“Escape for Christmas” is a festive read with a twist. Sophie runs a guesthouse in the Lake District. She has owned it for less than a year and is making plans for her first Christmas there. But Sophie is looking to avoid the festivities as much as possible. She used to run a Christmas shop in Stratford upon Avon with her boyfriend but on finding him cheating with her best friend, she decided to up sticks and follow a long held dream to open a guesthouse. But given her negative connotations with Christmas now, she decides that she will host a non-Christmas celebration for those who want a retreat from tinsel and carols. Her family and the people in her local village think she’s lost her marbles but neighbour Brody doesn’t. He’s a vet and beloved by everyone in the village and he and Sophie develop a bond. But will personal circumstances ruin everything and will Christmas intrude on Sophie despite her best efforts?

This is an easy to read book and I love the descriptions of the Lake District which is a perfect setting. But I did find that it dragged a bit, particularly in the first half. And while the two main characters are well drawn and likeable, I felt like the bond between them was a bit forced and not initially well described. Also, the supporting characters are, again, likeable but didn’t feel fully sketched out.

I did enjoy reading this though and I’m sure those who love a cosy Christmas book will too.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

This was a lovely Christmas read. Sophie has moved and bought a guesthouse, she wants to hold an alternative Christmas this year as it’s brings back bad memories for her. Her idea works and all the guest rooms are booked, but it doesn’t go quite according to plan. With power cuts, being snowed in and a love triangle it’s makes for a great read.
Loved reading about Sophie and her guests, also all the animals in this story. The setting can’t be faulted and you’ll want to jump into the book. A fantastic 5 star read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

Sophie loved Christmas and was the owner of a year round Christmas shop but after discovering her fiancé and her best friend together at Christmas she relocated to run a B&B in the Lake District. She decides to hold a no Christmas Christmas break. A disparate group of guests arrive, all with reason to avoid Christmas celebrations but the best laid plans go awry. A lovely festive read.

hank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone for my copy of Escape for Christmas by Phillipa Ashley

After facing a heartbreaking betrayal from her fiancé and best friend during Christmas, Sophie embarks on a fresh journey in the picturesque Lake District, where she runs a charming B&B. I love that this is set in the UK. I love the idea of a non-Christmas package. It's a great idea for those who may not want the Christmas package. Eager to avoid another painful holiday with her family, she decides to create a delightful Spanish-themed weekend for those looking to escape the usual festivities. However, things take an unexpected turn, and she finds herself needing assistance from her neighbour, who has shown some questionable traits reminiscent of her ex. But is he really like him? Join Sophie on this transformative adventure filled with surprises and new connections as she discovers the strength to embrace joy once more!

What an amazing book. Christmas is fast approaching and Sophie, who once loved this time of year, is not looking forward to it. After catching her fiancé in a comprising position, with her best friend, in the store cupboard of her Christmas shop, Sophie takes stock of her life and moves to the wonderful countryside in Cumbria and buys Sunnyside Hotel.

As Christmas fast approaches, Sophie has a brainwave to offer an alternative Christmas, for guests who like her, were dreading the festseason and wanted to Escape for Christmas. No decorations, no Christmas music or traditional Christmas dinner. Little did she know that it would be such a fantastic success and realises that Christmas is wonderful when shared with the right people.

A beautifully written and heart felt book with characters that jumped out at me and immediately became my friend. It made me laugh as well as making me weep. I would book into Sunnyside tomorrow if it was possible.

The description of winter in Cumbria makes me want to curl up in front of a log fire, whilst marvelling at the glistening snow outside.

In my view, one of Philippa Ashley’s best books. For all you folk who love her books, this is a must to be put on your Christmas wish list. You will not want to put it down once you commence it until the last page. Thank you Philippa for a truly delightful book.

Couldn’t have loved this book anymore if I tried! Was so sad when it ended. I really liked Sophie and Brody as well as Agatha, she was fun!

A lovely, festive, non-festive novel. 110% recommend.

