Fabulously Festive Lovelies... Part One

December has now dawned and it is a PERFECT time to settle down under the twinkling lights of the tree and read a festive story. There is nothing like a good, well loved classic at this time of year, or a super spooky ghost story (something set in the Victorian era like The Woman in Black by Susan Hill?), but my favourites are light, contemporary reads, and these are a few of my favourites - a mixture of new and old:

Ali Harris: Miracle on Regent Street and A Vintage Christmas

These are a few years old now but absolutely adorable. I will go back and read them both each Christmas!

Miracle on Regent Street:

For the past two years, Evie Taylor has lived an invisible existence in London, a city she hoped would bring sparkle to her life. But all that is about to change. For winter has brought a flurry of snow and unexpected possibilities. 

Hidden away in the basement of Hardy's - once London's most elegant department store - Evie manages the stockroom of a shop whose glory days have long since passed. 

When Evie overhears that Hardy's is at risk of being sold, she secretly hatches a plan. If she can reverse the store's fortunes by December 26th- three weeks away - and transform it into a magical destination once again, she might just be able to save it. But she's going to need every ounce of talent and determination she has. In fact, she's going to need a miracle.

A Vintage Christmas is a shorter novella but no less lovely...

Evie has the perfect job and the perfect man, but keeping both in her life has become a serious balancing act... 

With the sales coming to a close at Hardy's, Evie must source new stock for the season ahead. Her mind is constantly buzzing with ideas and layouts, so much so that she is forgetting all about Sam. 

Can she learn to keep her work separate from her home life? Or will she lose everything... 

I LOVE Abby Clements books, and these two Christmas beauties will guarantee to make you warm and fuzzy.

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Abby Clements

Childhood friends Laurie and Rachel used to be inseparable - but their lives have taken very different paths since they picked up their A-level results together. Now thirty-five, they have all but fallen out of touch; glamorous single girl Laurie is based in London and dedicated to her career in fashion; Rachel seemingly living the family idyll in Yorkshire.

But when Rachel's mother-in-law needs urgent treatment in London, and disasters at work and in her love life mean Laurie needs to flee, a house swap falls into place. Soon gentle Rachel is far from the village bake sales, braving the city's mean streets while trying to keep her marriage and family together; while Laurie attempts to work an Aga, befriend the wary village locals - and forget the man who seems intent on breaking her heart. Will their relationships survive this test? And will they make it home for Christmas?

Also...

The Winter Wedding

Hazel never set out to be a wedding planner. She was just helping her stressed sister Lila with cakes and décor for her big day. But when Lila and Ollie's summer ceremony is a runaway success, with guests raving about the food and styling at the pretty venue, word about Hazel's expertise soon spreads.

But Hazel's clients expect the very best - she's promised lawyers Gemma and Eliot a snow-covered castle in the Scottish Highlands, and laidback couple Josh and Sarah a bohemian beach wedding in a Caribbean paradise. But as weather, in-laws and wilful brides conspire against her, can Hazel get two very different couples to walk up two very different aisles to say 'I do'?

From Paris with Love this Christmas... 

I only recently discovered this fab read by Jules Wake as it was an Amazon.co.uk promotion, it is only 99p at present (02/12/16)

Just until Christmas…

That’s what Paris socialite Siena keeps telling herself. She’ll hide away in her sister Laurie’s cottage near London to escape her hot-tempered fiancé.

However, when Jason – gorgeous but a bit of a Grinch – picks her up from the airport, he reveals that Laurie hasn’t lived there for months, complicating Siena’s holiday getaway.

At first, Jason and Siena don’t see eye to eye. But after a weekend in the most romantic city in the world, experiencing all it has to offer – from the magic of a fir-lined Champs-Élysées, lit up by thousands of sparkling fairy lights, to the swoosh of skates on ice at the Eiffel Tower – Siena shows Jason her Paris, and a whole other side to herself. Suddenly Siena’s December deadline seems far too close…

My absolute FAVOURITE author Cathy Bramley released Comfort and Joy a little bit earlier this year, and it is THE perfect festive treat. 

