After being made redundant from her job in a swanky hotel, Hattie has no idea what she will do. That is until her boyfriend receives his dream promotion on the same day, and reveals his plans to relocate them both to Abu Dhabi. Hattie believes it must be fate, her long-time friend Dolly thinks otherwise.
Dolly is determined to give Hattie the perfect English Christmas before she leaves, and invites her to stay with her in Wynbridge. Upon her arrival, Hattie is thrown head first into the holiday preparations but she knows no amount of festive cheer will reignite her Christmas spirit. Dolly relishes the challenge and suggests they create a Wish List of all the things the season can offer, and with a little help from trusty resident handyman Beamish they begin to tick things off one at a time.
Will Hattie enjoy her last December in the UK before jetting off for a 5 star lifestyle, or will she realise her hearts desire lies closer than she thinks?
As this is Swain’s 9th book, and 7th in the Wynbridge series, I am fast running out of words to describe how wonderful her writing is!
Wynbridge is the quintessential English countryside village everyone wants to live in, especially at Christmas. The delightfully descriptive narrative provides such vividness, you can practically smell the pine in the air!
This author always creates such a compelling cast, and one of the best things about this series is that when the book finishes it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve seen the last of them. In this book, it was Dolly that absolutely stole the show for me. She is quite a character, full of gumption and quick wit, and often putting the “youngsters” in their place.
As is typical with this genre, it isn’t always plain sailing. There are ups and downs that will have you laughing out loud one minute, and shedding a tear the next; and I thoroughly enjoyed every one of them.
If you’re looking for a festive read with plenty of heartwarming humour, this is the one for you. All that’s left to do now is write myself a Christmas Wish List, which will definitely include a Beamish and a spiced, iced bun…or two!