Reviewed by Emma Crowley
It’s meant to be the most wonderful time of the year but thirty-year-old Holly Hanwell doesn’t really feel like celebrating… not after the bombshell news her boyfriend is leaving her to have a baby with someone else. So Holly’s organised a quiet Christmas in her cosy little house and plans to avoid the traditional village festivities, and anything resembling a man, at all costs.
That is until she bumps into sexy newcomer Edward. He recently bought Christmas House, at the edge of Hopley, but the renovations on the crumbling building are more than he’d bargained for. Sheltering from the snowy weather in the warm village café, Edward makes Holly laugh over delicious mugs of hot chocolate, topped with cream and sprinkles. Despite the spark between them, Holly knows she needs to protect her already fragile heart and she’s determined NOT to fall in love this Christmas.
But holiday magic works in mysterious ways and they keep crossing paths – at the nativity show, the carols, gift shopping – and then a festive crisis at Christmas House unexpectedly brings them together. Yet just as Holly realises her feelings are growing for handsome but complicated Edward she discovers a secret from his past which makes her question everything she thought she knew about him…
Will Holly and Edward’s December romance be over before it’s begun? Or will this be a Christmas to remember?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Little Christmas House to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Little Christmas Village is the second book by Tracy Rees to be set in the village of Hopley but it’s quite easily read as a standalone as just one or two characters from the previous book are mentioned and even at that just very briefly. I have loved all of Tracy’s historical fiction books and am thoroughly enjoying her new journey into the romantic end of women’s fiction. This book was a dream of a read. It really got me into the festive mood and it’s perfect to curl up with on a dark winters day and to enjoy a few hours in the company of Holly and Edward. The setting of the village is fabulous and really comes to life off the pages, thanks to the authors vivid and detailed descriptions not to mention the added inclusion this time around of Christmas House and its residents and the surrounding countryside which plays such a lovely part in the story.
Last Christmas things were good for Holly, her relationship with partner of 10 years Alex was going well and he had just been made partner in his solicitors firm. She had hoped to have children in the future and in general things were looking good in her life. Fast forward a year and things have changed dramatically. She is now single, and her dreams of a family are in tatters. Alex is now firmly out of the picture considering his abhorrent actions and Holly is doing her best to move on. Christmas is usually her favourite festival of all but this year she’s not too sure can she summon the enthusiasm to love it.
Holly is a teacher and loves her job and is hoping that the preparations for the Christmas pageant will take her mind off feeling melancholy and wondering what might have been? It’s clear when we are first introduced to Holly that she has suffered a major blow and no one would blame her for feeling considerably down over it but I loved the way despite how she was feeling she never let anything get her way of her work and the dedication she has to teaching and the connections and relationships she builds with the children in her care meant I felt nothing but admiration for her. She really understood the inner workings of a child’s mind and despite going through such inner turmoil herself she was always on the go, helping others, spotting problems and seeking resolutions and just in general trying to make life better for those children in her class.
Holly was dedicated, enthusiastic and hardworking and this transpired to all aspects of her life. She longed to have children of her own and find that true soulmate and you feel devastated that when she thought she had this that it was so abruptly snatched from her grasp. Holly shed her own hopes and dreams and focused all her energies on the children and the pageant and in particular a little girl called Eliza, new to the village, who is someone in need of a helping hand. Holly’s compassion, kindness, intelligence and consideration radiates from the pages and she has to be one of my favourite characters that I have had the pleasure to read about in a Christmas book this year. She certainly had been though the mill as in the later stages of her relationship Alex had made her feel unimportant as a human being likening herself to a boat washed up and stranded on the shore. I thought the analogy of the acer tree losing its leaves and coming back to life was just so apt and perfect for the way Holly was feeling. It was like over the course of the story she was shedding her old skin and the loss of her hopes and dreams but at the same stage she was forging a new path in life and coming back to a new version of herself.
In helping herself and committing herself wholeheartedly to the pageant and her quest to make Eliza be who she truly could be, Holly was in fact going on her own personal journey although perhaps unbeknownst to herself. She was so self-deprecating and she prides herself on being brave and positive and putting on a good face but she has been cut very deep by what has happened to her. Wouldn’t you be if your life has imploded in such a big way. But I just loved her overall attitude and how she really worked on herself and at the same time helped Edward and Eliza in a way that they would never forget and in doing so I wondered the further the story progressed, could there be a happy ending for everyone or will there be some unexpected surprises coming their way that may lead to misunderstandings and not a chance of that ending that I had craved right from the beginning?
Edward is a single parent recently arrived to the village with his young daughter Eliza. He has bought the beautiful Christmas House in the countryside outside Hopley and although it needs a lot of work Edward is determined to provide the best life that he possibly can for his daughter given the departure of her mother. Edward is struggling to balance everything -work, home-life and Eliza. At times although he is a parent he feels that he is the kid that needs looking after. He is fiercely protective of Eliza, after all the trauma of the abandonment by her mother has left many visible scars. Edward was a brilliantly written character on an equal footing with Holly as to how brilliant I thought they both were. You could tell that Edward just wanted someone to take him by the hand and guide him in the right direction and help him do what was best for Eliza. He was a proud dad and fiercely over protective and I hoped that Holly would soften things a bit. Holly could tell instantly that there was a fracture in his Eliza’s spirit that she was haunted. She had so much potential but it all seemed to be doused leading her to be subdued and forlorn. Holly wonders what can have happened to make a young girl be this way and why is she so reluctant to join in with the pageant? Surely that’s every little girl’s dream to be in their Christmas show.
It took a bit of time for Holly and Edward to actually meet face to face but when they do the story took on a whole other level of just general loveliness and I just completely lost myself in everything that was unfolding. It was so magical and I loved how the plot was developing with those characteristics of Christmas that Tracy mentioned at the end so evidence in abundance in the way Holly acted. In taking on a little quest Holly was starting to find new purpose and meaning in her life and maybe Christmas wasn’t going to be so bad after all. The tentative connection between Holly and Edward that was more than Holly just being Eliza’s teacher and wanting the best for her was starting to brew but I sensed a smooth path would not be that forthcoming.
The Little Christmas House was such an uplifting, sweet, cosy Christmas read with such warm lovable characters that bring you on an exhilarating journey that you won’t forget in a hurry. There are lots of problems to deal with and plenty of soul searching to be undertaken but it’s done in such a way that the characters come alive off the page to meet you and take you by the hand and are eager to have you share in their story and learn some life lessons from it too. I loved every minute of this wonderful, gorgeous read as I really connected with the characters especially Holly.
The only minor problem I had overall was that the ending felt just ever so slightly rushed given all the fantastic build up to it. I would have loved a chapter or two more or even if that was to be it even a follow up short story in the future. Can you tell I wasn’t ready for the story to end or to leave these deeply impressionable characters behind? Pushing that issue aside this is definitely a book I would highly recommend you read over the festive season. It truly does give you all the feels that a book of this nature should. In the end notes the author mentions how this story started out as a short story over 24 years ago and she has waited all this time to make it full length. I guess as similar to me the characters just wouldn’t get out of her head. Tracy Rees mentions that she wanted to capture the most magical time of year. A time of connectedness, collaboration and co-operation all of which make the season so special and she has truly done this to absolute perfection.
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