Guest Review: Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

Carmen is at a loose end. Her gorgeous bookshop is the filming site of a cheesy Christmas movie, she's been ousted from her sister's house, and the love of her life has just flown thousands of miles away. It's threatening to be a very unjolly Christmas indeed!

But when the elderly owner of the shop comes to Carmen with a Christmas wish that threatens to never come true, Carmen knows she must buckle down to get the funds to save not only his trip, but the shop itself. While fending off a shady tatt-selling businessman, Carmen discovers wonders to the shop she could have never imagined, and opens a labyrinth of bookish backrooms for the customers to get lost in.

With her deadline looming, it might take more than a fresh coat of paint to solve Carmen's problems. But with the help of their neighbours, her nieces and nephew, and a very distractingly cute male nanny, Carmen might just pull her greatest magic trick yet...

Review: This book is a sequel to The Christmas Bookshop by the same author. Although it is not absolutely necessary to have read the first book, I think that it increases the enjoyment of this storyline to know what transpired previously. The story in both cases is set in an ancient bookshop in Edinburgh, owned and run by an eccentric elderly gentleman, now with the assistance of the heroine of the tale, who is trying to turn it into a profit-making business without spoiling its quaint ambience. I listened to the audio version of the book, read ably by one of my favourite narrators.

In this story, the reader catches up with Carmen, still trying to come up with ideas to increase the profitability of the Christmas Bookshop, but now with extra pressure on her to bring in some  more income, as the shop’s owner wants to go on a very special, and very expensive, expedition. It looks increasingly likely that he may have to sell the shop to an unscrupulous businessman who would like to use it to cater to tourists by selling tatty souvenirs. To add to Carmen’s woes, she has a film crew making a Christmas movie on the premises, her sister has turfed her out of her basement to make way for the new nanny and her boyfriend has set off for the Amazon on a project lasting at least 6 months. All this with Christmas fast approaching. Things begin to look up with the discovery of what lies at the rear of the bookshop, always shut off until now; customers now have access to all sorts of wonders, and start to flood in like never before. It looks as if Carmen might just be able to send her boss off on his trip of a lifetime, when the local shopkeepers and her family give her a helping hand. If only the love of her life would return as well.

I throughly enjoyed returning to the Christmas Bookshop and catching up with Carmen and her family. The story is told with Jenny Colgan’s trademark humour combined with more serious moments. As I expect when reading one of her books, the story is populated with colourful characters and wonderful situations. Among them, Carmen’s sister is once again a contradiction, wanting to disapprove of her sister while also loving her and wanting the best for her. I loved Carmen’s nieces and nephews and their often hilarious interactions with their aunt. A character who definitely stood out in this story was the children’s new nanny, who turned out to be a red-headed man with quite a personality and a wicked sense of humour, but not really a fitting replacement for Carmen’s absent boyfriend. As with the previous book about Carmen and the bookshop, there are lots of descriptions of the city of Edinburgh readying itself for Christmas, bringing the setting to life for the reader. In summary, for me, this is a really entertaining book with a strong festive theme which I can recommend to all.

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Guest Review: The Christmas Love Letters by Sue Moorcroft

A secret romance was just the start of the story…

Tucked into a crook of the Norfolk coast lies Nelson’s Bar – an idyllic village where time seems to stand still. Maddy Cracey has called this beautiful spot home all her life, as had her husband Adey – until an epic row sent him storming out into a blizzard, with no sign of him since that fateful night.

Six years on, and Maddy’s life in the village has settled into a gentle pattern with her young daughter and Great Aunt Ruthie. However, when handsome stranger Raff turns up with a handful of long-forgotten love letters, their quiet life is upended as family secrets from the past are unearthed.

As Raff and Maddy get to know each other, they grow closer and a love story of their own seems inevitable. But when Maddy receives a mysterious message, she can’t help but wonder whether her own past is as distant as she'd thought it was…

Review: I am a great fan of all things Christmas and love this time of year, when festive novels from my favourite authors begin to be released. This Christmas, Sue Moorcroft’s seasonal story is set in the Norfolk village of Nelson’s Bar, a setting of some of her more recent books. As I always find with her books, I was immediately drawn into this story, which finished all too soon. 

The story centres on Maddy Cracey, who, along with her young daughter Lyla, lives with and cares for her great-aunt Ruthie. Maddy’s husband, Adey, disappeared without trace at Christmas almost seven years ago, before Lyla was born. When Ruthie receives a visit from a stranger called Raff one day, their peaceful lives are turned upside down by his revelations and the bundle of love letters he has discovered. A secret from Ruthie’s past is gradually uncovered with consequences for the whole family. As time passes and Maddy gets to know Raff, it seems that romance may be in the air. However, Maddy still thinks of her husband, more so now that some mysterious text messages have started to appear on her phone. 

