Tag Archives: christmas books

Christmas Books To Read Now

Posted on by

The Highland Lodge Getaway

A beautiful and escapist read from the bestselling Scottish author.

Lottie Grant loves the festive season so much that she works at the incredibly successful Christmas shop, Christmas Crackers, in her pretty Scottish home town of Craig Brae. But when the shop is sold, her world is turned upside down, leaving her wondering what she will do next. 

Just as she’s about to give up hope on finding a new dream job, an offer comes that she can’t refuse, managing a set of luxury wooden cabins… and opening just in time for Christmas! 

As she gets to work decorating the cabins, and hanging lights on the fir trees, Lottie can’t believe her luck. That is until the arrival of Blake Dempster, a moody but handsome hiking expert, who threatens to bring down her festive joy. But never one to shy away from a challenge, Lottie is determined to change Blake’s mind about all things festive. 

And as the snow falls and the fairy lights sparkle, will work-obsessed Lottie and frozen-hearted Blake make their Christmas wishes come true?

Wreck The Halls by Tessa Bailey

Another brilliant and sexy novel from Bailey. I adored it.

A sexy, hilarious standalone holiday rom-com about the adult children of two former rock stars who team up to convince their estranged mothers to play a Christmas Eve concert…

Melody Gallard may be the daughter of music royalty, but her world is far from glamorous. She spends her days restoring old books and avoiding the limelight (one awkward tabloid photo was enough, thanks). But when a producer offers her a lot of money to reunite her mother’s band on live tv, Mel begins to wonder if it’s time to rattle the cage, shake up her quiet life… and see him again. The only other person who could wrangle the rock and roll divas.

Beat Dawkins, the lead singer’s son, is Melody’s opposite—the camera loves him, he could charm the pants off anyone, and his mom is not a potential cult leader. Still, they might have been best friends if not for the legendary feud that broke up the band. When they met as teenagers, Mel felt an instant spark, but it’s nothing compared to the wild, intense attraction that builds as they embark on a madcap mission to convince their mothers to perform one last show.

While dealing with rock star shenanigans, a 24-hour film crew, brawling Santas, and mobs of adoring fans, Mel starts to step out of her comfort zone. With Beat by her side, cheering her on, she’s never felt so understood. But Christmas Eve is fast approaching, and a decades-old scandal is poised to wreck everything—the Steel Birds reunion, their relationships with their mothers, and their newfound love. 

Upon A Frosted Star by M.A. Kuzniar 

An immersive wintery read. Perfect to read under a blanket. Draws you in from the first page.


When struggling artist, Forster, finds an invitation, he’s bewitched by the magic of the evening, swept up in the glamour of this notorious annual party and intrigued as to who is behind them.

Determined to find out more about the mysterious host, Forster discovers an abandoned manor house silent with secrets and a cursed woman who is desperate to be free…

WHY GO ON A WRITING RETREAT BY JO THOMAS

Posted on by

To celebrate publication of  Countdown to Christmas, Jo Thomas shares the magic of writing retreats…

credit: Gemma Griffiths Photography

I love the chaos of busy family life. People coming and going. The dogs greeting everyone, tails wagging; the hustle and bustle in my kitchen. I thrive off it….most of the time. But sometimes I need everything a writer’s retreat gives me.

The first writing retreat I went on was a house in Scotland, Cliff Cottage, owned by a writer who enjoyed the company of other writers. It overlooked the sea and was a marvellous place to sit and work and leave daily life behind.

There is nothing like spending time with other writers to get the juices flowing, ideas bouncing, plots unblocked and for laughing together. Generally, writers get other writers.

I went on to go on writing courses in France with Anita Burgh, Veronica Henry and Jane Wenham Jones and eventually after years of trying and failing I got my first book, The Oyster Catcher written. After that, Chez Castillon become a place to go and get words on the page for me.

I love morning tea with writer friends…… drinking tea in your dressing gown and discussing a plot problem that’s holding you up or talk through an idea that’s come to you in the night.

Now that I run retreats in France, we generally meet on the morning of the first full day to introduce themselves, tell us why they’re there, what they’re writing and what they want to achieve in that week.

For many people making time to get away from everyday life has taken a lot of effort and juggling, not to mention organising travel and paying for that time away. I don’t want anyone to feel they haven’t achieved something by the time they’ve left. Even if it’s a plan for going forward.

