From crying into Santa's beard at Macy's department store, to working the bar at a historic seaside inn thousands of miles away, Ellie de Vere has been through it all this Christmas season...
When Ellie trades her hectic New York life for the twinkling lights and snow-dusted charm of her childhood village of St Tilda, it's only to help her ailing father through the Christmas rush at their cozy family inn.
But all the festive holly, crackling fires and mulled cider in the world can't prepare Ellie for who she finds waiting for her back home. Her ex best friend Liam is also in town for the holidays... and they haven't seen each other in twenty years. He's now a devastatingly handsome single father with the same Irish lilt that always made her breath catch. If only he hadn't broken her heart irreparably all those years ago...
Can Ellie forgive Liam for what he did that disastrous final night in St Tilda? And is he even the same man she used to know? As Christmas approaches and old feelings refuse to stay buried, will Ellie finally find the courage to rewrite her future?
Review: I have been looking out for this author’s Christmas book, knowing that I would be in for a treat. Debbie Johnson has the knack of making me laugh out loud and shed a tear while reading the same book, but I always come away with a warm feeling inside. The title of this book suggested that it was going to have an Irish theme like last year’s Christmas story, which I enjoyed immensely. So I sat down to read this book, expecting to be entertained, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The story centres on Ellie de Vere, who is working in New York and is in a relationship with Tyler, but not sure about taking things any further. When she finds that her father in her Cornish home town of St Tilda is ill, she drops everything to go back and help him run his inn in the run up to Christmas. She has not set foot in the seaside village for twenty years, since her mother took her away to live in the USA. Soon, she finds herself face to face with the last person she expects to find in St Tilda - Liam Byrne, her one-time best friend who broke her heart before she left. He has come home to stay with his family for Christmas as well, bringing with him his three children. Both Ellie and Liam have done a lot in the intervening years since they last met and they have a lot to talk about and a lot of making up to do if Ellie can forgive and forget. In the midst of all the Christmas preparations and activities, can they find common ground and repair the relationship they once had?
I absolutely loved this light-hearted festive romance. Although, as I have come to expect with Debbie Johnson’s books, there were a lot of laughs throughout, there were also some sad and serious parts as well. Both Ellie and Liam had been through some hard times. Liam had lost his wife, while Ellie had a broken marriage behind her. While getting to know her father better, Ellie discovered disturbing things she did not know about her parents’ marriage. It was rewarding to witness Ellie grow to understand her father better at the same time as she and Liam learned about each other’s lives. Liam’s extended Irish family was a great source of humour, particularly his mother who coped amazingly well with an ever growing clan and always seemed so cheerful. I really enjoyed watching as the village prepared for Christmas while the snow fell. There was a lovely community feel about St Tilda, making me want to pay it a visit. I certainly recommend this feel-good romantic comedy which I shall certainly be visiting again.
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