This is a really interesting read about two women who are friends and work together... one is desperate for a baby, the other is due any day and experiencing problems but wanting to carry on with her busy life... tensions arise... I found this a really intriguing read, I enjoyed it and liked the different dynamics. The suspense with the 'secret' one of the wives had with her husband just grew more intriguing with each page turn. A really enjoyable festive read!

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book,

A great Christmas read from Cathy, full of romance and laughter.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from Netgalley. I didn't realise until after I finished this that it was the third in a series, but it worked well as a standalone. I really enjoyed this, despite finding Merry quite annoying for much of the book. Nell and Olek's story, and that of Ray, were sensitively told. Bramley used the dual narrative well, and the book was an engaging, Christmassy read.

This was an enjoyable read, and although it can be read as a stand alone book, I think it would have been more enjoyable if read as part of the series as there were so many references to prior plot lines. Still a lovely Christmas read and I liked that it for
Fused on différents éléments of parenthood including those who are parents yet to have children. Thanks netgalley

This book is a must to read it’s a follow up on last years book about merry and nell it now tells life 12 mths later merry is pregnant and nell as problems it is full of sadness loving and heartwarming and of course ends well all round with the arrival of new babies

A nice little Christmas read, but with a surprising amount of drama! Definitely felt for both Nell and Merry, but then I could also understand it from the opposite perspective as well. I’m not sure how Cathy would keep this little Christmas series going but we shall see!

I was very excited to be back in Wetherly with Merry and the gang! I absolutely loved the first two instalments of this series when I read them last Christmas so I made sure to fit this one in over the festive period 🎄

It’s the run up to Christmas and we are greeted by a heavily pregnant Merry, one year on from her wedding to Cole. Merry’s candle shop, Merry & Bright, is thriving, with best friend Nell now a partner in the business. Despite this, Merry is having a hard time relinquishing control and struggles to slow down towards the end of her pregnancy, but when her waters break a few weeks early, she’s forced to take a back seat. Nell is struggling a lot with her own fertility problems, and seeing Merry so blasé about being pregnant drives a real wedge into their friendship.

The two women have a very tough time of it in this book, and their friendship appears to be completely shattered. Nell’s relationship with partner Olek is in pieces, Merry’s Dad’s health is ailing…can they come through the other side? And will Nell be there when Merry brings new life into the world?

I have to say, Merry did annoy me in this book! 🙈 I guess that was kind of the whole point…she was pregnant and stressed and fearful about how she would take to being a mother, however she had me eye rolling sooooo often. And to be honest, Nell wasn’t much better! I still loved the story and the characters, but I think some of the festiveness was lost through the drama, and it was that warm, Christmassy feeling that I loved so much about the first two books, which is why I’ve dropped a star. But a good instalment overall. Just not my favourite from the series!

I loved all the aspects of this book, dealing with relationships, strained friendships, babies and Christmas.
Merry is expecting a baby very soon, and her friend Nell, although thrilled for her friend is finding the situation tough, as she really yearns for her own baby.
They are both dealing with their own issues and you feel for both of them.

A great read.

Really enjoyed this book!! So nice to join merry and Nell again along with their families!! So many issues covered, from fertility, friendships, relationships and fallouts from lies! The book was filled with many issues that the characters had to.overcome, often sadness. It was really touching and did make me fill up whilst reading. I wanted to keep reading and find out what happened

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. I found both Merry and Nell's characters very annoying and felt that the first 80 percent of the book focused too much on lies, secrets and falling out with each other. The last 20 percent was better, but it wasn't enough to make it a cozy Christmas read.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest review

I read this book on a white sunny beach in Tunisia looking onto the clear blue Mediterranean sea, but Cathy still made me feel very Christmassy and cozy with the writing of her book.
We return to Merry and her life in her shop Merry and Bright, the story this time is very much Nell's story as well as the both navigate Merry's pregnancy and the emotional and physical complications that can occur within both their friendship and marriages.
They both have different ways of dealing with their emotions but luckily their friendship is strong and they are surrounded by good people who help them navigate the bumps on the road.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this. As a stand alone book, this is a rollercoaster of emotions and well written too but it just didn’t quite have the cosy Christmas feel I was looking for. Any book that covers pregnancy/loss and death is going to be emotive but i’m just not sure that juxtaposing them alongside Christmas really works.

Absolutely brilliant book!
I am a big fan of this author and love the writing style!
I cant wait to read more!

What. A. Book!

Absolutely loved it. Not going to lie I wasn’t Merry’s biggest fan throughout the book and I preferred Nell’s storyline but overall it was just a cracking read.

Really enjoyed it.

We are back in Wetherley with Merry who is due to give birth any minute now . However she’s struggling to open up to Nell.
Nell is facing her own challenges and needs her friend more than she’ll ever know .

