I absolutely adored this beautiful story.
I really enjoyed the message about making sure to put yourself first, instead of always saying yes to everything. Remember to consider the options and if that would really make you happy

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily and it reflects my personal opinion.
I have read and enjoyed other books by this author. She is an accomplished writer of romantic fiction, building a good image of the characters and settings as the story progresses. In this novel she creates the atmosphere of living by the sea and shows the differences in behaviours and attitudes of the twins. Chloe is shown to be a people - pleaser lacking in self-confidence which makes it difficult to carry out her plan to tell Eliot she wants to take their relationship to the next level. By a third though the book she had dithered so long and wasted so many opportunities that I couldn't read any more, the book was much too slow for me.

This story was chaotic but in the best way - anything and everything seemed to go wrong for Cleo whilst she spent her holidays trying to tell her best friend she was in love with him. She is a huge people pleaser and it was so lovely to see her character development grow as more and more people began to take advantage of her kindness. It was a charming read with quirky and enjoyable characters.

A brilliant read
A book you will get lost in
A great Christmas read
One to curl up in front of an open fire and hot chocolate
Thanks NetGalley

Lovely read. The plot has a good flow and there is a good dose of fun and romance too. Love a winter read - perfect.

I utterly adore reading Isla Gordon’s books.

The story is about Cleo, which tells us what happened in the years before as well as the present. Cleo is feeling as though she’s not doing much in her life and is always going along with what others expect of her and needs to start speaking up for herself.

Throughout the story you could feel the frustration that Cleo felt by her habit of pleasing people. It was enjoyable seeing her start to break that habit and think about what she wants from life.

As well as this, we read about her feelings for Eliot, the times over the years when she nearly told him how she felt.

The way Gabriela and Cleo were there for each other was lovely. The chaotic Christmas where Cleo and family had guests turning up was lovely as was the setting of this beautiful story.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough

A Snowfall by the Sea - Isla Gordon

Isla Gordon is quickly becoming another one of my go to authors when it comes to cosy, romantic reads! I adored the slow burn anticipation between Cleo and Eliot, I thought it was so well timed throughout the whole festive shenanigans. Lots of fun side characters to enjoy, and lovely descriptive writing and scene setting.

Thank you so much Netgalley, LittleBrown Book Group UK and Sphere for the advanced copy in return for my honest views.

Yet another fabulous book by Isla. All of her books have been comfortable, easy reading and this one is no exception.

A brilliant read and one I really enjoyed. The characters are loveable and varied, the plot is one that is engaging and medium paced. I found myself completely drawn into the story and enjoyed the writing style.

Very well-drawn characters. Their emotions, their restlessness was all playing in front of me. Everything was flawless about the book, including the title. A rich, vibrant romance that's a feast for all the senses!

This is such a lovely story; the author's descriptions transported me to the coastal town of Wavebreak Bay and quickly immersed me in the lives of main character Cleo, her family and childhood friend / longtime crush, Eliot. I enjoyed reading this book. Full of fully-formed, believable characters and with a storyline that held my interest from beginning to end. This is a great winter read.

Lovely, gentle Christmas read.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

This is a good book. I enjoyed the flow of the story, it had well rounded robust characters, a good dose of fun and romance and is a all round general good read.

This was a nice enough story that I did enjoy reading. It was a nice light romance story with plenty of winter swimming in the sea. The characters were nice and easy to connect with. They were also realistic. For me, I could have done with a bit more excitement and more unpredictable events to give it a higher rating. It was well written, with a nice relaxed pace. It was great that it was full of family along with their drama's. This book will be better suited to those who like light slow relaxed pace romance novels. I would suggest reading a sample to see if this book is a perfect fit for you.

Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating this enjoyable winter story.

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/a-snowfall-by-the-sea-by-isla-gordon-little-brown-books-3-stars under my name or ladyreading365

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. I love Christmas romance reads, and this was an enjoyable book with beautiful scenery. Although some elements could have been explored more, I found it a well-written book with likeable characters.

A tantalising will they won’t they tale of romance by the sea. Set over two timelines and full of teenager angst, I had everything crossed for a happy outcome!

Really nice story about Christmas in Devon, and about Cleo finding herself and getting herself out of a rut

For a fair amount of time Cleo's inner voice drove me bananas. She is a big time people pleaser, and procrastinator (although thinking about it, both of those could apply to me to!).

It's a will they, won't they get it together sort of a book, and from the flashbacks of Cleo and Eliot's friendship, we get to see clearly how everyone has felt over the years.

Once the story got going and we approached Christmas and Cleo's self imposed deadline for a few things the book picks up speed, and became are more compelling to read.

I could picture the setting and everything so vividly and I absolutely adored the story once we got to Christmas, where nothing goes quite according to plan.

It's highly enjoyable and kept me entertained throughout.

Thank you to Sphere and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Found this book to be a bit of a slow start, however once I was about 35% in I was invested, and apart from wanting to shout at the main character multiple times, in the end I was cheering her on and smiling at her journey. A lovely Christmas read, especially for those who love the sea.

I completely adored this so much, such a cute, warm , humorous and romantic Christmas read, I loved our MCs Chloe and Eliot , I felt so much for Chloe, as a people pleaser myself I really did relate to her and loved her journey through the story. The writing is wonderful and so many funny lines, it’s really addictive and such a warm , mushy and gorgeous book, if this doesn’t make you all gooey inside do you have a functional heart ?

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in return for an honest review

Cleo finds it really hard to say no. She’s in love with her best friend Eliot who spends 6 months of the year in America. Her parents are about to offer Elliot a new job in America which would need him to stay out there all year long. Should Cleo tell Eliot how she feels before he goes for maybe good!

Cleo decides she will tell him at her parents house at Christmas while her parents spend it with her twin sister. Things don’t go to plan and she ends up with a houseful of people. Will she be able to speak to Eliot before it’s too late……

A lovely feel good story that takes place over the festive season. Highly recommended