Postcards at Christmas
by Imogen Clark
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Pub Date 15 Oct 2019 | Archive Date 29 Oct 2019
Amazon Publishing UK | Lake Union Publishing
Talking about this book? Use #PostcardsAtChristmas #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
In this heartwarming follow-up to the bestselling novel Postcards From a Stranger, will Cara’s family past ruin her Christmas present, or will she let love in?
After discovering her mother’s secret life, Cara doesn’t have much faith in marriage. So when the love of her life, Simeon, proposes, she struggles to say ‘I do.’ She adores him, but why risk the perfect relationship by signing on a dotted line that could ruin everything? If her parents’ marriage taught her anything, it was that a gold ring doesn’t equal happiness, and she has no desire to follow in their dysfunctional footsteps. But maybe there’s a bigger picture after all. When a tragic accident brings yet more truths to the surface, Cara is forced to question everything she believes—and fears—about long-term love. And the answers aren’t obvious…
Could Cara rewrite her family’s history and create her own love story?
A Note From the Publisher
Available Editions
EDITION | Ebook |
ISBN | 9781542020534 |
PRICE | £1.99 (GBP) |
Featured Reviews
Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the eARC.
This is the follow up to Postcards from a Stranger, a bloom I absolutely loved. Cara, after her recent difficulties, is in a great space of her life. She's living with the love of her life, Simeon, and their baby girl, happy as she can be. When Simeon proposes, she's in two minds...she doesn't really believe in marriage after what happened to her parents. She says 'yes', hesitantly, and, with her best friend, starts making the wedding preparations.
When Simeon and his best man go on a biking trip, a horrific accident ends all planning for the happy day and plunges all of them in a nightmare.
There is of course a happy ending, but not after some seriously bad times. I liked the book a lot, not as much as Postcards from a Stranger, but it's still a lovely story. Definitely recommended!
I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is an enchanting British story about a young couple and their daughter as they wrestle with the idea of getting married. It is a short story and quick read and you will love all the people in the story. It ends way too soon as I would have loved to continue reading it. Grab a cup of hot tea and settle in for a special book. Just in time to be a holiday treasure.
I loved the name of the book. Read it and learn why.
#PostcardsatChristmas#NetGalley
I loved "Postcards From A Stranger, " so I was excited to read this. It definitely didn't disappoint, I just wish it was longer. I loved getting reacquainted with Cara, Beth and Simeon. I wasn't expecting what happened and kept hoping everything would work out for Cara and her family. Would love to read a book centered around Beth, she definitely deserves a happy ending. A perfect read for the holiday season.
Definitely recommend the book, but not as a stand alone. So much emotion wrapped up in a such a short book. Great story with wonderful characters. Look forward to reading more books by the author. The cover of the book is perfect.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Amazon Publishing UK through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I loved Postcards From A Stranger. This short story is emotional and very well written. A delight to read.
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.
I loved Postcards From A Stranger and was a bit worried that this novella follow up would be a bit chocolate box pretty. Sadly for Cara and Simeon (but luckily for the reader) it wasn't, with the characters going through some tough times that didn't all turn out fine. I wish this had been a longer novel as I felt it was a bit superficial at times but maybe that was just me being greedy and wanted to stay in the characters' lives a bit longer.
If you haven't read Stranger this book won't make sense, however, if you have read the first book, then dive right in to this recommended follow up.
I love books by this author they’re always well written and the characters are warm and likeable. I did slightly prefer the previous postcard book by Imogen Clarke which I’ve gave four stars too hence why I gave this one a three. Definitely a recommendation though.
I enjoyed reading about Cara and Simeon’s journey through the happy and even the heartbreaking times. I really wish it could have been longer but this didn’t take away from the essence of the story.
Postcards at Christmas is the sequel to Postcards from a Stranger which I have not read yet. I had no issue reading this as a stand-alone. But, I will definitely be picking up Postcards from a Stranger to read.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and give my honest review about this book.
With thanks to Netgalley and Amazon for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.
I enjoyed Imogen`s last book Where The Story Starts and gave it a five star review. When I saw Postcards at Christmas was due to be released I was excited to read it.
Postcards at Christmas is the sequel to Postcards from a Stranger. I never read the first book but it did not spoil my enjoyment. I instantly warmed to Cara, Simeon and Beth. I can't wait to read the first book and discover the dark family secret Cara uncovered.
Although this is is called Postcards at Christmas, the story covers a 12 month period from Christmas day to Christmas eve the following year. The plot was quite dark at times when Simeon was in intensive care and his descent into clinical depression. The ending was perfect and left me glowing inside.
I recommend this story if you like Amanda Prowse.
I have enjoyed all the books in this series so was looking forward to reading this. It’s a lovely follow up to the last book, postcards from a stranger. It’s an emotional read and was lovely catching up with the characters Cara & Simeon again. My only gripe is I wish the book was a bit longer. I recommend this book and series.
I received a copy of ‘Postcards at Christmas’ in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed the original novel ‘Postcards from a Stranger’ hugely, and read it probably 18 months ago, and I had high hopes for this novella sequel.
My first problem was that I had largely forgotten the characters and the plot of the previous novel. This was a downfall for me and I should imagine that if you read them back to back it will be a seamless transition, but personally I would have liked a brief recap at the start.
The novella was an easy and light read, with likeable characters but – to me – not very profound. What annoyed me most was that it was written in the present tense, from the viewpoint of different characters, and it read like a journal, and personal diaries should really be kept private!