It’s been a busy year for Verity Bloom at the Plumberry School of Comfort Food, but Christmas Eve is finally here. With delicious treats all wrapped up and the ingredients packed away, Verity is looking forward to a relaxing few days with her new boyfriend.

Good food, family and friends – it’s a simple recipe for true comfort and joy, and all Verity’s friends in the village are full of excitement about the holidays too.

But the weather has other plans in store… Relentless rain leads to a power cut that spells disaster for many of Plumberry’s residents. It’s starting to look like this year’s celebrations could be a total washout.

With dreams of a perfect Christmas dashed, will the last of the festive cheer be swept away in the downpour? Or can the cookery school create a Christmas miracle for everyone Verity holds dear?

I ADORED The Great Christmas Knit Off by Alex Brown - in fact I'm going to re read this next...

Heartbroken after being jilted at the altar, Sybil has been saved from despair by her knitting obsession and now her home is filled to bursting with tea cosies, bobble hats, and jumpers. But, after discovering that she may have perpetrated the cock-up of the century at work, Sybil decides to make a hasty exit and, just weeks before Christmas, runs away to the picturesque village of Tindledale.

There, Sybil discovers Hettie’s House of Haberdashery, an emporium dedicated to the world of knitting and needle craft. But Hettie, the outspoken octogenarian owner, is struggling and now the shop is due for closure. And when Hettie decides that Sybil’s wonderfully wacky Christmas jumpers are just the thing to add a bit of excitement to her window display, something miraculous starts to happen…

Another perfect Christmas short is another from the lovely Alex Brown and is set in the village of Tindledale (the same as The Great Christmas Knit off)

Kitty, who runs the Spotted Pig Tea-rooms in the picturesque village of Tindledale, thinks she's come to terms with her husband Ed’s death on active duty. When she learns that Ed’s army dog, a black Labrador named Monty, is being retired and needs rehoming, it awakens her heartache once more.
Amber runs the pet parlour, but her love of dogs extends to rescuing abandoned pooches and now her tiny cottage is overflowing with homeless hounds. The only answer is to open a proper rescue centre but where will the money come from?

Kitty knows she could never take on Monty – it would be too painful, but with more than one dog needing a home this Christmas, is a miracle too much to hope for?

Have fun reading these...I will be back with Part Two next week!

My so far Summer Reads 2016

So far this summer has been the perfect one to sit down and read while the rain pours down outside the windows! But that's never a bad thing as I've had the perfect list of literary companions.

So far this June and July I've read these beauties...

The Secret of Orchard Cottage 

by Alex Brown

April Wilson is wondering what to do next – her life has been turned upside down after the loss of her husband so she’s hoping to piece herself together again with a visit to her elderly great aunt, Edith. Arriving in the rural idyll of Tindledale, she’s dismayed to find Edith’s cottage and the orchards surrounding it in a sorry state of disrepair. Edith seems to have lost interest completely, instead she’s become desperate to find out what happened to her sister, Winnie, who disappeared during WWII.

April gets to work immediately, discovering that the orchard still delivers a bumper crop each year, and with the help of some of the villagers – including Matt, the enigmatic Farrier – begins to unravel the mystery of the missing Winnie. Slowly,
April can feel things coming to life again – but can Orchard Cottage work its magic on her too?

What an utterly beautiful book, from the characters, to the description, and ultimately to the storyline and wonderfully poignant ending. The Secret of Orchard Cottage left me feeling like I'd had it all within its pages.

The quaint and beautiful village of Tindledale is the feature once again, and some familiar faces pop up throughout, but the main focus is on April and Edie, her nonagenarian spinster aunt who seems to be struggling alone. She has the onset of dementia and often seems to be in the past referring to April as Winnie, the elder sister she has not seen since WWII and does not know the whereabouts of. Armed with her old secret diaries April decides to make it her mission to find out what happened to her other great aunt.

