Christmas, snow, intrigue, and relationships, perfect for a cold winter night! Lovely story to curl up with

Such a cute Christmassy read! I didn't really warm to Anders, but the mystery makes this a pacy romcom.

A Karen Swan book is a Christmas tradition, and this one has a wonderful wintry Norwegian setting, along with a slightly mysterious storyline combining the present day and the historical. A nice read.

I really enjoyed this lovely book. Set in beautiful Norway with it's stunning views, you can really picture yourself on that mountain looking at the waterfalls. Saying that I'm not sure how I would deal with no central heating and toilet in the same house though, but it did sound like the full experience and I'm here for stepping away from social.

Bo and Zac, also known are The Wanderlust, the Instagram duo who have turned their lifestyles into a job and get to live the dream, exploring the world with their photographer Lenny. I mean how else will they capture the ultimate lifestyle for thier followers and make the vital money for the brand partnerships. Bo, Zac and Lenny are all spending Christmas in a remote farm owned by Signy.

We also go back to the 1930's to Signey when she was 14 and on the farm with her sister and other ladies of the village.

I personally found the flashback to the farm really hard to get into. I didn't initially see how it related. It all comes together in the end, but found it a bit tricky to begin with.

I enjoyed reading the life of Bo and how her and Zac live. I've always struggled with going up to people when we are out and about and this book really highlighted how it can impact an individual.

It had action, beautiful settings and characters with personality, even if there was some who really grated on you!

Would recommend this as a nice festive read :)

I thought I had posted feedback on this book, and have only just seen it still sitting on my shelf - even though i read it when it came out! Apologies.

At first I wasn't too enamored with the characters of Zac and Bo, but they gradually grew on me, and I loved the entwining stories of old and new.

The description of the scenery is something that Karen Swan excels at, and you spend half your time reading the novel and googling the places she mentions! You really do feel like you are there, without it feeling like a travel brochure.

I was captivated straight away by the stunning cover and wintery location of this book. I have read books by Karen Swan previously and know that she is a talented writer who knows how to weave a compelling storyline. This was no exception and the plot moves seamlessly between the 1930's and present day.

I liked main characters Bo, Zac and Lenny who are influencers, travelling worldwide to inspire and impress their many followers. However, as it so often happens with social media, things are not always as they are portrayed.

The beautiful, remote and sometimes hazardous location comes to life on the page and there is plenty of suspense and romance to make this Christmas story extra special.

This was my first Karen Swan book and I loved The Christmas Lights, the story follows Bo, Zac and Lenny. They are travel bloggers and they travel the world but for Christmas they are in the fjords in Norway. The hill farm that they are staying in has no modern facilities and is owned and also lived in by Signy who is in her 90's. The story is set now and in 1936 and follows the lives of the bloggers and Signy. I liked the characters and will definitely be reading more Karen Swan books.

With thanks to netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

The Christmas lights is a perfect book to read at Christmas and made me want to book a trip to Norway.

Thanks to NetGalley and to Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of The Christmas Lights by Karen Swan.

This story begins in 1930s rural Norway, then skips to the present-day South Pacific. It jumps back to the fjords, and then we're in present-day Norway.

It follows two sets of characters: a bunch of milkmaids and goatherds in the Norwegian countryside; and a trio of vloggers dashing from one continent to another just in time for Christmas. 

Signy is the goatherd; Bo and Zac are the darlings of Instagram.

Although I found the chopping and changing around a bit confusing - it wasn't clear from the ebook when there was a change in character viewpoint - I found the double storylines and the history intriguing.

I thought the vloggers got from the South Pacific to Scandinavia a bit sharpish, and I thought they were very rude when they arrived at their destination. But then I found their hosts Signy and Anders quite rude too.

I wouldn't want to stay at their holiday cottage at all, and I wouldn't want Bo, Zac and Lenny as my guests either. Not only were they ill-mannered, they were also incredibly pampered. Bo also turned out to be quite gullible. 

So, not one of the characters appealed to me. I even thought the additional character of Anna to be quite wooden and unnecessary. I found all of the characters unlikeable, and therefore didn't care what happened to them.

HOWEVER ... what I did enjoy was the beautiful Norwegian setting. I'd never heard of a shelf farm before. I don't think I'd fancy hauling myself up a vertical ladder hammered into the side of a cliff with only freezing water beneath me, and I'm not sure my arms would pull me up either. So kudos to them! And I didn't know about the natural disasters that happen every so often in the fjords.

I was interested to read about the vloggers and how they worked as I watch vlogs myself. So all of this was fascinating. And the book, too, is very well written and, I presume, very well researched. Plus, there was a lot of snow, and I love snow.

