"Keeping a Christmas Promise" is the story of 3 friends fulfilling one of the bucket list wishes of their dead friend Laura. All of them are different, with varying aspirations, backgrounds and finances.

During this trip to Iceland they discover more about themselves and each other, and uncover the magic of this chilly country with warm, friendly locals.

This is a typical Jo Thomas atmospheric, feel-good book with some great characters, a lovely setting and a happy ending. Great escapist romantic literature.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

Jo is one of my favourite authors and this did not disappoint! Another beautiful story in a beautiful setting where I escaped everything! Perfection

Keeping a Christmas Promise is a delightful festive fun read. It immediately transported me to snowy Iceland with its beautiful scenery and community.
When a group of friends honour their deceased friend Laura’s wish to see the spectacular Northern Lights, they embark on a mini trip to Iceland. None of them can really spare the money or time with their own hectic lives at this time of year but are determined to keep their promise to her. They start off in high spirits but soon encounter an avalanche as the Northern Lights evade them and are forced to stay in a remote area in the middle of nowhere but it’s community are so welcoming that they soon begin to realise just where their lives have taken them and not always for the better.
I really enjoyed this Christmas story with its unique characters and I learned some Icelandic traditions.
My thanks to NetGalley and Transworld Publishers for the advanced digital copy of this gorgeous book.

I love novels by Jo Thomas and this did not disappoint. A weekend trip to Iceland jsut before Christmas for 3 friends who promised their best friend Laura they would go before she passed away. Things don't go to plan however and they end up with a very different Christmas
This book is full of friendship, love and laughter.

I really enjoyed this preview copy of Keeping a Christmas Promise so thanks to. NetGalley for providing the opportunity. It’s a lovely story about the friendship that prevails no matter what between four friends. Set mainly in Iceland , it describes beautifully the harsh and yet majestic landscape, the lives of the villagers and how they live their lives by helping each other. Truly lovely and highly recommended.

An enjoyable snowy Christmas book full of warm community spirit in the face of adversity. I did, however, feel some of the storyline a little rushed within the timescale of the book making parts somewhat farfetched with the main female characters adapting instantly to a harsh Icelandic winter after being stranded in an isolated area after a trip out to see the Northern Lights leaving all their belongings behind at a hotel. They also managed to easily adapt to riding on horseback in snow quickly having never ridden a horse before! A little predictable in parts, also a little repetitive but all in all a good read, full of feel-good comforting joy.

Wow!, what an absolutely fantastic book, I’ve just sat and read this cover to cover in one sitting!… I literally couldn’t put it down.

I was transported to the beautiful Icelandic scenery, swept away with each character, watching the story unfold.

A really beautiful and heartfelt novel…… Jo Thomas you have done it again!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

5 stars from me

Keeping a Christmas Promise by Jo Thomas

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Random Things Tours and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Four friends
Twenty-five years ago, Freya and her three best friends created a bucket list. The future seemed bright, full of hope and most importantly guaranteed . . .

One promise
Now they are travelling to Iceland in memory of the friend they've lost, determined to fulfil her dream of seeing the Northern Lights at Christmas.

A life-changing adventure
They didn't count on an avalanche leaving them stranded! Handsome local, Pétur, comes to the rescue, showing them how the community survives the hard winter. With Christmas approaching, Freya and her friends throw themselves into the festivities, decorating and cooking for the villagers using delicious local ingredients.

My Opinion

What a lovely book this is. Jo Thomas is an author that is still quite new to me, but each book leaves me wanting more. This book contains important messages - delivered in such wonderful way. Keeping a Christmas Promise is a lovely, wintery read, ideal when an escape from miserable weather is needed.

Buckle up for this journey, as you will be transported to Iceland. This will appeal to fans of Jo Thomas and festive books.

Rating 4/5

I always really enjoy Jo Thomas' books & this one is another hit bestseller for me.
This is a tale of good friends who visit Iceland to fulfil a wish of a friend who has sadly passed away, the wish is to see for the northern lights on what would have been her 40th birthday. Needless to say the trip does not go to plan & the group end up being snowed in after an avalanche, which leads to a whole new experience for them all

What an amazing, lovely book this was. I always love Jo Thomas's books for their delectable food aspect, but the Icelandic menu was fascinating and the sense of community that comes through people coming together to share food is joyful. In short, it made me happy and in these testing times, you can't ask for more from a book. Highly recommend.

What a wonderful book. 3 friends keep a promise to a friend who has sadly passed and go to Iceland to see the Northern lights. Things don't go as planned, but in the devastation of the disruption of their time in Iceland they begin to see their lives differently and changes are starting.
This story can make you look at your own life with different eyes, make you take hold of what is important how you can change things for the better when you think you already have everything you thought you wanted.
After reading this book I want to go to Iceland and see and feel it for myself.
A wonderful story well written and executed it will draw you in totally and take you with the friends on their quest as if you are with them.
Well worth the read but be prepared to not want to put the book down until it is read and then wish it could go on for longer.

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

When Freya and her three best friends created a bucket list twenty-five years ago, the future seemed full of hope. One of the group Laura dies at a young age and they decide to keep one of the promises they made together - to visit the northern lights. The group travel to Iceland and attempt to keep the promise little did they know a blizzard would hit whilst seeking the northern lights.

A story of being forced to slow down and look at what is important in life and reconnect with each other.