April's story is an incredibly sad one, and I rooted for her from the very start, I wanted so badly to see her rebuild her life and confidence after being made a widow in terribly tragic circumstances. Can Orchard Cottage work it's magic on April and heal the hurt caused?

I loved all the Tindledale books, but this is my overall favourite. A wonderful, charming rollercoaster of a story with characters that you will fall in love with. (The Secret of Orchard Cottage is also a beautiful standalone read.)

The Plumberry School of Comfort Food 

by Cathy Bramley

Verity Bloom hasn't been interested in cooking anything more complicated than the perfect fish finger sandwich, ever since she lost her best friend and baking companion two years ago.

But an opportunity to help a friend lands her right back in the heart of the kitchen. The Plumberry School of Comfort Food is due to open in a few weeks' time and needs the kind of great ideas that only Verity could cook up. And with new friendships bubbling and a sprinkling of romance in the mix, Verity finally begins to feel like she's home.

But when tragedy strikes at the very heart of the cookery school, can Verity find the magic ingredient for Plumberry while still writing her own recipe for happiness?

We're first introduced to Verity Bloom at quite a low point in her life. Double crossed, cheated on, rejected and a chance of something good in her life snuffed out before it began. A poignant walk with her deceased best friend's family made her assess her life and realise she needed to focus, but she had no idea what to focus on, until a chance phone call took her to the Yorkshire village of Plumberry and her best friend Mimi's mother's new cooking school. Verity wasn't sure about the whole cooking thing, as her love of creating food died with Mimi, but she knew she could handle the marketing - as long as she didn't have to step in to the kitchen.

I loved to watch Verity begin to come 'back to life' and loved to see the newly opened Plumberry School of Comfort Food begin to come in to full swing as the classes get underway. Head Chef, Tom, has to try and check his teaching methods as it's more Gordon Ramsey than Cook With Mother, not quite the ethos that Gloria was looking for...and Verity along with kitchen assistant Pixie (I really loved Pixie!) has to be on hand with tissues for the more sensitive trainees; but when a catastrophe hits the village as a reality show comes to promote the school, they all pull together to try and make the event successful.

There are twists, turns and tragedies along the way, and everything is handled with Bramley's warm wit and beautiful descriptions. The characters in this book have been my favourite of hers so far, I would struggle to find a favourite as they really pull you into their world, making you care for them from the very beginning.

I adored the ending and the decision that Verity made (even though it was touch and go and I was undecided for a while!) and loved the fact that all was tied up nicely with an epilogue. However, I'd love to see a Christmas at the Plumberry School of Comfort Food! My favourite 'Cathy' yet and a huge 5*!

My Map of You 

by Isabelle Broom

Holly Wright has had a difficult few years. After her mother's death, she's become expert at keeping people at a distance - including her boyfriend, Rupert.

But when Holly receives an unexpected letter explaining that an aunt she never met has left her a house on the Greek island of Zakynthos, the walls she has built begin to crumble. Arriving on the island, Holly meets the handsome Aidan and slowly begins to uncover the truth about the secret which tore her family apart.

But is the island where Holly really belongs? Or will her real life catch up with her first?

My Map of You was for me, one of those books where I messaged quite a few of my friends as I had started reading, urging them too to read, and it's not often I come across books quite that special.

The glorious description of the Greek island of Zakynthos is none other than sublime and left me so eager to visit. That with the story that made up Holly's life kept me hooked throughout the book and devastated when it ended, however the wonderfully poignant ending made finishing nearly worthwhile!

This is a book I will keep on my shelf and come back to every time I need a feel good dose of sunshine. The most perfect summer read.

I hope you enjoy these reads, let me know your thoughts!

All of these for me deserve a massive 5*