Member Reviews
This was a cute light hearted read! Perfect for something to lose yourself in! Loved the main characters too.
I have loved all of Beth’s books so far and this one was no exception.
Bea is newly single and happily employed as the local weather girl, famous up to a point but not with her own family. They are far too busy working in their school for children in need, based on their home ground and employing most of the family. Although Bea adores her job, a few things have gone recently and she realises that she must go home for Christmas and face the well planned out festivities there. But who and what surprises are waiting for her there? And just where does Adam, her ex, fit into all of this?
I hesitate to use the term “feel good” but this book was just what I needed to read right now. Thank you Beth and NetGalley.
This was so stinking cute! The wintery christmasy theme of this book was perfect for setting the atmosphere but not overly done/emphasized where it was a crutch. The snow definitely makes an impact in the first half of the book, but in a good way.
The first half this book was perfect for me. I was instantly attached to the main characters, Bea a local weather girl and Henry a science teacher (at Bea"s parents school). The premise of them growing up together and the parents wishing they'd get married but really like most kids it just pushed them farther away from eachother. I loved the family they were realistic and sweet.
I really enjoyed the whole section at Baxter mansion and the game style/competitive interviews. This was fun and bits of tension between Henry/Bea thru out that was *chefs kiss*.
It's somewhere in last third though the book lost its momentum for me. It turned from a typical romance to more contemporary fiction. Focused heavily on the Armstrong family and them trying to save the school. I did love all the characters (except Adam). I just couldn't figure out how I felt about Adam, I wanted to dislike him but was indifferent in the end.
This would book would be perfect so loves Christmas family themed books, with a dash of mystery. A light to medium focus on the romance. I enjoyed it and would read more books from Beth Moran. 4 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to Netgalley, Beth Moran, and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read this E-Arc. My review is voluntary.
Bea Armstrong is a character who is easy to root for--a popular local TV meteorologist in her late twenties who loves what she does and loves her family, but doesn't feel they respect her career. She also struggles with an on-again, off-again boyfriend who is now out of her life (she thinks) after an 11-year relationship. This December she finally has enough time off to spend Christmas week with her loved ones, but things get complicated.
Bea gets a last-minute invitation to interview for her dream job at England's national network in London, but it will take several days out of the week she promised her parents. There is a snowstorm threatening, and her destination is a 6-hour drive away in Scotland, so Bea has no choice but to accept when her childhood nemesis, Henry Fairfax, volunteers to be her driver.
That's when the story really took off for me. The multi-day group interview led by a billionaire media mogul is filled with unexpected delight (and horror) as the candidates vie for the top slot on the leader board, and is often hilarious. It would be a spoiler to indicate how the interview turns out, but interesting subplots include how to save the financially-challenged school owned by Bea's live-in parents, whether Bea's beloved grandmother (formerly a celebrated singer) will overcome her medical issues, which of her two suitors is destined to be play a prominent romantic role in Bea's future, and what job will make her the happiest. Loved it!
My thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.
This story was generally “meh” all around. There were way too many plot points which made it near impossible to discern what the main takeaway was supposed to be. While I did love Bea and Henry, I feel that it’s unfair to call this story a “romance” because the only thing in the book that remotely resembled a love story happened at the exact end of the book. This was a VERY low angst story and just generally wasn’t for me.
I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Boldwood Books. All opinions are my own.
This book was fun and filled with some angsty over thinking that many of us do in relationships. Bea is a meteorologist for a local news show and has applied for a national position. She only learns of her interview when she is home for the holidays with her family and childhood friend. There's a lot going on with the new job that actually proves to be enlightening to Bea, as it illuminates what she actually wants in her profession and personal life. I enjoyed her family and all the festivities. Her long time boyfriend wants to reconcile which complicates and confuses. It was kind of amusing to read about snow and cold weather when it is summer in Texas. I read this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really, really, really wanted to love this book. I like Beth Morgan’s writing and I love festive books so this should have been a knockout, but it just didn’t hit those heights for me. For a book advertised as a Christmas book, for me there just wasn’t enough of it. I feel you could pick up the main story and set it in any season and it would still make sense. If something is promoted as a festive book and has a wintery title and a front cover that screams Christmas, I expected something more.
