Sophie very rarely stays in one place for long, but currently in this village she has settled, it seems there might be enoigh for her to stay.

When a mysterious parcel turns up for her and it is her favourite book she starts to wonder who sent it and why.

Harry lives in the big house in the village and spends his days making it fit for living in and avoiding the villagers as he has had to curtail the Christmas celebrations this year. That is until Sophie and him are thrown together to make it a Christmas none of them will forget.

Perfect magical Christmas reading with the added bonus of a goat to add some humour!

This book is an absolute winner. It is heartwarming and full of hope. An uplifting tale of new beginnings, romance, and Christmas sparkle with a twist. I enjoyed reading this book immensely.

I adored this book. Who couldn’t love a book with a rouge pet goat and a whole heap of dogs and books. Sophie was a wonderful main character. It was lovely to see the relationship between her and Jazz and how their shared experiences helped them both move on. Just a very Christmassy read and I would happily read it again.

Sophie is in a small flat in a village on the North coast. She has a small business making and selling stationery, and h as a small corner in Fionas shop.

Harry, the Lord of the manor is very grumpy. The end up organizing the Christmas fair for the village. plenty of laughs, a goat who gets stuck in a lake. Plenty of other twist. Can recommend.

It's coming up to Christmas in a cute small town and Sophie is thinking it's about time she upped and left before she gets any more attached to the locals when she receives a beautifully bound book from The Secret BookShop, which changes everything.
Sophie grew up in foster care and doesn't like to stay anywhere too long or get too close to anyone, but im a bid to find out where the book came from she is thrown together with grumpy Harry to organise a local festival.
This was a lovely story of found family, community and festive wishes. Loved Harry as the grumpy MC especially as he had a cute pet goat.
The romance was slightly spicier than this authors usual writing, but I'm certainly not against that!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for a fair and frank review.

I loved this book, it was so full of Christmas magic and sparkle. It follows in the footsteps of Sophie, the main protagonist, who was brought up in and out of foster care and does not trust anyone easily. Nor does she stay anywhere longer than a year as she has closed the emotional side of herself. She hand makes notebooks and they sell in her friend Fiona’s shop. The closer it gets to Christmas they sell quicker than she can make them. There is an old abandoned sweet shop next door and in herself she knows this would be a great investment as she would like to expand her notebook business into making stationery also. She considers this every day but is still too scared to put roots down.

At the same time a man called Harry returns home after his dad passed away to renovate their old mansion. Harry is very standoffish and not popular within the community. The town meet up to organise their 7 day Christmas festival and this brings the two interlopers, if you will, Sophie and Harry together. Sophie is not really into this but works well with Harry and create a magical festival. Unsurprisingly, they grow closer during this time and he becomes an active community member. On Christmas eve Sophie is all packed up to sneak away until a violent storm hits them all, lights and electricity all go down. Harry invites everyone to the mansion as he has a generator. Both Harry and Sophie talk late into the night and admit they have fallen in love. On Christmas Day Sophie tells everyone that she is staying and taking over the olde sweet shop to grow her business. Sophie finally feels that she belongs.

This story is all about second chances, feeling the fear and doing it anyway.

This delightful Christmas book brims with friendship and humor, capturing the essence of a small village's charm. It sparks an immediate desire to immerse oneself in the community spirit. Although this is my first encounter with the author's work, it certainly won't be the last. The writing style and character development are particularly engaging. Additionally, the blossoming romance between Sophie and Harry enhances the warm, fuzzy sensation often associated with Christmas love stories. 3.5 stars

A beautifully written story with a festive feel as Sophie joins forces with the grumpy owner of the manor to do the village Christmas festival. I loved the vulnerability of both characters and the antics of Felix the knitted coat wearing goat. Books didn't play as a large part as expected but those mentioned were beautiful and would be treasured if they existed in real life.

A disclaimer here as I know the author.

Not my usual type of book as I'm not a great Christmas fan but as I know Cressida and have read (and enjoyed) other of her books I was keen to read this one as it is set in Norfolk.

Like many of this type of book you can see how the story is likely work out very early on but the joy is enjoying the ride as you get there and this one was great fun with believable and lovable characters.
An added bonus for me was working out which places Cressida had melded together to create her world - I'm from Norfolk and know the coast area well so could spot the places that inspired here.
I can't say that I am any the more ready for Christmas but I did enjoy the book a lot.

Our main character Sophie has had a tough run in life, but is starting to feel like she has found her place in Mistingham. She volunteers to work on the big Christmas festival, after she is gifted a beautiful copy of Jane Eyre, to see if she can find out who was her secret Santa. The book is filled with lots of interesting characters.

