Home for Christmas – Heidi Swain | Book Review | #HomeForChristmas | @Heidi_Swain @BookMinxSJV  @TeamBATC  @simonschusterUK  #RespectRomFic

Bella is living her best life in Wynbridge, with her beloved Spaniel, Tink. She’s found a way to keep the house she inherited from her grandparents while expanding her dream business – Away With the Fairies – and she’s ecstatic that Christmas is on the horizon!

In fact, everything is perfect until family friend, Catherine Connelly asks Bella if she’d be willing to rent part of the house to freelance author, Jude who is researching the history of the Connelly Clan and Wynthorpe Hall ahead of turning his findings into a book. The plan had been for Jude to stay at the hall, but he can’t cope with the chaos and Bella reluctantly agrees to open her door to him.

Initially, the pair clash but then friendlier feelings begin to grow and Bella finds herself wondering if Jude could become more than just another guest before it’s time for him to leave. That is, until he announces he has no time for Christmas!

With her favourite time of the year suddenly in jeopardy, will Bella ever feel like she’s home for Christmas?

MY THOUGHTS

My thanks to SJV of Simon & Schuster for the tour invite and for providing a copy of the book for review. Home for Christmas is available in ebook, audiobook and paperback (10 October 2024). It’s a pleasure to be one of the bloggers starting off the blog tour today. Do check out the other stops below.

I’ve read many of Heidi’s books and especially love returning to a previous setting. This time, we’re back in Wynbridge, where some characters from That Festive Feeling make a welcome return. However here Bella Bailey is the main character, along with her reluctant house guest Jude.

Bella loves Christmas, in fact you could say she is obsessed with it. She has her own business -‘Away with the Fairies’, her personalised fairies are very popular and Christmas is especially busy so when she is coerced into accepting an unexpected house guest and having to relocate her living and working space she is not best pleased. Even less so when the guest, Jude, appears to be rude, ungrateful and insensitive. And to make matters worse, he hates Christmas.

I’m not at all like Bella. I can be a bit of a Grinch – I do put a small tree up and a recycled wreath on the door and that’s as far as my Christmas decorations go but I loved the wintry, Christmassy vibe from this story and it was such an enjoyable read. Bella was such a joyful character, her and Jude were complete opposites and it seemed they couldn’t even be friends, such was the antagonism between them.

There was a wonderful feeling of community spirit and friendship throughout the story and catching up with Holly, now a successful author of Tall Tales from Small Dogs, and Bear, was a delight. There was even an appearance from Bear’s mother, the flamboyant actress May Madison who made such an impact in the previous Christmas book. I was intrigued by Jude’s intense dislike of Christmas but as his backstory was revealed, all become clear. The ‘will they, won’t they’ question made for a perfect slow burn romance however of course nothing runs smoothly for Bella and Jude with misunderstandings and unexpected events threatening any future plans.

With its captivating characters and village setting Home for Christmas is a lovely book to curl up with, particularly in the lead up to the festive season and I can highly recommend accompanying the reading experience with a comfy chair and hot chocolate.

Finally, a shout out is deserved for Bella’s lovely spaniel Tink, a great supporting canine character who clearly has a nose for sniffing out that perfect person.

Heidi Swain is a Sunday Times Top Ten best-selling author who writes feel good fiction for Simon & Schuster. She releases two books a year (early summer and winter) and the stories all have a strong sense of community, family and friendship. She is currently writing books set in three locations – the Fenland town of Wynbridge, Nightingale Square in Norwich and Wynmouth on the Norfolk coast, as well as summer standalone titles. Heidi lives in beautiful west Norfolk. She is passionate about gardening, the countryside, collecting vintage paraphernalia and reading. Her tbr pile is always out of control! Heidi loves to chat with her readers and you can get in touch via her website or on social media.

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