After catching her fiance and her best friend in a compromising position just before Christmas Sophie moved to Cumbria to run a small hotel. She decides to have a non-Christmas holiday special break for guests who, for their own reasons, don't wish to celebrate Christmas in the conventional way
Set in a wonderful, although remote, location this is definitely a hotel I'd love to visit. Her neighbour Brody, a very, is a potential love interest but things aren't as they seem. She has a wonderful collection of guests arriving for the break, each with their own stories, and the planned activities and food are definitely different. . There is also a bit of a menagerie, with Sophie's two cats Jingle and Bells plus Brody's lab Harold amongst others. With weather and other problems getting in the way the ending is never certain. A book that I did enjoy and well worth reading.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

Nice festive story, set in a bed and breakfast hotel with an alternative to celebrating Christmas by not celebrating it. The story had some pleasant twists and turns that played out as you would expect. Overall a really easy read.

A cosy festive read. This starts with Sophie who runs a B&B and decides to hold a non-Christmas event over the festive days. She is, in the run up to Christmas forging a new relationship with Brody, her neighbour and the town’s vet until his fiancé turns up leaving Sophie in turmoil over her feelings for someone who is in a relationship as she was cheated on herself. After organising Flamenco and tapas for Christmas Eve which is detailed by a major snowstorm which affects all her plans.

The guests of the B&B are interesting characters and feature heavily in the novel.

It does become a will they won’t be with both Sophie and Brodie fighting their feelings for each other.

Escape for Christmas is a cozy and heartwarming read, however, not my favourite novel by this author. There were some inconsistencies in the narrative that left me a bit confused and a few too many repetitions. Also, while I liked how initially the relationship developed between the two protagonists, Sophie and Brody, I think that the miscommunications that led to problems between them went on for too long. I liked the setting of the small village in Cumbria, with all its Christmas festivities and the snow. I also liked some of the side characters, especially the guests at Sophie’s guest house, and the animals are big protagonists. All in all, this is an enjoyable Christmas read (despite Sophie non-Christmas day), but it took me a while to finish it.

A nice, Christmas read in a gorgeous setting with a bit of drama and a lot of secrets and will they / won’t they romance. I enjoyed the guests stories at sunnyside but did find the main two characters lack of spine a bit frustrating at times!

I was so excited to get a digital ARC of ‘Escape for Christmas’, as I am a big Phillipa Ashley fan! I was ready to cosy on down and lose myself in this Christmas novel set in the beautiful Lake District (one of my favourite places to visit) and it did not disappoint!

Broken hearted Sophie moves on from the Christmas themed shop she used to run with her ex, after he cheated on her with her so called best friend! She buys Sunnyside Guest House in the Cumbrian countryside and sets about hosting a festive-free Christmas break.
And what an eventful Christmas it turns out to be! Sophie finds herself juggling all kinds of mishaps with her guests and unexpectedly finds herself falling for the local vet and neighbour Brody.

Such a warm, feel-good, festive read with likeable characters, in an idyllic setting. Another great story from Phillipa! ✨

This is a fun Christmassy read,. It has a lovely Christmas atmosphere, despite the heroine's plan to avoid Christmas and to host an alternative celebration at her newly-acquired guesthouse. Of course it's predictable - you can tell how it's going to end by the about the second chapter, but there's nothing at all wrong with that. My only criticism would be that there's a bit too much "telling" rather than "showing" for my taste, but that really is a minor thing. On the whole, a really good escapist seasonal read.

A cosy read. The descriptions of the guest house, fell top farm, the village and the mountains were very descriptive and really set the picture.

Sophie bought the guest house to start over and try and get away from her past and more importantly Christmas. Things don’t go quite to plan, but it never was a story about being the ‘anti Christmas’ just an alternative as she had painful memories attached to Christmas. I liked Sophie and how she cared so much for everyone around her, how she made her guests feel welcome and seen. Brody however didn’t quite live up to my expectation of the ‘hero’. I could see what a difficult situation he’d got himself into, but I felt he could have spoken up sooner. His ex, Tegan seemed to control him totally no matter how much he protested inside his own head. It didn’t make him come across as a strong character. Once he grew a backbone and stood up for himself, then I liked him much better. He seemed so much happier with Sophie.

