‘Kiss Me At Christmas’ by Jenny Bayliss is a heartwarming Christmas tale with fantastic characterisation and a wonderful message. The main character, Harriet, works in pastoral care at a private school and is keen to help five teenagers on scholarships (known affectionately as “the famous five”) achieve their potential rather than being drawn into the anti-social behaviour endemic in their village. When covering for them leaves her tasked with cleaning up an old, abandoned theatre that had become a dilapidated secret hangout, Harriet sees an opportunity to transform the village, put on a Christmas play to show off the Winter Theatre at its best… and just maybe get to know the spiky owner’s handsome solicitor a bit better!

Although the novel begins with a one night stand (with the aforementioned handsome solicitor no less), and despite the title, I’d definitely class this as contemporary fiction with a romance sub-plot rather than being romance-driven. While this was unexpected, I really enjoyed the community aspects of the story and the richness of the diverse cast of characters. The experiences of teenage Billy and elderly Grace were utterly different but had so many commonalities and their journey to kinship really resonated with me.

Harriet’s motivations were admirable, and became clearer as the novel went on, and I enjoyed her conversations with her daughter and the unorthodox relationship she shared with her ex and his wife. As a love interest, James was interesting and layered, and their communication felt realistic. A love story between characters in their forties was refreshing and hopeful.

This gets 4.5 stars from me - read it if you love Yuletide cheer, strong morals and books that feel like a cosy hug.

I received a Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Michael Joseph, Penguin via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

My annual read by Bayliss. I was a big fan of 12 days of Christmas so thought I would give this a go.

It didn’t quite have the same magic as 12 days. Still a lovely story. Harriett is going to be alone for Christmas. But are you ever truly alone. Her daughter maybe overseas for Christmas but a cheeky one night stand terms her world on its head.

4.5 ⭐️
Thank you netgalley and Penguin Random House for my ARC copy.

I loved this book so much, Harriet is the teacher/pastoral care worker I would have loved to have at school. The found family in this book is amazingly well done and the growth in the characters feels really organic. Such a great festive read. I really enjoyed the relationship between Harriet and James, but also Harriet, Paul and Emma. Will 100% be recommending this to my friends and family this festive season.

Not just your cosy Christmas romance but a truly heart-warming story telling of a community coming together. Of course the love story between Harriet and James was gorgeous to read but it was the saving of the old Winter Theatre, Harriet's support of her troubled students and their growth in confidence, the different community groups supporting each other - it was all just lovely and magical and yes, festive. I would love to be part of the community myself. Loved it!

**Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read an advanced e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own **

Harriet works in a school and when she notices that some of the kids aren’t at school she decides to follow one. They are in an old theatre building reading, when the police turn up. She takes the blame and wants to open up the theatre as a young persons hangout.
I liked this story, Harriet is kind, funny and wants things to work. It’s a fun Christmas read with a great storyline bringing people together.
A happy 4 star read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

This is a super fun Christmas read full of the true meaning behind the season with references to Charles Dickens.
After Harriet learns her daughter Maisie isn’t coming home for Christmas this year and then will be off to University soon, Harriet immerses herself in her work and has a wild night out to drown her sorrows of the early empty nest feeling. The following chain of events shows her passionately supporting her students from the school where she has a job in pastoral support, and ignites the local community, connecting so many with a new sense of purpose and indeed more than a touch of Christmas spirit!! Here is Christmas in full spades!!
A great mix of rom com and good old fashioned warm hearted romance and love. Modern blended families and a good education about the types of people that can feel forgotten in our modern society.
The characters are brilliantly depicted and easy to visualise.
Really enjoyable and a fun easy read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin books for the early read! Loved it!

Kiss Me at Christmas by Jenny Bayliss is a heartwarming festive read, full of community and Christmas spirit.

With her daughter away for Christmas, Harriet Smith isn’t up for celebrating and after an encounter with a gorgeous stranger she assumes is no good, she is determined to distract herself with her work at the local Independent School. However an incident at an abandoned theatre, brings the gorgeous stranger back into her life and also she’s her having to put on a Christmas show.

I really enjoyed this book, it was full of loads of references to my favourite Christmas Story - A Christmas Carol. Definitely worth adding to the Christmas reading list.

I enjoy the romance of James and Harriet. They have great chemistry from the start. Initially it’s not clear what their obstacle/challenge will be but Jenni does a great job of building up to this with the fab five teens exploits and the deal with Evaline. I loved the story of the Fab five and the theatre and how they then had to put on the show and James and Harriet had to work together side by side. Evaline was an interesting character with a lot more to her than at first appeared. The relationship that developed between Grace and Billy was particularly touching and really showed how two people in different situations in life can find common ground when they speak honestly about how they feel. I loved the ending and I gave this story five stars.

If you love books about community, Christmas spirits and the wonders of Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol then this is the perfect book for you. It is definitely one you can read before December as it isn’t full on festivities - in fact for a bit of it the MC Harriet is adamant that she isn’t going to partake in Christmas this year as her daughter Maisy is spending Christmas with her friends instead…

I absolutely loved the Famous Five, and little Sid, they are such genuine souls and to see them come to life as such over the course of this book was lovely. You really feel for them and want them to succeed, and with Harriet on their side you just know they’ll go places and have those doors opened. At first I was a little sceptical about the Players but it all works out in the end - not in the way I was expecting at all though might I add!