This is a really lovely, feel good Christmas book filled with friendship and humour. I love these small village vibe books. It instantly makes me want to be part of the community spirit. This is the first book I have read by the author but it won't be the last. I really enjoyed her writing style and character introductions. the added romance plot between Sophie and Harry just added to that warm fuzzy feeling that Christmas romances can bring.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I can sometimes end up nit picking with my favourite authors without meaning to, when you've read as many of their books as I have then you start pitting them against each other but I was so happy to start a new series (I hope) from Cressida Mclaughlin and this was wonderful. Warm, community spirit with a little bit of spice and the best animal ever written - Felix!

The main charachter, Sophie, has been hurt in many ways in life, before finding her place in Mistingham.
As the end of the year nears, she volunteers to work on the big christmas festival, as a way to discover who secretly gifted her a beautiful copy of Jane Eyre. In doing so, she finds more than she could have possibly hoped for, which makes her doubt if her plan to move on to the next place by the end of the year actually is what she wants.

This book has everything you'd look for in a christmas romance, it is set in a quaint village, that is filled with quirky characters!
It is super cute, and makes you feel all the feelings you'd want to feel.
Above all, it is filled with the warmth and love you want to feel in the winter period!

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley!

An absolutely heartwarming story that I was totally enchanted by.

I loved the village setting, the mystery behind he beautifully bound book, and just the whole feel of the story. I was absorbed by what Sophie would decide to do, whether she would continue to move from place to place each year, or if she would start to put down some routes.

And Harry was intriguing, a bit prickly at first, but turned into a wonderful man that I was definitely falling for. And the names of his dogs are rather amusing, but it's Felix the Goat that has to be the best character of the book. He has such a cheeky personality and it was always funny to see what scrapes he ended up in next.

I loved the planning for the big Christmas festival and also seeing how Sophie is starting to connect to more people in the village. The descriptions of the notebooks she makes too are enchanting and I almost wish I was a bigger fan of stationary to try to find similar ones as they sounded so lovely.

This is definitely a very enjoyable festive story that i read over the course of a day. And with Amazon implying this is the first book of a new series, I am incredibly eager to read the next book, and catch up with more of these characters as the setting is so fabulous.

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

I adored this book. The setting, the characters and the blossoming love story between Sophie and Harry. I especially enjoyed the Jane Eyre references. Such a heartwarming Christmas read,

I really enjoyed this. It had a lovely festive feel to it. Would really like to read more about other characters.

Cressida McLaughlin does it again, with another feel good Christmas novel filled with friendship, humour and mystery. I just loved the different characters and relationships in this book from Sophie and Fiona's friendship to Jazz's storyline to the mischievous goat, Felix. The storyline ultimately revolves around Sophie and Harry and their blossoming relationship. When the mysterious Harry and newbie in town, Sophie are unexpectedly volunteered to organise the village Christmas festival they both learn thing about each other and themselves that make them rethink the path they are on.
This was such a lovely, warm Christmas story which has really got me in the Christmas spirit. I loved the strand following Sophies investigation into who sent the mysterious package of a special edition Jane Eyre and how it correlated to her nomadic tendency.
The characters are very well written and I thoroughly enjoyed following the characters through their journeys. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys Christmas contemporary romance.

Thank you NetGalley - I loved this book and really has got me into the Christmas spirit

The author sets this festive wintery tale in Mistingham a seaside town in Norfolk. This is about community, Finding home and in the words of Shrek Happy everafter Donkey - it is a real feel good story

Loved this and was published in October 2024.

The Secret Christmas Bookshop is a cosy, heartwarming, festive story whose characters, especially Felix I will now miss. Of course you know from the ofset that Sophie and Harry are meant to be together and of course a lot of the scenarios are rather farfetched but the storyline, the charcters and excerpts from Jane Eyre all make it worth setting time aside for, and you won't regret it.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy in return for my honest opinion.

The Secret Christmas Bookshop. I loved this book. The perfect Christmas romance for getting into the festive mood. Great characters and storyline, especially the link to classic books. I loved the Norfolk coast setting and the inclusion of all the furry friends (especially Felix the goat). One of the best Rom Coms I've read in a long time. Perfect.

I loved this book and it was perfect to start the cosy and festive reading season! I enjoyed the characters, the village by the sea (I'd move there in a heartbeat!) and the found family vibes. Lovely and heartwarming story, I look forward to the next book.

Thank you to the publisher who provided me with an e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.