It was a nice read, a bit slow for me without the two main characters pulling me along. 3.5 stars as I did still enjoy parts of it.

After her fiancé betrays her with her best friend at Christmas, Sophie moves from her home town and starts a new life running a B&B in the Lake District. Not wanting to face the following Christmas putting on a brave face with her family, she determines to keep the B&B open and host an alternative Spanish themed weekend for those, for whatever reason, not wanting traditional turkey and tinsel. The event does not go according to plan and Sophie has to rely on the help of her neighbour, who she has recently discovered is as bad as her ex, or is he?
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Phillipa Ashley knows how to write a great Christmas book! Sophie used to love Christmas until she was cheated on. She escapes to the Lake District to run a guest house where the mention, let alone the celebration of Christmas, is banned! She decides to run an ‘escape for Christmas’ getaway for those who also don’t want to celebrate. We meet other people who also have their reasons for not celebrating.

A book that has it all - a handsome local vet, a getaway in the Lake District, a non traditional Christmas celebration - definitely worth a read.

A cleverly done Christmassy read complete with snow, surprises and romance. The idea of having a non-Christmas package for a guest house was a genius one!

Sophie loved Christmas, even ran an all year round Christmas shop with her boyfriend, until said boyfriend ruined everything by cheating on her in the stockroom with her best friend on Christmas Eve. Sophie decides to leave her home town and start a new life following her dream of running a guest house in the Lake District. After settling in and making friends in the community, including the handsome vet Brody, she has a thought that like her not everyone might be feeling festive in the run up to Christmas. She comes up with the idea of an “Escape for Christmas” getaway at her guesthouse and is soon fully booked with guests who all have their own reasons to want to get away from a traditional Christmas.

A glorious heartwarming book which keeps you engrossed and not wanting to put it down. I throughly enjoyed this read, in fact there hasn’t been a Phillipa Ashley that I’ve not enjoyed.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free arc. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Sophie is feeling anything but festive, finding her boyfriend sleeping with her best friend last year was enough to dampen her festive spirits.. forever. Sophie is still feeling put out by the idea of Christmas so takes it upon herself to organise a different kind of Christmas at her guest house this year. Despite the town brandishing her idea as the ‘Anti-Christmas’ Sophie is excited to be able to spend the festive period with a fully booked guest house of people also wanting to escape a traditional Christmas.

Brody has had a soft spot for Sophie since she moved to Sunnyside but has kept his distance other than when it comes to his vet duties for her cats.

When Christmas comes around, Sophie’s guest house is full and Brody is spending it with his family and an additional surprise that Sophie didn’t see coming. But when Sophie experiences a power cut. Brody comes to the rescue.

This was such a cute Christmassy romance! I adored that Christmas was a focal point of the book and not just an event that happens. Phillip portrays the harsh and very real truth that Christmas is a wonderful yet difficult time of year for so many and that was really refreshing!

The relationship between Sophie and Brody seemed really intense from the start but I enjoyed how it went. I love that Sophie was such a strong character and made some bold choices in her life when faced with challenge, even though that looked like she was running away.

I really enjoyed this!

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

This was another book which I found hard to put down.

Sophie always loved Christmas, Scot so many years, she had a Christmas shop that was open every day of the year, loving the start of the festive season.

But then, everything changed, having to let the shop go and start again, but this time she opened a hotel in the beautiful Lake District.

With Christmas not far off, and after what happened, Sophie makes a decision to make people aware that the hotel will not be at all festive, which she hopes will suit those that want time away from all the festivities.

After Sophie has made the changes she needs, and even though the hotel is a Christmas free zone, her rooms are booked.

When the snow comes, it’s a lot and she has visitors that haven’t booked, which changes everything that she had planned.

Will Sophie really be able to not feel Christmassy or will she have a change of heart?

I loved the characters, the setting. It will definitely leave you feeling festive.

I highly recommend this book.