Reviewed by Emma Crowley
She’s planned the perfect Christmas. But fate might have other ideas…
Krystle didn’t have a normal childhood and longed for warm family Christmases with presents under the tree. Now she makes sure everyone else has the perfect Christmas she never had, bringing beautiful decorations to cheer as many people as possible.
With her festive business booming, she decides to celebrate by renting a secluded house in the Lakes, with a plan to make this the ultimate yuletide getaway.
But fate immediately throws a spanner in the works in the form of a broken-down car, a flooded river and Max; a man who despises Christmas.
Krystle becomes determined to show Max the joys of the holiday. She won’t take no for an answer.
Can she melt Max’s Grinch-like heart? And can he show her that life doesn’t need to go to plan to take you somewhere magical…
Many thanks to Avon Books UK via NetGalley for my copy of The Christmas Holiday to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Christmas Holiday is another fabulous and thoroughly enjoyable festive read from Philippa Ashley and if that stunning cover doesn’t draw you in, then the story that awaits you between the covers most certainly will. Often books that claim to be Christmas reads have the merest mentions of allusions to the time of year that we all look forward to but in this wonderful read Christmas is mentioned in abundance and it couldn’t fail to be seen as our main protagonist Krystle is a seasonal buyer and she thinks about Christmas from the first of January right up until the big day itself. This is a story that will give you all the Christmas feels and get you excited for the preparations leading up to the big day but there is also a more human and emotional side as well as we learn more about Krystle, what motivates her and how her life has led her to the point at which we meet her. There was a fabulous balance between warmth, humour and at times there was a more serious side but it all weaved together so wonderfully as Krystle tries to show Max that Christmas is the most wonderful time of year and at the same time learns an awful lot about herself.
The main strand of the story revolves around Krystle who as I have mentioned is a seasonal buyer. She works very hard all year round sourcing decorations for department stores, garden centres and interior shops. She loves the buzz and excitement of her job but it is endless. But Krystle had a tough childhood moving from flat to flat with her Mum, there was a lack of money and regular school changes were common place. On a school trip to the Lake District she came across a house that was perfectly decorated for Christmas and which just gave her all the feels and a deep longing that one day she too would have a picture postcard Christmas house and the Christmas that she deserves. Fast forward many years later and Krystle is about to embark on a make or break holiday with her boyfriend Brett. They are renting Holly Manor in the Thorndale Valley in the Lake District and after 25 years she believes she has found the Christmas house which has long lived on in her heart and mind.
Brett is charming, handsome and ambitious but I could tell from the outset his mind was more on his career than Krystle. He came across as pretentious and self-obsessed. Krystle needs this break from her job as she is on her knees physically and emotionally and she hopes for a reset in her relationship too. Things get off to a disastrous start when Brett’s car ends up in a ford in a storm which was comical at some points but sad too as Krystle lost many decorations which held so many special memories for her. But said incident allowed for the introduction of Max who plays a pivotal role throughout the story. Krystle is left on her own as Brett goes to America for work and that certainly wasn’t in the plan. But there was no messing around which I loved and through one thing and another Brett shows his selfish and unreliable side and it allows for different avenues of the plot to open up and be developed. I disliked Brett from the get go and was delighted to see what happened as it allowed more attention to be focused on Krystle and how she tries to make Max see that Christmas is a joyful time full of love, laughter, giving and fun times.
I adored Krystle as a character. I loved her enthusiasm, drive and ambition and that she was so resourceful and creative when it came to her job and that she loved seeing people happy. Max was the complete anthesis to her. He prefers to keep himself to himself living in his bothy near the mountains. He feels he is of no use to anyone and that he is better off hiding away from the world. He is a recluse who has many changeable moods but deep down the reader senses that there has to be a good and solid reason for why he has cut himself off from the world so to speak. Max rarely interacts with the villagers but the arrival of Krystle forces him to slowly come out of his shell and the further I read I was eager to know what had caused the residents of the village to view him as an eccentric character who needed support.Therefore, persuading him to join the mountain rescue team was a big thing.
I loved how the work of volunteer mountain rescue teams was explored throughout the story and it also helped establish a real sense of community and warmth of which Krystle soon became a part of. You could tell that she longed for a family and to feel really part of something. Her experiences in her childhood with her tough upbringing had damaged and altered her but I loved how she didn’t want this feeling to last through her adulthood and coming to the Lake District although for all intents and purposes it was to rescue her relationship with Brett really she began to discover an awful lot more. She suffers hurt and disappointment but tries to turn it into something positive and maybe perhaps all roads were leading her back to the Thorndale valley for many years and now is the time to grasp and hold on to the opportunities coming her way?
The trip was really Krystle trying to plan and curate the perfect Christmas and the perfect life to make up for when she wasn’t able to control things as a child and coming back to Thorndale was enabling her to lay some ghosts to rest. I loved how she threw herself into helping and organising things in the village and this is where the real festive feeling started to come into play. I could visualise the landscape, berries, trees, mountains and streams and nestled all amidst this was the village and placing herself at the forefront was Krystle. I enjoyed reading about how she sets about organising things and her experience in her job definitely came into full affect. But alongside this as mentioned in the blur she is doing her utmost to melt Max’s Grinch like heart and he too is showing her that things don’t always have to go to plan to take you somewhere magical. Will things go awry for the Krystle and her plans or will Christmas work its magic as it has done time and time again in the past?
The Christmas Holiday is an entertaining read that really got me in the mood for all things Christmas. Suffice to say I read it months in advance of the season because I couldn’t leave it lingering on my Kindle for too long. I am glad I did so because I loved following Krystle’s journey. It was captivating and sparkling with warm lovable characters although some do need to thaw out from when we first meet them. Krystle is exuberant and full of energy and you will be rooting for her that her childhood promise to herself will come true. More and more Christmas themed books in this genre are being published each year and although I don’t this market is being saturated there is a danger that you could miss out on a real gem of a read but don’t let that happen to The Christmas Holiday it deserves your time and attention. Amidst all the Christmas madness you’ll definitely be glad you chose it from the shop bookshelves.
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