There was such a strong community vibe in this book which would warm even the hardest of hearts - pretty apt for a recreation of A Christmas Carol with its own Mrs Scrooge…

And of course, there were Christmas activities - I mean it starts with Harriet drinking Mulled Wine 🍷 - but we also had the Christmas dinner, snow and festive spirit to the rafters!

A gorgeous book with such a deep heart that has left me wanting to snuggle in front of the tree with a mulled wine and A Christmas Carol on the TV…. Or maybe Die Hard 😉

Harriet gets herself into a situation trying to help her teenage famous five in her role in pastoral care. She ends up getting arrested and doing a deal with the local devil who owns a theatre and is using her to fix it up. It all snowballs and various groups join using the community space.
A brilliant,, funny and heartwarming journey where Harriet finds herself some friends and maybe some romance along the way.
Loved this book.

A perfect Christmas afternoon can be lost with this Christmas tale - adored it! Jenny Bayliss has a particular skill with writing Xmas fiction - long may it last.

Gosh, I blooming love Jenny Bayliss books and always look forward to reading them. I was super excited, and I was definitely not disappointed.
Harriet works in pastoral care and takes it very seriously to the point that it takes over her life. So, when she spots one of her charges bunking off school and walking into an abandoned building, she follows him and then promptly gets arrested.
What follows is just fabulous and I loved every second of it.
This book embodies everything I love in not just a Christmas book but in a book in general. All the community spirit, different walks of life, banding together to help lift each other up. An overwhelmed character that needs to make a change and a little sprinking of romance just to tie it all together.
I even tabbed a section that made me think differently, and I rarely do that!

Loved this festive storyline. Found the characters enticing and the background stories. Really enjoyed this book looking gout for other titles by the author

I loved this book. It's so festive and heartwarming, with a storyline containing real substance.
The central character is Harriet, a pastoral leader in a school. Through no fault of her own, Harriet finds herself with a massive project to restore a local historical theatre and put on a one-off performance of A Christmas Carol. Added in to the mix is that she has to do all this with five of her most challenging students.
Harriet is one of those flawed, superwoman characters, and extremely likeable.
I also liked the insight into Dickens' motivation for writing A Christmas Carol (my favourite Christmas story).
A brilliant read!

This is another wonderfully festive book by Jenny Bayliss that is full of heart and community spirit!
When Harriet is cornered into organising a festive extravaganza at the dilapidated Winter theatre she goes far above and beyond to bring together so many disparate community groups to make it work and so much more too! She finds ways to help and foster understanding between many disparate groups so they not only start working together but also learn tolerance for each other’s foibles also.
This was so much more than just another festive story, it was a feast for the soul imparting a wish for understanding, tolerance and cooperation and perhaps for a return of the community spirit of old!

This is a wonderful, heartwarming seasonal story. There is more substance to it than many Christmas novels, as we follow Harriet’s endeavours with a group of challenging students from school, and a rundown empty theatre. Entwined with this is a possible new relationship which questions her independence. I loved this book and strongly recommend it. It will melt the hardest heart in the run up to Christmas.

What a joy this book was, its like a warming hug of Christmas Spirit.
Harriet's daughter is spending the festive season in New York, Harriet is excited for her adventures but can't help feeling lost, her cup of joy this Christmas is definitely not overflowing.
She finds herself drowning her sorrows in a bar, flirting with a handsome guy who she ends up going home with, not her usual behaviour so when morning comes around she escapes before he gets out of the shower.
She loves her job but after some of her students break into a dilapidated Theatre she ends up covering for them and getting herself into trouble with the Police. The lawyer of the owner is non other than hot one night stand guy, they both end up thrown working together when the owner requests she directs the Theatre's final show for Christmas.
This was just a joy to read, I loved Harriet's relationship with the kids, the support and encouragement she gave them was so heart-warming.
Thank you NetGalley, Jenny Bayliss and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for this ARC, all opinions expressed are my own.

I just loved this book, it was so good and it made me long for Christmas. I just loved the story of this book, it has great characters as well and it’s good to read about young people and older people getting on and learning from each other as well as helping each other out. It’s just such a heartwarming read.

I would highly recommend reading this book if you love a good a Christmas with a heartwarming story.

I would like to thank Penguin and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book early.

A sweet community based Christmas spirit book that follows a teaching assistant that tries to help out struggling pupils and ends up cleaning up a dilapidated theatre in the village and putting on a Christmas play. There's some fantastic characters and the feel good factor of intergenerational friendships as well as the romance factor. There were a few features that made it lose a star for me as personally I don't know two grown adults who avoid all swear words even in the midst of very stressful situations and use words like "bullocks" instead, I get swearing in novels is controversial and my complaint probably adds to the "can't win" dilemma for authors, but I'm afraid this repeated dialogue from all the adults involved in the whole book just got very challenging to read. All in all it's a cosy, uplifting and festive read and perfectly suited for readers that can't handle any swearing whatsoever.

This book was a wonderful, Christmassy read and i really enjoyed everything about it!

Kiss Me At Christmas had a stream of amazing and quirky characters but I really did love Harriet, she was wonderful!

This Christmassy novel oozes with community spirit and has the found family trope, which I really enjoyed.

This was a wonderful book that held my attention right from the very beginning and didn’t let me go until i had very quickly turned all the pages and come to the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed this festive, heartwarming story that was so warm and cosy too…..