Then I’ll make time to meet with everyone, one to one. It may be over a coffee in café in the town, by the pool in the shade of the covered terrace or over a gin and tonic in the bar across the road. Somewhere we can talk about the path forwards; talking ideas, finishing the book, finding an agent. Anything.  A week away is like a fullstop on busy everyday life and whilst you may not write a book in that week I do want everyone to go home feeling they know how to keep going.

And so we leave with plans, food memories from meals out at the bistro or the restaurant by the river or oyster tastings on a Sunday morning, with new clothes bought from the linen lady at the Monday morning market, shoved into our already tightly packed cases. We have laughed together, swapped stories, even cried in some cases as we support and encourage each other in our writing. We swap email addresses, make WhatsApp groups and new friends. And we promise to meet again, same time, same place….. new words to go on the page. It’s a place of support, encouragement, celebration and laughter. A little pause on everyday life to keep the wheels of our writing routine turning as we go back to everyday life and I return to busy kitchen, happy dogs and family life around the table.

 

Countdown to Christmas by Jo Thomas is published by Penguin (£8.99)

CARIADS’ CHOICE: NOVEMBER BOOK REVIEWS

Posted on by

Jill Steeple’s Maybe This Christmas reviewed by Carol Thomas

There’s much to like about this warm-hearted read, not least the lovely wintry setting. Jill Steeples has a great writing style that draws you in and makes you feel you’re among friends. Beth is a likeable, realistic character. The celebrity chef and love interest Rocco has plenty of appeal and a cute dog! As a romance, you know the stage is set for HEA from early on, but it is lovely to share the journey and the warmth of the ending. The supporting cast of characters has a mix of personalities who keep the story lively, and it is great that all get a mention in the final scenes. Overall, this is a perfect feel-good read.

 

Vicki Beeby’s A Wren’s Wartime Christmas reviewed by Morton S Gray

I loved being back on Orkney with the characters, Mary, Iris and Sally, who we first met in A New Start for the Wrens. I was reading this at a time when I needed to be absorbed by a story and this book was a sheer tonic whisking me away to Orkney. With just the right mix of mystery, intrigue and romance. I could imagine myself on the headland near the Wrens’ signalling station, smell the air and see the sea and the heather covered land. Orkney is now most definitely on my “to be visited” list.

I even sat and read this book in the middle of the day, which is unheard of for me. Can’t wait for the next episode to find out what happens to my favourite characters. Sheer tonic.

 

Anita Faulkner’s The Gingerbread Café, reviewed by Kitty Wilson

Having read A Colourful Country Escape, I was so excited to get my hands on this book because I just knew it would be packed full of humour and cosy Christmas cheer.

I was right. This book serves up all the Christmas warmth along with a hefty dollop of romance and a beautifully woven sense of community. I loved it!

Gretal and Lukas are deftly written characters, flawed and relatable and it is impossible not to cheer them on as a couple from the very first minute when Lukas Grinch-face inadvertently attacks Gretal with a Christmas tree.

The author weaves Christmas through every page, conjuring up the smells, sight, sounds and tastes of the season, making you desperate for gingerbread and spiced hot-chocolate as you read.

Add in the mysterious but utterly charming teenager Amber, the beautifully quirky shopkeepers of Mistleton, a swingy-bobbed villain in custom-made trainers and a ludicrously cute ferret and you have a perfect Christmas romance.

 

Glynis Peters’ The Orphan’s Letters reviewed by Jane Cable

This is the second Red Cross Orphans book and having enjoyed the first one so much I was looking forward to diving in. Having done so, I do recommend if you are new to the series you read the books in order.

Kitty Pattison’s war continues as she is shifted from pillar to post by the Red Cross throughout the early 1940s, normally in a different direction to her Canadian doctor fiancé, Michael. Many of the cast of characters from the first book are carried forwards, but there are some new faces as well and Peters captures the era very well.

I particularly like the way she does not sugar coat war in any way, and it was refreshing to have a heroine who suffers mental health issues arising from what she has to do and the things she sees, rather than simply displaying a stiff upper lip.

 

 

 

 

CARIADS’ CHOICE: OCTOBER 2022 BOOK REVIEWS

Posted on by

Marie Laval’s Escape to the Little Chateau reviewed by Carol Thomas

With strong elements of gothic suspense threaded throughout, the storyline of this book went to dark and mysterious places I hadn’t expected. It was, however, an enjoyable read, and I found myself reading into the night as I didn’t want to put it down. There is a good sense of place and history, and the author brings the chateau and French countryside to life wonderfully. Fabien Coste and Amy were both strong, likeable lead characters, and I loved the puppy Fabien gifted Amy. I enjoyed the unfolding of the mystery and the range of characters introduced along the way. It is a great read to suspend reality for a while and let yourself be swept along by the revelations. I definitely recommend it but with an awareness that there are elements of threat.