I’m afraid I found it over-analytical and self-obsessed with feelings. I can unfortunately say that I can personally identify with much of the situation covered by this book, without wanting to give the plot away, and although it is an extremely hard situation to be in, without any doubt, reading about somebody else dealing with it was a bit tedious to me, and the fact that the young daughter - who should have been Cara’s salvation and distracted her and given her much joy- was largely glossed over throughout the novella, rang rather untrue to me.
The author Imogen clearly has talent and seems to be churning out books at the moment, and I wonder if this need to keep producing new works (possibly under pressure from Publishers) is detracting from the quality of the finished individual novels? I find her writing style veering towards modern chick-lit which clearly has a big place in the market, but is disappointing for a reader that prefers a slightly more challenging literary style. Sorry!
Amazon review link (under profile name Salsadirect):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07W1X79Z3?ref=cm_sw_em_r_rw_mw_KAExJhSzYQF8n
Lovely festive read. It was a heart warming romance. It was a wonderful book to read. It was well written and flowed well.
I really enjoyed this book , it was a great story and the characters were very believable. Would recommend
A book which starts off as a happy Christmas read about a Christmas wedding... quickly turns into a family drama.
Written from the perspective of Clara, whose life and marriage is put to the test just as she was getting ready to marry the father or her baby daughter, and Beth, her best friend who is by her side throughout the difficult time, the book tells the story a Christmas proposal and the long and difficult road of Clara and Simeon's engagement.
Because who expects their fiance to be in a coma when he should be choosing a wedding cake?
"Postcards at Christmas" is the second novel in a series and some of deeper meaning of Clara's feeling may not have come through... but there was more than enough drama and interesting (flawed) characters to make me read this in two days.
This is one of those sappy and partially heartbreaking books. It was an okay read, I liked the characters and how it highlights living with clinical depression, but I wish the book was a bit longer and had a bit more depth to it.
I absolutely loved Postcards from A Stranger so when i was approved for an advance copy of Postcards at `Christmas., the follow on from Postcards from A stranger i was excited to get reading. The books are both easy reads and unputdownable. I highly recommend both books, and I will definitely be reading more books by Imogen Clark in the future. thanks to the publisher and Netgalley.
This was a really cute, quick read, which I love at Christmas. It did assume that you had already read the book prior to this, so I was missing a bit of back story, but still enjoyable. I am definitely going to read that!
Read and enjoyed this story in one sitting. I loved the characters and it was very easy to get swept up in the drama, trauma, heartbreak, and happiness. Highly recommend this endearing page turner.
The title leads you to believe Christmas is a significant part of the story when it isn’t really. This is a heartwarming story of a couple who plan to get married and encounter several obstacles along the way. It’s a lovely romantic story but lacks substance. I found it to be very predictable and found that disappointing. Still, a feel good story. Thank you to Imogen Clark, Net Galley and the publisher, Lake Union Publishing for an ARC.
I enjoyed this short book. While parts of it does occur at Christmas time, I was disappointed because it wasn't really a Christmas book, but it was a nice, feel-good read that was lighthearted and fun. I will be reading the first in this series because I liked the main character, Cara. Recommend for someone looking for a short, easy to follow novel.
Postcards at Christmas is a sequel to another book by Clark, one I have not read but definitely intend to. It is more of a novella and can be easily read in one very quick sitting. However, with all of that said, there is a lot of drama in this little story! Cara and Simeon are planning a wedding when Simeon has a very debilitating bike accident. How or even, will they put their lives back together is the crux of this story. It is beautifully written, warm, tragic and wonderful. If you only read one story between and Christmas, make it this one. You will be glad you did.
Simon and Cara have a daughter and out of the blue he proposes marriage. She's surprised but says yes despite some doubts. When he is injured in a bicycle accident and almost dies she must re-evaluate her life and decisions. Now all she wants is for him to get better so they can marry. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The second in a series and I would suggest starting at book one because you will lose a lot of character development if you skip ahead to this one.
Cara is living a great life with Simeon and early in the book he proposes and she hesitates due to her views on marriage. She likes the life they currently have and is nervous to make any changes. An extreme accident happens which makes her really rethink everything, so in this book she has some big decisions to make.
I enjoyed this book more than the first and enjoyed Cara as a character more in this one than the first book. I appreciated Cara's journey in this book and felt as though she made big changes.
Although this book was significantly shorter than the first, I think the author made a good decision but limiting the amount of characters in this story and instead the story was told through Cara and her friend Beth, but the story really focused on Cara and the things she was going through in this book.
The only thing I questioned about this book after completing was the title. It didn't affect me enjoying the book, but I wish the postcards had been more prevalent than they were, it was snuck in, but I wanted more!
Overall this book was disappointing for me. I was expecting a fun-filled Christmas with maybe some sad moments thrown in while she relived her past. Instead what I got was a year-long of them having to deal with a traumatic injury that almost caused a split, and then a rushed Christmas wedding at that the end that we don't even get to enjoy. I wanted more Christmas and wintertime in general and less what this ended up being.
I think this will be great for people who have read the first book.
This is the second book in a series
The pacing was good in this book but I felt the Romance was lacking emotion and depth. I liked the characters but I felt this book was average
Nice easy quick read. Made me think wha would I do if it was me.Real feel good, seasonal book. This is the first book I have read by this author and I look forward to reading more. Thank you net galley
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