I also disliked nearly every character. Henry was the exception, although at times he was slightly twee. But I couldn’t stand any of the others - for various reasons. Even the lead, Bea, didn’t do it for me. They had no endearing qualities, weren’t particularly nice in the book and they didn’t transcend well for me.
I also didn’t find the main story entertaining. I enjoy reading about professions I haven’t experienced, but there wasn’t enough about meteorology to be interesting and fascinating, but it wasn’t exciting enough to be a fun plot point.
Bea’s parents run a school for disadvantaged children but even that isn’t explored. It’s dropped in as and when it may help the main story move on, but I don’t see the point of having something like this - and other background plots that I won’t go into detail for fear of spoiling - if it’s only there as background noise. It felt a bit pointless.
There’s almost too much happening and not enough happening at the same time. It felt like too much was crammed in to the 300-odd pages, but nothing was really developed enough for me.
I wouldn’t necessarily say the writing was bad. And judging by the other pre-publication reviews, I am definitely in the minority. I just found it boring. Like I wasn’t fussed about what happened and that’s always a red flag for me.
I do love a Christmas romance and this did not disappoint! Bea is a Weather presenter on the local news whose career seens to be on a bit of a downwards slide. Can she save her own career as well as help save her parents' school, which is in danger of closure? Sometimes love can be found in the most unexpected places. Happy endings all round in this lovely story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to review this book and for facilitating my Christmas romance addiction.
At the start of this book, Bea is going on holiday to spend Christmas with her family after several months of struggling with a bad break up. This has caused issues at work, although it appears that sabotage might be at play. In the meantime, her mother has invited Henry to join the family for Christmas, with the hope of setting Bea and Henry up. Bea needs to go to Scotland for a job interview at the last minute in bad weather and Henry offers to take her. Right before they leave, Bea learns that the family estate, which also contains a school, is in financial jeopardy.
Once Bea and Henry started their drive, the story lost me. It was even worse once they arrived at their destination. I never fully understand what the deal was with the family estate, so I didn’t care about any of the issues and how it would be resolved. The font in my e-arc changed formatting once the drive started, so I found it hard to focus, and once the interactions between the characters were just odd. This wasn’t the story it started out as and I stopped reading.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this advance copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was a very cute and fun read! I couldn’t put it down and finished it in one day! I loved the enemies to lovers vibe! I thought Bea and Henry’s relationship charming, and I was rooting for them! This was such a good book! Definitely add this to your holiday tbr list!
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this arc!
Is it winter yet?
Enemies to lovers in a Christmas story is probably my favorite thing ever. I couldn't put this book down and absolutely devoured it
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Oh my God, it's summer, it's hot, it's July, but after having read this book I'm already decorating the Christmas tree, drinking hot chocolate and waiting for the snow to fall! What a lovely reading! It literally made me feel the Christmas air even though it's summer! I swear that even if I read it in the summer the writing and the story have entertained me so much that I forgot for a few hours that it was summer.
I liked the characters very much, they were all very nice and well characterized! Bea Armstrong is a great protagonist and I liked her a lot. The romance is really sweet and cozy, just the way I like it. A highly recommended reading if you want to experience the magic of winter and Christmas in a lovely Scottish village full of warmth and joy. Thanks to Netgalley and Beth Moran for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
After the end of a long-term relationship, local weather girl Bea Armstrong has been avoiding her family, and their inevitable ‘I told you sos.’ But with Christmas fast approaching, she is finally on her way home to Charis House, the school in Sherwood Forest that her mum and dad run in their old family home. And to top it all off, the insufferable Henry Fairfax who her parents have always wanted her to marry has also been invited.
