Tag Archives: Christmas Reads

Rosie Green joins my Christmas Countdown!

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Followers of my blog will know two things: 1) My Christmas countdown is underway, whoop whoop! 2) I love books by Rosie Green. So, what better than to have Rosie stop by, to talk about the fact she has TWO fabulous festive reads out this season?

Welcome to my blog Rosie. Oh my goodness, two Christmas books, I feel spoilt for choice! To help me decide which to read first, I’d love to know what your characters will be up to this Christmas…

Ooh, that would be telling! Go on, you know you want to 🙂 

A happy Christmas definitely isn’t on the cards in the opening chapters of Snowflakes over Moondance Cottage, what with Jess, the main character, having to put up with a surly (but very fit) builder knocking down walls in her precious old family home. Her mum is acting strangely and her sister seems to have a mysterious agenda of her own. Recent family Christmases have been sad and tinged with tragedy. But maybe this year, the magic of Christmas will heal old wounds and bring the family the very best gift of all…

In A Winter Wedding at the Little Duck Pond Cafe, the villagers are preparing to celebrate with Ellie and Zak at gorgeous Brambleberry Manor – but will everything go according to plan? It has to be a happy Christmas, hasn’t it?

I love the sound of the fit builder 😉 and I am desperate for Ellie and Zak to finally make it up the aisle. Maybe the blurbs will help me decide:

Snowflakes over Moondance Cottage

When Jess Rigby lost her dad, the family coped in different ways, alone in their grief. Now, her mum seems to be going off the rails and her sister, Isla, who moved to France, is now back and determined to get the old family home on the market. But the last thing Jess wants this Christmas is for renovations to start on the house. It’s sure to stir up old memories she’s desperate to forget. And to make things worse, Isla seems to have hired the most obnoxious builder in the world to do the work. Jess could forget the fact that woman seem to be putty in his hands. But what she finds harder to ignore is the frisson she gets every time she squeezes past him in the mess that is now their beloved family home! Soon, the house begins to give up its secrets, some of them shocking. Can the family finally start talking and find a way to move on from the past this Christmas?

Click to buy.

A Winter Wedding at the Little Duck Pond Cafe

With Zak and Ellie’s wedding day approaching, excitement is spilling over in the village of Sunnybrook, especially among the Little Duck Pond Café crew. Ellie is over the moon with her romantic surprise wedding gift from Zak, and Madison is promising to organise a hen party to remember. Everyone has high hopes for a magical Christmas Eve wedding celebration at gorgeous Brambleberry Manor. (Even Maisie-Moo has a sparkling new outfit.) What could possibly go wrong?

Sometimes, even the best-laid plans can end in disaster. And with the journey to the altar turning out to be rockier than expected, it’s going to take nothing short of a Christmas miracle to ensure a happy ending . . .

Click to buy.

Well that’s decided … I’ll just have to dive straight in to both!

As part of my Christmas countdown, I am also asking authors what they will be up to this festive season, where will you be spending your Christmas?

At home, as always. I wouldn’t really want to be anywhere else! I suppose it’s a legacy from when my son was little and it was lovely for him to wake up to Christmas and all the excitement in his own house. He’s eighteen now but Christmas Eve still feels as sprinkled with magic as it did back then. Our festivities begin on the 24th. Relatives arrive in the morning and I’ll begin preparing turkey and all the trimmings in the afternoon. We have our Christmas dinner that night, which I love because it means that by the time Christmas Day dawns, I’ve done all the hard work and I can spend the big day itself just relaxing and eating chocolate. A recipe for total bliss in my opinion.

That’s a great idea! Finally, before you go, I’d love you to answer five quick questions from my festive selection:

Christmas jumper or posh frock? Christmas jumper

Real or artificial Christmas tree? Real

Favourite Christmas film? The Holiday

Singing a Christmas carol or bopping along to a Christmas classic? Christmas classic

Multi-coloured decs or co-ordinated Christmas tree? Multi-coloured!

Now I wish I’d asked for a pic of the Christmas jumper! 

Thank you so much for joining my Christmas countdown and I wish you and your family a wonderful festive season! xx

About the author:

Rosie Green has been scribbling stories ever since she was little. Back then they were rip-roaring adventure tales with a young heroine in perilous danger of falling off a cliff or being tied up by ‘the baddies’. Thankfully, Rosie has moved on somewhat, and now much prefers to write romantic comedies that melt your heart and make you smile, with really not much perilous danger involved at all, unless you count the heroine losing her heart in love.

