Christmas and a wedding, perfect combo, or not?

Synopsis

With the wedding of the year approaching, excitement is running high at the café! But there’s just one problem. Maddy is grappling with a secret. Could it derail all of hers and Jack’s glorious plans for their big day? Will there actually be a wedding?

My review

Maddy cannot wait to marry the love of her life, Jack. A Christmas wedding is what she always has been dreaming of, and with jack she is lucky to finally have her dreams coming true. But already at her hen party in Lapland, that there is something going on with Maddy? Something she won’t even share with her best friends. And something that even saunas, Northern Lights and husky puppies cannot chase away… But will her secret jeopardize also her upcoming wedding?

Been invested in this wonderful series, I started reading this book with a big smile on my face. Because seeing the epitome of a great love story for sure filled my heart with great joy.

But in this book, while the premise was a great one, we also see that a happily ever after isn’t that always easy to hold on to, even after reaching ‘the end’ in the book.

And thus, my happy thoughts, and my happy place were replaced by sadness and even anger at moments. Because Maddy isn’t having an easy time at all, and it isn’t the stress of the wedding preparations. Her issues for sure show us that life can throw you unexpected curveballs, no matter what excited moments you are going through.

Well, to say that Maddy isn’t having it easy, would be an understatement. From the start of the book, she is keeping secrets from everyone, even from Jack. Secrets that are devastating, secrets that Maddy is still trying herself to grasp, secrets that make her rethink about everything, every choice she has made up till now.

While reading, I found myself getting a bit angry, and not only because of what Maddy is going through, but also a bit because Maddy didn’t confide in anyone about her worries. A problem shared is a problem halved, especially with her group of amazing friends. But on the other hand, I could understand her decision to keep it all for herself, because what she is keeping from everyone, isn’t easy to talk about.

I admired Rosie Green, because it’s easy to write a lovely story filled with heartwarming bits in it, but it’s courageous to show us the other side of the medal, that life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Yet at the same time we also see that the real friends, that the love of Maddy’s life see that something is off with her, no matter how hard she tries to hide it. And it was sweet to see how they both want to help her, yet also want to give her the space and time for herself.

It may seem like this is a dark story. And while there absolutely are difficult moments in this book, it is also filled with so many lovely moments. Seeing our old friends again, seeing them in the next phase of their lives was just wonderful to read. But it was especially sweet and just amazing to read how no matter what is happening, the friends are all there for each other. Despite everything happening, there is love all around.

We see the strength of love, every kind of love, even when it is for sure challenged by the hardest of hardships. We see how things threaten to fall apart, but also we see how many rays of lights and hope are always able to shine through.

I absolutely loved reading this book, amazed by the beauty of a dream worthy hen party (although… that cold! 😊) but mainly about the real bonds between all the characters. There is room for laughter but also for a tear. We see the reality of life, the more difficult bits but most important, the beautiful bits.

Rosie Green once again swept me away, and I cannot wait to be swept away again!