🎅 Book Review ~ The Country Village Christmas Show by Cathy Lake

🎅 Welcome to my week of Christmas Reads to get you in the festive spirit 🎅

Zaffre
29 October 2020

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

Recently divorced, the family home sold and her son all grown-up, Clare is at a crossroads. She's dedicated her whole adult life to her family, and now it's time she did something for herself.

In the lead up to Christmas, Clare decides that a bit of time in the countryside might be just what she needs, so she moves back to Little Bramble, the village she grew up in. But living with her mum for the first time in years - and not to mention Goliath the Great Dane - can be challenging.

When Clare finds herself running the village Christmas show, it feels like she has purpose in her life again. Bringing together people from all sides of the community, and all walks of life, will Clare manage to pull off a festive feat like no other? And will she find the new start in life - and possibly love - that she's been looking for?

🎅My thoughts..

When Clare returns to the idyllic country village of Little Bramble she does so with a heavy heart for her marriage is over and whilst it wasn’t a truly happy marriage, facing the uncertainty of life alone in her mid-forties isn’t entirely filling Clare with glee. However, moving back to her childhood home and spending time with her mother gives Clare the chance to start to put her life back together again. She has much to consider in her new life and the author highlights Clare’s very realistic problems and does so with warmth and a natural talent for making her characters feel like ‘real’ people with real life issues.

This is something of a slow burner of a book and it takes a while before everything starts to feel comfortable but once I had the characters firmly fixed in place I started to enjoy the story more. The author explores some interesting relationships, namely that between Clare and her mother, and also that of Clare and her son Kyle, who turns up in Little Bramble, with his own set of problems. Running throughout the book is the burgeoning relationship between Clare and Sam, the local vet, who she in initially meets in a less than perfect situation involving dog poo and a Great Dane called Goliath!

The Country Village Christmas Show is a delightfully entertaining festive story about finding unexpected romance and of being brave enough to take a second chance at love when it’s offered to you.

🎅Best read with a glass of egg nog and some ginger biscuits..

About the Author

Cathy Lake is a women's fiction writer who lives with her family and three dogs in beautiful South Wales. She writes uplifting stories about strong women, family, friendship, love, community and overcoming obstacles.

Twitter @LakeAuthor

@zaffre