You can find Rosie on Twitter.

Check out how author Morton S Gray and her characters will be spending Christmas, on my blog on Thursday 14th November. xx

Lynda Stacey joins my Christmas Countdown!

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Next up on my Christmas countdown is Choc Lit and Ruby Fiction author, Lynda Stacey, with her compelling read, House of Christmas Secrets…

Welcome to my blog Lynda, I am excited to know how your characters will be celebrating Christmas…

In House of Christmas Secrets my characters have been through a pretty tough time by the time they get to Christmas. Two unexpected visitors appeared and with them came more problems than one Christmas would normally have to cope with.

I’d love to think that my characters would have the biggest turkey, that Nomsa and Bernie would be fighting over who made the best roast potatoes, that Maddie, Bandit, Jess and Jack would all sit by the Inglenook with a glass of eggnog and after, they’d all sit around the big oak table together as a family. Wine would flow and Santa would turn up to see both Poppy and Lily. Oh… and Buddy the springer would have the biggest bone ever to munch at in the corner of the kitchen. Yes… I hope they’d have the perfect day.

And for a bit more of a teaser here’s the blurb:

This year we’re just going to have a nice, normal Christmas… 
Last year’s Christmas at Wrea Head Hall didn’t quite go to plan which is why Jess Croft is determined this festive season will be the one to remember, for the right reasons. And she has plenty of reasons to be hopeful, she’s going to marry the man of her dreams, Jack Stone, seven days after New Year’s Eve.

However, as family secrets are revealed in hidden letters and two unexpected guests turn up on the doorstep, Jess is left wondering whether her life will ever be the same again.

Can Jess and Jack still experience a peaceful festive season that they had imagined or are there some problems that even Christmas can’t fix?

Click to buy the book: Amazon | Kobo | Audible

With your characters hoping, but perhaps not getting, a peaceful festive season, I am wondering what your plans are for Christmas?

I’m not a fan of Christmas, not since I lost my mum. So, for the past few years, we’ve gone abroad and had holidays in the Caribbean and Cape Verde. But the holiday companies double the price at Christmas, so this year we’re planning a Christmas at home, with the huge tree, a bit of Bing Crosby, lots of wine and the log burner in full flow.

When we are at home, we quite often spend one night at Wrea Head Hall around Christmas, they have the best food and 20ft Christmas Trees and being there is like stepping into one of my books. I fully expect Nomsa to walk out of the kitchen or see Bandit walking through the grounds. www.wreaheadhall.co.uk

I’m very sorry to hear about the loss of your mum, Lynda. xx

Wrea Head Country House Hotel, looks like an amazing place – the perfect getaway for you and a great setting for your characters!

Before you go, I’d love you to answer five quick questions from my festive selection:

Christmas jumper or posh frock? Jumper and sweat pants… I’m happiest when I’m comfy.

Naughty or nice? Naughty every time..!

Mince pie or Christmas pudding? Am I allowed to say BOTH… on the same plate, with brandy sauce. Yep, you guessed… I’m greedy and I have a sweet tooth. (Both are definitely allowed!)

Favourite Christmas film? White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye… I watch it every year.

Multi-coloured decs or co-ordinated Christmas tree? Co-ordinated… I’m very OCD

First Quality Street flavour to disappear from your tub? The purple one with the nut in it… Mmmmm I’ve actually already seen them for sale in the supermarkets and I can’t wait.!!

Who did you play in the school nativity? I was always the narrator. Think I might have had a big voice and apparently I was good at reading… so nothing new there.

I LOVE the fact you got so carried away with my Christmas selection you answered seven questions, and chose two puds instead of one! You’re a star.

Thank you so much for joining in with my Christmas countdown and I wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas at home, this year. xx

About Lynda Stacey:

Lynda grew up in the mining village of Bentley, Doncaster, in South Yorkshire,

Her own chaotic life story, along with varied career choices helps Lynda to create stories of romantic suspense, with challenging and unpredictable plots, along with (as in all romances) very happy endings.

Lynda joined the Romantic Novelist Association in 2014 under the umbrella of the New Writers Scheme and in 2015, her debut novel House of Secretswon the Choc Lit & Whole Story Audiobooks Search for a Starcompetition.

She lives in a small rural hamlet near Doncaster, with her husband, Haydn, whom she’s been happily married to for over 20 years.

