Just finished Merrily Ever After - a little bit late for a Christmas read - but never mind. Have to say I really enjoyed this book. It was lovely to see Merry and Cole's story moving on to the next chapter and I loved Emily, the new character. I didn't realise what the connection between Merry and Emily would be which was good as it's always nice to be surprised by a plot. The only thing I wasn't sure of was the switching between 1st person and 3rd person for Merry and Emily's different chapters but I got used to this and it didn't bother me by the end.

Wow! I absolutely loved Merrily Ever After! I read the wonderful The Merry Christmas Project first but Merrily Ever After can be read as a standalone. The storyline, the characters, the setting were just fantastic! Such a sparkly Christmas read.

It was lovely to be back with Merry. Merry is just an incredible lady - she is planning her last-minute Christmas wedding to the man of her dreams, Cole, after his surprise but wonderfully romantic proposal. Merry is trying to build upon her relationship with his two children as she will soon become their stepmother and she is burning the candle at both ends with her candle making business.

With every character we were given so much depth - I felt as if I knew them personally! Merry and Cole's relationship, like many relationships has its challenges but they manage to work out the bumps in the road and travel on a wonderful journey together where they become Mr and Mrs!

We also meet Emily - a secretary at the local school - and her Dad - who sadly suffers from dementia. Emily is doing all she can to work fulltime and look after her Dad, who she loves very much, but it is extremely difficult. Ray's dementia was covered very sensitively (some of Ray's lines did make me smile) and the story after finding the photo was incredibly written and the outcome so very very special.

Merry and Emily meet on several occasions throughout the book but their actual connection ... you have to read the book to find out what happens!

Merrily Ever After is a pure Christmassy delight and one which I will definitely read again! Such an uplifting festive read. Now all I need to do is buy one of Merry's very special candles!

Thank you very much for my advanced copy. This review is based on a NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

A lovely festive read to curl up next to your Christmas Tree with. I loved this story and was excited to see there is actually another book prior to this one called The Merry Christmas Project. The two stories are both about the character "Merry" but can certainly be read as stand alones. Might be January now but I have just purchased The Merry Christmas Project to read now as I loved Merrily Ever After so much,

I really enjoyed reading this book as a sequel to 'The Merry Christmas Project' but it would work equally well as a standalone book. It is a Christmassy read but with an intriguing storyline emerging that would make it readable at any time of the year. I highly, highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed the first book of this series and was eagerly awaiting this sequel. Merry and Cole's relationship is truly romantic and although the path of truth love certainly doesn't run smooth, their navigation of the responsibilities of step children and the development of this aspect of their relationship rings so true. Also the dementia angle is handled lightly, but very sensitively and I'm sure many people could identify with the circumstances. If you like your Christmas with a large dollop of romance then this is for you.

It wouldn’t be Christmas unless I read Christmas books from certain authors – and a Cathy Bramley one is always near the top of the pile. I do not even read the synopsis, I just plunged right in. And as I did I was back in familiar territory as it is a book that follows on from The Merry Christmas Project. You can read as a standalone with enough back story to get you through, but why would you want to when you can completely indulge in all things Christmassy and read them both.

Here Merry, is happily settled with Cole and a surprise proposal and a very quickly planned wedding for Christmas Eve, sees Merry in a complete spin. How can she find the time to organise everything and have the wedding she wants whilst also bonding with Cole’s two children when it is clear they have other ideas about their young lives. On top of all that, Merry’s candle business is taking off and the orders are outstripping the manpower, she is relying too much on one person who should be taking it easy. Help is there but will Merry accept it?

Not one to shy away from the realities of life, we are introduced to Emily, struggling to cope with her previous work due to her fathers decline into dementia she takes a less stressful job, but even that now is beginning to become too much. With no one to discuss the decision about what to do with her father with her, her boyfriend has upped and left, her best friend is far away and her mother is no longer married to him, she make the decision that for his own safety he must go in a home.

When moving her father, she discovers a photograph of him at Christmas, it gladdens her heart. But the photograph is bringing stress to him and when Emily shows her mother, she seems to harden her heart to what she sees? Is there something Emily doesn’t know?

Although having never met, Merry and Emily cross paths over a few weeks at some interesting points within both their storylines. Of course there is a reason for this, and whilst it adds to the romance of the novel, the realities of finding out about your past and dealing with a relative who is ill is all consuming. Cathy Bramley handles it with such care that my heart was bursting with joy as much as my eyes were filling with tears because of the situations.