 

Natalie Kleinman’s The Ghost of Glendale reviewed by Jane Cable

I always turn to a Natalie Kleinman book when I fancy a Regency comfort read, or trying to get into the mood for writing in the era myself. She is a mistress of the Regency romance in the spirit of Georgette Heyer and knows her genre inside out.

Talking of spirits, this book has one, with its own sad story to tell. It added an interesting extra dimension to the story, and to how Phoebe and Duncan’s own love story developed. A gentle read, with happy endings for all.

 

Jenny Kane’s Frost Falls At The Potting Shed reviewed by Kitty Wilson

I loved this book so much, Jenny Kane is an absolute master at creating heart-warming, cosy romantic escapism that you can’t bear to put down. The Potting Shed is a perfect setting and I want to go and visit, wander around the polytunnels and meet Maddie, Jake and Petra myself. In fact, the whole book is packed with relatable characters, as well as a very endearing hero, all of which come together to make Frost Falls at The Potting Shed a gorgeous, warm-hearted romance that shines a light on love, friendship and is the most wonderful festive read. Cosy, romantic perfection. I cannot wait for the next in the series!
Sue Moorcroft’s A White Christmas on Winter Street reviewed by Morton S Gray

I have read all of Sue Moorcroft’s books and didn’t think she could give me another favourite, but she has!!!

Really enjoyed A White Christmas on Winter Street. It has all the Christmas touches – lights, presents, cookies, but it has so much more besides. I soon got swept up in the worlds of Sky and Daz, both of whom became so real as I was reading.

Loved being back in the village of Middledip and enjoyed the mentions of familiar characters and places. It quickly becomes evident that Sky relates to young Wilf as she recognises some of the challenges he is dealing with. Sky has many issues from the past and recent past, but has not allowed these to dampen her generosity of spirit. Daz too finds it hard to refuse a person in need even if that is at a personal cost to himself.

Loved the story, loved the journey and want to get some Christmas solar lights already!

 

 

 

 

 

JANE CABLE REVIEWS TWO VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS READS

Posted on by

 

Christmas with the Surplus Girls – Polly Heron (published 7th October)

I make no secret of the fact I love Polly Heron’s books, so the moment the review copy of this one was available I requested it and dived straight in. For a start, I think the premise of this series is brilliant; the stories of the women who had expected to marry, only for the First World War to kill so many men. Their battle to make something of their lives as single women in the 1920s is seldom told and quite frankly it should be.

A saga series needs central characters and in the Surplus Girls these take the form of unmarried sisters, Prudence and Patience Hesketh, who run a business school from their home to train women in the skills they need. In this, the third book, our understanding of their position deepens and their stories move on too, for one of them at least in a quite unexpected way.

Christmas with the Surplus Girls is a wonderful blend of the comfortingly familiar (characters from previous books making appearances, the orphanage as the heart-warming seasonal setting, and, of course, the love story) with quite a few twists and turns. There are moments when nothing is quite as it seems, as well as breath-takingly written passages of true drama, but to say more would spoil it for the reader.

For the saga fan, this is the perfect Christmas read. As ever with Polly Heron’s writing there is no mawkish sentimentality, there is genuine emotion, elegantly portrayed. And even better, if you haven’t read the other Surplus Girls books there is still time to catch up with them before it’s time to pour yourself a glass of festive cheer and settle down with this beauty.

 

Underneath the Christmas Tree – Heidi Swain (published 28th October)

While Polly Heron puts Christmas at the climax of her book, Heidi Swain’s has Christmas stamped through it like a stick of seasonal rock. Heidi is the absolute mistress of the contemporary Christmas romantic read and I think Underneath the Christmas Tree is her best yet.

Absolute genius to set the book at a Christmas tree farm, where there is every reason for the festive feeling to start in November. Nothing about the seasonality in this book is forced; it is there as a delightful backdrop to a cast of characters so brilliantly drawn you would want to meet them at any time of year.

At the heart of the book is the love story between Liza and Ned; you know it will be fraught with difficulties but you also know a happy ending could very well be written in the stars, because that is what the romance genre does. It is just that this particular book does it so very well and it was pretty hard to see how everyone’s happy ever after could possibly work out. The world Heidi Swain creates is as rich and warm and comforting as a mug of hot chocolate with a whole ton of marshmallows and cream, but never ever as sickly, and of course its entirely calorie free.