Great read

Laura, Meg, Joanne and Freya have been friends since they worked together a long time ago.
They made a list of all the things they wanted to do. When Laura died the friends decided to go to Iceland and see the northern lights for her 40th birthday.
When a huge snowstorm descends, the plan goes wrong and they end up stranded miles away from their hotel with no way of getting home. They find a small community who they help out until they can be rescued.
They realise that the promise they made to Laura of living their best lives maybe wasn't what they were doing and that maybe they have to rethink what their best life is.
Really good story surrounded by snow and ice and good friends.
How many of us are really living our best lives? Maybe challenge accepted

Freya and her friends take a short trip to Iceland to fulfil the bucket list wish of Laura, who died, leaving them all experiencing grief in differing ways. The women have busy and diverse lives, but their friendship remains strong, although grief and the incidents they experience whilst searching for the iconic Northern Lights test it.

It's a story full of adventure, community spirit and friendship. The experiences the women unexpectedly have makes them examine their lives and what they genuinely want for happiness. This beautifully set story has danger, humour, poignancy and romance. I love the detailed characterisation, vivid sensory imagery and explored Icelandic customs. Food plays a vital role in the story, and the author highlights threats to the Icelandic ecosystem through the Icelandic characters we meet.

A lovely, lyrical festive tale of love and life,

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

I really enjoyed this story. Three women visited Iceland in memory of their friend Laura on her 40th birthday. As they searched for the Northern Lights they became stranded due to bad weather. They help form a rescue team in a remote community delivering food and drinks ànd helping with livestock. There is an element of romance and several lives are changed forever. I am a big fan of Jo Thomas books and this one did not disappoint. I recommend that this can be read at any time of year not just Christmas.

What a lovely read this was. The writing transported me into the lives of the characters and I felt part of the story. It was written so well, the pages just kept turning and before I realised a few hours had passed and I was nearly finished, much to my dismay.

As the blurb says Freya and her two friends are keeping their Christmas promise to their beloved friend who is no longer with them, so off they go to Iceland to hopefully see the northern lights. I loved Freya and all of the characters, all with their own problems, and real-life problems too. They are only supposed to be there for three days, and they only had time to be there for three days but the weather had other ideas and kept them there a little longer. They are forced to stop and realise what is actually important in life and what really matters. It also made me ponder those very same things about my own life.

I love Iceland too after reading this, I have never been, but I felt I had transported there whilst I was reading, it was written so well. I even had to get a blanket as I felt cold. I definitely recommend this book it was a great read and if you want to go to Iceland but not actually go, then this book will take you there!

I love this time of year, when all the Christmas books begin to appear and I can escape into a world of snow and festivities even though it’s still warm and sunny outside. I know that one of my favourite books of the season will be from Jo Thomas; I am always sure of a trip to somewhere exciting, with lots of fun and delicious food. I was especially looking forward to reading this story as it is set in Iceland, a country I have long wanted to visit.

The story concerns three friends, Freya, Meg and Joanna, who are visiting Iceland the week before Christmas in memory of their dear late friend on what would have been her 40th birthday. One of her biggest wishes was to see the Northern Lights, and the trio are determined to fulfil that wish on her behalf. What they didn’t expect was that their trip would be longer than planned as they become trapped in a small village by a terrific storm, an avalanche blocking the road back to their luxurious hotel and spa. Luckily, they are taken in by local farmer, Pétur. When it becomes apparent that the friends will be spending Christmas in the village, they join in with the preparations and learn how the community pulls together to help each other when times are hard. While experiencing
a very different side of Iceland from the usual tourist sites, and learning a lot about themselves into the bargain, it seems that romance may be in the air for at least one of them.

I was completely captivated by this story. Jo Thomas has, in my view, surpassed herself with this wonderful tale of a group of friends discovering an Iceland which is never seen by possibly the majority of visitors, and learning so much about themselves and the world in which we live. There is happiness and sadness along the way as they come to appreciate their surroundings rather than worry about when they will get home. I loved the stories that Pétur told about elves and trolls and the local customs. There are also strong messages about the importance of considering the environment. With Freya being a chef, the reader is treated to some mouthwatering descriptions of dishes she is learning from the local women, and some interesting ways of preparing food using natural resources. This is definitely a different festive story and one which I can highly recommend.

Jo always seems to be right on the mark as far as frienship goes and the relevance of always being prepared to look after others before your own needs sometimes. Working together achieves more than can be done alone sometimes. Iceland sounds wonderful, no doubt it will be on everyone's list of places to visit. I can't wait to see where she takes us next. May be a recipe book of all the places she has visited so far??????

Another cracker from Jo Thomas. A beautiful setting and wonderful characters to put me in the festive mood. I loved the stories of the three women and the reasons for their visit to Iceland. Each such strong characters but facing big decisions in their lives. The enforced slow down was the perfect time for the three of them to reconsider the important things in life and I loved how they reconnected with eachother too.
Jo describes the harsh reality of the winter in this part of the world beautifully and it sounded idyllic ( although a little cut off for me )

Freya, Joanne and Meg are in Iceland to see the Northern Lights for their late friend Laura's 40th Birthday. On hunting the aurora off the beaten track an unexpected landslide leaves them stranded in a remote Icelandic village.

I loved the setting of the book and it's so descriptive you can almost feel the cold and taste the smoked salmon and rye bread!

It highlights the bond of friendship and community spirit and there's a little bit of romance thrown in too.

A nice inspiring winter read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC.