleuths probe and investigate what happened to a woman they once knew.

As the mystery continues, this becomes increasingly engrossing and enjoyable. You get to know everyone fairly fast. This, I feel, may be the beginning of what will hopefully become a series about the retired teachers and the murders they get involved in solving. It’s cosy crime with an edge to it with its insalubrious characters. It has clues abound that you will want to follow throughout to keep guessing who the killer is, through the light humour and warmth that is also sprinkled in the book. A Spoonful of Murder is good for cosying up with a cup of coffee and easing yourself into a book for an afternoon or two.

#BookReview By Lou – The Arctic Curry Club By Dani Redd @dani_redd @AvonBooksUK #TheArcticCurryClub #Fiction #ContemporaryFiction #Food #Community #UpliftingFiction

The Arctic Curry Club
By Dani Redd

One of the recent books that was gifted in in a lovely care type package with flavoured coffee that has long since gone, although a bit strong for me but loved this touch and drank it all the same, was The Arctic Curry Club. It’s different and yet uplifting and good for foodies and people exploring different settings for that Christmas, wintry feel. Find out what it’s about in the blurb and then my honest review… Please note, the opinions are my own and not influenced by anything I was gifted.

‘For my whole life I had been looking for home. But why would that be in a place that I’d left? Perhaps I had to keep moving forward in order to find it…’

Soon after upending her life to accompany her boyfriend Ryan to the Arctic, Maya realises it’s not all Northern Lights and husky sleigh rides. Instead, she’s facing sub-zero temperatures, 24-hour darkness, crippling anxiety – and a distant boyfriend as a result.

In her loneliest moment, Maya opens her late mother’s recipe book and cooks Indian food for the first time. Through this, her confidence unexpectedly grows – she makes friends, secures a job as a chef, and life in the Arctic no longer freezes her with fear.

But there’s a cost: the aromatic cuisine rekindles memories of her enigmatic mother and her childhood in Bangalore. Can Maya face the past and forge a future for herself in this new town? After all, there’s now high demand for a Curry Club in the Arctic, and just one person with the know-how to run it…

A tender and uplifting story about family, community, and finding where you truly belong – guaranteed to warm your heart despite the icy setting!

Review

The Arctic Curry Club is mosty about trying to discover your roots and where you feel like you actually belong. Maya is part English and part Indian. She has a boyfriend who is the opposite to her. He is fit and sporty, she is plump, small and also full of anxiety about so much.

The book is set between England, India and the Arctic. Her boyfriend leads her to the Arctic where he really feels he belongs with the husky dogs and sleds etc. She is more unsure and her anxieties rise as she becomes increasingly scared of getting lost. Later they come across someone running a tour guide business, which she becomes involved in, or at least coaxed to, to cook Indian food. One issue is she doesn’t really know how to, which sends her in a different direction, to find out more about her Indian roots, which she can’t recall too much of, not since a family tragedy.

Later, she opens up her mother’s cookbook and starts to make a go of things, trying to fit in and become part of the community, who start to rally around and friendships are soon forged and her confidence grows with this and her new job as a chef. It is fun reading about how she adapts some recipes, depending on what ingredients she can get, especially from Norway, shows an element of fearlessness in the kitchen to experiment, even if it doesn’t always work out as planned first time. This is where the uplifting side of Maya’s life comes into the story, along with that friendly community feel.

At the back of the book, there is an interesting note from the author about how she spent time in both India and the Arctic Circle. The story itself shows how she became inspired by these places to write a fictional uplifting story. The settings, especially the Arctic make this book quite different for the universal themes to occur in.

#Review of A Cornish Christmas By Phillipa Ashley @PhillipaAshley @AvonBooksUK #Christmas #ContemporaryFiction #Fiction

A Special Cornish Christmas
By Phillipa Ashley

Get into that Christmas cosiness with A Special Cornish Christmas. It has all the ingredients needed for those magical vibes. Thanks to Avon Books for gifting me a copy and check out the blurb and the rest of my review below…

Blurb

For Bo Grayson, Christmas has always been the most wonderful time of the year. Well, until she had her heart broken last December…

At a local summer fete, Bo and her friends meet the mysterious fortune teller Madame Odette, and they are each given the same prediction: You will meet the love of your life by Christmas Day.

With just a few months until the festive season, they dismiss the predictions out of hand. Bo’s attentions are focused on creating the best seasonal menu for her Boatyard Café, and her rock and roll dance group – the Falford Flingers – who are hard at work getting ready for their Christmas Spectacular show.

The last thing she imagines is that she’ll be ready to open her heart again. But will fate – and perhaps a sprinkle of Christmas magic – change her mind?

Review

Christmas, it can either be fabulous or can have a pang of sadness, if someone has broken your heart and that’s what happens to Bo. She vows never to fall in love again. This, however is a sparkly feel-good book, so it doesn’t end there. There’s food to feast your eyes on at her Boatyard Cafe and music from her band, which brings a bit of Christmas cheer and the atmosphere, despite of that, is divine. There’s some seasonal eccentricity with Madame Odette telling her fortunes, although they are met by some cynicism by Bo and her friends. Romance is also of course in the air and the setting in Cornwall is beautiful, in this story, which has all the magical Christmas ingredients stirred together and baked just right. It’s a bit Christmas movie like in many ways. It is cosy and lovely for pure escapism as you prepare for Christmas.