An uplifting, heartwarming seasonal romance set in a quintessential seaside village in Devon, perfect for fans of Holly Martin and Sarah Morgan.
Two Scrooges come together for a festive-free holiday season by the sea and find all their anti-Christmas plans going up in smoke when they decide to play Santa for a single mom and her child.
Eloise Garrett thinks Christmas is overpriced, overhyped, and overrated, and without any family to share it with, she feels sad, lonely and isolated. The “season for giving” is just a constant reminder that she's single, sixty(ish), and staring down retirement. But not this Christmas. Determined to avoid the most magical time of the year, Eloise decides to spend Christmas in Honeycombe Bay. Surely a seaside village in the middle of winter won't be too festive?
Ever since his wife passed away, Bartholomew Knott hasn't felt up to welcoming visitors to his guest house. With the prospect of another long, lonely winter, and having become more Scrooge than Santa over the years, Bart is dreading Christmas. However, when he's contacted by someone who dislikes decking the halls just as much as he does, Bart has the brilliant idea of opening the guest house to people who want to escape all things festive.
Christmas isn't easy to ignore, though, not even in off-season Honeycombe Bay. So when fate forces Bart to give shelter to a single mother and child whose holiday has been devastated by a terrible fire, Eloise finds herself playing Mrs. Claus to Bart's Santa-dragging the house's other guest, a heartbroken teacher looking for a break during the holidays, into the action as well. But holiday cheer isn't the only thing sparking under the mistletoe. Will the guests at Honeycombe Bay realize that, sometimes, the best way to escape Christmas is to let it into your heart?
PERFECT FOR FANS OF
- Small-town Christmas vibes
- Later-in-life romance
- Forced proximity
- Grumpy x sunshine
What did I think?
It's a little early for me to read something festive but when I saw that Lilac Mills had a new book out I just had to read it and I absolutely loved Christmas at Honeycombe Bay.
Enjoyment of Christmas is a bit of a bone of contention for me as there could be very good reasons why someone doesn't enjoy the festivities. That's the case for Eloise who has no family to celebrate with so she decides to escape to the seaside village of Honeycombe Bay on its off-season.
Eloise has to persuade Guest house owner Bart to let her stay over Christmas as running the guest house.on his own after his wife died just isn't the same. There's no messing with Eloise once she gets an idea into her head though as we sure find out throughout the book. It's unusual to find an older protagonist in a book and I loved that Eloise and Bart are in their sixties but they still have a lot of living to do.
As a few more rooms become occupied we are introduced to some unforgettable characters who worked their way into my heart and certainly defrosted Eloise's heart. It is just so lovely to see friendships blossoming and an eclectic group of people becoming a family. Consider my heart well and truly warmed!
Charming, heartwarming and uplifting, Christmas at Honeycombe Bay is an absolute delight to read. I think it's perfect for both festive and pre-festive reading as it's obviously not too Christmassy at first with the characters wanting to avoid Christmas. Put this one on your Christmas list! A highly recommended read and an easy five stars.
I received a digital ARC to read and review for the Rachel's Random Resources blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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About the author:
Lilac Mills lives on a Welsh mountain with her very patient husband and incredibly sweet dog, where she grows veggies (if the slugs don't get them), bakes (badly) and loves making things out of glitter and glue (a mess, usually). She's been an avid reader ever since she got her hands on a copy of Noddy Goes to Toytown when she was five, and she once tried to read everything in her local library starting with A and working her way through the alphabet. She loves long, hot summer days in the garden, and cold winter ones snuggled in front of the fire, but whatever the weather she's usually writing or thinking about writing, with heartwarming romance and happy-ever-afters always on her mind.
Lilac also writes under the pseudonyms Liz Davies and Etti Summers
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