This was a highly emotional story, filled with mystery and romance and perfect for reading before the fire in the run-up to Christmas.  The characters were all strong and with interesting stories of their own. I loved the story behind Ruthie’s letters and love affair. Then there was the mystery over Adey’s disappearance; where had he gone? I was so sorry for Maddy left in a bind and unable to move on. Thank goodness she had a charming little girl to keep her going and that handsome author Raff came into her life. The setting was absolutely perfect for a Christmas story, with a quaint little village cloaked in snow. I can thoroughly recommend this book as one to read this festive season.

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Guest Review: The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan

A long-lasting friendship

Every year, Erica, Claudia, and Anna reunite for their book club holiday. They’re bonded by years of friendship and a deep love of books, but there is still so much they keep from each other . . .

A perfect Christmas escape

At the cosy Maple Sugar Inn, Hattie specialises in making her guests’ dreams come true, but this Christmas all she wants is to survive the festive season. Between running the inn and being a single mother, Hattie is close to breaking point.

The start of a brand-new story…?

Over the course of an eventful week, Hattie sees that the friends are each carrying around unspoken truths, but nothing prepares her for how deeply her story will become entwined in theirs. Will this Christmas be the end of the book club’s story or the start of a whole new chapter?

Review: Every year, I look forward to Sarah Morgan’s Christmas book, usually a romantic family tale set in suitably snowy surroundings. The cover of this year’s book promised more of the same, with a cosy inn pictured in a snowy landscape. I listened to the audio version of the book and was transported to a warm and welcoming inn in Vermont where I would love to be spending Christmas, or in fact any time of the year.

The story centres on four women. Erica, Claudia and Anna are old friends who meet once a year for a week in a hotel where they talk about a book they have all read and generally have a catch-up and enjoy just being together. They usually do this in the summer months, but this year events have forced them to change that pattern and they are meeting close to Christmas. Erica, usually a lover of large, impersonal city hotels, has booked the Maple Sugar Inn in Vermont, where single mum Hattie is struggling to keep the place afloat after the death of her husband. As the week progresses, the friends are surprised to discover that there are things they don’t know about each other. They also begin to worry about how they can help Hattie and her little daughter and perhaps even steer her towards a young man who is clearly interested in a romantic relationship with her. 

 I highly recommend this heart-warming Christmas book, full of interesting characters and surprising revelations. The three friends are very different in temperament and background, but they have a wonderful relationship that was a pleasure to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed looking on as their secrets were revealed to one another; the fact that they were all holding onto something the others didn’t know about them could well have broken the group apart. The reader had to wait to find out how strong their bond was. I really admired Hattie for carrying on running the inn as her husband had wanted even after he was gone, but at the same time hoped that she could take a leap of faith, follow through with her own ideas and also listen to her heart. One extra detail that I loved was that the book the women were reading was one by an author who starred in a previous Sarah Morgan novel - a clever touch. This is another triumph for Sarah Morgan and another book readers would doubtless be delighted to find in their Christmas stocking.

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Review: The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella

 Discover the joy that awaits when you set yourself free...

Sasha is well and truly over it all: work (all-consuming), friendships (on the back burner), sex-life (non-existent). Sasha has hit a brick wall (literally).

Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga and find solitude, she heads to the Devon resort she loved as a child. But it's off-season, the hotel is falling apart and now she has to share the beach with someone else: a grumpy, stressed-out guy called Finn. How can she commune with nature when he's sitting on a rock, watching her? Especially when they don't agree on burnout cures. (Sasha: manifesting, wild swimming, secret chocolate bars; Finn: drinking whisky.)

But when curious messages start appearing on the beach, Sasha and Finn are forced to begin talking - about everything. What's the mystery? Why are they both burned out? What exactly is 'manifesting', anyway?

They might discover that they have more in common than they think...

Review: I’m not going to lie, the start of this book where we meet Sasha and experience her burnout did have me a little stressed out. I think I just related to her so much that my heart rate went up and I was a little short of breath because each and every email and interaction that she experienced, I experienced for her as well and I could just empathise with the way she was feeling. So if you’ve ever felt somewhat overwhelmed at work or felt like there weren’t enough people to make doing your job possible then this book is most definitely for you!

This book isn’t all about burnout though. This book has some classic Sophie Kinsella elements that we know and love. As already mentioned, Sasha is extremely relatable and easy to get along with. I love the fact that she can be silly and serious all at the same time but she pretends that she has it all together because that’s what society expects of women her age. But then there’s this massive nostalgia element for her as well as she heads to the holiday resort she went to as a child for some much needed R and R. 

