This book was an unexpected pleasure. At the start I thought it was going to be depressing but I was wrong. There is sadness in the book and PTSD is covered with empathy and understanding. However it is a great Christmas read covering family, love, friendship and the unique bond a mother has with her child. Lee and Jazzy are so like-able, everyone that touches their life adores them and so did I. There are a few twists in the story along the way. I hope Karen writes a sequel as it is calling out for one. Another great read from Karen Swan.

A single parent, Lee is a successful celebrity photographer but she has a dark period in her past as a war photographer, working with her friend Harry, that haunts her still.. Now living in Amsterdam and no longer in contact with Harry her world revolves around her 5 year old son and Lee steers clear of relationships until she meets Sam and overnight she starts to trust a man in her life again, a trust that is dramatically shattered.
When Lee discovers that Harry has returned to Syria her past trauma is slowly revealed and the truth is not what I expected.
I thought this book was not for me when I read the first chapter as I wasn't sure where the storyline was heading but by chapter two I was hooked. What a fabulous read! The descriptions of Amsterdam were wonderful. A book I was very sad to finish

A gripping book with so many different threads to it. I loved Lee and what a strong character she is. The contrast between Christmas in Amsterdam and Syria made for a strong read. Highly recommended

This was such a captivating read! The characters were amazing and will stay in my memory for some time. Lee, is the main character, a talented photographer. She is a determined woman but has a caring side, not only for family and friends, but anyone who needs help. The descriptions of her family life were so apt and her friends were always there to support one another. Jasper was a delight! I loved the descriptions of the customs of a different country around Christmas, I found it so interesting. There are flashbacks to Lee’s life before she settled in Amsterdam. There was so much to this story, it had layers that were slowly revealed. I just can’t stop thinking about it. It was Just Marvellous! I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lee lives in Amsterdam with her five year old son Jasper. Retired from her job as a war photographer she is now well respected in her field after winning awards for her photos from Syria. She now has her own photography business.

Things seem to be going well in Karen's life apart from her flashbacks to traumatic times in Syria and her journalist partner Cunningham. One day Lee finds a book in her bicycle with a message in it and she is determined to find out who it was from.

This story goes from the backstreets of Amsterdam to the streets of Syria. Amsterdam, so vibrate and full of fun. I loved the traditions on the run up to Christmas. Lee's friends are lovely and loyal and her son Jasper is adorable.

When we read about Syria the story becomes darker, full of tension and fear. We discover why Lee and Cunningham are no longer friends and at that point I held my breath.

What a great unputdownable book. Karen's Swan's books are always so different and never disappoint me.

This one is no exception. I laughed and cried. I was tense and suspicious. And I enjoyed every minute of reading it.

1 could not put this book down. Fantastic and gripping back story, beautiful descriptions of another country and its Christmas customs, all woven together with her day job and her love life.
I was left wondering about how the images between her past and her present looked, when surrounded by Christmas wonder, with added snow and ice.
Next time I visit Amsterdam, this book will resonate, and perhaps I will take a trip near Christmas.

Lee Fitch and Harry Cunningham were war photographer and war reporter that won awards for their work in war torn Syria before they split away from their working partnership and Lee settled in Amsterdam with her baby son Jasper. Harry married and they both settled into lives away from the war.
Lee then found a book eft in her bicycle basket where someone wrote "help me" determined to find out the answer of who needed help she tried the publishers who had distributed a number of free books around the city as an advertising project..
Then circumstances started to come together and past and present met. Was this a Christmas to remember or maybe totally forget.

I loved this book it had so many threads running through it I found it hard to put down. Highly recommended.

I only read half way as just seen it out a good book enjoy a Karen books so easy to read I like her writting stykebot hooks you great plot a good Christmas I not read one book I have not liked

Oh my goodness what a book it was so enjoyable, happy and sad in places.

This is about Lee and he son Jasper who live in Amsterdam she is a former war photographer and after a very traumatic time she came to live here with her son. She has made wonderful friends who are more like family to her as she doesn't have family.