It was great to be back with these characters and I hope we go back again as the community feel, the settings and the plot devices are so wonderful that this book was just like a big Christmas hug!

Lovely festive read to escape into when the pressures of Christmas become too much, definitely one to read on an annual basis!

Oh what a fabulous Christmas book this is. I read The Merry Christmas Project last year which was brilliant and this is the follow up although you easily read it as a standalone.
It was a delight from start to finish, full of gorgeous family relationships and festive feels. I was in tears by the end but they were happy tears. The writing was just beautiful and there were so many poignant moments. Some difficult subjects were bought up throughout the storyline but they were dealt with very sensitively and added to the overall feel of the book.
Absolutely stunning - a must read for next Christmas

This book has everything you could hope to read in a festive novel and then some. Merry and Emily live in the same locality and their paths keep crossing, unknowingly at first then Emily's dad's dementia-ladled ramblings lead them to each other. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. A delightful read to muse over during mince pie and mulled wine season.

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Merry is planning her wedding to father of two Cole. She is also trying to keep her growing business on track along with getting to know Cole’s two children and dealing with the issues that arise. Merry was raised in foster care so is understanding about how the children feel.

Emily is a school teacher, she dad Ray suffers from dementia and being an only child and divorced parents is left to make decisions about her fathers care.

Merry and Emily cross paths on a number of occasions accidentally..

Past secrets come to life. Will this end up being a Christmas to remember and the start of a great relationship?

Great read.

What a delightful festive read. I absolutely loved this book such a beautiful read . Merry and Cole's relationship is really going well and when they decide to plan a Christmas wedding in only a few weeks they are taking a huge gamble but with the help of family and friends they are sure they can pull it off. Loved all the characters and the setting was perfect a really fabulous book to curl up with during the holiday period and I was really emotional at the end shed a few tears but they were joyful ones.Only realized at the end that it follows on from Cathy Bramleys last years Christmas novel and I will certainly be having a look for that

I have read all of Cathy's books and was pleased to be given access to this sequel to Cathy's The Merry Christmas Project. I realy enjoyed revisiting the town of Weatherly and seeing the continuation of Merry's story, as well as discovering Emily and her link to Merry.

This was a great Christmas read and I look forward to reading more from Cathy in the future.

As so many reviewers have said...'any book by Cathy Bramley is a winner'. I do agree. This was a heart warming sequel to her last book, though read as a stand alone quite easily. Merry is desperately trying to get her wedding ready, as well as all the other little details in her life (and there were many!). The new figure in the story is Emily. Such a complex sitaution, but how well it is resolved.
A very enjoyable book. Thank you for the chance to read this.

I absolutely adored this follow up to The Merry Christmas Project - and, as with all of Cathy’s books, this can easily be read as a standalone. But if you want to follow Merry’s journey from the start, this is a brilliant follow on from last years festive publication. Merrily Ever After, as the title indicates, continues to follow Merry on her journey to a happy ever after, but with a few bumps in the road along the way…

This is a truly beautiful continuation of Merry’s story, full of warmth, family, love and Christmas spirit. There are real life domestic issues coupled with plenty of romantic moments, brilliant doses of humour and truly relatable characters!

One more uplifting release from Cathy! Such a talented author, making this sequel work perfectly as a standalone. A warm, pleasant story makes for a perfect read at this time of year. It was easy to lose yourself in this storyline and read this in one sitting.

The dual viewpoints made it easier to understand Merry and Emily on a better level, and I particularly enjoyed the concept of the unpredictability of it all! This plot powerfully pulled on my heartstrings, so be prepared with tissues! (No spoilers here!)

Recommended reading to anyone looking for a loveable festive read.

Merry is excited when her fiancé surprises her with a Christmas wedding, she only has a few weeks to find the perfect dress, venue and all the other things. She just wishes she had some family to share it with but her mother dies when she was young and she has no idea about her father. Emily is struggling to cope with her father's lapses of memory causing her to be unreliable at work. she finally decides to move him to a care home during which she finds some information that could change her life. Heart warming and moving story.

It’s gotten to the stage where I don’t even glance at the blurb before beginning a Cathy Bramley book because I just know that I am going to adore the story. Her covers alone always make me want to read her wonderful, feel good escapist stories and I’m delighted that lately she seems to be publishing two books a year because I just can’t get enough of her writing. No doubt about it she is up there in my top five authors and she just continues to go from strength to strength. So to say when I discovered that her Christmas book for this year, Merrily Ever After, was a follow up story to The Merry Christmas Project that was published last year, that I was excited would be an understatement. I had always felt that there was more to be told in the story of Merry and thankfully Cathy felt the same way. Yes, this new book can be read as a standalone but really I urge you to read the previous book beforehand and then delve straight into this one as you’ll become completely immersed in a wonderful Christmas story in a setting where you instantly feel at home and with characters you come to truly care about. All this is wrapped up in a wonderful sense of all things Christmas that Cathy is so brilliant at.