I really enjoyed this book but it was a little hardgoing to read at times.- a plot warning is definitely a good idea as it could be triggering.. but in the same vein really makes you think about what parenthood looks like in its various forms, as a biological parent, adoptive, step-parent or even to think about having a surrogate.

Merry and Nell are both under a lot of stress and not being entirely true to themselves, each other or their partners. It is beautiful to see how this resolves itself, how their family dynamics wax and wane, and grow.

The location of the story is wonderful, and love hearing more about the lives of the characters in Wetherley, and those new and old involved in Merry and Bright.

This is a nice Christmas themed read, it is a book in a series, but I’ve not read the others and got into this one easily. Merry is expecting her first child and with holiday season here, it’s busy in her little candle shop. Her friend Nell is there to help though when Merry’s waters break early. This story has trigger points, termination, infidelity issues and early labour It’s a well written book though, Merry is a bit irritating, but she’s pregnant so gets away with it. An overall good Christmas read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

I have read all of Cathy Bramley's books and enjoyed them all. I have particularly enjoyed the previous books featuring Merry. However, for a supposed Christmas read, I found this on the depressing side. Not at all what I am looking for in a Christmas read.

I know these things can happen, and they can happen at any time of year. However, I found both main characters winey. I felt if they had just spoken to each other about their worries, instead of bottling things up, then the story could have been more joyful and hopeful. I know that these tactics are sometimes used in storytelling to add drama and move the story forward. However, I felt it stalled everything into a spiral that wasn't needed. I managed to finish the book, and was glad everything was resolved in the end. However, I feel this could have been achieved differently.

A Merry Little Christmas is the third book in Cathy Bramley’s Christmas series following Merry, who we have followed in all three books, and her best friend Nell who we have known since book 1. This year Merry is preparing for her new baby while also feeling terrified of being a mother and Nell is struggling with infertility and doesn’t know what to do after discovering something about her husband’s past that could change everything. I would recommend checking out the trigger warnings as infertility, death of a parent and pregnancy are all widely discussed throughout the story.

I would say that as the series has gone on the tone of the books has stayed consistently festive however the stories have gradually moved from fully romance, to part romance, part contemporary, to in this one a fully contemporary story. I have continued to enjoy them however my favourite is definitely book 1 and if it is a series you are considering becoming invested in I would bear in mind.

There were things I loved about this book both new and familiar but also unfortunately it is also the book in the series that had the most things I didn't enjoy reading.

Starting with the positives, I loved seeing how Merry and Emily’s relationship has developed over the year. It often feels very special to read and it is great to see how close they have become. In fact some of the bonds characters have with others make up some of my favourite parts of these books. This includes Cole’s sister Hester and how she just adds to every scene she is in and Fred, Cole’s dad, who has to be one of my top characters. I have also really enjoyed seeing more of Max, Nell’s stepson, in this book as we have previously met him but didn’t really know him.
Following the same couple for 3 books each with different stories also really lets you get to know the couple and I have really enjoyed rereading the series to watch Merry and Cole’s relationship develop book by book.

As I already mentioned I did have a few things I didn’t fully enjoy about this book and the main one of those was how it felt like we were always in the middle of tension and conflict. Some of this makes sense for the plot and most of it I can see why it was added in, none of it felt like it was there for the sake of it, however I do think some of it could have been stripped back and built to the same character development with less overall conflict because at times I felt like it took away from the festive feeling, and I didn’t enjoy reading so much conflict for so long, a little bit less would’ve been a nice amount and worked for the story.

There were still festive vibes though among some really special scenes among friends and family which shared some messages that also feel important around Christmas time. It was overall a really solid Christmas book that I would recommend. I really enjoyed curling up with this and a hot drink as we started December and am really glad I bought it when it was released.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I am back with familiar characters in this new Christmas novel from Cathy Bramley. Merry and her best friend Nell are in completely different parts of their lives and whilst they work together, it seems they couldn’t be even further apart. Can this friendship survive another Christmas?

As Merry awaits the birth of her first child and all the expectations of being a mum, as well fulfilling all her business needs, she doesn’t want to have to rely on anyone else. Her gut instinct from the past has meant she has a need to do it all.

Nell is very much wanting to find out why babies are not going to be part of her life. When she does, she makes a decision which will test everyone and when it threatens her friendship as well as her marriage, it seems this Christmas is not going to be merry at all.

Full of Christmas warmth and cheer, although it tackles some rather difficult subjects. It reminds you that even if it is the most ‘wonderful time of the year’, there are people out there dealing with all sorts. Sometimes all we need is kindness and friendship. Cathy Bramley somehow manages to fit it all within the pages of the book and this series. I would start from the beginning of this series of books, to gain the most from them and understand the background of the characters and the wonderful Wetherly where it is all set.

Perfect Christmas read.