She is not looking for a relationship so she has never really got involved with other men as she feels her son is more important than anything else.

She meets Sam at the hospital as he is dressed as Santa Claus she was there to take photos of the children who are in hospital. She asks Sam to come to her house so he could visit Jasper as Santa Claus to make his day.

It is not just a Christmas book there is more to the story with what happened to Lee please read this book.

Well done Karen excellent book.

I always find Karen's books very refreshing, and this one is no exception. It has romance as well as a touch of mystery.

This book has a very festive cover, however the main protagonist, Lee was a war correspondent and as a result suffers with PTSD. There are some harsh and gritty events in this book. It is definitely not your average sweet and romantic novel.
Despite all of this, the book is festive, and it is romantic. Karen Swan cleverly joins all of the different threads together to make a fantastic book that is an emotional and compelling read.
Lee lives in Holland with her 5 year old Son, and there are descriptions of the Dutch festivities which are interesting to learn about. I liked reading about them.
I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

I love Karen Swan's books, particularly the way each one is set in a different part of the world, and I couldn't wait to read Together by Christmas.

In this story Lee is a Pulitzer Prize-winning war photographer, living with her four-year-old son Jasper in Amsterdam. She now makes her living doing high-profile photo shoots for glossy magazines and her work is in high demand. On the surface her life is perfect but her PTSD means she is ultra-protective of Jasper and refuses to have any relationship longer than a one-night stand. One morning she finds a desperate message scrawled in a book left outside her house - but who left it and what does it mean, and is her past about to catch up with her?

I loved this book and could not put it down. It had several hard-hitting storylines (unusual for this genre of book) yet still had all the traditional Christmassy touches: meeting Santa Claus, decorating a Christmas tree, and ice-skating - and the characters are brilliantly drawn and totally relatable. I loved the way Lee was trying so hard to keep everything together for her son while being pushed to her limit, learning that everyone makes mistakes and deserves that second chance - even herself. I adored Sam, who is so completely out of his depth yet equally determined to win Lee round. The Christmassy bits were great, especially Lee's first meeting with Sinterklaas - I think that was one of my favourite parts of the book! The setting of Amsterdam was brilliantly realised and it was fun learning about another country's festive customs.

As much as I loved this book, it might not be suitable for everyone. If you're looking for a light-hearted, cosy Christmas romance, all snowflakes and sleigh bells, this isn't the book for you. There are some quite dark subjects covered (with a sensitive touch) and it is a very emotional read. I felt quite wrung out by the end - in a good way! But it is also a terrific story about relationships (romantic, family and friendships), making mistakes and learning to forgive.

I absolutely loved Together by Christmas and have no hesitation in recommending it. It's one of my favourite reads this year!



Thank you to Karen Swan and Pan for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

When I started reading together by Christmas by Karen Swann I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and this is a fine example of why. Looking at the cover I was expecting a romantic slushy novel and this is anything but. Their is so much going on in this story with different characters and flashbacks that at times I wondered where the author was going with it and where it was heading but by the time I got towards the end and it all came together I realised what a truly wonderful story this is.
This is the story of Lee - a former Pulitzer Prize winning war photographer who has settled in Amsterdam with her 5 year old son Jasper. Now an artistic photographer she has made a name for herself and anyone who is anyone wants to be photographed by her.
But Lee is hounded by former secrets from the past - like why hasn’t she spoken to her former colleague Harry since her war days and why doesn’t she commit to relationships.
This is truly a stunning novel and beautifully written - even the descriptions of harrowing war scenes have you on the edge of your seat. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

This was a moving story with just the right amounts of charm and humour added in to make it a really enjoyable read.

I liked Lee as a character, and I feel that the way her backstory was revealed throughout the book really added to the fondness i felt for her. Jasper also seems like a delightful little boy.

There were lots of little tidbits of information about the customs in the Netherlands around the festive season, and I loved learning all about how the traditions differ from the UK ones.

A great little read to get you into the Christmas spirit.

