Christmas is coming but it doesn’t feel that way for Esme Greenwood. Recently jilted by her cheating fiancee Warren,she’s had enough of London life and escapes to Thimble Cottage in the Peak District, home of her beloved grandmother Matilda.
While Esme mourns for the wedding she’ll never have, Matilda puts her granddaughter back together again with comforting words and generous helpings of fruitcake and together, they plan the trip of a lifetime, to Lapland to see the northern lights, somewhere Matilda has always dreamt of going.
But tragedy strikes and when Matilda dies, Esme screws up the courage to go on the trip on her own to honour her beloved grandmother’s wishes. At the airport she meets a motley crew of characters including Zach, a handsome, brooding, out-of- work actor and together they set off for an adventure.
Beneath the indigo skies of Lapland, Esme and Zach grow closer. But when Esme is bombarded by messages from Warren promising he’s changed and she discovers that Zach is hiding something very significant – will her head be turned? And when a trip to the northern lights reveals the full extent of Zach’s own secret past, is there any hope that Esme will get the happy ending that her grandmother wished for her?
My review
Slowly that time of the year is arriving and books about Christmas are popping up. This story certainly looked at the festive season from a different angle and it was refreshing.
Take one cheating, dominating boyfriend, a lovely but naive girlfriend and you already know that trouble is on its way when the little mouse, little by little, seems to turn into a lioness.
The author takes us from the England on a magical trip to Lapland and after reading the book, you start to believe that Santa does exist after all.
A fluently written book about dealing with grieve and second chances.
I hope we are in for a sequel, because I had the impression the story has only just started. 4 stars
Thank you Tilly Tennant, Bookouture and Netgalley.
About the author
From a young age, Tilly Tennant was convinced that she was destined for the stage. Once she realised she wasn’t actually very good at anything that would put her on the stage, she started to write stories instead. There were lots of terrible ones, like The Pet Rescue Gang (aged eight), which definitely should not see the light of day ever again. Thankfully, her debut novel, Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn was not one of those, and since it hit the Amazon best seller lists she hasn’t looked back. Born in Dorset, she currently lives in Staffordshire with her husband, two daughters, three guitars, four ukuleles, two violins and a kazoo.
B for Bookreview 