A lovely, festive feel good read which is perfect for the run up to Christmas. It’s filled with Christmas spirit and it’s hard not to enjoy.

With Bo and her ghosts of Christmas past, she has a lot to overcome to enjoy the next Christmas. A visit to a fortune teller predicts she will be with the love of her life for Christmas. Will she? The plot thickens when her friend, Angel, also gets the same prediction along with the resident Norwegian hunk who recently moved to the quaint, cosy little town. Will it come true for them?

This book has plenty of heartwarming, feel good vibes and the core of friendship runs deep throughout the plot. It was so nice to see Angel and Bo be there for each other in their times of need, and I loved getting stuck into this story.

A fab, festive, fun Christmas book, with dancing, a love of vintage vinyls and Thor the cat. Who I have to mention, was awesome.

This book is a light hearted festive story. Three friends, Bo, Ran and Angel are given the same prediction that they will meet the love of their lives by Christmas. But it seems a bit unrealistic for all of them. It is far from Bo's mind as she had her heart broken the previous Christmas. Ran is separated from his wife. Angel has a husband.

I really loved the three friends and their adventures in the village.

Ran is initially hesitant to tell his newish friends why he ended up in Cornwall and no longer wishes to live in London.

Angel goes through plenty of drama when she thinks that her husband may have drowned but it turns out that he hasn't.

Then there is Bo. She has a busy life running the Boatyard Cafe, but is there room in her life for a little romance. Does she even want that.

My second Christmas novel for the year and this was an audiobook. It was narrated by Emma Powell and she did a lovely job. It was 10 hours and 1 minute long. I will say that this could be read anytime because it wasn’t necessarily Christmassy. There was a lot of realistic heartache and just growing together as a community. It did have some celebration of the holidays but this was a lot more. Three of the main characters had for lack of a better word, “start over” and I felt like that’s really what this was about. I always want more romance and I loved how there was dancing in this. It put a smile on my face and I’m glad there was a HEA.
I recommend if you want a cozy story about a magical town for Christmas.
Thanks Avon via Netgalley.

It was great to find myself back in Falford again after really enjoying reading the previous book set in the Cornish village. It was also good to hear how the lives of some of the characters in the previous book have progressed since that story ended and some news made me internally cheer for two residents in particular.
I enjoyed this book, a good storyline with interesting, fully-formed characters. However, I was extremely pleased that Bo’s boyfriend, Hamish, only featured at the beginning of the book as the narrator seems to struggle with accents & her attempt at a Scottish male accent / voice was dreadful - had I not immediately expected Hamish to take the usual role of ‘love rat boyfriend who leads to heartbreak for main character’ at the start of the story I would have pressed stop and would definitely not have continued with the audiobook as the voicing of Hamish was really off-putting as I was caught between toe-curling, eye-rolling and laughing at the attempts rather than listening to what she was actually saying. Other than that, once Hamish was off the scene and there were no more significantly taxing accents required the narration of the book was good and kept my focus on the story.
The story itself is enjoyable and packed with interesting characters & sub-plots, in particular Bo’s friend, Angel. I’m not sure whether it’s because I listened to rather than read this book, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the previous book in the series. However, it’s still a great story, perfect for any time of year as although it begins and ends at Christmas times, the story unfolds over several late summer / autumn months in between the two Christmases. Narration pulls the rating down for this book, sadly.

Pour yourself a mug of hot chocolate and settle down with this perfect, uplifting Christmas read!
Simply gorgeous

A Special Cornish Christmas - Phillipa Ashley

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK I am leaving this review voluntarily

For Bo Grayson, Christmas has always been the most wonderful time of the year. Well, until she had her heart broken last December…

At a local summer fete, Bo and her friends meet the mysterious fortune teller Madame Odette, and they are each given the same prediction: You will meet the love of your life by Christmas Day.

This a nice, light-hearted festive romance. Whilst predictable in places you will be drawn in by the lovely tale. This is a perfect book to read if you want a festive, relaxing afternoon.

This is the second festive book I have read by Phillipa and I have found that she writes; lovely, up-lifting festive escapes.

Rating 4/5

Each year as we head towards Christmas I feel the need for a gentle romance set someone snowy with hot chocolate and a will they won’t they relationship that teases all the way through. A Special Cornish Christmas delivers all of this.
This is the story of Bo who runs a Cornish cafe. Her wonderful romance with Hamish ended the previous Christmas and she dreads the forthcoming festivities. Her friend, Angel, is happily married, whilst Ran who works in the dive school is a bit of an enigma. For a bit of fun they visit a fortune teller who tells them they will find the love of their life by Christmas.
I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator is perfect for this with her gentle, soft voice which is well matched to the romance of the story.
The story delivers all the on-off relationship twists which keep you guessing, with typical strong male hero and kindly beautiful female heroine with a bit of a nasty ex girlfriend! Added to this the beautiful setting, a cafe making some rather gorgeous food (with vegan choices too- hooray) and of course Christmas. This is light and enjoyable and a very pleasant listen.

With thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins Audio UK. for a digital copy of this audio book.

**please note due to low rating I will not be leaving a public review for this book as I have not paid for it.**

Narrator 5 stars
Great voice

Story 2.5 stars

I really wanted to like this book more than what I did.
I found it hard to feel anything emotion connection to these characters which stopped me from getting absorbed into it. Would definitely try this author again however

A fluffy, christmas story. I was transported to Cornwall whilst sitting on my sofa. It was an enjoyable read which I would recommend to fans of this genre.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

A cosy, relaxing, heartwarming story, full of the joys of the season. The book is brought to life by superb narration, that makes listening to it a real pleasure. There is a little mystery, a lot of friendship and a glorious coastal setting to get you in the mood for Christmas.

Bo has been hurt by her ex and is facing Christmas alone. Her friend Ran comes close to her, but he also has been hurt by his ex; can they make a go of things, or are there too many obstacles? Bo's friend Angel is looking forward to Christmas with her love Tommy, but there are a lot of changes coming up for her. Bo and Angel are best friends and they comfort each other as they go through their trials and tribulations. Bo works in a lovely cafe and dances and Angel is a dressmaker. Ran loves music and being in water. The three of them are very creative and I loved the creative theme through the book, and it was interesting to read about the dancing, dressmaking and music. It was a pleasant change to other books to read about these things. I also loved the connection between Bo and Ran and Bo and Angel. The book is very sweet and cute and perfect to read at this time of the year while it is frosty outside. The narrator of the audiobook had a lovely voice and did a good job. I really enjoyed it!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.