It’s such a pleasure today to be joining the blog tour and sharing my review of the latest book from Beth Moran, Let It Snow: published by Boldwood Books on 30th August, it’s now available as an e-book (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance e-copy (provided via netgalley).
I’m still not sure how I missed out on reading Beth’s first book for Boldwood, Christmas Every Day – but I’ve certainly made up for it since, and she’s become one of my “must read” authors. The first book I tried was Take a Chance on Me (you’ll find my review here) – and, as I so enjoyed that one, I then read We Belong Together and thought it was every bit as wonderful (you can read my full review here). And her last book, Just The Way You Are, might just have been my favourite (so far!) – gloriously life-affirming, escapist but rooted in life’s realities, filled with exceptional warmth, and quite beautifully written (you’ll find my review of that one here). I was really looking forward to trying another…
When your heart’s broken, all roads lead home…
After the end of a long-term relationship, local weather girl Bea Armstrong has been avoiding her family, and their inevitable ‘I-told-you-sos.’ But with Christmas fast approaching, she is finally on her way home to Charis House, the school in Sherwood Forest that her mum and dad run in their old family home. And to top it all off, the insufferable Henry Fairfax – who her parents have always wanted her to marry – has also been invited.
Relief comes in the shape of a last minute interview for her dream job. There are just a few minor problems… The interview is in Scotland, Bea has no car, and the snow is falling already. The only solution is for Henry to drive her – could this Christmas get any worse…
But during an unforgettable two day interview, a stay in a log cabin and a nightmare journey through the snow, Henry turns out to be nothing like she thought. And when Bea’s first love and recent ex shows up, Bea has a difficult choice to make…
Bea’s really been having a rather rough time. She loves her job as a local TV weather presenter, and the important part she plays in the lives of her viewers, but feels she’s distinctly under-appreciated by the management – they’re now talking about her taking a break for a while, and it begins to feel like someone’s got it in for her. And her personal life’s not going too well either – she’s finally had to accept that there’s no real future for her and Adam, and that she’ll always be less important to him than his music career. And, as if everything’s not already bad enough, it’s Christmas, and she really must spend it with her family at their Sherwood Forest home – now that’s somewhere else where she’s really not appreciated, always firmly in second place to the school her parents run for under-privileged and “difficult” children. And, when she arrives, dreading the whole experience, she’s horrified to find that Henry has a seat at the table – the nerdy guy her parents have always hoped she’d marry, now a teacher at the school.
But maybe things start looking up – the chance of a job with a national broadcaster, and a last minute interview in the run up to Christmas. But it’s going to be over two days, in the wilds of Scotland, she doesn’t have a car, and the weather’s closing in. So when Henry offers to drive her there – and back again so that she can spend the planned Christmas with her family – she really doesn’t have any other option. What follows is quite a road trip – and the “interview” the most bizarre experience possible – but she slowly begins to realise that she might have misjudged Henry, and spending time in his company might not turn out to be quite the trial she was expecting. They find themselves working together, growing closer, solving a mystery that might just turn around the fortunes of the struggling school – but then there’s the problem of Adam…
I’ll be absolutely honest and admit that I wasn’t entirely sure about this book at first – the whole story seemed very “busy”, it took me a little while to warm to Bea herself, and I found it quite difficult to get a handle on the relationships, the back story, and the whole set-up of the school. But my goodness, it certainly didn’t last long – the whole Scottish trip was simply wonderful (and very, very funny!) and I particularly loved the quirky and well drawn supporting cast and the over-the-top Christmassy setting. And then there was the developing relationship with the really lovely Henry – Bea had never really taken him seriously before, dazzled by Adam and his charms, but she’d always had a rather special place in his heart.
It’s a fantastic and original story, really well-told, with lots of layers, and with an emotional depth I really wasn’t expecting – a very believable romance with a quite perfect chemistry, a nice focus on the family and its many complications, and a lot of poignancy in the main characters’ lives both past and present. And have I mentioned that – at times – it’s also extremely funny? The author’s touch with humour is just perfect – and I particularly loved the sparkiness of the exchanges between the two main characters. The whole book oozes Christmas, and its climactic scene is just magnificent – full cinemascope, totally over-the-top, and I absolutely loved it. This is a book I’d certainly recommend you add to your Christmas reading list – it’s heartwarming, uplifting, very different, thoroughly entertaining, and a totally lovely read.
About the author
Beth Moran is the author of romantic novels including Christmas Every Day and Just The Way You Are. She regularly features on BBC Radio Nottingham and is a trustee of the national women’s network Free Range Chicks. She lives on the outskirts of Sherwood Forest.
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