I'm afraid I guessed who the creep was, and I knew instantly who it wasn't. That was all a bit pat. But generally, I enjoyed reading the book, even if I didn't like anyone very much.

I loved the setting of this book. Having spent a holiday in Norway a couple of summers about took me right back. The sights and sounds of the setting was a perfect reminder.
The story is based on Zac and Bo whose lives are set out on Instagram where life is all about likes and followers. I wasn't sure about this as the lead story but soon got caught up in the story of their Norwegian hosts. This was far better.

This is not a lovey-dovey Christmas novel but one full of action, love, secrets, intrigue and a twist. Set in 2018, Bo and Zac have 9 million Instagram followers and travel free from being sponsored by different brands. They move from the heat of Samoa to spend Christmas in a cabin on a shelf farm located in the Norwegian Fjords. Their host is 96 year old Signy. Her grandson Anders becomes their tour guide. The novel also goes back to 1936 when Signy was a 14 year old milkmaid. The descriptions of the scenery were lovely and I could feel the cold with them, making it a perfect Winter’s day read - just a shame it was wet and mild out! Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for letting me review this book.

I was in two minds when writing this review. I found the older part of the story interesting, and I was waiting to see who she would marry. But the modern part of the story? When I saw how much it revolved around bloggers/influencers, having forgotten that part, well, I nearly gave up reading this book. I was glad I persevered, as it was worth it in the end, and there was a good story hidden there in the end. I can see why she made them obsessed with their social media, so we could have the change at the end, but it nearly lost me as a reader.

I started this book but I couldn’t get into it or warm to the characters. The blurb is very interesting so I’m disappointed that I didn’t like the characters. The swimming through the caves was very real for me and had me holding my breath and feeling very claustrophobic, so I didn’t get much past this point. As I wasn’t enjoying it

The Christmas Lights is a romantic drama set in Norway. An adventurous couple find their relationship fracturing when they visit Norway during the winter, their exploits documented on Instagram. Slightly overlong and slow, the novel will make the reader want to visit the beautiful Norwegian fjords.

So beautiful. I enjoyed both halves of this book. The first, set in modern times, follows Bo, an "influencer" who is heading to Norway for her latest trip along with her boyfriend, and resident photographer. While there, she battles the feeling of being enclosed with her job/lifestyle and grows closer to Anders, their unwilling guide, and Signy, his grandmother and the owner of the place they're staying at. Bo is a great character, and over the book, I really grew to like her.
The other storyline follows the grandma, Signy, when she was a child. It follows some of her adventures in rural Norway, and then later, her first summer away from home. It goes into the social norms of Norway, which was unexpected. It was fascinating and thrilling. Definitely very interesting, just in terms of a different culture.
The characters were great, I loved Anders and Bo, and Signy. At first, I was a little wary of "influencer" culture being in a real novel but it was handled with a lot more maturity and "real-life" than I expected.
I'm definitely going to go and buy a hard copy of this so I can read it over and over.

Loved this book gave me all the Christmas feels! Great characters with great relationships.
I want it to be Christmas already

Vintage Karen Swan, a heartwarming tale of swapping new love for old in a beautiful Christmas wonderland.

What can I say? Such a beautifully written book. Karen Swan describes the scenes perfectly which enable the reader to fully understand and imagine just how remote and peaceful the Norwegian Fjords can be. I felt as though I were there, experiencing the beauty and the excitement of all that was going on in the story.

I simply adored the flow and pace of this book. The characters too, took hold of me completely and I ‘existed’ with them. It was so easy to visualise, to see and take in every description and every character.

I felt Bo and Zac’s excitement as they travelled, I understood how exposed Bo felt having Lenny around all the time, revealing every part of their lives to the world. I sensed and grasped how Anders and Signy cared for and understood each other. Anders thoughts and feeling rallying from hard and aggressive through to loving and gentle were a real rollercoaster.

This booked had me gripped, a brilliant page turner. It made me research the parts of Norway mentioned in the story too so I learnt a lot. Fascinating in parts, sad in others.

There is drama, tension, excitement and romance in here. You will love it!

What a stunning read, the setting was beautiful - the story had me caught up within its web in no time at all. I was guessing all of the way through, I'd love to see this as a film. For the location alone! Beautifully written, I want more!

This is a book with two stories running alongside search other. An ultra modern love story, I say that because there is a lot of high tech, and an unusual story of a farm girl living in 1939. Bo and Zac live the perfect life in the public eye. Everything they do is recorded even down to taking a bath but there is the beginning of an undercurrent of resentment and a also a mystery. The two stories come together in an explosive ending.