It felt so good to be back reading about a familiar setting and characters with some new faces introduced as well. Merry is living at Holly Cottage with her partner Cole and his two children Harley and Freya. Her handmade candle making business Merry and Bright is going from strength to strength and some might say its success has become just that little bit too much for her. Cole’s Dad Fred has been helping out but he can’t work as many hours as Merry and he does need a break especially as he would love to spend more time with his partner Astrid who is a good friend of Merry’s. Don’t get me wrong Merry is very happy with her life and has grown and blossomed since we first met her but maybe she needs to find more of a balance between work and family. The sadness she feels from the loss of her mother is still there for the reader to see and not knowing who her Dad was eats away at her. She is not lonely by any means as Cole has brought such love and happiness into her life but still no one will ever take her mum’s place. All she has ever dreamed of is to be married with a family and home of her own and this makes perfect sense considering her family past.

Merry is an avid Christmas Fan and as the busy time of year approaches her business goes from strength to strength. I loved all the little details regarding Merry’s business and the mentions of Christmas stalls, lights, frost, trees, music, mulled wine, candles, hot chocolate and lots more. It really made me feel excited for Christmas and all that it brings but for Merry there is even more of a reason for happiness as Cole proposes and she accepts. They want to get married as soon as possible and set the date for Christmas Eve. With only a few weeks to prepare will Merry pull off the wedding of her dreams? Not to mention there is a very unexpected surprise that is heading in her direction. Merry knows family is the best gift of all and by marrying Cole he is giving her the one thing she had been searching for in her life. She now feels as if she belongs somewhere and she has become a firm part of the community.But with the demands of the business and now a wedding to organise is it time for Merry to take on some else to help out? Can she relinquish just a small bit and let someone in to ease the load a little?

To be honest, I thought the sole focus of this book would be on Merry and her preparing for the wedding and yes this does feature but to a lesser extent than I had anticipated. I did love the exploration of how both children deal with Merry becoming a permanent fixture in their life and how Harley is dealing with his own issues. This was all developed so well with a lovely relaxed pace to it. But soon I discovered there was another character, Emily, a new face who was to bring a different slant to the story. Initially, when I read about her, I was ever so slightly disappointed because I wanted it to be all about Merry but soon I felt foolish for thinking this way as Cathy had a beautiful written story in store for us and Emily was the perfect addition and made the book as a whole come circle from the first time we meet Merry in The Merry Christmas Project.

Emily is a secretary in a secondary school and trying to balance work with keeping an eye on her Dad, Ray, who has dementia. Emily is trying her best but she needs support and can’t cope. Not knowing what each day will bring when it comes to Ray and his illness brings stress and pressure on Emily. Will the police ring today saying Ray has been found wandering somewhere? Will Ray have some lucid moments or will he forget who Emily is? The straw that breaks the camels back is when Emily’s boyfriend Gavin dumps her after she fails to turn up for a night out. She knows things are getting on top of her but her Dad needs looking after and what daughter wouldn’t do anything for her father? But at the same time her own life is starting to suffer. Something has to give because Ray will end up seriously hurting himself or worse and Emily would never cope with that. I felt desperately sorry for Emily as I could see the stress and strain she was under and I could identify with her. She is torn between a rock and a hard place - continue going on with the way things were or else try and get Ray into some sort of home/assisted living facility where she knew his needs would be looked after?

Emily was brave to make the decision for Ray to move into a home but this in turn allowed for some romance to develop when a new character is introduced and at the same time a very unexpected revelation comes out into the open. One which throws Emily into turmoil not knowing whether she can believe it or not. Shocking past secrets come to light and she doesn’t know whether she should be pursue what she has discovered? Emily undergoes a journey that will change her life forever and as things unfold the reader is constantly wondering how will Merry and Emily meet and connect? Both Emily and Merry are fabulously written characters. For a good while, I was wondering how would they come together and meet and connect? Each woman was just so fabulously written and you are there with them every step of the way as they navigate the run up to the wedding and at the same time sensitive and emotional subjects are being tackled and all with a dash of romance and festive cheer and antics thrown in for good measure too and I was there living for and loving each moment.