I enjoyed travelling to an ‘off season’ British holiday resort with Sasha. It was a great location for this story because it really does put her and her needs at the forefront. There is no sunshine and holiday makers to distract her and we don’t have to imagine packed beaches. In fact the opposite meant that you could clear your mind with Sasha looking at the waves, feeling the cold sand and the sweeping winds. I really enjoyed the fact that Sahsha got to rediscover this setting through very different eyes and in a very different way to how she went there as a child. 

Then we do have to have the romance aspect of a Sophie Kinsella romcom. Finn is a great antidote to Sasha’s hopefulness. They are equally burned out (or so they think) and so they have this in common but don’t seem to be able to find any other common ground until a mystery from their past starts to become prevalent in their present, particularly through mysterious messages on the beach. I liked Finn because he was honest and I think that is a rarity these days. I also loved the rest of the cast of the novel, the hotel staff, the Devon locals and of course Sasha’s mum-they were great antidotes when things in Sasah’s world start to get a bit dark. 

I really enjoyed this novel, it felt very classic Sophie Kinsella and I would definitely recommend cosying up with it this autumn and being whisked away to a Devonshire beach for some therapy of your own! 

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Guest Review: The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan

A long-lasting friendship

Every year, Erica, Claudia, and Anna reunite for their book club holiday. They’re bonded by years of friendship and a deep love of books, but there is still so much they keep from each other . . .

A perfect Christmas escape

At the cosy Maple Sugar Inn, Hattie specialises in making her guests’ dreams come true, but this Christmas all she wants is to survive the festive season. Between running the inn and being a single mother, Hattie is close to breaking point.

The start of a brand-new story…?

Over the course of an eventful week, Hattie sees that the friends are each carrying around unspoken truths, but nothing prepares her for how deeply her story will become entwined in theirs. Will this Christmas be the end of the book club’s story or the start of a whole new chapter?

Review: Every year, I look forward to Sarah Morgan’s Christmas book, usually a romantic family tale set in suitably snowy surroundings. The cover of this year’s book promised more of the same, with a cosy inn pictured in a snowy landscape. I listened to the audio version of the book and was transported to a warm and welcoming inn in Vermont where I would love to be spending Christmas, or in fact any time of the year.

The story centres on four women. Erica, Claudia and Anna are old friends who meet once a year for a week in a hotel where they talk about a book they have all read and generally have a catch-up and enjoy just being together. They usually do this in the summer months, but this year events have forced them to change that pattern and they are meeting close to Christmas. Erica, usually a lover of large, impersonal city hotels, has booked the Maple Sugar Inn in Vermont, where single mum Hattie is struggling to keep the place afloat after the death of her husband. As the week progresses, the friends are surprised to discover that there are things they don’t know about each other. They also begin to worry about how they can help Hattie and her little daughter and perhaps even steer her towards a young man who is clearly interested in a romantic relationship with her. 

 I highly recommend this heart-warming Christmas book, full of interesting characters and surprising revelations. The three friends are very different in temperament and background, but they have a wonderful relationship that was a pleasure to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed looking on as their secrets were revealed to one another; the fact that they were all holding onto something the others didn’t know about them could well have broken the group apart. The reader had to wait to find out how strong their bond was. I really admired Hattie for carrying on running the inn as her husband had wanted even after he was gone, but at the same time hoped that she could take a leap of faith, follow through with her own ideas and also listen to her heart. One extra detail that I loved was that the book the women were reading was one by an author who starred in a previous Sarah Morgan novel - a clever touch. This is another triumph for Sarah Morgan and another book readers would doubtless be delighted to find in their Christmas stocking.

To order your copy now, just click here!

Guest Review: Countdown to Christmas by Jo Thomas

Chloe can't wait for Christmas . . . to be over! Her son Ruben is staying with his dad and Chloe is planning to ignore the holidays altogether. Her only festive touch is her son's advent calendar, to help count down the days till he's home again.

But a surprise call changes everything. Chloe might be the unexpected owner of some land in Canada! Surely, it's a scam. Or could it be just the escape she needs right now? Ruben's latest note in the advent calendar tells her to 'say yes!'

In a flash, Chloe's new countdown to Christmas involves a log cabin in the middle of a snowy forest, a community that's worried for its future, a gruff lumberjack who gives her butterflies and a lot of pancakes with maple syrup . . .

