What a beautifully written book, I absolutely adored Bea, Ollie and Aunt Nora, this is the perfect book to cosy up with at Christmas.

Do you believe in fate? In Maybe Next Christmas two strangers meet at Heathrow airport on Christmas Eve, Bea is on her way to Ireland to join her family for seasonal festivities while Ollie is also heading to Ireland but with a heavy heart to spend time with his own family. While the pair have an instant connection as friends they don't think to exchange numbers and so leave as they met, as strangers. But when the pair happen to meet again in London their unexpected journey towards healing each other's hurts begins in a way that each could never have anticipated.

Maybe Christmas is a heartfelt, feel-good story that will lead you through a bevy of different emotions. While there may be heartache, sadness and disappointment woven within the story, you will also find friendship, love and laughter to warm your heart. The perfect anytime holiday read!

Bea and Ollie meet by chance on Christmas Eve and we then follow their romantic journey with fate giving them a helping hand.
This book was excellent and had me hooked from the first page. The characters were well written and were likeable and relatable with my favourite being Leroy. I loved that the book showed both characters points of view through alternate chapters which I think added to the romance of the story.

The setting of London and Ireland were both magical and I loved hearing about the hotel at Christmas and the stunning Irish scenery.
This book was a definitive 5 star romantic Christmas read which I would recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley, Emma Heatherington and Random House UK, Cornerstone for an advance copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

A chance encounter between the two main characters, Bea and Ollie, as they fly home from London to Ireland for Christmas makes an excellent start to this heartwarming romantic story which follows the highs and lows of their lives until the following festive season. Along the way, Emma Heatherington conjures up beautiful images of Ireland and the Carnation hotel in London, and Aunt Nora and Leroy are excellent additions to the cast. There are even two cute dogs. (I always get nervous when animals are involved in a story but nothing bad happens to these two.) It has everything you could want from a lovely Christmas romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It’s Christmas Eve and there’s a wonderful festive feel as it’s snowing. Bea makes her way to Heathrow Airport to return home to Ireland for the festivities and her long-term partner Sean, however, there’s a bit of a story there. Of course! The plane is delayed and as she waits at the bar she meets Ollie, also returning home to Ireland, partly with a heavy heart (yes, you’ve got it, another story there) and the pair get chatting and there’s a very clear connection between them. Life inevitably gets in the way but a chance encounter in Kensington Gardens back in London starts a catalogue of events, a chain reaction if you like, that neither have foreseen. Christmas brings them together, what will the rest of the year have in store for them? A surprise or two without doubt.

This is a heartwarming easy read from the very start which is chock full of delightful, very easy to like characters. This is particularly true of the main characters of Ollie and Bea but also of Ollie’s wonderful and lively Aunt Nora and Bea’s coworker in Leroy. There’s the added bonus of a couple of delightful dogs too. I really like the Peter Pan references and a nice touch with the name of one of the pooches.

The author creates a wonderful atmosphere, not just a gorgeous festive one but also with fantastic descriptions of Irish locations that make me want to look up the next flight/ferry times. The whole thing gives you a warm feeling, although it’s obviously centred around Christmas, you could read it at any time of the year.

It’s very easy to read, the writing is engaging and it flows well. You absolutely root for Ollie and Bea because they’re so likeable you therefore want the best for them, It’s an emotional read at times but for all the right reasons.

Emma Heatherington delivers yet again as this is a sweet story. I daresay it follows a predictable path but as I enjoy it and it’s what you hope for it matters very little. There’s a lovely cover to complement the inside too.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin, Random House, Cornerstone for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I absolutely love a bit of Christmas I'm July so thank you Emma and Netgalley for allowing me to read this superb book.

I flew through it as it was such an enjoyable read. The pages just flowed, it was so well written.

Bea, Ollie and Aunt Nora are all such special characters.

I really felt the charm of Oyster Cottage and would love to spend Christmas there.

What a stunning book. I am sure everyone is going to love reading this at Christmas.

Thank you.

Don’t you just want to grab this, switch off the phone and curl up on the sofa
By far one of my favourite books I've read this month… I loved every minute… Roll on Christmas vibes.

This was such a cute read for me, a real emotional one. Maybe it is the Christmas theme, the long distance or a nurse who just is the light of the hospital - all this made the book such a winner. It was a joy to read and each bump had me reading on and on to make sure that there is a happy ending for Ollie and Bea. A great meet-cute in an airport spawns a lovely, somehow gentle and somehow fast and deep connection that the book unpicks beautifully. Can you give 11 stars?

An utterly delightful read which I thoroughly enjoyed and a definite true romance. Wonderful, believable characters in Ollie and Bea, although, I do have to say, I did get slightly frustrated with Bea especially towards the end. Along with the main characters, there are a fabulous range of others on the periphery with Leroy and Aunt Nora leading the way. Good location descriptions and particularly atmospheric when in Ireland. A definite for romance lovers to escape from the world with whether on a sunny holiday or curled up by a cosy winter fire.

