A Cosy Christmas in Cornwall by Jane Linfoot

Goodreads synopsis

A December to remember…

Christmas in a Cornish castle? Sign Ivy Starforth up! Hired to kit out the holiday rental as the world’s most Instagramable festive dreamland, there’s only one thing standing in the way of her hefty pay-cheque – the lord of the manor.

Bill Markham could give Scrooge a run for his money but Ivy is firmly #TeamChristmas…even if her handsome host seems to be doing everything he can to sabotage her staging. Maybe she shouldn’t have stumbled in on him starkers in the hot tub?

As the temperature outside cools, things inside the castle heat up. It’s been a long time since Ivy allowed herself to give in to temptation… surely one little kiss under the mistletoe won’t hurt?

Rating

A 3.75 that I have rounded to 4 snowflakes 😉

How I came Across This Book?

It is no secret that I have a thing for Christmas (check out my experience of putting up a Christmas tree at work here) and if I see it depicted on a book cover, I am going to pick it up. Bonus points if it a white Christmas.

So, as I sat going through the books available to request on NetGalley, I saw this cover and I was sold (how could I not? You have seen the cover, right?)

I had to read it!

The Pet Peeve

When it comes to reading fiction, one of my pet peeves is the first person narrative. I did not know it was going to be like this but hey, let’s take one for #TeamChristmas 😉 🎄

The Story

As I mentioned earlier, the start was a bumpy because of my pet peeve but there was not one boring moment in all the story. We have our heroine (and narrator) who has had some tragedy in her life (trying my very best to keep it non-spoiler in here); a tragedy that has put restrictions (of her own making) on her life.

This is a story of how Ivy – our heroine – finds herself again with the help of Christmas magic, love of a non conventional family and love of a man she though out of her league (can’t say why because that will be a big spoiler!).

The story showed so many aspects of life as we experience it these days. Some of them are as follows;

The kids: It will be awesome if we thought of them as little human with a mind of their own. it is after all kids who do not have preconceived notions of how things should be and are able to see through a situation and provide a perspective as fresh as newly fallen snow.

We are as good as we think we are: The author has done a fabulous job of showing that we are only as good good (beautiful?) as we believe ourselves to be. The journey Ivy had had from believing that she does not deserve any happiness to believing she can be as happy as she wants made me wonder about my own life. It made me want to slay some more of my dragons. An inspiration, really.

The curse of social media:  The irony is not lost on me as I am posting this on a social media website but yes, it shows how we have become slaves to social media. It shows how our lives have become more about showing people how everything is hunky dory and how we are living the best life when outside the picture frame, life is a mess. It is time to stop worrying about what the followers make of our life and live it to the fullest!

Dreams do come true: Ivy has had a fantasy for a long time. A fantasy she believed could never become a reality because of various reasons but this story shows that fate has it’s own way of showing us we deserve all the happiness that we can reach for. It shows us that we have to be daring enough to dream and then they will turn to reality.

Recommended for: Everyone who loves Christmas and romance.