To buy a house, to find a home

Synopsis

When Sky Terran returns to the village of Middledip after losing the job she loves, she anticipates a quiet Christmas getting used to her new life. However, the annual street decoration competition is coming up and this year, the residents of Winter Street are determined to win.

As she is pulled into the preparations, Sky quickly grows to love the quirky, tight-knit community she is now part of. Including the extremely handsome Daz, who soon becomes more than just a friendly neighbour.

But when Daz’s ex turns up determined to win him back and it seems he might not be the man Sky thought he was, she remembers how much allowing people into her life – and heart – can hurt. As the snow falls, will she and Daz find a way through – and help win a Christmas victory for Winter Street?

My review

Sky Terran would walk on water for her foster brother Freddy. He was her rock when she felt the loneliest while growing up. She never expected that one day, she would walk away not only from his business but also from away. All because of the woman Freddy has fallen in love with.
So Sky decides to return to the only place she truly felt at home, the village of Middledip, to think what her future will look like.
However, before she knows, she is pulled into the preparations of the annual street decoration competition and quickly because part of the close community of Middledip.
And she even comes closer to Daz, one of her new neighbours.
But when the past starts to make several appearances, Sky remembers how easy it is to get hurt by people she cares the most.
However, this Christmas may appear to be one where Sky’s wishes may come true… 

I have read several stories of this amazing author, yet this was my first visit to Middledip. That means that I haven’t read the other books taking place in this lovely village. And I was glad that I didn’t have the feeling I missed important clues.
Although now my TBR – list has only become even longer as I fell totally in love with this place! 

Reading Sky’s story broke my heart. I can only imagine how difficult it can be to be in foster care. Sky didn’t won the lottery ticket with her mother and seeing more and more glimpses from her past, made me feel even more sorry for her.
Yet I was also glad she had her happy moments while staying in Middledip, and that she has found Freddy. 

But it is impossible not to see how much she misses to be part of a loving family, or just belonging somewhere.
So when Sky gets treated terribly by Freddy, I felt her pain as she lost the only person who has been truly there for her, but I also understood why she had to get away, even why she bought a place in Middledip. 

And returning in Middledip is exactly the medicine Sky needs… It’s not easy to move to a new village, where you have spend some time when you were younger, but after all, you don’t know who is still around and if you’ll be welcomed. 

So reading how Sky quickly becomes part of that community, warmed my heart. I loved reading how she start participating in the pub quiz, how she is gently forced to also decorate her house. But I also admired how she held on to her beliefs. She has a heart for nature and shows it in her own ways. And her being there for her new friends, and especially how well she understands young Wilf, only shows what an amazing person she is, even if she doesn’t see it herself.

There is obviously romance involved, how could it not with a character like Daz as a neighbour, but that was not the main focus in my eyes.
Because we see how a closed character starts to bloom in the right environment. That is the magic of Middledip and its inhabitants.
Sky feels more at home here than anywhere else, and also feels the need to make a difference just to give back to the people who gave her so much.

Sky goes through so much in this book, there is grief, loss, but also forgiveness, joy, love and friendship.
Sky moving to Middledip was the start of an emotional rollercoaster, not only for Sky herself, but also for the reader, showing us that sometimes it can be the apparently insignificant place in the world that can let us have the biggest change in our lives and in ourselves.
And that feeling home is mostly about the people we surround ourselves with. 

This was a wonderful book, with great characters, a lovely village to spend my time in, and with the wonderful addition of Christmas and its wonderful feelings!