Hotel manager Bea and nurse Ollie meet by chance at Heathrow airport on Christmas Eve, when their flight home to Ireland is delayed. They immediately create a connection, but as both are preoccupied with the reasons they are going home for Christmas, neither thinks to exchange numbers or contact details.
Fate has other plans however, and the two do meet again unexpectedly - but is it too late?

This is like a warm hug of a book. Starting at Christmas and finishing the following Christmas, this book should definitely be made into a movie! I found myself totally invested in the outcome of Bea and Ollie's second meeting and really enjoyed the supporting characters who helped them on their journey - everyone needs a Leroy and Aunt Nora in their lives!

This is a book that could be read and enjoyed at any time of the year, but be warned you will want to visit Ireland after reading!
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK, Cornerstone for the review copy.

I read Emma’s debut novel and thought it was a great festive read, but this really upped the ante pulling on my heart strings (I actually cried on a train reading this, with zero shame!)

I thought this was a beautifully written, emotional love story with a sparkly dollop of festivity. I fell in love with Bea and Ollie, and of course Nana and Leroy.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this eARC.

This is a delightful read that pulls you in right away and had me invested in the story and characters all the way through. I like the authors writing style, the portrayal of the two main characters is very, very good and I think Emma Heatherington captures their personalities, thoughts, feelings and emotions perfectly. I feel like the characters jumped out of the pages and felt like old friends and I can picture them, The Carnation Hotel and Oyster Cottage in my mind when reading. The book takes place over a year, and the pacing in my opinion is perfect. It is about finding 'the one' and the trials and tribulations of a long distance relationship and how Ollie and Bea try to make this work for them. The ending is perfect, and really complements the story by giving it good closure. I'd have loved to have seen an epilogue though just letting the readers know how the couple were getting on a few years down the line. I really like Ollie and Bea and the other characters who are in the story and was rooting for them all throughout.

If you like romances, particularly ones set over Christmas then this is for you. You'll love the characters and writing and won't be disappointed.

Emma Heatherington knows how to delivery a Christmas novel! Her descriptions of the small details, the food, decorations, traditions immediately trigger a resonance in you of your own Christmas past and creating instant Christmas spirit,

A story spread over a year: starting at the Christmas they meet and recounting the year up to and including Christmas the following year.

It’s been a while since a book has made me shed a tear but this one did. Such a romantic Christmassy read, beautifully written I would love to see this as a Christmas movie. Full of emotions from happy to sad and I will admit to fist pumping the air a couple of times! I couldn’t put it down. Characters are fab loved them all. A magical Christmas read that I highly recommend to all. Thank you to Netgalley, publisher and Emma Heatherington for the opportunity to read.

It felt like christmas in July while I was reading this book. Absolutely perfect I loved every second of reading this lovely romantic descriptive book. I can't wait to read it again during the christmas season.

You can’t beat reading your first Christmas love story of the year. This was an absolute belter and sat reading it in one sitting. Full of Christmas cheer and showing that sometimes things are destined to be however difficult they seem.

This is, hands down, the best book that I have read in a long, long time. Although it is a Christmas book, it can be enjoyed all year round. Initially, I thought it was another boy-meets-girl story, but it is so, so much more.

The story is heartwarming and humorous, yet it thoughtfully explores themes of grief and healing, illustrating that getting over grief can't be rushed. The importance of looking for rainbows amid life's storms is a poignant message woven throughout the narrative.

The powerful story and genuine, authentic characters made the book impossible to put down. Their journeys and interactions are so compelling that I felt an urge to hop on a plane to Ireland immediately after finishing it. It's a truly great read that will stay with you long after the last page.

A really lovely feel good book. I loved the main characters and the setting in Ireland. Highly recommended.

This is a five-star read that isn’t just special at Christmas, but all year round. This story may start and end at Christmas, but it would make an ideal read at any time of the year, honestly, I am looking up places that sounds like Oyster Cottage, as my goodness the magic, just jumps of the page. There was something extra special about this one, and I don’t know if it was the passion that Ollie has for his job and his family, where there was a realness as life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, so it was nicely shown in this story. Maybe it was the way that Bea sees the good in everything even people stealing the fancy baubles of the tree. There are just so many wonderful moments in this story, that will make you smile and bring a tear to your eye as well, but my goodness the emotions that you have wrung out of you as you read this story, are worth every moment. If you are in the mood for something to really grip you, and leave you with all the feels then this is the story for you.

A novel that starts and ends around Christmas time and covers the bits inbetween. What’s not to love as the sun shines down outside. A tale of two people that meet at an airport and wonder if the other person is ‘the one’, mixed in with a few coincidences here and there as their story plays out, you can’t help but end the book with a smile on your face. Loved every bit of it and couldn’t wait to get to the next chapter.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.