Review: I love it when a new book from Jo Thomas lands in my Kindle. I know that I can look forward to trip to somewhere I may not have visited and to meeting some interesting new characters. As a lover of Christmas, I’m particularly excited to read her new novel for the festive season. The title this time gives nothing away regarding the setting so I was keen to dig into the book. This story had me hooked right away, but I had no idea what an emotional ride I was going to have.

When single mum Chloe tearfully waves her teenage son Ruben off to spend the month of December in New York with his father, she never dreams that within days she too will be flying away after a surprise phone call from a stranger. What she expected to be a very different Christmas without Ruben is turning out to be beyond anything she could have imagined. Ruben has kept up the family tradition by leaving behind their homemade advent calendar, which he has filled with messages and gifts for his mother to find. That is one of the things she packs as she sets off to investigate the possibility that she might be the heir to some valuable land in a remote part of Canada. There, she finds a community fearing for the future if that parcel of land falls into the wrong hands. As she settles into a log cabin in the woods surrounded by strange sounds and creatures, she tries to work out her family connection with the area. It doesn’t take long to get to know the local people and understand their love of the world in which they live. She is particularly drawn to Bea who owns the diner where she serves very strong coffee and lots of pancakes with maple syrup, and the rugged Theo who seems to be there every time she needs anything. As time passes, Chloe realises she has a difficult decision to make.

This is a wonderful wintry tale that I can highly recommend this festive season. I did find it quite emotional as first Chloe has to leave her son at the airport and then later has to make the seemingly impossible decision about the community she has grown to love in Canada. The cleverly written story had me wondering how things were going to be resolved. I loved the characters that Jo Thomas introduced to the reader, from Chloe’s next door neighbour in London, to the people in the Canadian forest community such as Bea the heavily pregnant diner cook, Nancy the store owner, Philippe the mayor, shy teen Océane and of course Theo, the lumberjack with the hard exterior and heart of gold. I should also mention the wildlife that Chloe meets along the way, including the elegant elk and her calf and the fierce turkey Ike. I found myself lost in the snowy landscape so well described by the author; she really brought home to me the vastness and beauty of the land. I also learned a bit about maple syrup production, the mainstay of the community. Lastly, the book ends with a selection of recipes for dishes mentioned in the text, all containing maple syrup.

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Guest Review: Mosquito By Rowland White

Built of lightweight wood, powered by two growling Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, impossibly aerodynamic, headspinningly fast and armed to the teeth, the de Havilland Mosquito was the war-winning wonder that should never have existed: the aircraft the RAF didn't think it wanted then couldn't do without.

Flying on operations barely eighteen months after a single prototype was ordered off the drawing board, it was the answer to its pilots' prayers: a stunningly versatile warplane capable of leaving the Luftwaffe in its wake to attack when and where the enemy was least expecting it.

Excelling as a spyplane, night-fighter and pathfinder for Bomber Command's heavies the Mossie's reputation was cemented by a series of daredevil bombing raids across occupied Europe, including on Berlin itself, where only surprise, speed and precision could ensure success.

So when Churchill's top secret Special Operations Executive needed to destroy the Gestapo HQ in the centre of downtown Copenhagen to prevent a devastating Nazi last stand that might prolong the war for many months, there was only one machine for the job - the Mosquito.

This is the story of that legendary aircraft told through that one impossible mission. 

Review: I was very interested to read this book about the de Havilland Mosquito, a twin-engined fighter-bomber aeroplane since the prototype was developed at a country house not very far from where my parents used to live. It made its maiden flight towards the end of 1940 and entered operational service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1941. Its construction was unusual in that, to avoid excessive use of essential materials such as aluminium and steel, it was built mainly of wood. This earned it the nickname of the “Wooden Wonder”, and meant that its lightweight construction gave it incredible speed.

Although ostensibly a book about the development and operational deployment of the Mosquito during the Second World War, the book is also an account of the struggles of the Danish Resistance following the Nazi occupation of their country in 1940. The Resistance was supported by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). The Mosquito aircraft fulfilled many roles for the RAF. In addition, Mosquitoes were flown by the civil airline British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) to carry high value cargo, diplomatic material and, sometimes, important passengers from neutral countries over enemy-controlled airspace, where its ability to fly at high speed at altitude enabled it to avoid enemy interception. Probably the most important of these routes was from neutral Sweden to Scotland, overflying occupied Norway en route. However, one of the most famous roles of the aeroplane was as a low level bomber in daylight precision raids against discreet targets. Hence, the raid to breach the walls of Amiens Prison in France and attacks against the German Gestapo headquarters in Aarhus and Copenhagen in Denmark are described.

I found this to be a very interesting book about such a famous aeroplane, but I also learnt a great deal about the German occupation of Denmark during the War, much of which I was not aware. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in aviation and the history of the Second World War.

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