Why we love it:
- A spicy and sometimes steamy read for those cold winter nights
- Straight forward, light and easy contemporary romance to fit between Christmas Day and New Year's
Sometimes you just want a cute, Hallmark-style, easy read that will hit all the right notes. That’s exactly what this book is. It follows Jeanie, who wants a fresh start having spent years living in the big city, and just by chance, her aunt passes away and leaves her a Cafe in the small town of Dream Harbor. Throw in a dishy farmer and a few pumpkin-spiced lattes… and you get where this is going. It has everything that you want in a contemporary romance, the tropes, likeable main characters and just enough steam to make you forget that you’ve got the thermostat set to low.
Why we love it:
- A heart-wrenching story that explores everything from love to loss, family and friend and the difficulties in trying to rebuild a life
- Beautifully written, with descriptive prose that makes you feel every emotion and thought that they are having.
For those who are familiar with Christy Lefteri’s work and have read The Bookkeeper of Aleppo, you’re in for more of the same. The story focuses on Irini, who teaches music to children. A fire forces them from their home and changes their lives forever. It is, at times, devastating as you go on a journey with them through their grief as they try to start again, but the real beauty in this book is how despite all of that, it still leaves you with a sense of hope for the future.
Why we love it:
- A complex leading man who is written with incredible delicacy and depth.
- A great second chance romance to get your teeth into.
Final Offer is part of the Dreamland Billionaires series by Lauren Asher. This book follows Callahan Kane (one of the Kane brothers) as he returns to the sleepy town where he spent his childhood summers. He stays in the family house that was left to him and the family cook’s daughter Lana, with whom he had a childhood romance. Within this book, we’ve all the good stuff you would want from a juicy romance, there is a small town, two friends forced to live together and tension that is so thick that you could cut it with a knife. But where this book is really brilliant is the delicacy and depth that Callahan Kane is written with. You’re effortlessly taken on a journey with a character that is incredibly complex.
Why we love it:
- One of the most satisfying endings that you will ever read.
- A twisty little page-turner that will have you gripped all the way to the end.
Sometimes you want a little mystery and suspense on a dark winter night. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden delivers exactly that. It tells the story of Millie, who is homeless and needs a job. She ends up getting hired for what she thinks is her perfect job as a live-in housemaid before things start to unravel. This book is a proper little twisty thriller with just the right amount on terror in it to truly keep you hooked and reading well into the night.
Why we love it:
- It’s written with such warmth that it will make you want to break out the chess set
- Just the right amount of steam with some instantly quotable lines.
If the fact that they made chess feel quite sexy isn’t enough to make you want to read this book, then there’s something wrong with you. Check & Mate follows Nolan Sawyer, a champion chess player, and Mallory Greenleaf, who has sort of turned her back on chess but decides to enter one last charity tournament. As a relative unknown, she beats Nolan, and the angsty rivals-to-lovers story ensues. The brilliance of this book is in Hazelwood’s writing. There’s such fun, warmth and affection that you almost want to be transported into the world that these characters live in - even if one of them has been dealt a truly shocking hand. Layer on top of that, her ability to just bring just the right amount of sexual tension to the book and you start to understand why she’s one of the most popular contemporary romance writers around.
Why we love it:
- A modern whodunnit that sort of sweeps you up and carries you along with it
- A brilliant lead character who is as clever as she is tenacious.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a brilliantly written modern teen mystery that is a lot of fun to read. Instead of a hard-boiled detective you’ve got Pip, a school student who decides to cover a local murder that she’s never been 100% convinced by. It’s sort of a classic whodunnit with a small cast of suspects who all get put under the microscope, but it is so brilliantly written that you kind of forget that. You are sort of taken along with the story instead of spending all your time guessing with every plot development what the next twist will be.
Why we love it:
- The type of main protagonist you don't come across every day.
- Brilliantly dark and funny.
How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie isn’t just a great title. It is a dark, cutting and funny book that is worthy of being on any book lover's Christmas wishlist. The story follows Grace, who is on a mission to kill her family and claim their fortune. The only problem is she has been arrested for a murder she did not commit. It is not a cosy story; it flits between being wicked and twisted and funny, with the main character being one of the most unlikeable likeable protagonists we’ve come across in recent years.
Merry Christmas
This Christmas, you can rest assured knowing you’ve included all the best books on your Christmas list. Whether you’re after a light-hearted classic with a new tale from Diary Of A Wimpy Kid or you feel a sense of nostalgia as you are taken back to the wizarding world of Harry Potter, Whatever it may be, with any one of these on your Christmas list, you will not be disappointed.