I was delighted to receive a review copy of this book but now I have a major problem. What on earth am I going to start reading when December arrives to get me properly into the Christmas mood?

 

 

 

 

Christmas Ideas For Book Lovers

Posted on by

Perfect Books For Christmas. 

A brilliant book of poetry from the end of a relationship, all the way to the start. Like reading an open wound, but fun. 

Running Upon The Wires is Kate Tempest’s first book of free-standing poetry since the acclaimed Hold Your Own. In a beautifully varied series of formal poems, spoken songs, fragments, vignettes and ballads, Tempest charts the heartbreak at the end of one relationship and the joy at the beginning of a new love; but also tells us what happens in between, when the heart is pulled both ways at once.

Running Upon The Wires is, in a sense, a departure from her previous work, and unashamedly personal and intimate in its address – but will also confirm Tempest’s role as one of our most important poetic truth–tellers: it will be no surprise to readers to discover that she’s no less a direct and unflinching observer of matters of the heart than she is of social and political change. Running Upon The Wires is a heartbreaking, moving and joyous book about love, in its endings and in its beginnings.

Available here.

A fast-paced thriller that never lets you go.

Give me Your hand By Megan Abbott.

You told each other everything. Then she told you too much.

Kit has risen to the top of her profession and is on the brink of achieving everything she wanted. She hasn’t let anything stop her.

But now someone else is standing in her way – Diane. Best friends at seventeen, their shared ambition made them inseparable. Until the day Diane told Kit her secret – the worst thing she’d ever done, the worst thing Kit could imagine – and it blew their friendship apart.

Kit is still the only person who knows what Diane did. And now Diane knows something about Kit that could destroy everything she’s worked so hard for.

How far would Kit go, to make the hard work, the sacrifice, worth it in the end? What wouldn’t she give up? Diane thinks Kit is just like her. Maybe she’s right. Ambition: it’s in the blood . . .

Available here.

I really loved this book. Sarah Manguso has a way of articulating life’s great truths. I particularly loved the bits on motherhood. 

Sarah Manguso kept a meticulous diary for twenty-five years. ‘I wanted to end each day with a record of everything that had ever happened,’ she explains. But this simple statement conceals a terror that she might miss out something important. Maintaining that diary became a daily attempt to remember every detail, to stop the passage of time.

Then Manguso became pregnant and had a child, and these two events slowly and irrevocably changed her relationship to her life and also to her diary.

In this moving memoir Sarah Manguso confesses her life long struggle to let go. Ongoingness is a beautiful, daring and honest and shifting work that grapples with writing and motherhood.

Available here.

A fascinating and well-written book on the law. Impossible to put down. 

“I’m a barrister, a job which requires the skills of a social worker, relationship counsellor, arm-twister, hostage negotiator, named driver, bus fare-provider, accountant, suicide watchman, coffee-supplier, surrogate parent and, on one memorable occasion, whatever the official term is for someone tasked with breaking the news to a prisoner that his girlfriend has been diagnosed with gonorrhoea.”

Welcome to the world of the Secret Barrister. These are the stories of life inside the courtroom. They are sometimes funny, often moving and ultimately life-changing.

How can you defend a child-abuser you suspect to be guilty? What do you say to someone sentenced to ten years who you believe to be innocent? What is the law and why do we need it?

And why do they wear those stupid wigs?

From the criminals to the lawyers, the victims, witnesses and officers of the law, here is the best and worst of humanity, all struggling within a broken system which would never be off the front pages if the public knew what it was really like.

Both a searing first-hand account of the human cost of the criminal justice system, and a guide to how we got into this mess, The Secret Barrister wants to show you what it’s really like and why it really matters.

Available here.

Searingly honest. This book is certainly one of the bravest and most personal ever written. Adam Kay has a huge talent for writing and comedy. It is not for the faint hearted, nor for anyone pregnant or thinking of having children! I almost threw up or fainted a few times reading it. Mostly as it reminded me of my C section. This book is a best seller and it is easy to see why.

Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you.

Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line. Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking, this diary is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn’t – about life on and off the hospital ward.

As seen on ITV’s Zoe Ball Book Club.

This edition includes extra diary entries and a new afterword by the author.

Available here.

Timely, well-written and full of great lines. I recommend sitting down and reading in one sitting as I did. Endlessly engaging and very witty. 