Discover more about Lynda and her books via: Facebook | website | Twitter | 

Including her latest novel Keeper of Secrets:

Don’t miss author Rosie Green, on my blog on Monday 11th November, as she shares her new Christmas novel and how she will be celebrating Christmas. xx

Jackie Ladbury kicks off my Christmas Countdown!

Guest Post, Writing & Reading, , , , , , , , ,

Starting my Christmas countdown, I am delighted to welcome author Jackie Ladbury whose novel, Happy Christmas Eve, is described as an uplifting, heart-warming story…

Welcome to my blog Jackie, the cover of your book is gorgeous and I would love to know how your characters will be celebrating Christmas…

The characters in my book, Happy Christmas Eve, are in turmoil over Christmas. Eve has loved Lucien, the bad boy singer in her band, for all of her life but is starting to realise that she’s wasting her time. Theo, a local baker has, in turn, loved Eve all of his life and is desperate to make her fall in love with him. Lucien – well he doesn’t really care about anyone or anything as long as he’s fed and watered. Christmas brings them all together in Lucien’s parents’ manor house, and it seems that this Christmas a few home truths will be dished out along with the turkey and Christmas pudding.

And for a bit more of a teaser here’s the blurb:

All I want for Christmas is you … or you?

Eve Halligan is back in her hometown for Christmas after a whirlwind few years touring with her band, the Molotovs. A lot has changed since she left, but two things have stayed the same. One: Eve is head-over-heels in love with Lucien Malikov, the Molotovs’ bad boy lead singer. Two: Lucien is completely indifferent to her.

Still, Eve dreams that this could be the Christmas where she convinces Lucien that they’re made for each other. But when childhood friend and local caterer Theo Wright comes back into her life bringing with him festive cupcake and sausage roll conundrums, Eve begins to question whether her Christmas dreams have been wasted on the wrong man …

Click to buy.

With your characters having quite the Christmas in store, I’d love to know how you will be celebrating the festive season in the Ladbury household?

We normally wake up quite early, my two daughters jump on to the end of our bed and we drag our pillow cases that Santa has filled and take it in turns opening various bits of nothingness mixed with a few decent presents. My daughters are not children anymore so the days of being able to stuff their stockings with cheap pink plastic toys are long gone.

We rarely have a Bucks Fizz and smoked salmon to start the day, apart from in my dreams where we are the perfect family sitting down to breakfast on a table that was meticulously laid the night before. More likely to wipe the cat hairs off the table and take it in turns watching that the breakfast doesn’t burn.

Oh but the culprit of those cat hairs is so very cute!

We’ve never, ever spent a Christmas day on our own – I think we’d all want to cry if that happened as we all enjoy ‘getting ready’ even if we are having family over to ours. My family are scattered wide, but my sister, who lives in Dubai, is home this Christmas (yay!) but not my other sister who lives in Sydney (not yay!)

I’m doing a ‘Ladbury Christmas’ this year which will probably be between ten and fourteen of us, including my mother and father-in- law who I love to bits. Hopefully my daughters will help out as I lose the plot after I’ve prepped it all and opened the champagne!

You have a busy time ahead, but I can’t possilby let you go without asking you to answer five quick questions from my festive selection:

Naughty or nice? Nice. I’m a real pink and glitter ‘buy me a unicorn’ kind of gal.

Favourite Christmas film? The Holiday. I don’t know why I find it odd that people read Christmas books all through the year as I watch The Holiday whenever I’m feeling low. I’ll bet I know the lines better than Cameron Diaz.

Best Christmas gift? An iPad from my husband when they very first came out and I was still trying to become a published writer. I cried, I was so bowled over. Still have it although it’s an iPad 1 and not much more use than the proverbial brick now.

Worst Christmas gift? A packet of roll-up tobacco packed in a Tiffany jewellery box when I was trying to give up smoking. I seriously thought the boyfriend in question had bought me a beautiful present – until I opened the box. Had to try really, really hard to pretend I thought it was funny too. Thanks Chris!

Multi-coloured decs or co-ordinated Christmas tree? I pretty much just upend a full box of decorations onto a tree and jiggle it all about a bit. At least that’s what it looks like – I have NO artistic talent.

I love The Holiday all year round too, and your Christmas tree sounds perfect to me! 

