Book-Mad-Mum

  Finding Love At The Christmas Market by Jo Thomas published by Random House   C onnie works in a residental home, delivering ready-made meals to the people who live there, but when her online date is at a German Christmas market, the residents decide to hitch a lift with her in their minibus! On paper, Baker Henrich is everything that Connie could wish for and more, but when she meets his rival William, another baker in the Old Town, Connie starts to wonder if there is more to love than just ticking boxes on a list. This is a story of friendship and memory making regardless of age. There were times when I wanted to shake Connie, as I was worried that she was going to get sucked into a story of revenge and spying, but thankfully she is more savvy than that and I was really relieved!! This book is stuffed full of Christmas jumpers, stollen, gingerbread, ice skating and hot chocolate what more could any festive fan ask for?! Jo Thomas is a magical storywriter who brings to l

  Happiness For Beginners by Carole Matthews published by Spectre Books C hristmas For Beginners – Carole Matthews published by Sphere Christmas is gathering pace and Hope Farm, and owner Molly Baker has been convinced by her colleague Bev, to go completely out of her comfort zone and organise an open day to raise some much-needed funds ahead of the New Year. Molly finds it all a bit overwhelming, and is concerned that the animals will play up on the day. Despite the chaos of the farm getting in the way of her event planning, Molly is looking forward to spending the holidays with tv soap actor boyfriend Shelby and his teenage Lucas, hopeful that a happy family Christmas is exactly what they need to draw them all together. But while she is busy making plans on the farm, Shelby, it seems, has ideas of his own. I absolutely loved this book!! If I could give it more than five stars in a review then I would!!! It is by far the best festive novel I have read this season (and I’ve notc

 The Country Village Christmas Show by Cathy Lake published by Cathy Lake   Clare is at a crossroads in her life, with the ink drying on her divorce papers, her son at uni and the family home sold, she must now start all over again.   Moving back into her childhood home in the village that she grew up in, Clare faces new challenges. When herself and her son Kyle chance upon the idea of running a Christmas show in the village to bring the community together, it feels like she has purpose again, but can she manage to pull it off?   I snuggled down to read this book with a large mug of hot chocolate, the dog on my lap, and rain lashing down outside   and for a few hours I lost sight of the doom and gloom going on in the world – COVID hasn’t reached Little Bramble yet! I did enjoy the book, the characters were believable and I got a taste of the village community which I yearn for, after living all my life in the Big Smoke! However, saying that I was a little disappointed in t

  The Winter Garden by Heidi Swain published by Simon & Schuster     Freya Fuller is estranged from her parents and has been following her childhood dream of becoming a gardener ever since. When an opportunity to design a winter garden opens up at a Victorian property in Nightingale Square, Freya jumps at the chance to make a fresh start. But while the majority of the residents are welcoming, local artist Finn seems determined to shut her out, and when Freya's family make a surprise appearance, it seems that her new life is about to come crashing down . . . This is a story where you settle on the sofa on an autumnal afternoon, the rain lashing outside, a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows by your side and you sit down and lose yourself in this Christmas tale. Although a nice story, I didn’t gel with the characters, but perhaps that because I hadn’t read the other books in the series, and although this can be read as a stand alone story, I felt I hadn