To find the perfect job, to have a colleague to put a damper on your festive mood

Synopsis

Fall in love with the Christmas romance of the year, full of love and second chances!

Lottie Grant loves the festive season so much that she works at the incredibly successful Christmas shop, Christmas Crackers, in her pretty Scottish home town of Craig Brae. But when the shop is sold, her world is turned upside down, leaving her wondering what she will do next.

Just as she’s about to give up hope on finding a new dream job, an offer comes that she can’t refuse, managing a set of luxury wooden cabins… and opening just in time for Christmas!

As she gets to work decorating the cabins, and hanging lights on the fir trees, Lottie can’t believe her luck. That is until the arrival of Blake Dempster, a moody but handsome hiking expert, who threatens to bring down her festive joy. But never one to shy away from a challenge, Lottie is determined to change Blake’s mind about all things festive.

And as the snow falls and the fairy lights sparkle, will work-obsessed Lottie and frozen-hearted Blake make their Christmas wishes come true?

My review

Lottie Grant loves working at the Christmas shop, Christmas Crackers. The plan is that eventually she will buy over the lease in order that she is the owner of the shop.
But all her hopes and dreams are shattered when the shop is sold to become a restaurant.
Finding a job in her Scottish home town of Craig Brae is easier said than done, yet just when Lottie is giving up hope, an offer arrives that she cannot refuse: managing a set of luxury wooden cabins, and the owner are even delighted with Lottie’s imaginative Christmas Spirit.
That is until she meets Blake Dempster, the hiking expert hired by the owners to add some extra experience for the staying guests. Because anything just slightly related to Christmas makes Blake’s skin crawl.
But Lottie wouldn’t be Lottie if she would Blake dampen her mood, and she has made it her own mission to make Blake change his mind.
Could this be the case where dislike turns into the complete opposite, both Christmas – related and persona – related? 

In this book, we have two total opposite characters. Lottie just adores everything that is related to Christmas, while Blake absolutely hates it. I think I am in the middle of both extremes. I can enjoy the festivities, and I for sure will sing along all the Christmas songs on the radio, but I also have my moments when too soon is too soon and too late is too late. 

So having a story with both extremes, was funny to read, as in some points I could relate to each point of view. 

I must say, I pitied Lottie at the start of the book. She loves working at the shop, and has already so many plans once she has taken it over. So seeing her dreams falling apart really did something to me. Now, this isn’t a case where the takeover was done by someone malicious, but it’s just how things sometimes happen in life. 

What I liked about Lottie perhaps the most, was how close she is to her mother. She had the best of families, with lovely parents. And losing her father was vey difficult, but it was also sweet to see how even closer it brought mother and daughter.
And even if her own father isn’t in the picture anymore, Lottie still feels his presence, and as a reader we feel it too. His ‘appearances’ for sure have a positive impact on the story, only highlighting how close this family was and still is.
That kind of density is something I recognize in my own family too, with the addition of the typical Italianisms 😊. 

It was serendipity reading how the perfect job opportunity came, as I could perfectly see Lottie diving into the new adventure! 

Yet it was also perfect seeing how all Lottie’s Christmassy cheeriness were being ‘cancelled’ by Blake’s feelings. I can comprehend that some people may think that Lottie is perhaps over the top, but I was wondering why Blake was just so against it all. It’s clear that something happened in the past to cause such strong feelings, because it’s not possible to be so anti – Christmas. 

Yet despite his Grinchy attitude, we also see that despite his words, his actions speak louder. Yes, he could have refused to dress up as Santa, and nobody told him to be so kind afterwards especially towards one child in particular. But he doesn’t… and that says more to me than everything he claimed beforehand. And that in fact, Blake is a sturdy teddy bear with a soft and kind heart. 

So is it truly surprising to see Lottie change her feelings from dislike into something else? No, not at all, as I myself was feeling more and more attracted to this fictional character that Blake is! And yes, even I kept wondering how he would like without his beard! 😊 

Once Blake’s past is revealed, I couldn’t blame his strong feelings about Christmas, as that holiday is linked to specifically two heartbreaking incidents in his life.
Knowing his past made so much clear to me, made it easier to understand him, and even understand his feelings and actions when he Is faced with a blast from the past. 

Perhaps as a reader, I would have enjoyed reading more in depth about this character making a resurface, but I also felt that this was not the main focus of this story. 

Because it’s a story about seeing a door closing but a window opening instead. A window that brings you even more than expected. It’s also about seeing behind the mask (or beard in this case 😊) and truly understanding someone. 

It a story that made me laugh, it put several smiles on my face, and it made me feel all warm and cosy, ready for Christmas. It took me perhaps a while to get completely into the story, but once I was in it, I just couldn’t put it away. Can I stay at one of the cabins too???