I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. I absolutely loved this book, it was not at all what I was expecting and it had so many twists and turns, I laughed and cried along with the characters. I will be recommending this book to my friends.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I know it won’t be the last.
It’s not your typical Christmas read and that is what kept me so intrigued.
The main characters story was incredibly written and I think I could’ve read so much of her and not got bored. There was definitely enough about her to feel like you knew her as a person. I really liked her as a character and that made the story that much more magical.
A must read during this festive season if you want to get that warm fuzzy feeling with a difference

Christmas is not Christmas without reading a book by Karen Swan @swannywrites #togetherbychristmas had me hooked right from the first page.

The covers for @swannywrites books are always exceptional and this one is a beauty. I always wait until Karen's books are out in paperback to read so I can keep going back to look at the cover from time to time as I read.

In #togetherbychristmas we follow Lee who was a news photographer who highlights the horrors of war torn countries and the effect on the innocence. I was intrigued by this line in the blurb.."When Lee first comes to Amsterdam, it was with a newborn baby and a secret", I couldn't wait to find out more and boy was I in for a treat.

A story filled with unexpected twists and turns, a deep meaningful plot, great fully rounded characters that all have their own back stories and a wonderful Christmassy setting.

A must read for any book lover who loves a Christmas book with an intriguing complicated love story.

#review #christmasbook #bookstrgammer #bookreview #chellsansbooks #karenswan #togetherbychristmas

Love Karen Swan books and read all of them since she first started writing. Always fabulous locations that make you feel like you are living in the place. Great story and characters. Thank you for letting me review this book.

Together by Christmas
By Karen Swan
Pub Date 29 Oct 2020
May contain spoilers
I loved this Christmas read it took me four days two read it’s a chunk of a read. I loved the story setting with family drama with plot twist as well. This book has to many secrets with the family you don’t know where two turn with it. This is a moving story you enjoy that keep you hooked into the story I gave this four star read I enjoyed.

A poignant and enthralling story that kept me hooked turning pages as fast as I could.
It's a great story, I loved the great characters and the descriptions of Amsterdam.
The author is a talented storyteller and did a great job with the plot and character development.
An excellent read, strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A Karen Swann Christmas novel always helps to help get me into the festive spirit! This one was unusual in that it included Dutch festivities rather than the traditional English Christmas. It was interesting to read about a different culture and traditions.
This was more gritty than the typical Christmas reads focussing on a main character who had previously been a war photographer in Syria and who still suffered PTSD 6years later.
Whilst I found it to be slightly too much drama (war flashbacks, ISIS, skating competition, premature labour...) it was enjoyable and the slightly darker themes actually seem quite appropriate for this Christmas 2020.
* one comment is that book is supposedly set Nov -Dec 2020... but no COVID, no masks, no social distancing so seems a little odd!

This is an unusual and original book that immerses the reader in Dutch culture and Dutch Christmas traditions. I think it was very brave of the author to set the book in a different country and it was interesting to read about the challenges of doing this in her author's note. I personally love The Netherlands and have heard a lot about their traditions from my aunty and uncle who have lived there for 5 years, so it was great to be transported there again.

Lee is one of the best characters I have ever read. She is a complex and unique character who I found it easy to empathise and identify with, to some extent. I think the way Karen Swan portrayed and developed her character was very clever, as we began to see Lee as a brave, selfless, lonely, caring character before we were introduced to what possibly could have been seen as impulsive, flawed decisions and mistakes.

Though I think the ending of the book was quite predictable from a certain point, I really loved the journey I was taken on in order to get there. The writer deals with some really important issues, including grief, PTSD and parenting.

This is a poignant and beautiful book about the importance of forgiveness, both of yourself when you feel you have done wrong, and others who have wronged you.

I really like how Karen is able to deliver something which, from the cover, looks like a traditional Christmas romance, but is in fact much more sophisticated and unique!

I look forward to my next read by this author.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oh My Gosh, Karen Swan books always have a twist but this was a hard hitting, eye opening, compulsive read.
Lee is a flourishing photographer living in Amsterdam with her 5 year old son Jasper.
She finds a book with a scrawled message “help me” and embarks on a journey to find who wrote it and why, meeting Sam, the author of the book, along the way.
Lee & Sam rub each other up the wrong way but definite chemistry there, but will Lee let him in?
Beautiful visions of Amsterdam, lovely houses, cycling everywhere, frozen canals and hidden secrets!
Superb book!

Another lovely Karen Sean book. Great info about the Netherlands and how they celebrate Christmas. A very deep and gritty story that wasn’t at all light hearted for Christmas but that’s why we love Karen Swan.

Loved, loved, loved it! Let me start by saying this isn't the usual fluffy Christmas read. It's so much better. It is a gripping story with lots of twists and turns, with several storylines all interconnecting.
I couldn't stop reading, the characters are all realistic and likable. I didn't want it to end.
Thank you.

If you are only going to read one Christmas novel this year then choose this one by Karen Swan. I really suffered from 'just-one-more-chapter' syndrome whilst reading it. I really enjoy her books, but this has to be her best I've read so far. There is just so much to this modern romance, and IMHO, the blurb doesn't do it complete justice, with its many threads, and dark themes running below the surface. There is such depth to this amazing book.

