Christmas Wishes by Sue Moorcroft | Book Review #ChristmasWishes |@SueMoorcroft @AvonBooksUK

Published by Avon
Available in ebook (29 October 2020) | paperback (12 November 2020)
400 pages
Source: My own purchased copy

ABOUT THE BOOK

Hannah and Nico are meant to be together.

But fate is keeping them apart…

As soon as Hannah bumps into her brother Rob’s best friend Nico in Stockholm, the two rekindle a fast friendship. But Hannah has a boyfriend – and Nico has two children to look after.

When Hannah loses her beloved shop in Stockholm, though, she is forced to move back to the little village of Middledip – only to find Nico has just moved in too. Under the same snowy sky, can the childhood friends make a romance work – or are there too many obstacles standing in their way?

A heartwarming story of love, friendship, and Christmas magic, perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley and Jill Mansell.

MY THOUGHTS

Christmas Wishes is partially set in the village of Middledip, where it was nice to see a few familiar characters from previous books re-appear, (don’t worry if you haven’t read previous ones, this is a standalone) and cold snowy Stockholm – having been to Stockholm during a snowy December I can vouch for how cold it is!

Hannah Goodbody is in her Stockholm shop, selling luxury goods, when Nico, an old friend of her brother suddenly appears. The two enjoy catching up but romance is not yet on the cards – Hannah has a boyfriend Albin and Nico is in his own complicated situation. 

When awful Albin does the dirty on Hannah, she decides to return home to Middledip. Events have conspired to ensure that she is able to look after her injured 90 year old nan, who herself is on a break from her boyfriend after he wanted her to sign a prenup following a marriage proposal – my goodness, these people lead complicated love lives! Hannah of course needs to find work, but discovers that yet again, she is being taken advantage of.

Although Hannah is one of the lead characters, much of the story focuses on Nico. A really lovely guy but one who comes with an awful lot of baggage in the shape of an ex-wife with addiction issues and thus ends up taking on the responsibility for two small girls, but only one being his. Nico certainly has a lot of challenges thrown his way however he was one of my favourite characters and I was so hoping that life would give him a break.

Hannah and Nico may take the lead in this warm and engaging story but there are plenty of others who pull at the heart strings too and entertain.  The two young girls, 8 year old Josie and 2 year old Maria, were an absolute delight and I’m not normally a children person. Nan Heather, with her wise advice and clever manipulation struck just the right note.  The only character I hated with a passion was Albin, he was foul and how on earth someone as nice as Hannah ever got together with him in the first place was a mystery.

There is a real sense of location when part of the story takes place in Stockholm. Vividly described local areas and landmarks, Swedish traditions, food and drink all add to the atmosphere – after the year we’re having with travel restrictions, it was a pleasure to do some armchair travelling!

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Middledip and Sweden with Hannah and Nico. As you may expect, nothing runs smoothly, there are plenty of challenges and misunderstandings to overcome for our two main characters, however as with previous books, the author doesn’t shy away from giving that added authenticity and realism by including more difficult subjects in the form of alcohol and drug addiction, eating disorders and job demands with the interlinked childcare problems.

Despite the title, only a small part of the story actually takes place during Christmas – so it’s ideal for reading at any time and with the emphasis on love, doing the right thing and family values, all with a light touch of humour, this was exactly the warm and comforting read I needed at the moment. I loved it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Award-winning author Sue Moorcroft writes contemporary women’s fiction with occasionally unexpected themes. She’s won a Readers’ Best Romantic Read Award and been nominated for others, including a ‘RoNA’ (Romantic Novel Award). Sue’s a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner, a past vice chair of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and editor of its two anthologies.

She also writes short stories, serials, articles, writing ‘how to’ and is a creative writing tutor.

The daughter of two soldiers, Sue was born in Germany and went on to spend much of her childhood in Malta and Cyprus. She likes reading, Zumba, FitStep, yoga, and watching Formula 1.

Author Links:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

Book Links:
UK Bookshop.org | Waterstones | Hive (ebook & print) | Amazon UK

At the time of writing this post, Christmas Wishes is available to download from Amazon UK for 99p