I haven’t read many of Carole Matthews’ amazing 25 books, but every one I have read I had really enjoyed, especially her Christmas novels. They are so amazing, you really care for all of the characters. This book is no different.
This book is about, unsurprisingly, a Christmas party, and tells the story over a period of about 3 days, most of which focuses on the Christmas party itself, I can’t think of another book I have read that focuses on such a short time period, however this is not a bad thing, quite the opposite, it means you get incredibly detailed viewpoints from all the characters. It is really fantastic! I would love a whole ‘War and Peace’ length novel with this world we are bought into, I cannot get enough of what Carole writes!
This book was a good start to my festive reads, I love Christmas parties, and this one sounded amazing, even if you remove all the drama that occurs. The open bar, the extravagant setting and being so close to Christmas, the perfect sounding party!
You are first introduced to Louise, a single mum who is looking forward to starting a good job so she can provide and move out of her parents house, however she doesn’t appreciate her letchy boss, Tyler! Louise seemed such a sweet person, someone you would want as a best friend. She was caring and shy, I found myself hoping that everything went her way.
Tyler, despite how despicable he was with his cheating and thinking he was gods gift to all women, he provided some great comedy moments, and I actually felt quite sorry for him, and that’s a beautiful thing in itself, it’s very rare that I feel sorry for a character that I know I shouldn’t like at all! One scene in particular towards the end had me laughing out loud, causing me to try to explain the whole story to my boyfriend so he would understand why it was so funny.
The other viewpoints were from Kristen, Tyler’s wife who I felt bad for but never really warmed to her as much as I did Louise and Melissa, Lance’s wife who was quite similar to Kirsten in a way, but actually I found her more likable, sure she made mistakes, but after getting hurt and learning her lesson she seemed stronger and more determined.
As well as the humor and romance you come to expect, another scene, involving Lance had me quite sad, showing that this book has it all.
This is another stunning book from Carole!
Published by: Sphere
Gratefully received from the Publisher for review.
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Want to wind down after a long day of Christmas shopping with a good book and a glass of Christmassy goodness? I will talk about a nice non-alcholic version of the Christmas Classic ‘Mulled Wine’ I drank which I think suits the mood of this book.
What better way to start off the Christmas book season than Mulled Wine. I thought I would try a non alcoholic version and I found this recipe online. Wow, despite my initial reservations due to the ‘not-remotely-mulled-wine-esque’ colour, it was amazing, warming and that hint of spice, not as heavy as mulled wine, but really delicious and is definitely reminiscent of the alcoholic version. I’m definitely making this in future and am sorely tempted to add some Cranberry juice for extra fruit and colour goodness, an extra mulled wine sachet, and then, being the cinnamon addict I am, a couple of cinnamon sticks too!