Firstly this cover is beyond pretty, infact it starred yesterday in my top 5 Christmas Books and Covers yesterday, and who can blame me, it’s so beautiful and wintery and reminds me of a classic very traditional christmas card.
Set in a small village, it has both the sense of community that you get in such a village, but also some of the inner-community politics that make you want to roll your eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. It is exactly true to life and makes you chuckle to yourself, if ever you’ve lived in a small community. The two sisters inherit their late father’s pub. This grabbed my interest me as the small town I live in has a few pubs, but there is one in particular I think is just perfection and how I would envisage my pub, should I ever run one. It even has a few bookshelves that have a selection of books that I may have borrowed from once or twice, but have also donated to on a few occasions as well! So I love the atmosphere and sense of community in this place, and if you say ‘pub’ to me this is the place my mind goes to, with warm feelings, not just due to the amazing cider they serve there. So while Nessie and Sam were overwhelmed with all the stuff they had to do given the deadline placed on them by the village busybody, I was willing them on, knowing that they could really make a success of it, especially with all of their hard work.
Nessie is instantly the character I connected with more, Sam was a bit too harsh at first, especially with her handling of the paintings, however towards the end I warmed up to her, but am eagerly anticipating the following novellas to hopefully expand the mystery surrounding Sam.
This novella is nothing short of adorable. It is the perfect antidote to the dark nights when you want something quick to read making you smile, laugh and overall have a thoroughly good time reading it.
Published by: Simon and Schuster UK
Gratefully received from the Publisher for review.