Blurb: The perfect seasonal tale of how laughter, friends and wacky Christmas jumpers can mend a broken heart. For fans of Trisha Ashley and Jenny Colgan.

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…

*First of all I would like to thank the publishers for sending me a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*  

 

This month I am going to be completely Lost in Christmas! There will be festive reviews, guest posts, giveaways and more surprises every day. Today's review is the fantastic novella The Reluctant Elf. 

Ah! And don't forget to enter my Christmas Giveaway!

Review: This is my first book by Alexandra Brown but I loved it. I fell in love with the gorgeous cover, with the cute map of Tindledale at the beginning of the book, with the story, with its fantastic characters and with Alexandra's festive and fresh style. It's clear that I adored this book.

The story takes place in the small village of Tindledale, where everyone knows everyone and everything and there's this community spirit and all the people help  and take care of each other. It instantly felt like home for both me and the main character, Sybil. She was dumped at the altar on May the 4th (be with you) by his ex fiancé, Luke, and when she was wearing a Princess Leia costume for the ceremony. I actually laughed out loud with this (I know it's mean but it's hilarious, come on!). So since then she has been getting on with life like a zombie, not really caring about anything. In Tindledale she finally finds a place where she is alive again and there might be a possibility of a better life. 

This is one of the cutest, sweetest and most festive stories I have ever read. The characters are wonderful, from the lovely Laurence, who runs the Bed and Breakfast, the drama group and  the private hairdresser, to the cute doctor Darcy, who all the villagers adore and can't seem to leave alone. And let's not forget the star of this story, Hettie. This old lady has a lot in common with Sybil and through thir love for knitting they start a beautiful friendship. They help each other without even realising.

I highly recommend this book, it is the book you cannot miss these holildays. Alexandra really makes the little village of Tindledale come to life and it captures you from the first page. And the best is that it is a series so we get to go back quite soon (I can't wait to find out more about who the second book is going to be about and to meet with these lovely characters again). 

I have always wanted to learn how to knit but never really found the time but after reading this fantastic story I was left with a huge desire to try it. So I bought the needles and the wool and went to youtube to find some tutorials... and I love it! Sybil was right, knitting gives you peace and it's a fantastic feeling when you create something with your own hands. I have already made a basic scarf and socks for my baby niece and I am now working on a hat. I can't wait to keep practicing!

Today the first book of the new series by Nikki Moore #LoveLondon is out! 

Happy publication day Nikki!

Book 1, #LoveLondon Series; Skating at Somerset House by Nikki Moore

There’s nothing Holly Winterlake loves more than Christmas and skating, so working as an Ice Marshall at London's Somerset House is a dream come true.

Noel Summerford hates the festive season and is a disaster on the ice, so taking his godson to Somerset House is his idea of the nightmare before Christmas!

Things are bound to get interesting when these two collide…

With a forty foot Christmas tree, an assortment of well meaning friends and relatives, and a mad chocolate Labrador, will this festive season be one to remember … or forget?

Available to buy at Amazon | Amazon UK 

Today I am very excited to welcome Jennifer Joyce, the fantastic author of A Beginner's Guide to Salad, A Beginner's Guide to Christmas and Everything Changes But You to my blog. She is going to talk about her favourite Christmas movie. Jennifer, all yours: 

Jennifer Joyce


I love Festive films, whether they’re cheesy, magical, silly or funny. Especially if they’re those things. But one of my favourites is Jingle All The Way. It’s Christmas Eve and Howard (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) has forgotten to buy his son a Turbo Man action figure, which is the most sought after toy that year. Howard sets out to buy one but it proves to be a difficult – and hilarious, in my opinion – task.

Jingle All The Way is the perfect festive film for me. It’s fun but has a serious message when workaholic Howard realises the errors of his ways. And, best of all, it also contains a fabulously festive Christmas parade. 

 

This month I am going to be completely Lost in Christmas! There will be festive reviews, guest posts, giveaways and more surprises every day. Today's review is the fantastic novella The Reluctant Elf. 

Ah! And don't forget to enter my Christmas Giveaway!

Blurb: Meet Britain's Worst Innkeeper

Single mother and extremely undomestic goddess, Lottie, has five days to become the ultimate B&B hostess to save her beloved Aunt Kate’s livelihood.

When Aunt Kate ends up in the hospital, Lottie and her seven-year-old daughter are called to rural Wales to stand in at the B&B. Without the faintest idea how to run a hotel (she can barely run her own life), Lottie must impress the picky hotel reviewer and his dysfunctional family who are coming to stay over Christmas. Without the rating only he can bestow, Aunt Kate will lose her livelihood.

But will Danny, the local taxi driver who she hires to help her, really be Santa’s little helper, or the Grinch who stole Christmas?

*First of all I would like to thank the publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.* 

Review: This lovely novella is a precious little gem. I enjoyed every page and time flew while I was reading it. Lottie and her beautiful clever daughter stole my heart from the begining. They were fighters and Lottie just couldn't see her aunt's dream, her B&B, disappear over Christmas so she gave it everything to save it. And what an adventure it was, as she had no idea how to run a house, even less a B&B, she hired the handsome Danny, even if he was not the most skilled cook, he turnet out to be a key to this story... It was hilarious to read how they tried to achieve the unachievable, get the perfect review from the reviewer with the craziest family of the world.

This short story was packed with laughs, emotions, up and downs and love. And it had a trully festive feel. I love it when an author manages to capture you in only a hundred pages and create such wonderful and vivid characters. I highly recommend this novella for the holidays, I am sure that you all will love it too and it will make you feel all warm and festive. 

Rating: 5 stars and the christmas special badge, meaning that it's the perfect Christmas read!

It's December and it means that Christmas is only 25 days away! I am a big fan of Christmas and this is why I have decided to make it more special. This month I am going to be completely Lost in Christmas!

During the month of December I am running the Favourites of Christmas Feature. Some fantastic book bloggers and authors have written guest posts talking about their Christmas favourites, from their favourite song or movie to their favourite memory or present. You will have a lot of fun reading all about it and feeling all festive and warm inside. 

There will be guest posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and a couple of Sundays too! 

But this is not all, I have also been reading a lot of Christmas books and I'm planning on continue reading them during this month so we'll have a lot of festive reviews on the blog too. And I'm working on a list of festive reads you can't miss this year that will be posted Sunday 14th. 

Check out the whole schedule for this month: 

And as you know, I recently opened my Etsy shop: Books and Butterflies where you can find some fantastic bookish tote bags that are the perfect present for your booklover friends this Christmas.

So with my Christmas Giveaway you can win this Festive Tote Bag and this handmade Felt Christmas Decoration. Enter now until the 15th of December. This giveaway is international and I will announce the winner on Twitter or via Email the 16th of December.

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