The research Karen Swan must have undertaken was impressive, and events and occurrences came across as believable and realistic. Lee's past and her connection to Harry Cunningham massively intrigued me and the manner in which key information was drip-fed to the reader had me rapidly turning the pages to see what would happen next. Together by Christmas is set in Amsterdam, which was really special to me on a personal level. With wonderful, complex characters, I was soon very much invested in all of their lives. The main character, Lee is a photojournalist, based in Amsterdam with her five-year-old son. She was a war photographer and her experiences there have marked her. I loved her spirit, and her determination to make a normal life for her and Jasper. I also liked her friends and the others who were part of this fabulous tale and everyone was exceptionally well drawn. The reader got to learn all about Dutch Christmas traditions and it's always good to see how Christmas is celebrated in other countries.

Overall, Together by Christmas is utterly riveting and gripping and I'm sure it will remain in my mind for a long while.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Pan Macmillan via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

If I’m being completely honest, I struggled to get into this book at the beginning. The pace was slow to begin with and I think the problem was I was expecting something big to happen right at the beginning but nothing ever did. But as I continued reading on, something clicked and I was gripped and couldn’t put it down.

I loved the protagonist Lee; she was such a strong and independent woman bringing up her gorgeous son Jasper. I loved that as the story progresses, we get to learn more about Lee’s past which made me more fond of Lee and admire her for the things she went through. Lee’s love interest Sam was just the perfect addition to her life and I loved watching them develop.

I think the thing I loved most about this book is that it wasn’t your typical Christmas book, it was so much more than the romance and Christmas sparkles. It was gritty and raw and I absolutely loved it!

This was not the cheerful festive book that I was expected, instead it was far more than that!
Set in Amsterdam during the run up to Christmas and featuring Fitch and her six year old, Jasper, we discover that everyone has a secret. Fitch was a war photographer, retiring after a viscous ambush, her war correspondent partner Harry has vanished leaving his heavily pregnant wife behind. Meanwhile we meet Sam, who’s father is disappointed with his lifestyle choices, and Lenka who isn’t what she seems. Add in some brooding romances and this was the perfect book, as everyone’s secrets unravel as Christmas fast approaches.
Loved this, so many twists and revelations!
Five stars!!

This was so much more than a festive read. I was originally attracted to it because its a Christmas story, and I do always indulge in a couple each year, but this turned out to be so much more.

It is a gripping story with lots of twists and turns, with several storylines all interconnecting. I loved it and found it engaging and well written.

The characters were well developed, believable, and easy to become attached to, and lots of the back story for the main character was really interesting and what made the book for me.

This is another fantastic story from Karen Swan and I would highly recommend it.#
Thank you to Netgalley for the early read.

What a wonderful book to read especially at this time of year
It follows the life of lee who used to be a photographer who went out on assignments all over the world but a lot in Middle East she was usually with her best friend and war correspondent Cunningham,
On their last mission Cunningham got word of two young girls who needed to get out of their village and Cunningham had a lead to meet someone near the village and help get them out
But everything went very wrong and the pair were broken
Lee went to live in Amsterdam and Cunningham eventually followed her but she repeatedly ignored him, by now she had a young son Jasper and her sole purpose was to protect him
Christmas was coming and she had met a new guy called Sam would things finally turn into her happy ending

Wow! what a seasonal story ! This one will stay with me for quite some time , it resonates about fears & anxieties deep within many of us due to situations we may have been in or experienced in our past ,maybe not quite as dramatic as those encountered by Lee one of the main characters in this book & how because of them all she protects her young son Jazzy! In the current times I think we can all relate to this Book, which also has a wonderful sense of Hope & Community running through it.
I truly recommend all of you who like Yuletide Books to read this one.
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Good book but unfortunately for me it was not my kind of story. Finished it though. Nothing wrong with it at all. Well written

Together by Christmas by Karen Swan
Rating ***** 4.8/5
Don’t be fooled by thinking this is just a romantic novel, it is so much more than that. The depth and page turning events will keep you engrossed, even when you’ve read the last page. It flows very well but very difficult to put down so be prepared to be lost in the events.
It’s the first book I’ve read by the very talented Karen Swan and it won’t be the last. It is no wonder that she is a Sunday Times best seller. The way she can take you from one setting, one country, one continent to another is amazing.
Loved her characters, full of depth, life and believable. I felt so much for Aggie, the long suffering wife of Evert. Justin the adorable five year old and of course Lee, a superbly strong yet vulnerable woman whose secrets are manifesting I. The increasing nightmares and are set to overtake her. Can’t forget her loyal friends Mila, Liam and Noah.
I would like to thank Karen Swan, Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this amazing novel for which I have given a totally honest and unbiased review.

Together by Christmas By Karen Swan

This book follows Lee, a war photographer who has led the industry to become a photographer in Amsterdam, now snapping pictures of up and coming celebrities. But Lee has a past and it’s slowly catching up with her.

From the cover, you would think this book is a feel good, cliché filled Christmas love story - which it totally is - but there is an underlying deeper story that is dropped throughout. Swan uses flashbacks and little one liners throughout the story to give the readers a hint about what Lee is running from.

Swan brings Amsterdam alive in this book. I’ve never been but it has been absolutely added to my travel wish list. It sounds beautiful and even more sore at Christmas time.

I really loved the characters in this story, from the main character Lee, to the love interest Sam, to Lee’s friends. They were all unique and added a different perspective to the story.

Overall, this was a beautiful, emotional well written book that touches upon some serious topics and the impact of people’s past on their life. I would highly recommend this to anyone who needs a feel good cheesy romance but will not be affected by some darker moments.