Kathy is a writer. Kathy is getting married. It’s the summer of 2017 and the whole world is falling apart.

From a Tuscan hotel for the super-rich to a Brexit-paralysed UK, Kathy spends the first summer of her 40s trying to adjust to making a lifelong commitment just as Trump is tweeting the world into nuclear war. But it’s not only Kathy who’s changing. Political, social and natural landscapes are all in peril. Fascism is on the rise, truth is dead, the planet is hotting up. Is it really worth learning to love when the end of the world is nigh? And how do you make art, let alone a life, when one rogue tweet could end it all.

Olivia Laing radically rewires the novel in a brilliant, funny and emphatically raw account of love in the apocalypse. A Goodbye to Berlin for the 21st century, Crudo charts in real time what it was like to live and love in the horrifying summer of 2017, from the perspective of a commitment-phobic peripatetic artist who may or may not be Kathy Acker . . .

Available here.

Another book from the brilliant Sarah Manguso. This one has been defaced by one of my children with crayon. Apologies for that. Manguso says “Think of this as a short book composed entirely of what I hoped would be a long book’s quotable passages.” It is precisely that. Smart and gorgeous. A must read. 
300 Arguments by Sarah Manguso is at first glance a group of unrelated aphorisms, but the pieces reveal themselves as a masterful arrangement that steadily gathers power. Manguso’s arguments about writing, desire, ambition, relationships, and failure are pithy, unsentimental, and defiant, and they add up to an unexpected and renegade wisdom literature. Lines you will underline, write in notebooks and read to the person sitting next to you, that will drift back into your mind as you try to get to sleep.

Available here.

This is an original and intelligent book. I found it hard to put down. Marianne Power really draws you in. Honest and brilliantly written. A great book even for those not interested in self help.

Marianne Power was stuck in a rut. Then one day she wondered: could self-help books help her find the elusive perfect life?

She decided to test one book a month for a year, following their advice to the letter. What would happen if she followed the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? Really felt The Power of Now? Could she unearth The Secret to making her dreams come true?

What begins as a clever experiment becomes an achingly poignant story. Because self-help can change your life – but not necessarily for the better . . .

Help Me! is an irresistibly funny and incredibly moving book about a wild and ultimately redemptive journey that will resonate with anyone who’s ever dreamed of finding happiness.

Perfect for readers who enjoyed Everything I know About Love by Dolly Alderton, Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon and Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig.

Available here.

I loved the sisters in this book. It would make the perfect Christmas movie. A wonderful and entertaining Christmas novel to get into the spirit. 

It’s not what’s under the Christmas tree, but who’s around it that matters most.

All Suzanne McBride wants for Christmas is her three daughters happy and at home. But when sisters Posy, Hannah and Beth return to their family home in the Scottish Highlands, old tensions and buried secrets start bubbling to the surface.

Suzanne is determined to create the perfect family Christmas, but the McBrides must all face the past and address some home truths before they can celebrate together . . .

This Christmas indulge in some me-time and enjoy this uplifting and heart-warming story from international bestseller Sarah Morgan. Full of romance, laughter and sisterly drama, The Christmas Sisters is the perfect book to curl up with this festive season.

Available here.

the crossway book, pilgrimage

The Crossway is a brave book with a great story. Guy Stagg was having mental health issues and decided to go on a pilgrimage. He walked more than 5,500 kilometres from Canterbury to Jerusalem. His journey is written brilliantly in these pages and is a riveting read. Perfect for Christmas. A great book.

In 2013 Guy Stagg made a pilgrimage from Canterbury to Jerusalem. Though a non-believer, he began the journey after suffering several years of mental illness, hoping the ritual would heal him. For ten months he hiked alone on ancient paths, crossing ten countries and more than 5,500 kilometres. The Crossway is an account of this extraordinary adventure.

Having left home on New Year’s Day, Stagg climbed over the Alps in midwinter, spent Easter in Rome with a new pope, joined mass protests in Istanbul and survived a terrorist attack in Lebanon. Travelling without support, he had to rely each night on the generosity of strangers, staying with monks and nuns, priests and families. As a result, he gained a unique insight into the lives of contemporary believers and learnt the fascinating stories of the soldiers and saints, missionaries and martyrs who had followed these paths before him.

The Crossway is a book full of wonders, mixing travel and memoir, history and current affairs. At once intimate and epic, it charts the author’s struggle to walk towards recovery, and asks whether religion can still have meaning for those without faith.

Available here.