I have read every one of Karen Swan's books thus far and "Together by Christmas" does not disappoint. Once again we are transported into another world. This novel introduces us to Lee, a former war photographer who now lives in Amsterdam with her young son.
Her struggles with PTSD are sensitively portrayed and in spite of such serious subject matter, we still have a nice bit of romance as we have come to expect from Ms Swan.
The descriptions of Christmas in Amsterdam also get you into the festive spirit and I find myself wanting to put slippers by the fire now. Pure escapism, just what I need being stuck in rainy old England.

Another fabulous book by Karen Swan :)
I've read and enjoyed most of her books and this one does not disappoint either. The characters grab you from the beginning. This book gives an insight into dutch Christmas culture and I learnt a lot bout the festivities that take place in Amsterdam around the Christmas period. A thoroughly enjoyable book.
Christmas isn't Christmas without a book by Karen Swan!

Together By Christmas by Karen Swan is a powerful contemporary novel about friends, fear and relationships.
Good friends are hard to come by. Some are far closer than family. There are some loyal friendships within the novel.
Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. A close bond between war correspondents has broken down through fear and guilt associated with PTSD. What happened on the front line is an unspoken barrier to the future as two characters are trapped in a moment in time six years earlier. The reader gets glimpses of the past through memories.
The characters are well drawn and realistic. We feel empathy and sympathy for the main character who is bound by PTSD and fear. In her nightmares, she is comforted by her five year old son. There are some touching scenes. In her realisation that life is fragile, fear rules and trust is hard to come by. She does have a huge heart that looks to help others.
The community spirit is alive. Characters reach out to others. In spite of this, sometimes we fail to see what is happening right in front of us. There was a truly jaw dropping moment for me. It was a moment suspended in time where the book was finely balanced with me thinking I did not spot that one coming.
Everyone has dreams. When we try to live out the dreams of another, the pressure we, and others, put on us is too much.
I really enjoyed Together By Christmas. It was a very cleverly constructed novel that grabbed my interest from the start. This was a powerful read with wonderful characters who warmed my heart.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

I don't know what it is about a Karen Swan book, but I find them so compelling. I often start off not even liking a character, usually one of the main characters, but her books are just that bit different and the sort of book you can't stop reading to find out what happens.

Lee is a famous photographer, who used to be war correspondent and has won a Pulitzer Prize for her work, but is now living in Amsterdam with her young son and is a highly sought after celebrity photographer. She has seen awful atrocities in her past work and even now has nightmares about it all and finds it very difficult to put behind her, which makes her quite closed off and a very hard sort of personality with everyone, apart from her very close circle of friends and her son.

Her 'partner in crime' as a war correspondent was Harry, who was the journalist to Lee's photography, and they are both now living in Amsterdam, Lee with her son and Harry with his pregnant wife, but Lee won't have anything at all to do with him, and the reason is revealed later as the story develops.

The story is mainly set in the present day, but does flip back to the past in parts, to explain what happened. We also have the very interesting 'elfstedentocht' ice skating competition, which I had never heard of, but only happens in the Netherlands when the ice is a certain thickness, I always learn about something new with a Karen Swan book!

I found Lee very hard to like at first, but she definitely grew on me as the story developed and, because of events and certain people, her personality softened (very) slightly. There is quite a lot going on and Lee's life is certainly never dull, but as usual everything flowed really well and kept you wanting to read just one more page. It's certainly not an easy book to read in parts, and even though it's set around Christmas and does have lots of snow and ice, it could really be read any time of the year. Another book by Karen Swan that I will long remember.

This is more than just a Christmas romance and the characters and relationships are much deeper than you initially think. Karen Swan is brilliant at describing her settings and this story definitely makes you wish for a trip to Amsterdam.
It's an interesting take on the impact of war on those not quite on the frontline. Lee's journey through her PTSD suffering was harrowing and emotional. Her lack of trust an obvious and understandable side effect from her experiences.

More than just a romance novel which was surprsingly fresh and addictive to read! Thoroughly enjoyed this and the mixture of the relationships. Lots of will they, won't they but also some queries as to who at times.