Relief comes in the shape of a last minute interview for her dream job. There are just a few minor problems… The interview is in Scotland, Bea has no car, and the snow is falling already. The only solution is for Henry to drive her could this Christmas get any worse…
But during an unforgettable two day interview, a stay in a log cabin and a nightmare journey through the snow, Henry turns out to be nothing like she thought. And when Bea’s first love and recent ex shows up, Bea has a difficult choice to make…
Read in one sitting really enjoyable romance totally recommend
Thank You NetGalley and Boldwood Books
I just reviewed Let It Snow by Beth Moran. #LetItSnow #NetGalley
This was a cute, cozy, wintry read. I enjoyed the Christmas vibes and the enemies-to-lovers romance. Bea and Henry were fun, quirky, and likable characters, and I did find myself rooting for them. This was a light read. It didn’t quite give me any of the feels, and the writing seemed mediocre. However, it was still fast, cute, and enjoyable.
Thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
So excited to read this one! Thank you Boldwood as always for the terrific opportunity. Full review to follow both here and on the blog. I have long been a fan of Beth’s previous novels so I’m sure this one will be no exception. I love the premise, characters, and theme. Also a Christmas/snow vibe sets the scene perfectly as well. Very excited!
Summary
After the end of a long-term relationship, local weather girl Bea Armstrong has been avoiding her family, and their inevitable ‘I-told-you-sos.’ But with Christmas fast approaching, she is finally on her way home to Charis House, the school in Sherwood Forest that her mum and dad run in their old family home. And to top it all off, the insufferable Henry Fairfax – who her parents have always wanted her to marry – has also been invited.
Relief comes in the shape of a last minute interview for her dream job. There are just a few minor problems… The interview is in Scotland, Bea has no car, and the snow is falling already. The only solution is for Henry to drive her – could this Christmas get any worse…
But during an unforgettable two day interview, a stay in a log cabin and a nightmare journey through the snow, Henry turns out to be nothing like she thought. And when Bea’s first love and recent ex shows up, Bea has a difficult choice to make…
Reading Beth Moran’s fabulous novels makes every day better. Feelgood, satisfying, with smart characters and gorgeous settings, it’s impossible not to fall in love with a Beth Moran story. Perfect for all fans of Jill Mansell, Julie Houston, and Jenny Colgan.
Bea Armstrong is a weather reporter for the East Midlands news TV show, she is a firm favourite with the viewers, many of whose questions she answers live on air wearing he quirky weather-themed outfits. Having just split up (again) from her long-term boyfriend and rock star wannabe Adam in June Bea has been avoiding her well-meaning but nosey family, but she can't get away from spending an extended Christmas break at their ancestral home-turned school for teenagers with behavioural issues.
Ever since the break-up Bea has been a little bit distracted, missing meetings, forgetting emails, generally getting muddled up, one of her colleagues is convinced that her intern, Summer, is deliberately sabotaging Bea, the latest incident being Bea missing out on the company-wide mandatory invite to Christmas drinks in the pub.
When Bea finally arrives home, hours late, flustered and with a suitcase of random stuff she threw together at the last minute, she is mortified to find that her parents have invited her childhood arch-enemy and all-round goody-two-shoes nerd Henry Fairfax to spend the Christmas break with them. It was bad enough their parents plotting their wedding when they were children but heavy-handed matchmaking just months after the end of her long-term relationship is just crass.
But when Bea receives a call inviting her to attend an in-person interview for a national news presenter position, the only person who can get her to Scotland in heavy snow is Henry and she soon discovers that the boy with the bad hair cut, grandad fashion sense, and thick glasses has turned into someone quite gorgeous, even if he is still a bit on the nerdy side.
A family Christmas, enemies-to-love, romance with snow, cute moppets, a school show, a singing granny, a weather-themed treasure hunt, and a parental mystery to solve? What's not to love?
I devoured this, it was cute, quirky, feel-good and delivered all the feels.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.