Cathy Bramley never lets her readers down and time and time again she provides us with stories infused with warmth, humour, human understanding and romance. I mean what more could you ask for in a book? Added to that, the fact that Merrily Ever After was Christmas themed and featured one of my all time favourite characters from this author well this book gave me everything I wanted and much more. Cathy is an author whose books I love more than anything and this story provided me with a wide range of emotions as two women navigate through some difficult times but the sense of friendship, comradery and something just that little bit deeper has you rooting for a positive and fulfilling outcome for all involved. Some difficult subjects are tackled most notably that of Ray and his dementia which I think at one time or another we can all identify with how Emily was feeling. But despite this the book never became too heavy and the more serious moments were perfectly balanced with lots of humour, warmth and Christmas fun and frolics and I loved every minute of it.

Love, friendship, hope and family are all strong themes throughout and readers will identify an awful lot with the characters. If you’ve never read a Cathy Bramley book before then what are you waiting for, get on it right now and discover an author who writes great stories with characters that walk off the page to meet you. I’ve already spotted Cathy’s next book, The Sunrise Sisterhood will be published in May. You can guarantee I’ll be there ready and waiting to get my hands on it.

I always love a Cathy Bramley and this was no exception. I loved being back with Merry but also loved Emily the new character. Such a brilliant Christmassy story with lots to say about family and friendship

Merry is getting ready to marry the man of her dreams and become a family with his two children. Its a challenge but she thinks she can cope until they both say something that throws her out. Emily meanwhile is trying to deal with her father and the best decisions for him. Finally making one leads to a secret being revealed and the two women are about to learn they share a connection. Could this give them what they both want?

What a heartwarming christmas story this was. Its told from both Emily and Merry's point of views, giving a deeper understanding. The plot is a slow burn but it keeps you interested as the two stories merge together. The ending was so good and I loved how it all came together. Merry as a step mother and her connection with the children as well as their mother was really refreshing to see it so healthy and supportive. I loved both the girls. They were sweet and fun. A fabulous and heartwarming festive read.

I like stories about people discovering unexpected relatives close by, because I’ve witnessed it happen in my own family. On the other hand, dementia – particularly involving parents – also hits home at the moment, in a less good way, so I was a little uncertain about this book at first. Emily lives in the small Derbyshire town of Wetherley and has recently started a temporary job as a school secretary after quitting a higher pressure job in order to take care of her father, who has dementia and lives in nearby Bakewell. Meanwhile, Merry also lives in Wetherley and has a thriving candle business in the town. Merry was brought up by her mother, who died while Merry was still at school, and has no real recollection of her father. She has a good relationship with her boyfriend’s family, including her former art teacher, but still longs to know more about her own.

When Emily’s father has an episode that brings him into contact with the police, she realises that he can no longer live alone and finds him a place in a nearby care home. Her father is unsettled by the move and worries that some of his possessions may be lost. Emily is keen to reassure him, and while she is checking his old flat, she comes across an old baby photo she initially assumes to be a picture of her; however, the words on the back are Merry’s First Christmas. Emily does some digging and realises this must be a child from her father’s previous relationship – before he met Emily’s mother.

Emily and Merry have already met on a number of brief occasions, and the older of Merry’s stepchildren is a pupil at the school where Emily works. The pieces slowly fall into place, and Emily seeks Merry out to see whether she would be interested in meeting her father and possibly getting confirmation of their relatedness. Although the interactions of both women with Emily’s father were difficult for me to read, I really liked the friendship that developed between them, even before they were aware of who the other might be.

Meanwhile, Merry is preparing to marry her boyfriend, and Emily is cautiously starting a relationship with one of the part-time staff at her father’s care home. She is understandably nervous after her previous partner broke up with her over the amount of time she was spending on caring for her father. This new man, though, is totally cool with Emily’s responsibilities, which I also appreciated.

The two downsides to this book were, firstly, that it’s actually a sequel to a previous Christmas-themed book about Merry and her boyfriend, with the story from that being rehashed rather clunkily at various points in this one, to my mind. Secondly, when there’s a family crisis in the runup to Merry’s wedding, her boyfriend verbally lashes out at her in what felt like a huge red flag to me. I think there should have been some kind of acknowledgement of how toxic this was, and the two should maybe have taken a step back and paused their wedding plans while they worked through the issue.

Overall, I loved seeing a book set in Derbyshire that felt very real to its location but could have done with more of Merry and Emily and less of their boyfriends – Merry’s in particular.