Thank you so much for kicking off my Christmas countdown and I wish you and your family a wonderful festive season! xx

About the author:

Jackie Ladbury writes heart-warming contemporary and historical women’s fiction that guarantees a happy ever after. From spending many years as an air-stewardess and seeing that it really is love that makes the world go around, she determined to put the same sparkle and emotion into her stories. Her life is no longer as exotic (or chaotic) as it was in those heady days of flying as she now lives a quiet life in Hertfordshire with her family and two cats, spending her days making up stories and finding excuses not to go to the gym

Discover more about Jackie via: Facebook | website | Twitter | The Write Romantics

Check out how author Lynda Stacey and her characters will be spending Christmas, on my blog on Thursday 7th November. xx

Three Fabulous Festive Reads

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With one week to go until Christmas, I am sharing some of my recent Christmas reads. They have left me feeling thoroughly festive, so if you’re looking for a fabulous Christmas read, here’s some recommendations:

One Magical Christmas by Berni Stevens

The Blurb:

When Annie Berry collides with Nik Knoll in a car park on the day of her sister’s wedding, it feels like all of Nik’s Christmases have come at once. Annie seems like just the sort of woman he’d like to get to know, and the chance nature of their encounter is almost like, well … Christmas magic.

My Review:

I love Christmas and read this book with a big smile. The story takes you by the hand, wraps you in Christmas magic and leaves you with a warm, cosy feeling. As a novella, it was a speedy read, which was ideal for me, as a busy mum during the festive period. Berni Stevens’ gorgeous story enabled me to escape for a few hours and to claim a little Christmas magic for myself; a great read with very likeable characters. Recommended for all those who wish they could still believe!

Buy Christmas One Magical Christmas.

Christmas at Black Cherry Retreat by Angela Britnell

The Blurb:

What if you had nowhere to call home for Christmas? 
When Fee Winter books a winter break at the remote Black Cherry Retreat in the small town of Pine Ridge, Tennessee, it’s with the idea that the peace and quiet will help her recuperate from her hectic life as a photographer.

But what she didn’t bank on was meeting Tom Chambers and his huge, interfering yet lovable family. With them, could Fee finally experience the warmth and support that’s been missing from her own life – and maybe even find a place to call home in time for Christmas?

My Review:

This story begins in late fall and moves towards Christmas set in the Tennessee mountains. Told from the point of view of both Fee and Tom, it soon becomes apparent that each of the main characters has issues from their past to overcome.

As the two discover more about each other, the reader is drawn into their story and to understand their motivations. Tom is lovely – a mountain man with a big family and a heart to match. I found I liked the character of Fee more as the story progressed and willed her to allow herself to find happiness.

I loved Tom’s family and the community they inhabited around the Black Cherry Retreat. They provided levity and offered support and guidance to both Tom and Fee. With a touch of intrigue, suspense, a blossoming romance, and some emotional moments this book packs plenty in for an enjoyable Christmas read.

Buy Christmas at Black Cherry Retreat.

Christmas at Borteen Bay by Morton S Gray

The Blurb:

Christmas is a bittersweet time for Pippa Freeman. There are good memories, of course – but some painful ones too. Then her mother is implicated in a mysterious occurrence in their home town of Borteen, and Pippa wonders if she’ll ever experience a happy Christmas again – especially when a family secret is revealed.
But when police officer and old school friend Ethan Gibson offers his support, Pippa begins to realise that even though her life has been turned upside down, a happy and hopeful Christmas isn’t impossible …

(Set in the same fictional village as Morton’s other books but can be read as a standalone.)

My Review:

I greatly enjoyed my third visit to Borteen Bay. The small mentions given to characters from previous books made me smile. Having said that this book can be read and enjoyed as a standalone novella. With a shocking discovery on the beach early on and a touch of intrigue created by family secrets, it hooks you from the start – as you’d expect from Morton S Gray.

The story is told from the point of view of the main characters, Ethan and Pippa, who are both still touched by occurrences from their past, that have divided them. So when Pippa has to turn to Ethan for help, it is more than a body on the beach that is brought to the surface. As the two are thrown together it becomes apparent that Ethan is a different type of romantic hero; he is more measured in his responses and passions, he is flawed and yet thoroughly likeable.

As a novella, it is great to escape into for a few hours over the busy Christmas period. I enjoy Morton’s writing style and the world she has created in her Borteen Bay series. I look forward to visiting again in the future.

Buy Christmas at Borteen Bay.

With three great books to choose from, why not get a hot chocolate, put your feet up and indulge in a Christmas read? And if you haven’t read it yet (shock, horror, what have you been doing with your time?), don’t forget you could also read The Purrfect Pet Sitter, to join Lisa Blake in the French Alps for a Christmas she’ll never forget.

My reviews are posted on Amazon UK and Goodreads. xx